I’d just got an email from my Chinese supplier telling me that the new samples were about to be posted off and that I’d get them early January 2016, which is great timing for me. But…
I ordered one of my own Amazon products to check that the new stock that had arrived in the Amazon warehouse was correct. My main concern was the packaging which was a modified box (the old one had spelling mistakes that I should have caught before I gave the OK), as well as an insert to say thanks to the buyer and also to promote a free ebook that they can get from my website.
I had some concerns about the new updated packaging because the supplier sent me a few empty boxes that I wanted to replace the packaging on some products that I have here at home. They said they had some left over boxes from my last order and sent them to me. They were however the old packaging, so when I inquired about the new design they said that there were no spares of this. This got me suspicous that the new stock was using the incorrect old packaging.
Lo and behold the Amazon delivery arrived and it was the old packaging. I am very annoyed to say the least because I have 1000 units with the incorrect packaging now and I spent a lot of time with the supplier getting the new design right. This is the 2nd issue I’ve had with the packaging so I’m not impressed. I’ve just send an email to them to express my annoyance and concern about their processes.
On the bright side the insert was in the packaging, so hopefully I will be getting more visitors to my website and ebook downloads (and customer email addresses). I’m not sure how I will proceed with the packaging issue, but I will probably just leave it and see out these 1000 units and make sure no mistakes are made in the next order.
From the 500 units I have already sold I have had no remarks about the packaging, and I expect most people will only glance at the text and open the box to get at the product. Even if they do spot the mistakes it is not the end of the world. I do however want to grow a brand so any negative impact is bad, and spelling mistakes points towards a bit of a shoddy company, which is something I am definitely not.
My only other option would be to get a load of correct boxes created and sent to me and to get Amazon to courier my remaining stock to me and then swap all packaging and get the units couriered back to Amazon. However this would be a real pain and if my supplier would not cover the costs (which I don’t expect them to) it will cost me a few hundred pounds. So, like I said I will probably just ride this one out and hope it does not reflect too badly on the brand and sales.
I’ll update later on this.
Cheers
Neil
*UPDATE – My supplier has apologised and promised to take photos and sent me everything and only after I confirm the images and products are all looking as they should will I pay and get shipped across.
I did get photo confirmation for my 1st order but I assumed I didn’t need to for this 2nd order. You should never assume and lesson learned.
Hi Neil
I hope to read more about your experiences with selling on Amazon in the future. I currently have a Shopify store (bit a mistake really as I wish I’d just stuck to WordPress!) but Amazon is also a platform that interests me.
Hi Tony. Glad you’re interested in hearing how it goes. I have heard good things about Shopify but I don’t have any personal experience. When I move into a more ECommerce platform instead of focusing solely on Amazon I will probably start on WordPress with something like WooCommerce rather than an external platform.
Why do you think Shopify was a bad decision? Does it not just rely on you driving visitors to your shop or is there a bit of a learning curve to use the platform?
If you have stock and are selling I suggest giving Amazon a go (as well as having your Shopify store). It is relatively straight forward to get started and I will definitely help out if I can if you have questions.
Cheers
Neil
“order and sent them too me. ” = “order and sent them to me. ”
#JustSayin
100% love your Toolset tutorials – thank you * 1000 for making them
The only way we learn is if people point things out 😉 – Another common typo I do is you instead of your so look out for these too (got it right this time).
Thanks, glad you like the tutorials.
Neil
Hi Neil
the reason I say I should have stuck with WordPress is that Shopify has it’s own language which I really didn’t have time or desire to learn. Because of that I bought an off the shelf template which doesn’t give me much design freedom I would like.
My thought process at the time was that WordPress (with types and views) would allow me to design the site exactly how I wanted it but Shopify would allow me to take payments through them without having to go through the procedure of getting my own payment processor.
In hindsight I think Woocommerce and paypal payments would have been fine just to get started and alternative payment processors could have been looked at when the site proved successful.
I’ve found a tool on Codecanyon for exporting Shopify products to Woocommerce so may do that between Christmas and New Year.