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Ive always been interested in physical goods and have tried my hand at creating/selling things online over the past 2 years
With this new bag I thought it might be helpful to share some behind the scenes of this process in the hopes that its helpful for someone :) https://twitter.com/emmadmazhari/status/1348718996892262402
Ive always been interested in physical goods and have tried my hand at creating/selling things online over the past 2 years
With this new bag I thought it might be helpful to share some behind the scenes of this process in the hopes that its helpful for someone :) https://twitter.com/emmadmazhari/status/1348718996892262402
starting with maybe the most interesting thing: here is a some screenshots of my sales & rev from the past 30 days. 45 orders ended up being ~65 bags
Product //
I sourced my bag from Baggu this time around. I specifically wanted to use Baggu but in the past have used local SF suppliers for some projects. Baggu handled all of the printing & custom work on this project but my backup plan was to buy supply from Baggu and-
I sourced my bag from Baggu this time around. I specifically wanted to use Baggu but in the past have used local SF suppliers for some projects. Baggu handled all of the printing & custom work on this project but my backup plan was to buy supply from Baggu and-
-take it to a local printing shop. I ordered 100 bags and it ended up being $870
Was initially planning on just getting 50 (Baggu has a min of 100 bags/order but i've found that if you ask nicely people are often willing to make exceptions) but changed my mind last minute to 100
Was initially planning on just getting 50 (Baggu has a min of 100 bags/order but i've found that if you ask nicely people are often willing to make exceptions) but changed my mind last minute to 100
Cost & Inventory //
Here is my extremely janky spreadsheet for how I kept track of all of my costs. I'll caveat that this project was not really about making a huge profit for me, so that colored a lot of my decisions
Here is my extremely janky spreadsheet for how I kept track of all of my costs. I'll caveat that this project was not really about making a huge profit for me, so that colored a lot of my decisions
I felt confident that i could sell at least 50 bags, so i wanted to find a price that would let me break even at that #. I also wanted to keep the price low. Thats how i landed at $25 (with shipping)
Also, out of 100 bags - i gave about 15 away for free, 10 away at cost
Also, out of 100 bags - i gave about 15 away for free, 10 away at cost
Shipping //
I use ShippingEasy to handle all my shipping. It was super simple to use, all you need to do it is enter shipping addresses and buy labels
I also learned (from tiktok lol) that you can get a thermal label printer from UPS for (essentially) free. Extremely recommend
I use ShippingEasy to handle all my shipping. It was super simple to use, all you need to do it is enter shipping addresses and buy labels
I also learned (from tiktok lol) that you can get a thermal label printer from UPS for (essentially) free. Extremely recommend
Store//
I ended up using BigCartel for my online store. My options were 1) build something from scratch 2) use something like Shopify 3) use something like BigCartel. I went with BigCartel because i only had one product and didn't want to spend time doing a lot of custom--
I ended up using BigCartel for my online store. My options were 1) build something from scratch 2) use something like Shopify 3) use something like BigCartel. I went with BigCartel because i only had one product and didn't want to spend time doing a lot of custom--
-building when i didn't need to. Shopify is great but (personally) it was too much for just a simple one product store. You do miss out on a lot by not using Shopify (better integrations + tooling) but it wasn't as worth it to me at the time
Random Notes//
i'll caveat that the goal of this project was never make a huge profit so that colored a lot of my decisions. Generally (and there is no data for this) ive found that being accommodating and giving with your work has higher returns than not. I went out of my way-
i'll caveat that the goal of this project was never make a huge profit so that colored a lot of my decisions. Generally (and there is no data for this) ive found that being accommodating and giving with your work has higher returns than not. I went out of my way-
-to make stuff cheaper for friends, give out free bags, deliver in person when i could, ship internationally if someone asked for it, etc (even though all of these thing added to my cost). People always appreciated this type of effort and shared the bags even more with their--
-friends which helped me out in return. I don't have a way to quantify the value of this, but it felt net positive & important
OK thats all!! Sorry for all the tweets, but i hope this is valuable to someone! Truly happy to help & answer any questions if you have any, DM me!!
OK thats all!! Sorry for all the tweets, but i hope this is valuable to someone! Truly happy to help & answer any questions if you have any, DM me!!
