4 ms·

Candy, coffee, cigars, women's shoes/accessories... There seems like a ton of subscription businesses around and I almost feel there might be room to create a

by dotBen 15y ago

Candy, coffee, cigars, women's shoes/accessories... There seems like a ton of subscription businesses around and I almost feel there might be room to create a white/gray-label platform that can handle the website, subscription management, payment and shipping labels to potential operators of these kinds of services. Wondering how big the addressable market is. UPDATE: http://member.ly http://member.ly already does this according the child comments - awesome!

radagaisus 15y ago
god, we programmers love to abstract things.
- bemmu 15y ago
  Well, it could be like an Etsy of subscription services where anyone could easily start one.
- ehthere 15y ago
  'Just one more layer of abstraction and I can rule the world!'
bemmu 15y ago
Yes, that could be useful and I could consider switching to such a service if it was available. I would worry though about giving total control over my subscribers to some outer service that might hike up their prices suddenly. It would be nice though if someone else dealt with all the different payment buttons, subscription management and just wired me a lump sum monthly and sent the PDF for address labels that I need to print out for shipping.
- tstegart 15y ago
  Do you have any more options to reduce shipping costs? If its your largest expense, you can do more profit with less customers.
  - bemmu 15y ago
    I could use a cheaper sending option and that would really boost the profit. That would introduce an initial delay for the subscription start, but of course after that it would not be noticeable for the subscriber. One time I was experimenting with sending first package using airmail and subsequent packages simultaneously using the cheaper shipping option that was supposed to be 2 weeks slower. But in reality the slower one arrived first and the faster one a day later, leaving subscribers confused.
    - tstegart 15y ago
      Try switching a quarter of your subscribers to it and see what the reaction is. If its not bad, move all of them over.
nwest 15y ago
http://member.ly/ http://member.ly/ (no affiliation)
- bemmu 15y ago
  Looks great, signing up to see if this could make running Candy Japan easier or provide more payment options.
- irondavycole 15y ago
  I'm a designer at Memberly — this is precisely what we do. If anyone has any questions/interest, feel free to contact me (email in profile)!
  - dotBen 15y ago
    Asking here because I'm sure many people will have the same question... ...how much does your service cost? There's no pricing info on the site :/ Thanks!
    - irondavycole 15y ago
      Yeah, we're invite only right now so our sales & sign up flow is only given to people we let in. There's an application form if you're interested. The pricing isn't a secret though, just not advertised. Memberly takes 5% (like Kickstarter) and then Amazon takes their payment processing fee which varies according to volume but is typically 2.9% + $0.30.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - photon_off 15y ago
    On your website there are five subscription services listed. Is there any way to browse for more?
    - irondavycole 15y ago
DanielN 15y ago
How would you streamline the shipping process? It would seem that the next wave of movement to web services will be SAAS services that address larger business side services like shipping and piece-meal manufacturing, but I'm not sure how that is going to be done. /thread-highjacking.
- jonknee 15y ago
  Amazon does this. It works well from what I've heard. http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm#!features-and-benefits http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.... There's a full API: https://developer.amazonservices.com/gp/mws/index.html/177-6475764-6804761 https://developer.amazonservices.com/gp/mws/index.html/177-6...
  - bemmu 15y ago
    Actually I tried this. I sent Amazon one pack of candy and then shipped it through them to see how it would work and what it would cost. Had no trouble with the service itself, but it adds a slight cost for me since I have to ship to Amazon and then pay for shipping again. I sold a pack of candy there for $9.90. After Amazon's fees I got $5.60. Someone bought it from Amazon.com instead of me dispatching it through the API, which would have cost more. The cost for me to buy that candy was $2.05 and shipping it to Amazon cost $4.20. Of course in reality I would ship much larger amounts, but then there would be new fees too since I would need to clear customs and pay import taxes. Also it seems we have to attach some kind of label with a bar code to each individual candy because they don't have a normal UPC code so that the Amazon system can deal with it. Biggest killers for me from using this is having to clear customs and that they won't send you the money for your sales unless you have a US bank account.
    - deleted 15y ago
      [deleted]
    - moswald 15y ago
      The barcode you mention links your specific merchant account to the physical product's UPC/ASIN in order to properly track your inventory. Amazon can also handle the labeling of the inbound inventory for an added fee. (Disclaimer: I work for Amazon doing FBA Ops)
dmitriy_ko 15y ago
NetPlenish works on more or less exactly this idea: creating subscription service for delivering common products. Their service launches pretty soon, let's see how much traction it gets.
fadys 15y ago
I launched http://teapeat.com http://teapeat.com a little over a month ago. I like to call it TAAS: Tea as a Service. I've had a decent amount of signups since then, but it has leveled off. I hope to share what I've learned so far very soon.
- mdiep 15y ago
  As a tea neophyte, I strongly suggest that you add a link to recommended equipment for brewing loose-leaf tea. I have considered trying to get into tea several times, but could never figure out exactly what I should buy if I want to brew loose leaf tea. (I'm sure I could find something, but I only like buying things off of recommendations.) This could do 2 things for you: 1) You could earn some money off of an affiliate program. 2) People like myself who are new to tea are unlikely to subscribe to your service without some help. Tell me what I need to enjoy tea (include brewing directions if they don't come with your tea), and I'm much more likely to subscribe. I would specifically recommend that you recommend a single product with a direct link—not a type of product or brand.
  - fadys 15y ago
    Thanks. I will definitely do that. I actually thought about selling tea "equipment" through the site but for it to be economical I would have to buy a decent quantity. Using an affiliate program may indeed be the better option at this point.
    - a-priori 15y ago
      Maybe have a deal where if they pre-pay some number of months, you'll include that equipment with their first order?
  - white_devil 15y ago
    I'm still a bit of a newbie myself, but one thing to consider is how much tea you want to brew in one go. If you're drinking high quality, delicious tea, I don't think you'll want to settle for only one cup at a time. But the more you brew, the more leaves you need to use. It's somewhat counter-intuitive, but let's say you use one teaspoon of leaves for one cup of tea, you can't just steep the same amount of leaves longer to get one liter of tea. But you can brew whatever amount at a time, several times. I think the "10 - 15" times on teapeat.com is exaggerated. It's probably closer to 5, and even then, the taste kind of changes along the way. I brew something like 7.5 deciliters ( http://theoatmeal.com/pl/senior_year/science http://theoatmeal.com/pl/senior_year/science ) of tea at a time, and that gives me roughly three nice-sized cups. But I need to use roughly four teaspoons of leaves for that. If you want to get serious about enjoying high quality tea (and who wouldn't!), you might want to invest in a water-boiler that lets you set the temperature. Almost no quality tea can be brewed at 100C. For Japanese sencha (my favourite type of tea), it appears that roughly 70C is good, which just so happens to be the temperature I get from my water boiler when I ask for 80C. A lucky coincidence. Another choice you need to make is the kind of teapot you'll use. A glass pot looks pretty with your lovely green tea in it, but will break into pieces when it slips from your hands when you're washing it. True story. A stainless steel pot won't break, and will keep your tea warm for a long time. Then there are other kinds, like cast-iron pots, ceramic ones, etc. I've got a steel pot now, and I'm quite happy with it.
stupakov 15y ago
http://member.ly http://member.ly looks great. I recently launched http://sockpanda.com http://sockpanda.com, and this would have been great to have when we started out. I wonder whether their choice of payment processor (Amazon) vs. PayPal/Stripe/etc has any effect on conversions. Also I'm curious if anyone has tested whether offering only the set-it-and-forget-it option like candyjapan and sockpanda do (and not having a finite-term subscription options like the member.ly sites) might get the average subscriber to stay on longer (people get used to receiving the items and don't bother to cancel).

by dotBen 15y ago

radagaisus 15y ago

god, we programmers love to abstract things.

bemmu 15y ago
Well, it could be like an Etsy of subscription services where anyone could easily start one.
ehthere 15y ago
'Just one more layer of abstraction and I can rule the world!'

bemmu 15y ago

Yes, that could be useful and I could consider switching to such a service if it was available. I would worry though about giving total control over my subscribers to some outer service that might hike up their prices suddenly. It would be nice though if someone else dealt with all the different payment buttons, subscription management and just wired me a lump sum monthly and sent the PDF for address labels that I need to print out for shipping.

tstegart 15y ago
Do you have any more options to reduce shipping costs? If its your largest expense, you can do more profit with less customers.
- bemmu 15y ago
  I could use a cheaper sending option and that would really boost the profit. That would introduce an initial delay for the subscription start, but of course after that it would not be noticeable for the subscriber. One time I was experimenting with sending first package using airmail and subsequent packages simultaneously using the cheaper shipping option that was supposed to be 2 weeks slower. But in reality the slower one arrived first and the faster one a day later, leaving subscribers confused.
  - tstegart 15y ago
    Try switching a quarter of your subscribers to it and see what the reaction is. If its not bad, move all of them over.

nwest 15y ago

http://member.ly/ http://member.ly/ (no affiliation)

bemmu 15y ago
Looks great, signing up to see if this could make running Candy Japan easier or provide more payment options.
irondavycole 15y ago
I'm a designer at Memberly — this is precisely what we do. If anyone has any questions/interest, feel free to contact me (email in profile)!
- dotBen 15y ago
  Asking here because I'm sure many people will have the same question... ...how much does your service cost? There's no pricing info on the site :/ Thanks!
  - irondavycole 15y ago
    Yeah, we're invite only right now so our sales & sign up flow is only given to people we let in. There's an application form if you're interested. The pricing isn't a secret though, just not advertised. Memberly takes 5% (like Kickstarter) and then Amazon takes their payment processing fee which varies according to volume but is typically 2.9% + $0.30.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- photon_off 15y ago
  On your website there are five subscription services listed. Is there any way to browse for more?
  - irondavycole 15y ago

DanielN 15y ago

How would you streamline the shipping process? It would seem that the next wave of movement to web services will be SAAS services that address larger business side services like shipping and piece-meal manufacturing, but I'm not sure how that is going to be done. /thread-highjacking.

jonknee 15y ago
Amazon does this. It works well from what I've heard. http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm#!features-and-benefits http://www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.... There's a full API: https://developer.amazonservices.com/gp/mws/index.html/177-6475764-6804761 https://developer.amazonservices.com/gp/mws/index.html/177-6...
- bemmu 15y ago
  Actually I tried this. I sent Amazon one pack of candy and then shipped it through them to see how it would work and what it would cost. Had no trouble with the service itself, but it adds a slight cost for me since I have to ship to Amazon and then pay for shipping again. I sold a pack of candy there for $9.90. After Amazon's fees I got $5.60. Someone bought it from Amazon.com instead of me dispatching it through the API, which would have cost more. The cost for me to buy that candy was $2.05 and shipping it to Amazon cost $4.20. Of course in reality I would ship much larger amounts, but then there would be new fees too since I would need to clear customs and pay import taxes. Also it seems we have to attach some kind of label with a bar code to each individual candy because they don't have a normal UPC code so that the Amazon system can deal with it. Biggest killers for me from using this is having to clear customs and that they won't send you the money for your sales unless you have a US bank account.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - moswald 15y ago
    The barcode you mention links your specific merchant account to the physical product's UPC/ASIN in order to properly track your inventory. Amazon can also handle the labeling of the inbound inventory for an added fee. (Disclaimer: I work for Amazon doing FBA Ops)

dmitriy_ko 15y ago

NetPlenish works on more or less exactly this idea: creating subscription service for delivering common products. Their service launches pretty soon, let's see how much traction it gets.

fadys 15y ago

I launched http://teapeat.com http://teapeat.com a little over a month ago. I like to call it TAAS: Tea as a Service. I've had a decent amount of signups since then, but it has leveled off. I hope to share what I've learned so far very soon.

mdiep 15y ago
As a tea neophyte, I strongly suggest that you add a link to recommended equipment for brewing loose-leaf tea. I have considered trying to get into tea several times, but could never figure out exactly what I should buy if I want to brew loose leaf tea. (I'm sure I could find something, but I only like buying things off of recommendations.) This could do 2 things for you: 1) You could earn some money off of an affiliate program. 2) People like myself who are new to tea are unlikely to subscribe to your service without some help. Tell me what I need to enjoy tea (include brewing directions if they don't come with your tea), and I'm much more likely to subscribe. I would specifically recommend that you recommend a single product with a direct link—not a type of product or brand.
- fadys 15y ago
  Thanks. I will definitely do that. I actually thought about selling tea "equipment" through the site but for it to be economical I would have to buy a decent quantity. Using an affiliate program may indeed be the better option at this point.
  - a-priori 15y ago
    Maybe have a deal where if they pre-pay some number of months, you'll include that equipment with their first order?
- white_devil 15y ago
  I'm still a bit of a newbie myself, but one thing to consider is how much tea you want to brew in one go. If you're drinking high quality, delicious tea, I don't think you'll want to settle for only one cup at a time. But the more you brew, the more leaves you need to use. It's somewhat counter-intuitive, but let's say you use one teaspoon of leaves for one cup of tea, you can't just steep the same amount of leaves longer to get one liter of tea. But you can brew whatever amount at a time, several times. I think the "10 - 15" times on teapeat.com is exaggerated. It's probably closer to 5, and even then, the taste kind of changes along the way. I brew something like 7.5 deciliters ( http://theoatmeal.com/pl/senior_year/science http://theoatmeal.com/pl/senior_year/science ) of tea at a time, and that gives me roughly three nice-sized cups. But I need to use roughly four teaspoons of leaves for that. If you want to get serious about enjoying high quality tea (and who wouldn't!), you might want to invest in a water-boiler that lets you set the temperature. Almost no quality tea can be brewed at 100C. For Japanese sencha (my favourite type of tea), it appears that roughly 70C is good, which just so happens to be the temperature I get from my water boiler when I ask for 80C. A lucky coincidence. Another choice you need to make is the kind of teapot you'll use. A glass pot looks pretty with your lovely green tea in it, but will break into pieces when it slips from your hands when you're washing it. True story. A stainless steel pot won't break, and will keep your tea warm for a long time. Then there are other kinds, like cast-iron pots, ceramic ones, etc. I've got a steel pot now, and I'm quite happy with it.

stupakov 15y ago

http://member.ly http://member.ly looks great. I recently launched http://sockpanda.com http://sockpanda.com, and this would have been great to have when we started out. I wonder whether their choice of payment processor (Amazon) vs. PayPal/Stripe/etc has any effect on conversions. Also I'm curious if anyone has tested whether offering only the set-it-and-forget-it option like candyjapan and sockpanda do (and not having a finite-term subscription options like the member.ly sites) might get the average subscriber to stay on longer (people get used to receiving the items and don't bother to cancel).