Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I'd like to ask for clarification of what's happened in the past.

Did you actually make any sales when the price was posted without shipping? Sounds like you had some tire-kickers but very few sales, with your explanation being that people don't want to pay 50% of the cost of an item for shipping. That's when you went to Plan B.

Under the free shipping model, was it inquiries that went to zero, and because you had fewer inquiries you feel that Plan B is worse than the original plan?

If so, that might not be the case. While I know that people try to put their lowest price out there to get customers interested, I think Web shoppers in particular have learned to factor in shipping charges when looking at the price of an item. It's not like the old days of catalogs. Having said that, I'd still probably go with revealing the lower price at the onset and the leaving the shipping charge to be added when they are making the order.

There are a lot of people who think that prices ending in 7 are most productive, so you might consider pricing the rack at $27 and then adding a fixed shipping charge of, say, $9 or $9.95, when the order is placed (sounds better than a double-digit shipping cost).

I really don't think it's your pricing that's holding you back, though, as bike racks are plenty expensive (https://www.bikerackshops.com/groupgaragestorage.htm), and I'm thinking the demographic who wants one can afford what you're selling.

I think your site needs to do a whole lot more selling...more copy, more photos, more everything. If you drive home the benefits, people will buy. For example, on your kudos page, there's no call to action at the bottom..."order now!"

I am also not 100% sure that limiting yourself to PayPal is the right approach. I understand that people don't need a PayPal account to make a payment, but (1) a lot of people still think they need a PayPal account to make a payment, and (2) PayPal does not make it very obvious that this is an option (they really want people to open that PayPal account).

The lack of continuity between the look of your site and the PayPal site is also less than desirable.

(Also, how do people find your site?)

In summation, I am not convinced that your pricing is what's holding sales back.

Good luck!

- Paul

Have you sent press releases to biking magazines? RV magazines? Urban living magazines and newspapers? Offered a sample or two to local bike retailers to partner with them?

Get some coverage with a local biking club by offering it as a raffle item for one of their meetings. When you give one away or sell one at a deep discount, ask that person to recommend your product to someone else as a favor to you.

Best of luck. This looks like a good product.

Just one safety question - can it be fastened to the wall to prevent a kid from pulling it over on themselves?

May I add another perspective please. I looked at your site and product. It looks nice and anyone with half a brain can see that it is a very very simple item. Very simple to copy the concept just by looking at the picture so if I live half way across the country, I may as well just go to the hardware store and but some steel rod or wood and construct something similar in my garage for $5.00

Your problem is no the cost of the shipping but the truly usefulness of the item.

In order to get the shipping cost into the price at $25.00 then you need to lower your manufacturing cost and or slim your margins.

Take a look at professional bicycling web sites and see what the price of a top class professional bike rack is. $1,000

You are shooting at the wrong market. The only consumer who is in the internet looking for bicycle racks is a bicycle enthusiast. If I am an enthusiast, then I am ready to pay the price and get a really good rack.

The average family has no interest in your product in any quantities.

Always work from the market first not from the product.

What does the market want or need and then design a product for what they need. NOt the other way around :))

Good luck.