Salesmodels for small pedal makers

[Pladask]

Yoyo! (Let me know if this is in the wrong section)

As a very small business it can be hard to meet both demand and deadlines. I wanted to ask what's your preferred salesmodel for small businesses. The main models I see is waitinglists, preorders (with and without prepayments), purchase-only-once-available-on-the-website. At the moment I'm somewhere inbetween the lather two. Another way to phrase the question would be whats the least stressful/annoying way for you to get hold of a pedal that likely never will be in "endless" supply?

[goroth]

I think Drolo's model is pretty good.
Make a batch.
Email with when it goes live.
Let folks go wild and crazy.

Then wait for dickheads to flip said pedals a week later at inflated prices. This is a good one.

There is some hassle in dealing with postage and what not, but what can you do.
The alternative is I guess selling via Prymaxe, but then your margins get shat on and you miss the connection to your customers, which at least for fledgling builders I think is desirable. But you don't have to worry about shipping and returns etc - that is their problem, which might be worth the lower margins.

[Kacey Y]

^ That's pretty much the model of every friend I have that's a high level pedal builder and it seems to work well for them. They will also do things like post progress pics of parts coming in, builds, etc. on Instagram, FB, etc., with reminders to sign up for their mailing list to be notified when they go live for purchase. Which sort of serves as a bit of viral advertising and naturally increases hype towards when they go up for sale. I have known people who tried it different ways and all seem to have gravitated toward that or having a time of open preorders, but that seems to be more stressful on builders. If anything personal happens to slow them down, they really feel the stress of making (or missing) their deadline.

[calfzilla]

I guess it depends on how you're doing preorders... Is it a set amount, or do you open up a preorder for a week or so, and however many orders you get is what you build. I prefer preorders or a wait list... I can see from a business standpoint why the batch system is much easier. It can be daunting to know you have 100+ more to build or have like 400 people on a wait list and you don't even know if you want to build specific pedals that long.

Batch system isn't bad... I don't really like the way some handle it, with a random social media announcement serving as the dinner bell and it could be at 10am or 11pm, but email notifications or a "hey I've got something that will be for sale at this date and time, check back for details" makes it easier I guess.

[Kacey Y]

I prefer when there's a lead up to batches going live for sale, with a specific date and time and occasionally maybe even a limited early buying period for say return customers or something.

[UglyCasanova]

post progress pics of parts coming in, builds, etc. on Instagram, FB, etc.

Yes.

Make a batch.
Email with when it goes live.

Yes.

[Jwar]

I personally like wait lists with no cash involved. Hexe does this, Toneczar does it as well as several others. It's nice because if I can't afford it when my shit comes up, it just goes to next in line (which there's a long line).

I HATE the email dropping sales. I always miss them, so for me personally, I find that is the worst way. Especially if I'm in a different time zone from you. It doesn't help me purchase if you drop at 3 am my time zone. lol

[repoman]

I am most likely to be enticed into buying a pedal from a small trendy builder if there is a email drop of availability like Drolo. This very much triggers impulsivity in buying. I am least likely to buy a pedal that has a pre-order with a tentative date or waitlist.

[Kacey Y]

I think some common sense and discretion is required for the email drop thing. Unfortunately you can't please everyone, no matter what path you take. So you have to pick some kind of direction that gives you the overlap of convenience for buyer and seller that feels right. Of course you can always try something and if you don't like the way it works out, do it differently the next time. I think people are understanding of that, especially if you get direct feedback from customers about it.

[Paul_C]

I personally like wait lists with no cash involved. Hexe does this, Toneczar does it as well as several others. It's nice because if I can't afford it when my shit comes up, it just goes to next in line (which there's a long line).

I HATE the email dropping sales. I always miss them, so for me personally, I find that is the worst way. Especially if I'm in a different time zone from you. It doesn't help me purchase if you drop at 3 am my time zone. lol

I assumed that as a long-standing and much-loved member of ILF you'd only have to message a builder and get them to put one of the next batch aside for you.

[Confuzzled]

Yoyo! (Let me know if this is in the wrong section)

As a very small business it can be hard to meet both demand and deadlines. I wanted to ask what's your preferred salesmodel for small businesses. The main models I see is waitinglists, preorders (with and without prepayments), purchase-only-once-available-on-the-website. At the moment I'm somewhere inbetween the lather two. Another way to phrase the question would be whats the least stressful/annoying way for you to get hold of a pedal that likely never will be in "endless" supply?

I think you have to look at what you can afford to layout upfront (parts wise) that won't break the bank and put you in a financial hole to start off with. Then figure out how many you can make over time (time how long one pedal takes from start to finish) just to gauge how you can handle orders if it's just you doing all the work. If you have something super popular like the judder you might wind up with a ton of orders and get backlogged, so utilize social media gauge interest and take a deposit (does PayPal allow you to hold money in something similar to an escrow account?) to cover your ass.

[PeteeBee]

All the sales models are good for me as long as I know the person is working on stuff, and all I need for that is pics on Instagram every so often. Whatever works best for you, and then take us along on the journey!

[sylnau]

I don't like wait list. I prefer to purchase when something is available and ready to ship. Else I might change my mind in the midle of the process.

[Jwar]

Heads up emails for sales are good but not just random drop sales. I fucking hate them and actually will avoid brands that do that.

[coupleonapkins]

I'll add to the chorus of preferring social media buildup leading up to available/in-stock ready for sale, as well as general waiting lists (sans deposit). Cooper FX does a great job of keeping people in the loop, I think, in and out of his shark tank, and on Instagram especially.