4 ms·

Happy to answer any Qs. Retail is def more fun than dropshipping :)

• shashanoid 8y ago
  What's your profit like?
  • kentf 8y ago
    Depends on how much I pay in shipping, but I aim for 25-35% of gross. Still lots of room to optimize.
• aphextron 8y ago
  Are there any decent self hosted Shopify alternatives at this point? Last I checked the best option was something old school like Magento.
  • kentf 8y ago
    Spree, it's a Rails Engine and def my fav for 3rd party hosting.
    • acconrad 8y ago
      How do you like that compared to something like Solidus? https://github.com/solidusio/solidus https://github.com/solidusio/solidus Do you know anyone who is in the e-commerce space for marijuana/e-cigs/adult? What are they using for payments?
      • kentf 8y ago
        PsiGate is the common gateway and Magento / custom builds are pretty much the standard.
      • winthrowe 8y ago
        Most of the e-cig/vape sites I've purchased from are running WooCommerce.
  • nachtigall 8y ago
    We have used WooCommerce for 4 years now and are very happy with it: https://woocommerce.com/ https://woocommerce.com/
• dagoat 8y ago
  Very interesting read. You work for the place you source the products from, right?
  • kentf 8y ago
    Yes :), but I can't buy them because we haven't launched in Canada yet.
• superfrank 8y ago
  Can you give some insight into how you choose what products you want to add to your site? What was your initial investment cost for inventory? How much inventory (dollar amount) do you keep on hand now? Why would a customer choose to buy from your site over someone like Amazon? Who is your target audience? Do you have any thoughts on Facebook vs Google adds (which you prefer, which drives more traffic, which drives more spends)? Is there anything such as a Shopify App, website, or service that you wish existed that currently doesn't?
  • kentf 8y ago
    Can you give some insight into how you choose what products you want to add to your site? - I use the products I sell, and I am diligent about only putting up ones that are actually good. What was your initial investment cost for inventory? - $8,724 How much inventory (dollar amount) do you keep on hand now? - Would rather not say here, DM on twitter :) Why would a customer choose to buy from your site over someone like Amazon? - Great customer service - Domain knowledge of the products - Fast shipping - Easy, no hassle returns - Service attitude Do you have any thoughts on Facebook vs Google adds (which you prefer, which drives more traffic, which drives more spends)? - Google will always yield higher quality traffic. Is there anything such as a Shopify App, website, or service that you wish existed that currently doesn't? - Great question need to think on it, follow up with me on Twitter @kentf.
• mmanfrin 8y ago
  How do you compete with people who list on Amazon?
  • kentf 8y ago
    Curated assortment, domain knowledge of the products, word of mouth, fast shipping, and fair discounts to power users.
• craftyguy 8y ago
  So what's the link to your site? (if it was in that medium article, it was not obviously found by scanning)
  • kentf 8y ago
    haha purposely didn't include it, didn't want it to feel too self-serving.