Please help me fulfil my destiny (or products sold on the internet).
February 23, 2017 8:34 PM Subscribe
Our small side-product/project went viral, and our previous international warehousing / mailhouse / fulfilment house isn't cutting it and nobody else is returning our calls or emails. Can anyone recommend any specific businesses that might be able to help - Preferably in Europe or Asia.
Here's a bit more context:
We have been making this product, and a few variations on it, for around three years. Three years ago, it was a minor internet sensation, so we went from shipping it out of our offices in Australia, to a fulfilment business we found on google which had a warehouse in the UK and US.
This worked out great until they just systematically kept messing orders up and other really annoying things. Then out of the blue, this product featured all at once on a bunch of different FB news pages and such, and got close to 100m video views, thus selling out of all our product and setting up pre-orders and new wholesale clients etc for new production runs that are almost complete. This also puts us in a position where we can *actually* change our warehouse and pick and pack solution to something that will hopefully work.
The problem is though - we can't seem to find an alternative. Here are some things we tried:
1) Blackbox - (The Cards Against Humanity Spin-off) - Paid 25.00 for the media kit and sent two emails, no reply.
2) Shipwire - Spoke to them the first time and was the most frustrating experience ever. Lots of red tape with customs - I think we were too small for them.
3) Amazon Fulfilment - Sent email, got autoresponder saying someone would be in touch, they never wrote back.
4) Shotput - Looking the most promising for now, but would have to be US only as their shipping costs to the UK are prohibitive.
5) Google Searches - There seem to be good options based in Hong Kong that can cover international shipping, but again - the whole shipping and logistic business doesn't seem to cater for businesses like ours, and again, nobody seems to want to return our emails for some reason!
We could of course take the path of least resistance and just send this out from Australia, but you have to keep in mind how EYE-WATERINGLY EXPENSIVE it is to post things out from here. Furthermore, it takes a long time, and most of our customers are in the US and EU.
Furthermore, while we don't sell 100 units a day or something, which seems to be the minimum for many places, we do sell enough to employ a full-time staff member to handle the project, and to make a small profit, so in the world of Shipping and Logistics, it might be small, but as a side project, it's a good thing that we want to keep going.
TLDR; Can anyone recommend a warehouse with pick, pack, and post services with exceptional customer services? All the rates are generally the same, we just need to find a place that can deal with a bunch of noobs like us. Happy to deal with one company who has warehouses in multiple countries, or deal with separate businesses in separate countries. TIA!
Here's a bit more context:
We have been making this product, and a few variations on it, for around three years. Three years ago, it was a minor internet sensation, so we went from shipping it out of our offices in Australia, to a fulfilment business we found on google which had a warehouse in the UK and US.
This worked out great until they just systematically kept messing orders up and other really annoying things. Then out of the blue, this product featured all at once on a bunch of different FB news pages and such, and got close to 100m video views, thus selling out of all our product and setting up pre-orders and new wholesale clients etc for new production runs that are almost complete. This also puts us in a position where we can *actually* change our warehouse and pick and pack solution to something that will hopefully work.
The problem is though - we can't seem to find an alternative. Here are some things we tried:
1) Blackbox - (The Cards Against Humanity Spin-off) - Paid 25.00 for the media kit and sent two emails, no reply.
2) Shipwire - Spoke to them the first time and was the most frustrating experience ever. Lots of red tape with customs - I think we were too small for them.
3) Amazon Fulfilment - Sent email, got autoresponder saying someone would be in touch, they never wrote back.
4) Shotput - Looking the most promising for now, but would have to be US only as their shipping costs to the UK are prohibitive.
5) Google Searches - There seem to be good options based in Hong Kong that can cover international shipping, but again - the whole shipping and logistic business doesn't seem to cater for businesses like ours, and again, nobody seems to want to return our emails for some reason!
We could of course take the path of least resistance and just send this out from Australia, but you have to keep in mind how EYE-WATERINGLY EXPENSIVE it is to post things out from here. Furthermore, it takes a long time, and most of our customers are in the US and EU.
Furthermore, while we don't sell 100 units a day or something, which seems to be the minimum for many places, we do sell enough to employ a full-time staff member to handle the project, and to make a small profit, so in the world of Shipping and Logistics, it might be small, but as a side project, it's a good thing that we want to keep going.
TLDR; Can anyone recommend a warehouse with pick, pack, and post services with exceptional customer services? All the rates are generally the same, we just need to find a place that can deal with a bunch of noobs like us. Happy to deal with one company who has warehouses in multiple countries, or deal with separate businesses in separate countries. TIA!
Response by poster: For sure - I just didn't want to have the post flagged for any self promotion. The product is a puzzle, and there are a few variations of it.
I'm sure someone caters for it, but after being majorly burned by our current partner, I'm trying to find a business through an actual referral, rather than through blind googling, which is turning up mostly businesses who are non responsive or that aren't a good fit for us. Alternatively, I might just be searching for the wrong thing!
posted by LongDrive at 2:08 AM on February 24, 2017
I'm sure someone caters for it, but after being majorly burned by our current partner, I'm trying to find a business through an actual referral, rather than through blind googling, which is turning up mostly businesses who are non responsive or that aren't a good fit for us. Alternatively, I might just be searching for the wrong thing!
posted by LongDrive at 2:08 AM on February 24, 2017
Here are a couple places you can try:
http://www.hashtagfulfillment.com/
http://www.shipoffers.com/
http://www.shiprightsolutions.com/
If you're having trouble getting through to any of them, PM me and I'll make an introduction.
posted by Spacelegoman at 3:18 AM on February 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
http://www.hashtagfulfillment.com/
http://www.shipoffers.com/
http://www.shiprightsolutions.com/
If you're having trouble getting through to any of them, PM me and I'll make an introduction.
posted by Spacelegoman at 3:18 AM on February 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
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It might help if you give us some idea about the type of product you produce.
posted by sardonyx at 10:19 PM on February 23, 2017