Not exactly a drop-shipper...?

[angelmask]

I'm trying to figure out if the service I need already exists somewhere...

My future muse is basically an assemblage of several different items that exist independently. What I need is a place/company/service which will recieve bulk items from two or three (or more) different manufacturers, assemble the items into a branded package, and then ship them on to customers/distributors.

Surely this exists, yes?

[sub8hr]

What you want is called a fulfillment center, not a drop shipper. It may be cost prohibitive until you are selling some kind of volume. I was hearing at some point Amazon was opening up their systems for people to use, but don't know the details. Might be something to look into.

[angelmask]

Ah! a fulfillment center!...

This is exactly what I was looking for.


Does anyone have any experience with any of the following?

http://www.efulfillmentservice.com

http://www.nfsrv.com/

http://www.unitedfsi.com

http://www.crosscountryfulfillment.com/about.htm

[kamakiri]

I know it isn't what you are looking for, but what you really need are sales. You will quickly find that fees and costs will eat up any profits and more that your muse will generate if you can't sell in volume.

In the first stages of your muse you need to do it yourself. Learn the logistics of what you are doing. There are many reasons you need to do it yourself, aside from the cost. If you can't find a few extra hours a week to do that work, you won't survive only working 4 hours anyway.

Focus on building your site, marketing, SEO, and adwords. Get up to a point where you are selling 20-30 units a week. At that point you can outsource the work cheaper than you can do it yourself.

[angelmask]

Thank you... that is a point I'm frequently trying to get across to my friends and clients.


But it is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm in sales currently, so I already know what makes a business work (sales).

And I do plan to do all that myself first...

But right now I'm doing initial cost research, and I need to begin with the end in mind.

That is to say... If the cost breakdowns aren't viable for later, then there's no point in starting the endeavor. If I find out that once everything is outsourced, my profit margins are too low, then that would be a huge waste.

On the other hand, if I can see where this is going, spreadsheet out the current cost (with me doing everything) and then the future cost (outsourced, but saving money on bulk orders, etc.) I have some reasonable plan of how to move forward.

So...

Thanks for the advice.



I really would like some feedback on those fulfillment centers if anyone has used one of them or another place.

[Frank]

But right now I'm doing initial cost research, and I need to begin with the end in mind.

That is to say... If the cost breakdowns aren't viable for later, then there's no point in starting the endeavor. If I find out that once everything is outsourced, my profit margins are too low, then that would be a huge waste.



If the profit margins are too low for you, why not just build the business and sell it? Other folks may have plenty of time to do order fulfillment and be happy to have a business of their own.

[kamakiri]

But right now I'm doing initial cost research, and I need to begin with the end in mind.

I don't think you got my advice at all, as you seem to have misunderstood it. Looking at the quote above all I can say is that you probably read too much Covey.

Here is an easier way to think about it. If you rent a car one day a month, there is no sense is renting $100 a month parking for that car. Yes a $100 parking spot is $3 a day and is very cheap on a per diam basis. It would cost 3 times that much ($10 a day) to park in a 24 hour lot. Even though the daily cost is cheaper, you are better off going with the more expensive per day option.

Beginning with the end in mind is good, but you need to begin with the beginning in mind as well, and you will never get off the ground making foolish decisions and gimping your muse from day 1.

[sub8hr]

For some reason I find "begin with the beginning in mind" very amusing.

[angelmask]

Dude...
I'm not going to start using a fulfillment center from the beginning.
I was just trying to work out some kind of game plan for where this might be eventually, and how much [time/money/hassle/sales volume] it might take to get there.



And while I do like Covey, I was actually quoting Ferriss (who was quoting Covey).

[kamakiri]

For some reason I find "begin with the beginning in mind" very amusing.

That is because 90% of the posters here with under 10 posts begin with living the Jet Set life, ignoring the steps the need to take to get there, then give up, when they can't take a 6 month mini retirement within 2 months of reading the first half of Tim's book, and yo have seen them all cycle through this forum.

[sub8hr]

That is because 90% of the posters here with under 10 posts begin with living the Jet Set life, ignoring the steps the need to take to get there, then give up, when they can't take a 6 month mini retirement within 2 months of reading the first half of Tim's book, and yo have seen them all cycle through this forum.

Yeah... actually in this vein, it seems to me what is sorely needed is a more detailed book or product about how to get something off the ground. Tim's book is way too generalized to provide a real battle plan, and most everything else out there focuses on people who have already reached some level of success. Sort of like the dating advice industry. Everything out there was about what to do after you're already in a relationship. There was nothing that helped you get into one in the first place until David D and his lot came around. There need to be more rank beginner resources.