Just launched my Electronic Components Store and need the Communities Guidance - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:26:54 pm
content: Hello Community,I just launched my Electronic Components Store, Juried Engineering and need the Communities Guidance on Shipping. When a customer views a component in the store, currently the component is priced to include the cost of shipping. Should I price the components without shipping and have shipping calculated at checkout? What do you feel is more appealing? Thank you for you thoughts!Sincerely,Teresawww.JuriedEngineering.com

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:43:03 pm
content: I think you should put a few precise parts in the AtD and Amplifiers section, because what you have there is not appealing enough over using the internal components of an arduino. You covered the massively parallel data but not the precise data that way, it seems you only focused on parts good for making like a DAQ. There are some 12, 16 and beyond DIP AD converters that are easy to use.I would add 2 op amps, one that has high impedance, and one that has low noise.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:45:35 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on October 16, 2020, 09:43:03 pmI am adding thousands of components, to include various AD converters. My question is in regards on pricing structure. Should I include the price of shipping with the component, or keep them seperate. For instance should I have a BZX79C3V9 for $0.10 + Shipping OR $5.29 Including Shipping.https://juriedengineering.com/collections/diodes/products/copy-of-bzx79c15-bzx79-c15-industrial-grade-15v-zener-diode-500-mw-do-35-case-5-tolerance-2-pins-200-c-max-operating-temperature

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:47:14 pm
content: you have a 10 bit AD converter, the same as internal to most micros. Put a 12 or 16 bit converter there so people can experiment with high resolution data capture. Then anyone with an ardunio can get a 'upgrade' instead of thinking 'well its on my chip already, I don't need more channels right now'.24 bits is hard and specialized, but 16 is achievable and mostly unavailable. I think you need to figure out why people would buy those parts instead of onboard peripherals. 8 bit internal ADC is starting to get old, most stuff is getting 10 or 12 bits now, so that 10 bit chip is no longer a good upgrade that offers appealing capabilities to build a circuit with a external 10 bit ADC. Having tons of I/O is not that common, I think alot of people only want to play with one sensor.Almost everyone is going to be playing with arduinos. It's like hotrodding IMO.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:50:40 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on October 16, 2020, 09:47:14 pmI am adding thousands of components, to include various AD converters. My question is in regards to pricing structure. Should I include the price of shipping with the component, or keep them seperate. For instance should I have a BZX79C3V9 for $0.10 + Shipping OR $5.29 Including Shipping.https://juriedengineering.com/collections/diodes/products/copy-of-bzx79c15-bzx79-c15-industrial-grade-15v-zener-diode-500-mw-do-35-case-5-tolerance-2-pins-200-c-max-operating-temperature

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:52:36 pm
content: I think I need to see a much bigger sample size to make a decision because saving on shipping is great and sometimes you can take a little hit here or there and still make a buy appealing, but maybe others can offer better advice.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 09:56:29 pm
content: Agreed. A community consensus would be great. Would it be more appealing to see a listing for a 100 pack of Authentic Brand name 1N4001 for $8.00 + $5.29 Shipping = $13.29 or see the item listed as "100 Pack of 1N4001" for $13.29 and potentially be confused if shipping is included.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:01:44 pm
content: Including shipping means you massively overpay for shipping multiple items.Shipping 2 packs of 100 diodes doesn't cost double the price of shipping 1 pack.For my NZ domestic customers I have a flat rate shipping with just a few excepted products, I don't care if you buy a 50c switch, or a kilogram of stuff, one shipping price. Win on most, lose on some.For in international customers I use an order weight estimate (all my items have associated weights, so just a matter of totalling and adding some fudge factor for packaging and rate changes), and then calculate based off that.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:03:46 pm
content: Quote from: sleemanj on October 16, 2020, 10:01:44 pmIn that case, you would select a quantity of "2" and the shipping would be combine. But I see your point, if Shipping is included, you would overpay on multiple quantities of listings on "1" component.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:09:14 pm
content: Edit: I didn't notice you had acknowledged my point, or maybe caught it between edits.---Quote from: cjuried on October 16, 2020, 10:03:46 pmYeah but not when you are burying the shipping price in your products, as you are.I just checked it out on your site, this 1 pack of 100 1N4001 is 17.49, 2 packs is 34.98, so yeah, paying exactly double, which means that the shipping hidden in that price is exactly double, not combined down.That's what I mean, if you hide shipping in your prices then your customers overpay shipping if they buy more than a single unit of a single line item.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:15:15 pm
content: Quote from: sleemanj on October 16, 2020, 10:09:14 pmPoint taken and accepted. I am literally changing the pricing structure, as we speak, as I want to offer the absolute best value, to the customer, for authentic, genuine brand name components.

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:16:55 pm
content: I believe that shipping should be calculated at checkout based on all items and not included in price, for my 2 cents.Otherwise, I checked out your site and have thoughts on that as well. I tried searching for 1000 uF electrolytic capacitor, 1000 uF capacitor and got resistors as result ( I need to order some 1000 uF caps). Also, from a website perspective, you never want to put your phone number, 954) 300-905, in plain text because you will get inundated with scams and cold sales calls. The phone number should be a bitmap or jpeg. Robots are looking for phone numbers by the millions. Also, if you intend to sell worldwide, you need to add your country code to phone number (such as 1-(954) 300-905).Just my 2 cents...

author: WattsThat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:30:22 pm
content: I guess spell check wasn’t working that day. Out of basic principle, I avoid any online vendor that overuses adjectives to describe their core business. Especially so for banners with typos in said adjectives.IMO, shipping cost buried in the unit price is a complete deal breaker for any online sale. Even eBay fixed that years and years ago. Any $50 eCommerce template supports cart shipping weights and dimensions.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:40:21 pm
content: Quote from: WattsThat on October 16, 2020, 10:30:22 pmAll good points. I am in the process of unburing shipping and will work on the banner.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 10:41:18 pm
content: Quote from: tpowell1830 on October 16, 2020, 10:16:55 pmAhh, yes, another good point. I will make this changes!

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 11:10:10 pm
content: Including shipping makes no sense as you have no idea what else people will be ordering at the same time, sharing the shipping cost. For small items like components, the ship cost can be the same for 1x as 100xIt just makes your parts look ludicrously overpriced, so people may take one look and disregard your whole website. e.g. I saw 1x MC34063A at about 20x the Digikey 1-off price

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 11:15:12 pm
content: You have the 74HC14, but I think you should consider stocking the CD4093. You can use the four NAND gates in the 4093 as Schmitt trigger inverters but being NAND gates they lend themselves to more versatile operation.For instance, here are some collections of 4093-based projects:https://www.amazon.com/CMOS-Projects-Experiments-Integrated-Investigator-ebook/dp/B009O8KZ6Ihttps://www.electroschematics.com/tag/4093-circuits/

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 16, 2020, 11:16:07 pm
content: Genuine question - why would someone want to buy from you instead of Digikey, Mouser etc.?And though multiple images can sometimes be useful on things like connectors, is it really necessary to show TEN different images of an 8-pin DIP ? Could your time not be better spent elsewhere ?https://juriedengineering.com/collections/dc-to-dc-converters/products/mc34063a-mc34063-buck-boost-inverting-regulator-new-ic?variant=33113029378111

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2020, 02:41:33 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on October 16, 2020, 11:10:10 pmI agree and am making the necessary changes, as we speak. Thanks.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2020, 02:47:31 am
content: Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on October 16, 2020, 11:16:07 pmPoint taken on the pictures, people like to see what they buy so more is better was the thought process.Why buy from us rather than the big guys? There are times where we can come in less expensive, on orders, when you include the price of shipping the big guys charge. Not all the time, but sometimes, due to our lower overhead.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2020, 02:51:20 am
content: Quote from: ledtester on October 16, 2020, 11:15:12 pmYour right! But I do...https://juriedengineering.com/products/cd4093be-cd4093-cmos-quad-2-input-nand-schmitt-triggers-1?_pos=1&_sid=f90c18724&_ss=r

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2020, 03:47:21 am
content: perhaps a glass tube fuse will not be shipped in a kilogram of ESD safe plastic. Acceptable for anyone but the atomic energy commission. Perhaps the plating can be violated by a strong shock and cause corrosion, reducing the life time of a part, but it will likely exceed 10 estate sales before the damage can propagate, causing a switch replacement to occur in Neo Silicon Valley II hobby garage.It makes me wonder if that is a thing, worrying about ESD discharge on connectors and electromechanical devices. It does seem like a complete solution but how much waste is attributed to it?

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2020, 12:54:30 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on October 17, 2020, 03:47:21 amHey, what can I say, were over-achievers here.55% done with removal of shipping!

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 17, 2020, 05:53:51 pm
content: Some 16 hrs later........ Everything has been repriced.

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2020, 02:35:06 pm
content: Quote from: cjuried on October 16, 2020, 10:41:18 pmI just want to be clear, I want you to be successful at your enterprise, so I am being honest about my observations.I see you changed the phone number, but it is still text, good luck with the robots. Also, the search really sucks if all I can search for is "capacitors" and not zero in such as "electrolytic" or "1000 uF". As I mentioned before, this search does not work at all on your site.One of the most important aspects of running a business is to listen to your customers. You skimmed over my previous comment and only saw the phone number observation. I would have been a customer if I could have found the item in search.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2020, 03:39:34 pm
content: Purchase decisions for electronic components is driven by price but also largely on stock. If I want to build a board next week, I don't want to find out the components are on backorder.I also wonder why I cannot add more than 10 of a single IC into the cart, or then need to select multiple of them.Finally I would really consider your business implementation if on 1 hand you say there is low overhead, but on the other hand you're spending 16 hrs to reprice every item on the store. I'm pretty sure the large guys use automated systems to track incoming inventory pricing, add margin/overhead, add multiple price brackets, such they can keep overhead and mistakes down. All the administration and packaging time must be paid out of product margins.For example, I think the pricing for this part is incorrect:https://juriedengineering.com/collections/integrated-circuits-sockets/products/lm567cn-lm567-socket-tone-decoder-dip-8-new-icE.g. the LM567CN and socket individually can be bought for 1.95$ and 0.49$ respectively.Finally, to attract international audience, please look at the shipping options. I have never heard of FlavourCloud Express, and 32$ is quite steep shipping price. A nice feature I really like from the big guys like Mouser, is that their pricing is DDP. This is great for orders above e.g. 22 euro in NL, as those are charged with steep additional fees by regular carriers.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2020, 03:49:59 pm
content: Quote from: tpowell1830 on October 18, 2020, 02:35:06 pmThank you for your constructive-criticism. I am still in the process of making all the changes as I have taken all your points into consideration. It is a lot of work for a 1 person team, however, I am doing the best I can. Not being the greatest at search, seo, etc, I am learning as well. Thank you, again, for you thoughts, as they are greatly appreciated. I do need to figure out how to add an image in place of the phone text.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2020, 03:56:05 pm
content: Quote from: hans on October 18, 2020, 03:39:34 pmThank you, for all you insight! That you for finding the pricing error onhttps://juriedengineering.com/collections/integrated-circuits-sockets/products/lm567cn-lm567-socket-tone-decoder-dip-8-new-icas it has now been resolved. FlavourCloud is the Intenational Shipping integration I implemented which searches, in real-time, for the best international shipping rates and offers them to the customer (including duties and other potentially applicable customs fees).

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2020, 05:28:12 pm
content: Quote from: cjuried on October 18, 2020, 03:49:59 pmQuoteHmmm, Sounds like your weakness is web knowledge. You might try fiverr to find someone to do a little one off tasks to help you with the site, or there are other options. Find someone with website maintenance knowledge to re-swizzle your site a bit for these low hanging fruit that would help tremendously. Working an online store requires that you have all of these things worked out to manage things in an automated methodology for your own sanity, as well as the users. There are tons of people out there with this knowledge that should be fairly inexpensive and will take a lot of this drudgery off your back so that you can make sales and business decisions on the fly.Putting a bitmap or jpeg on the page is very trivial. Search has more to do with your parts database and how it is indexed, etc.FYI, if you work out more of these kinks, you will get business from people like me who do this as a hobby, as well as professionals doing this as their livelihood. I went to both Fry's in my area and capacitors and other components were sparse, as they are phasing out that part of their business. Needless to say, I didn't find my parts that I needed. I am left with Digi-Key or Mouser and if you can't offer the same level of pricing and service, as well as a clean website with some what of workable parametric search, the only reason anyone would buy from an independent online store like yours would be pricing and service. Your pricing structure would need to be much lower than the big 2. I would buy from you if I could easily find the part that I need and get it shipped to me at a reasonable, competitive price. Customer service would be incredibly important as well if there are glitches. Secure checkout is also paramount. Having stock is very important as well.Again, I am only looking at this from a customer/hobbiest perspective. My purchases would be sparse and probably less than $50 purchases. If that model works for you then you will find customers like me, if not, I can get reasonable service and pricing from the big 2. I would rather buy from an independent. If all of this falls in line for me, you will occasionally see me as a customer. Just being honest.

author: cjuried
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2020, 07:17:34 pm
content: Quote from: tpowell1830 on October 18, 2020, 05:28:12 pmI appreciate you thoughts and honesty. I am going to track someone down to knockout these bullet points, per your suggestions and look forward to the future upgrades.