17 ms·

Show HN: Salsa subscription service

HombreSalsa.com is a monthly salsa subscription service I’m testing out. The site is terrible, I know. But it’s my anorexic version of an MVP. Hopefully I can sell some salsa while helping independent salsa brands gain some exposure. I’d love any feedback, both positive and negative. Thanks! Brandon

hobs 13y ago
Redefining SaaS.
- zachlatta 13y ago
  FaaS? Food as a service? Edit: Ah, I see. Salsa as a Service == SaaS
- brandonpindulic 13y ago
  haha, yep!
wrongc0ntinent 13y ago
Site probably shouldn't be live in its current state, might wanna consider moving it to a more private url. Edit: good luck.
- brandonpindulic 13y ago
  Agreed. It’s in pretty bad shape. I’ve thought of making a landing page and putting forth some effort in collecting emails, all while setting up a weekly newsletter about the company, behind-the-brand of salsa brands we endorse, and recipes. That way I can get the logistics and whatnot figured out too.
marcomassaro 13y ago
I used to be in this monthly subscription space..we did supplements though. How big are the jars? $30 seems a bit high.
- brandonpindulic 13y ago
  $30 is a bit steep for most salsas, although the thought here is that the salsa we buy is top of the line. I don’t see a reason for subscribing to Tostito’s salsa when you can buy it anywhere, so we’re aiming for family owned, authentic salsas. Jars are a bit larger than your average salsa jar. Examples of companies we’ve bought from: MyBrothersSalsa.com is where out first shipment came from. 3 jars + shippings was $26, so not much margin for us there. I’m also looking at GreenMountainGringo.com so I could potentially widen the margin a bit without skimping on quality. Lots of salsa brands to be scouted, and the salsa taste testing process is well underway!
  - marcomassaro 13y ago
    Got it. What you can also try to do is get smaller samples of Salsas from those companies. That's what we did with supplements - we got the samples and for the supplement companies we were another distribution channel / marketing opportunity as we had members who could buy the full size product through our site after trying the sample. So maybe its worth a shot seeing if you can get smaller samples of salsa so you'll have better margins. If you want some insight or help I'd be happy to answer any questions or chat. We did everything from getting samples, customers, shipping stuff and more. marco@masswerks.com
    - brandonpindulic 13y ago
      Great! I appreciate the help. I’ll send you over a brief email :)
pastylegs 13y ago
I think you need to add some information. Who you are, why you are doing this, where you are, what you will be sending a customer, how you will be sending it, the ingredients used and so on. Presumably anyone who is willing to pay $30 a month is already interested in salsa so play up to that.
- brandonpindulic 13y ago
  Great advice. I’ll see what I can do on my ultra-basic GoDaddy site that costed me a whopping $1.17. I may even setup a landing page, or just take the existing site and put some more work behind it. This may be too minimal even for an MVP, especially when offering a more luxurious service.
jkaykin 13y ago
Awesome! I have started working on a food subscription service as well! Curious Chocolate: http://curiouschocolate.com http://curiouschocolate.com. I would suggest maybe building out your site to be more than just a small landing page. Good luck!
- brandonpindulic 13y ago
  Your chocolate looks fantastic! I’m not a bacon fan, but I do love chocolate…and I agree. The site is pretty terrible. My goal is to just get some sales upfront and improve the site with the profits. I’ve gotten some sales, but it hasn’t been great. Much still to do.

hobs 13y ago

Redefining SaaS.

zachlatta 13y ago
FaaS? Food as a service? Edit: Ah, I see. Salsa as a Service == SaaS
brandonpindulic 13y ago
haha, yep!

wrongc0ntinent 13y ago

Site probably shouldn't be live in its current state, might wanna consider moving it to a more private url. Edit: good luck.

brandonpindulic 13y ago
Agreed. It’s in pretty bad shape. I’ve thought of making a landing page and putting forth some effort in collecting emails, all while setting up a weekly newsletter about the company, behind-the-brand of salsa brands we endorse, and recipes. That way I can get the logistics and whatnot figured out too.

marcomassaro 13y ago

I used to be in this monthly subscription space..we did supplements though. How big are the jars? $30 seems a bit high.

brandonpindulic 13y ago
$30 is a bit steep for most salsas, although the thought here is that the salsa we buy is top of the line. I don’t see a reason for subscribing to Tostito’s salsa when you can buy it anywhere, so we’re aiming for family owned, authentic salsas. Jars are a bit larger than your average salsa jar. Examples of companies we’ve bought from: MyBrothersSalsa.com is where out first shipment came from. 3 jars + shippings was $26, so not much margin for us there. I’m also looking at GreenMountainGringo.com so I could potentially widen the margin a bit without skimping on quality. Lots of salsa brands to be scouted, and the salsa taste testing process is well underway!
- marcomassaro 13y ago
  Got it. What you can also try to do is get smaller samples of Salsas from those companies. That's what we did with supplements - we got the samples and for the supplement companies we were another distribution channel / marketing opportunity as we had members who could buy the full size product through our site after trying the sample. So maybe its worth a shot seeing if you can get smaller samples of salsa so you'll have better margins. If you want some insight or help I'd be happy to answer any questions or chat. We did everything from getting samples, customers, shipping stuff and more. marco@masswerks.com
  - brandonpindulic 13y ago
    Great! I appreciate the help. I’ll send you over a brief email :)

pastylegs 13y ago

I think you need to add some information. Who you are, why you are doing this, where you are, what you will be sending a customer, how you will be sending it, the ingredients used and so on. Presumably anyone who is willing to pay $30 a month is already interested in salsa so play up to that.

brandonpindulic 13y ago
Great advice. I’ll see what I can do on my ultra-basic GoDaddy site that costed me a whopping $1.17. I may even setup a landing page, or just take the existing site and put some more work behind it. This may be too minimal even for an MVP, especially when offering a more luxurious service.

jkaykin 13y ago

Awesome! I have started working on a food subscription service as well! Curious Chocolate: http://curiouschocolate.com http://curiouschocolate.com. I would suggest maybe building out your site to be more than just a small landing page. Good luck!

brandonpindulic 13y ago
Your chocolate looks fantastic! I’m not a bacon fan, but I do love chocolate…and I agree. The site is pretty terrible. My goal is to just get some sales upfront and improve the site with the profits. I’ve gotten some sales, but it hasn’t been great. Much still to do.