im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
im kind of worried here.
i really want my product to be the best it can possibly be.
thats why im using:
-expensive shirts
-lots of elaborate designs/colors
-elaborate tags
-a very elaborate and creative way of packaging (my logo is the package)
if you add in the cost of shipping, and added everything else up, it might be costing me around $15+ dollars to produce and ship 1 shirt....
the other money i spend on advertising and photoshoots etc. is not my concern, to me thats just a necessary step i need to take...but what concerns me is if i am spending too much money to produce/ship each shirt?
if i plan on selling them for $30 each, does that make sense to you? i wouldnt want to increase it any more than that because people might think im ripping them off or something.
at the same time i want to make a first impression that will last forever with the customer and get people talking...what do you think? any business tips for me?
Re: im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
Be careful. Elaborate everything does not necessarily equal top quality. A lot of times simple and clean is perceived much better. It depends on your audience.
Re: im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gratz_The_King
im kind of worried here.
i really want my product to be the best it can possibly be.
thats why im using:
-expensive shirts
-lots of elaborate designs/colors
-elaborate tags
-a very elaborate and creative way of packaging (my logo is the package)
if you add in the cost of shipping, and added everything else up, it might be costing me around $15+ dollars to produce and ship 1 shirt....
the other money i spend on advertising and photoshoots etc. is not my concern, to me thats just a necessary step i need to take...but what concerns me is if i am spending too much money to produce/ship each shirt?
if i plan on selling them for $30 each, does that make sense to you? i wouldnt want to increase it any more than that because people might think im ripping them off or something.
at the same time i want to make a first impression that will last forever with the customer and get people talking...what do you think? any business tips for me?
I would suggest really doing an in depth analysis of your product costs, your pricing, sales forecast, and operating costs. A business plan would help.
If $15 profit per shirt on your first run of shirts covers all your costs (and you sell out of all of them), including operating costs like the photoshoot and advertising, then you're a profitable business. What kind of volume are you estimating? If its only 100 shirts, $1500 won't last long.
If your intention is to create a sustainable brand and sell it in larger quantities, it's most important to look at how you're defining your brand and positioning. Then, research and figure out how many, if your brand is successful, you think you can sell of each style. From there, do some research to determine how much your unit cost will decrease as your volume increases to your sales forecast. In theory, the more you make, the less each one costs. Analyze your profit expectations at that point and beyond...and make sure you're covering all your operating expenses and then some.
If you feel strongly about your product's quality and level of sophistication, you should really compare the selling prices to other comparable products out there, position your product appropriately, understand your customer, and target them appropriately. If you define and execute your marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) appropriately, it's hard to be seen as ripping the customer off.
If you're unsure of how the market will react to your product, consider your first "expensive", unprofitable run a test, a cost of testing your product in the marketplace. I would just make sure your costs go down if it checked at retail and you were ready to order in larger volumes. Otherwise, you might not be making enough money to sustain your business.
Re: im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
would you say that $2400 is a good price for 300 tshirts?
the tshirts are american apparel and id be getting them in white/black (maybe 1 other color). 200 of them will have 3 colors (4 designs -50 of each) and the remaning 100 will only be 1 color (2 more designs 50 of each)
Re: im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
It's your money. You need to decide. Unfortunately, the reality is that you won't know til AFTER you sell them. If you pay $8 per shirt and sell them for $10, it wasn't a good price. If you sell them for $20, it was a great price. That said, if you like the quality and you really want to sell shirts, you need to bite the bullet and make the purchase and go from there.
Re: im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
Only you can know for sure. Does your business model require a certain percent markup to stay in business each month?
If you sell all 300 shirts at $30, then that's $9000 in profit. So then it all depends on how fast you sell them. If it takes 6 months, figure out what that does in terms of covering your overhead and the rest is profit to either put in your pocket or get more shirts made. If it takes 18 months, then obviously that has much different ramifications on your overall business.
Re: im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product
Just a question here....is it necessary to have custom packaging for your shirts? If you have a great product then it should stand on it's own without the added expense of custom packaging. This could be a way to bring the costs down by eliminating this. JMO
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im a little nervous that im spending too much money to make a nice product 
