

How to win with an online store (hint: don't sell things available on Amazon) - rishi
http://www.gettingmoreawesome.com/2011/01/how-squishable-wins-online.html

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citricsquid
"Their product is something that Amazon doesn't sell. It is unique and
different."

So surely they're creators of a product _first_ , an online store _second_.

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Umalu
Seems to me the product here is the "plush toy experience." It involves buying
plush toys while participating in a plush toy community. Even if Amazon isn't
selling the plush toys today, presumably it could do it tomorrow, and at
cheaper prices. But it will be a lot harder for Amazon to replicate the
community, and that is how this site can compete with a 900-lb. gorilla.

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wisty
They are also selling a brand. People buy Sony (I'd say Apple, but then the OS
clouds the issue) laptops because they like the brand. Reputation, good
configurations, good quality ... you guys know what a good brand should be.

One way to build a brand is to build a web store. You lose Amazon's
distribution, payment systems, data-mining, and visibility; but you gain more
brand recognition. You could also sell on Amazon, but that will take people
away from your site which may mean your brand loses it's uniqueness.

Face it, if you don't have a good brand and you are selling anything that can
be made in China, you can't expect any margins. Wallmart and Amazon will sell
the same thing cheaper.

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smokey_the_bear
I like Squishables site, and I love stuffed animals, so I really wanted to
love my Squishable cow.

But it's kind of an impractical stuffed animal. Hard to hug, takes up a lot of
shelf space and falls off a lot. Not quite as cute as I'd hoped. Though I got
my mom the giant squishable moose, and she loves it, even though the dogs are
terrified of it.

I'm especially a fan of how they make it seem like it's okay for adults to
love stuffed animals. So I'd order from them again, if they come out with some
less rotund animals.

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qeorge
FWIW, I just bought the giant cow beanbag[1] for my seven year old niece. She
_loves_ it (sleeps with it, carries it room to room with her).

[1]
[http://www.squishable.com/pc/giant_beanbag_cow/Squishable_Wa...](http://www.squishable.com/pc/giant_beanbag_cow/Squishable_Wardrobe/Giant+Squishable+Beanbag+Cow)

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smokey_the_bear
I hadn't seen that, it looks like they're moving into lots of different types
of offerings. I'll have to look around the site some more, since my brothers
have started providing me with nephews.

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Tautology
Those photos of people holding their giant panda while pumping gas do not make
me feel comfortable or normal about buying a giant stuffed panda.

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gregpilling
So the point is to make your own brand, sell it on your own site and then when
the big A comes calling ----- continue selling to them and on your own site
??? and make a killing? I have been approached by Amazon before about selling
my products. They are a distribution channel like anyone else. And they WILL
take your product and do it themselves if they think they can profit at it. I
personally know a guy that had one of his best niche sellers (but still kind
of a commodity) on Amazon get picked up by Amazon themselves. Poof. There went
60% of his sales. So be aware if you have a commodity. If you have a brand
name - like these guys - then embrace the Amazon ecosystem and hold on to your
hats. You will get lots of orders. Some manufacturers I know say that the big
A can be 8-10% of their sales.

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sciolistse
I've heard the same complaint from a client, adding products to Amazon, and
having them taken over.. Definitely a risk to consider when giving a potential
competitor all your sales statistics.

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brc
Here's my recipe: 1) own the product or the rights to the product - stay away
from commodities 2) sell something with low inventory costs and low shipping
costs. Digital goods are the best. 3) sell something in the price point above
$50 but below $500. 4) get good at seo and adwords 5) try and get featured in
blogs and magazines 6) ??? 7) profit!

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eco
Squishables has good customer service too. The nose on the hedgehog I bought
for my girlfriend torn. I emailed them and they just sent a brand new one (and
replied in their absurd but nonetheless amusing cutesy speak they use
throughout the site) No need to send back the old one (though I'm sure that's
because you can't resale a used stuffed animal anyway but it sure does make
things nicer). It was all very pleasant.

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StavrosK
Does anyone else get an "advertisement" vibe from the dearth of content in the
article?

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arn
"...You probably never heard of them..."

Define "win" :)

~~~
AndyParkinson
I believe win for many would be to quit their job and work for themselves
instead. You know.. Bunting to get to first instead of going for the grand
slam. I can see how you can bunt against Amazon and make it to first. Hitting
a grand slam? Not so much.

And selling squishy thingies is optional.

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arn
I would accept that definition. But I can't tell if the owners of squishable
have accomplished that.

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muhfuhkuh
Considering their clientele is passionate enough to send in video and photos
of them doing ridiculous poses with their squishable toys (and adults, no
less) shows that they do have a fanbase. The only other places that I know of
that has such outwardly passionate users is Threadless, who last I heard they
were making around US$40 Million a year selling t-shirts that they didn't even
design themselves; and ThinkGeek, which makes about 80 Million selling geegaws
and doodads for geeks.

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ambirex
Another way would be to do what newegg has done and build a deeper system of
filtering than amazon. There is no way I can filter certain components on
amazon that are common place on newegg.

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kevinpet
I'm not seeing the win here. I think it's not a very compelling product. The
message may be that they are so good at doing the store that they have been
able to sell the product despite the significant downsides:

1\. Small market for adult stuffed animals. 2\. Rather high price. 3\. Large
variety of product probably drives up costs.

If you can sell ice cubes to Eskimos, that's great for your marketing
department, you'd do even better with a better product.

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cd34
I'd rather have 10% of $10 million in sales, than 100% of $500k in sales.

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epoxyhockey
Since the product is made in China, I'm inclined to agree with you. Get a few
more Chinese factories to produce the item and start selling in volume with
retail partners.

If it were a artisan-made item with a limited monthly production output, then
going the exclusive (and increasingly higher-priced) route might be the better
option.

edit: typo

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paulshort
"How to win ... (hint get your unique product on Amazon)"

