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Struggling to sell uniquely created products...

by Marshalla
2 replies
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Hi,

I'm new to this forum but urgently need some advice...

I started an e-Com business using Shopify and Clickfunnels to sell uniquely designed jewelry products in the yoga/meditation niche. I was using a free + shipping model upfront (necklace) then up-selling (bracelet and earrings) using funnels to increase the average order value. I had them custom designed and made in China, then sent to a low-cost ($1 per order) fulfillment center in the U.S. The mistake I made, however, was ordering over 4000 pieces without validating the market first. I actually managed to sell around 100 of them using FB and Instagram but started to run out of money for advertising.

Can anyone give me advice on how to sell the entire lot to someone that know's what they are doing and know's how to market them?

Thanks so much in advance.

Nick
#bulk #created #ecom #help a beginner #products #sell #struggling #uniquely
  • Profile picture of the author Oziboomer
    Hi Nick,

    Did anyone take up the upsells?

    Was the shipping cost covering the front end so it was break even?

    I guess not because you are trying to sell off the stock.

    What are the real economics involved? If you don't want to share publicly you are more than welcome to let me know personally.

    Have you looked at selling the product for a profit through Amazon, Ebay, Etsy or other avenues?

    You may not be able to turn it over quickly but at least you might get a return for your efforts.

    What can you do that costs next to nothing to sell the stock?

    Whenever I've done a free + shipping offer it has always been as an order bump after someone has made a purchase for a digital product and the combined digital purchase and shipping offer covers all of the upfront costs.

    I'd also like to ask.

    "If you sell this stock you have, what are you going to do next?"

    "What will you change?"

    "Will you try again or was that first effort fatal?"

    "What have you learned?"

    "How will you leverage your experience?"

    As you have so much invested already why not take a long term approach and sell the stock at a profit over time through other routes?

    There is a way forward.

    You just need to work out what that is without panicking or rushing into another bad decision.

    Look at other options.

    Can you sell via Yoga Studios?

    Can you partner with mom's groups?

    Can you make a donation to some charity related to the niche for every sale in return for publicity?

    Think about things.

    Clickfunnels is easily modified so you can change the structure of the offer. - Think about it. - make it profitable.

    Best regards,

    Ozi
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    • Profile picture of the author Marshalla
      Hi Ozi,

      Thanks so much for getting back to me. You have offered some truly valuable advice!

      Approximately 15% of those that purchased a necklace bought the upsells. I also had an offer on the front end to purchase either 1,3 or 5 necklaces, each time requiring the customer to pay an additional $5.95 for shipping on each item. This again helped me increase the value of each transaction and allowed me overall to cover the shipping cost for the 'free' necklace.

      Each piece only cost me approx $1.50 to make and send to the U.S. The fulfillment center charged $1 per customer transaction (regardless of how many they purchased) + USPS shipping on top which I don't actually know how much it cost. Can't say I really knew my metrics. I was just copying a guy I found on Youtube.

      As I am based in New Zealand, I haven't tried to sell the items through any other sales channels. I really struggled to get top quality pics of each piece which probably didn't help.

      I guess my original intention was to build a full brand around the yoga/meditation niche but when faced with selling the first physical products I became disheartened because it just didn't feel like my efforts would translate into a long-term business. I found it extremely difficult to find the right audience for the product that I chose. You can check my site out at marshallaco.com. It took me ages to build everything out having never done it before. In heinsite I probably should've outsourced the tech side of things.

      I was generally sending traffic to my funnel first then to shopify when following up. This is an example of one of my funnels:
      https://freegold.marshallaco.com/special-g - it is in test mode so not currently live.

      I am currently now working on an Amazon sales model but need to deal with the jewelry that is still at the U.S fulfillment center.

      I have been donating a % of each sale to a charity in order to gain credibility and publicity but it hasn't quite caught on.

      Thanks so much for your advice. You are very generous to take the time to get back to me. I truly think it's a really great, unique product but with the amount of info out there, I think I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I have definitely realized I didn't do enough research in the first place. The guy who taught me said I needed to ensure my FB ads went viral to gain the free traffic I needed to make this work. Probably picked the wrong niche to make this happen.

      I have full belief that I can be successful online. I just need to maybe put this one behind me and move forward with a few lessons learned.

      Do you only sell digital products?

      Cheers,

      Nick
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