Starting sales while goods still on the way from the far east

Cianos

I'll be placing a first order for some imports shortly. Shipping time will take around a month and a half to two months.

My sales will be entirely based online and I expect most of my customers to be from the continent.

My website is almost ready so I was thinking of starting some campaigns shortly (maybe in a month) to get some sales in and get the business started. I could take deposits making it very clear to customers that delivery time to them would be about a month.

Is this ok to do? There is of course the possibility of there being a problem with shipping, or the goods not being correct etc, but if that were the case I could just refund those customers, which would be a set back, but weighed against the prospect of getting in some sales sooner, thus bringing forward the date at which I could place a 2nd shipment (which is when the business should really get going), it would seem to be worth it.

Any feedback much appreciated.

cojomo2

why not give a discount to customers who pre order? It will encourage them to order now, rather than pay a higher price when the item is in stock and ready to ship.

It would also give you something to go on when you are ordering from the far east..

tombull82

definately make sure they know its a pre order bp bad publicity is the worst publicity any startup want's.

TheWaterboy

hmmm Id be very wary of ordering from a brand new website and new business that is promising delivery in a month.

Id hold off until your products arrive and then Id start your campaign - if there was issues with the shipping or quality of your products and you have taken orders then it will look very bad on the business.

J_Wholesale

Don't do it. There are a whole host of potential problems that could occur before you are in a position to sell the goods - even more so if this is the first order you've placed and shipped from the far east. Quality amongst lines could be poor or so bad you simply can't sell them, wrong items or colours could be sent, shipping date could be set back by a few weeks, etc.

The time would be better spent working on your website's ranking for all those key words, so that when the stock is in, photographed, and ready to sell, you'll be better positioned to benefit from it.

Mr. Presentable

J_Wholesale wrote: »

Don't do it. There are a whole host of potential problems that could occur before you are in a position to sell the goods - even more so if this is the first order you've placed and shipped from the far east. Quality amongst lines could be poor or so bad you simply can't sell them, wrong items or colours could be sent, shipping date could be set back by a few weeks, etc.

The time would be better spent working on your website's ranking for all those key words, so that when the stock is in, photographed, and ready to sell, you'll be better positioned to benefit from it.

Agreed. Use the time to make sure everything is ready to go efficiently and optimally.

Cianos

Thanks for the feedback on this.

The main reasons why I'm considering starting sales before receiving stock are;

• I am only ordering 6 units to begin with.
• I am very confident the manufacturer will supply me with good quality products. They supply the same products to my competitors, and I have been on the phone to someone who gave a good reference for the sales lady I'm dealing with.
• Competitors usually take about a month to deliver to customers for this type of product anyway.
• It's a seasonal dependent product...my sales will be effectively zero in Winter time so I want to get going asap.
• If there are problems, having to give deposits back to 6 customers wouldn't be a lot of hassle.

Thoughts?