- Writing about Japanese candy.
- Making videos about Japanese candy.
- etc.
Doing this will attract people interested in Japanese candy, and will pull in potential and real subscribers. Over the long term I think this could be good. I also think the topic of "Japanese Candy" is big enough for you to write/video about it once or twice a week.
As for the service itself - I think it lends well to word of mouth, or at least it could. People get their candy and share it with others, and those others ask where you got their candy. I was a subscriber for probably 4-5 months, and at least two of my friends signed up because of my word of mouth.
Thing is, all three of us have unsubscribed - and for all three of us, it actually came down to the quality of the candy (or perhaps, it came down to our tastes in candy). I know originally (and maybe still) your thing was about sending people Japanese candy they can't get outside of Japan too easily. That's good and all, but in the end, after a while we all realized the candy itself in terms of quality / taste was hit or miss... and with subscription, you can't have too many misses before someone unsubscribes. I'd say I personally enjoyed the candy I got half the time, so I just unsubscribed because it wasn't worth it.
I think finding candy that people will like rather than candy people find different or original is much more important. I think that's the difference between gaining more subscribers naturally through word of mouth and losing subscribers.
At least, that's my opinion on it. I do hope you start revving sales up again, though. I loved the candy when I loved the candy, and I think it's a good idea, but between myself and friends we unsubscribed because we didn't always love the candy :(
I'm not sure how to only send the good ones, and that would depend on the recipient's tastes as well. Part of the idea is to try new things, so it seems unavoidable that as I go through all the varieties out there, people will not like some of them.
Some people don't like gummy candy, some really do. Some people are really into "construction kit" type candy, some hate the effort involved and so on.
Perhaps there could be a way to make the subscribers feel like they didn't lose out even if they got something they really hated, but not sure how that would work exactly.
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 already does this according the child comments - awesome!
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.
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.
http://member.ly looks great. I recently launched 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).
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.
I do get a bit of discount from them (5%). Mostly it's just really convenient since they save me a lot of time by doing the packaging on site. Maybe if I reached really big volume then it would start making sense. The price of product is only 23% of the cost even now. Shipping is the biggest one at 33%.
You should be targeting tech startup's kitchen staff with this. Imagine if the people who stock Google or Facebook's food pantries bought a bunch of subscriptions. You could also target campus stores at universities with a large Asian population.
I had heard of your service before and thought it was a really neat idea! I wished there was a service like yours for getting paprika chips in the US. For some reason, it is nearly impossible to get them here. At one point I even thought I'd start a service that regularly ships just these chips to people in the US/Canada. When I looked into the import laws though, I was very confused how to navigate through them. I've heard the people who did the Zico coconut water had to get rid of their entire first shipment because they weren't allowed to bring their goods into the US. Any suggestions on how to navigate these complex regulations?
Afaik if you send directly to someone abroad, you are not the one importing it, rather the recipient is.
I did look into importing a bulk of product to US and then shipping from a hub there. I got as far as the FDA page where I was supposed to register my product. The FDA site requires you input the code of the factory the product is produced in. I tried asking the manufacturer for the factory code, but they weren't interested in helping me.
At my scale it probably doesn't make sense yet, anyway. But since you asked, you at least need to get that factory code and fill some forms on the FDA site.
I love your idea and love candy more than you can imagine; however I found the service quite expensive and since I live in a big city I can find most Japanese candy in Chinatown (yes, there are some Japanese shops in London's Chinatown). I did assume the shipping pushed up the cost and it turns out to be correct. If I didn't live in a big city though, the cost probably wouldn't be an issue. Best of luck.
I grew up in SEA (South East Asia) and ever since I moved to Canada, one of first things I notice was the lack of high quality stationery and junk food - essential for any students. Naturally, Japan/Korea/Taiwan are the places to go for excellent craftsmanship.
Perhaps you could try targeting a different audience. While through sites like HN is great, try going for a younger audience. I grew up in the 90s, it was always fun to share and showoff something new in school (but then again there was no iPhone, or iPad etc) But I'm not so sure about today's teen generation's mentality, and their willingness to subscribe something monthly.
Joel's post was useful. I managed to avoid buying that $1000+ label printer they use. Instead I have a script that makes a PDF of labels and then I go to the convenience store, discreetly replace the paper in the common expensive looking copy machine with labels and print with that. Prints 300 labels in under 5 minutes this way.
We met at a meetup just before Startup School last year. I remember you telling me about your Japanese candy selling business. Glad to see you post an update about it. Best of luck!
You might try once a month. Do a poll and see how people would react. you have been so honest thus far, I think continuing to say that it will be very difficult to continue with the existing profit margin will allow subscribers to take a hit. Example: they pay $15 for one shipment per month. You will most likely keep most subscribers and potentially gain the cheaper ones who don't want to pay $24 for Japanese candy
Thanks. Having a video on the site has also improved conversions a lot. I suppose it gives people confidence in subscribing to see that there are actually people in Japan running this service.
Have you considering putting a phamplet in each envelope that people can give to friends who can try it at half price for the first month or so? That way you could get access to new potential customers.
You could also make it more enticing for people to give the phamplet to someone by rewarding people who have friends sign up.
Good idea, I should probably include something anyway to explain what the package contains. I could make a combined candy explanation + referral pamphlet and include that.
Have you considered offering a second "chocolate"-focused subscription? Things like green tea pocky, sweet potato kit kats, or even those little pocky-style mushrooms. After reading your post I signed up for the $13 sample, but $24/mo is a little high for me when I'm not a huge fan of the sort of candy you're mailing out. It would also hit on koichi's issue where some people are more concerned about quality than novelty.
For what it's worth, I'd pay $15/mo for one package or $30/mo for two packages - personally, the difference between $24 and $30 is negligible, given how much I'd already be paying. I currently pay ~$50/mo to have Steaz and/or other iced teas delivered (cheaper than going to Dunkin' Donuts once a day), so the issue isn't really price, rather it's the relative value compared to, say, $24/mo of drinks.
I tried sending chocolate before. It was an embarrassing disaster, the goods got delivered damaged. If I try that again I have to up my packaging first.
Have you considered the possibility of starting distribution branches? For example, might you save on shipping if you shipped via a single shipment to a central location (country) where your primary subscription base is. From there, mailing them from the central hub to the clients. For example, if you set up a US branch and then sent them via UPS or FEDEX to the customers. Obviously the shelf life of the candy is figures into this process, but if its mostly hard candy I imagine it probably has a couple months of shelf life. Maybe you could offer a 4 or 6 month subscription plan at a lower rate.
If you are solely relying on the site to drive your subscriptions - it could use some work..
1. High-res pics of candy and call to action above the fold.
2. Registration/Membership on-site not just paypal sub link.
3. Video is great, but it would help to have, sorry to be frank, less amateur shaky cam in favor of something a little more pro that gives me confidence in handing over money every month to a person out there.
You should also consider reaching out to daily deals sites with a "discounted membership" deal that could really move the needle for you.
I think this is pretty awesome, I'd love to see how this develops...
This guy is going to eventually run afoul of the US Customs and the FDA. http://bit.ly/w2XSMA
"Food that is sent to an individual in the U.S. for personal use (i.e. not for resale) by a business is subject to special requirements of the Food and Drug Administration. Businesses that send goods to the U.S. must file prior notice. Prior notice may be filed on-line if the goods are being sent through the postal service."
I'd love to work with FDA to make sure I follow all the rules, but so far they have ignored my emails. Perhaps I will try to reach them by phone some night.
Yes, I should seriously consider this. Again I probably couldn't send very big bulk amounts without getting the recipient in trouble with customs.
Another reason I haven't done this yet is that I would need inventory control again. I was running an ecommerce store once and it does add a bit of extra work to make sure you have every item you claim to have and to be able to pick and pack them efficiently. Basically need barcodes and labeled shelves.
[+] [-] koichi|14 years ago|reply
- Writing about Japanese candy. - Making videos about Japanese candy. - etc.
Doing this will attract people interested in Japanese candy, and will pull in potential and real subscribers. Over the long term I think this could be good. I also think the topic of "Japanese Candy" is big enough for you to write/video about it once or twice a week.
As for the service itself - I think it lends well to word of mouth, or at least it could. People get their candy and share it with others, and those others ask where you got their candy. I was a subscriber for probably 4-5 months, and at least two of my friends signed up because of my word of mouth.
Thing is, all three of us have unsubscribed - and for all three of us, it actually came down to the quality of the candy (or perhaps, it came down to our tastes in candy). I know originally (and maybe still) your thing was about sending people Japanese candy they can't get outside of Japan too easily. That's good and all, but in the end, after a while we all realized the candy itself in terms of quality / taste was hit or miss... and with subscription, you can't have too many misses before someone unsubscribes. I'd say I personally enjoyed the candy I got half the time, so I just unsubscribed because it wasn't worth it.
I think finding candy that people will like rather than candy people find different or original is much more important. I think that's the difference between gaining more subscribers naturally through word of mouth and losing subscribers.
At least, that's my opinion on it. I do hope you start revving sales up again, though. I loved the candy when I loved the candy, and I think it's a good idea, but between myself and friends we unsubscribed because we didn't always love the candy :(
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
I'm not sure how to only send the good ones, and that would depend on the recipient's tastes as well. Part of the idea is to try new things, so it seems unavoidable that as I go through all the varieties out there, people will not like some of them.
Some people don't like gummy candy, some really do. Some people are really into "construction kit" type candy, some hate the effort involved and so on.
Perhaps there could be a way to make the subscribers feel like they didn't lose out even if they got something they really hated, but not sure how that would work exactly.
[+] [-] dotBen|14 years ago|reply
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 already does this according the child comments - awesome!
[+] [-] fadys|14 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] radagaisus|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nwest|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] DanielN|14 years ago|reply
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.
[+] [-] stupakov|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmitriy_ko|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmerfield|14 years ago|reply
Although that wouldn't address your decline in subscriptions it would improve your bottom line.
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] karl11|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] geuis|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iqster|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
I did look into importing a bulk of product to US and then shipping from a hub there. I got as far as the FDA page where I was supposed to register my product. The FDA site requires you input the code of the factory the product is produced in. I tried asking the manufacturer for the factory code, but they weren't interested in helping me.
At my scale it probably doesn't make sense yet, anyway. But since you asked, you at least need to get that factory code and fill some forms on the FDA site.
[+] [-] vidarh|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shotinthedark|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] doorty|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brador|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justjimmy|14 years ago|reply
Perhaps you could try targeting a different audience. While through sites like HN is great, try going for a younger audience. I grew up in the 90s, it was always fun to share and showoff something new in school (but then again there was no iPhone, or iPad etc) But I'm not so sure about today's teen generation's mentality, and their willingness to subscribe something monthly.
Very intrigued by this concept though.
[+] [-] kpi|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pixelcort|14 years ago|reply
We met at a meetup just before Startup School last year. I remember you telling me about your Japanese candy selling business. Glad to see you post an update about it. Best of luck!
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] md1515|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MrJagil|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] draggnar|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] redslazer|14 years ago|reply
You could also make it more enticing for people to give the phamplet to someone by rewarding people who have friends sign up.
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whichdan|14 years ago|reply
For what it's worth, I'd pay $15/mo for one package or $30/mo for two packages - personally, the difference between $24 and $30 is negligible, given how much I'd already be paying. I currently pay ~$50/mo to have Steaz and/or other iced teas delivered (cheaper than going to Dunkin' Donuts once a day), so the issue isn't really price, rather it's the relative value compared to, say, $24/mo of drinks.
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] giberson|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] v01|14 years ago|reply
1. High-res pics of candy and call to action above the fold.
2. Registration/Membership on-site not just paypal sub link.
3. Video is great, but it would help to have, sorry to be frank, less amateur shaky cam in favor of something a little more pro that gives me confidence in handing over money every month to a person out there.
You should also consider reaching out to daily deals sites with a "discounted membership" deal that could really move the needle for you.
I think this is pretty awesome, I'd love to see how this develops...
[+] [-] raerae7133|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] svalley|14 years ago|reply
"Food that is sent to an individual in the U.S. for personal use (i.e. not for resale) by a business is subject to special requirements of the Food and Drug Administration. Businesses that send goods to the U.S. must file prior notice. Prior notice may be filed on-line if the goods are being sent through the postal service."
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sachingulaya|14 years ago|reply
kind of candy in the US. Consider importing it if only to raise your brand identity by getting it featured on novelty blogs.
[+] [-] sankalpk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bemmu|14 years ago|reply
Another reason I haven't done this yet is that I would need inventory control again. I was running an ecommerce store once and it does add a bit of extra work to make sure you have every item you claim to have and to be able to pick and pack them efficiently. Basically need barcodes and labeled shelves.