

How I decided the price for my Japanese candy subscription service - bemmu
http://bemmu.posterous.com/how-i-decided-the-price-for-my-japanese-candy

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danshapiro
As you grow the service, you'll have the opportunity to dramatically reduce
costs. You can buy candy in bulk, have it shipped by the wholesalers directly
to the US, and so on - there's no reason your costs shouldn't be just a few
dollars (for shipping) more than domestic candy prices, in sufficient
quantities. After all, most domestic candy is made overseas anyway. :)

In the interim, can I suggest the following for your customers grouped in a
single country (I'm using the example of the USA since that's what I know
best):

\- Find a friend in the states

\- Set the boxes up so they're ready to ship from your friend's city to the
subscribers' destination (you can do this with USPS online printable mailers
in the states)

\- Ship them all in one big box to your friend

\- Have your friend open the big box and dump the contents directly in the
outgoing mail

I think this would save dramatically on postage.

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dpapathanasiou
In the case of the US, you can improve this further:

Find a friend who lives near a Mitsuwa, JAS Mart, or similar Japanese grocery
(there are several here in NYC).

Have him buy the candy there in bulk (enough to fill all the US-bound orders
anyway), and use the relatively cheap USPS flat-rate shipping to send it to US
subscribers.

 _i.e._ , avoid buying in Japan (which is more expensive b/c of VAT) and avoid
shipping from Japan; the chain groceries have done the hard work for you, so
you can reap the benefits.

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muhfuhkuh
You can find the low-hanging of the Japanese pop snacks (Pocky, Yan-yan,
Koala's March) at any Asian market in a top 100 major US city; but you won't
find, for example, limited edition Soda flavored Kit Kats or Meiji Wintertime
Fuwafuwa chocolate or anything crazy cool like that.

That's where a service like this would shine, I reckon.

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dpapathanasiou
Are there candies sold only in Japan that I can't find here?

Last time I visited Tokyo I couldn't really see a difference (then again, I'm
not exactly a candy coinesseur).

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delackner
Dunno, I haven't been in a candy shop in the US in a long time. Do you have
choco-mochi?

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dw0rm
Very interesting idea! I tried to think of the similar in Russia, but came to
conclusion that there is nothing interesting to export subscription way, we
are consuming only country.

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blackboxxx
What about soviet pop culture art? magazines? Oddities?Russia seems like such
an interesting place, I would reconsider your idea.

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dw0rm
The Soviet era is over. In my home town supermarkets are opened in the
buildings of closed plants and filled with imports. Authentic Soviet artifacts
are rarities.

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joshu
I think the site itself should show a few pictures of the packages.

Also a small/medium/large subscription for comparison.

I like candy.

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fishtastic
As someone who also like random candies, I wonder if it is cheaper to just
order candies straight from Japan (Amazon Japan or maybe Ebay?) I am stealing
idea here, but that would be another way to get more candies.

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stayjin
Hi Bemmu,

I am not sure if this will be of any help, but I have noticed there is a
fashion trend among some young people, mostly girls, to dress like babies, you
know with ping dresses and stripped stockings, baby aprons etc. They always
seem to be currying some lollipop-type candy with them. I have seen them in
Tokyo/Osaka but it seems very possible that this trend exists abroad as well.
They seem to behave like a tribe, so they should have their magazines, events,
web-sites.

Maybe if you could get in touch with that tribe and advertise yourself
properly there, you may have chances of good conversion there.

~~~
hasslblad
They exist outside of the Japan too. It's called Lolita Fashion -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolita_fashion> They have lots of different sub
styles - Gothic Lolitas, Sweet Lolitas. Generally from what I understand
they're their own sub culture outside of Japan, but they're not uncommon at
anime / manga events. The retailers at these events already sell Japanese
sweets, even the seasonal and limited edition ones. In the US JBox.com – and
their NSFW parent company JList.com are probably the biggest retailer of such
candies in anime / manga fandom.

JList buy candy in bulk from wholesalers and advertise heavily to anime and
manga fans. They have a generous affiliate banner ad scheme too, which means
lots of sites link to them. As Candy Japan expands I imagine JList would be a
primary competitor for selling Japanese Candy. They already have the market
share and infrastructure in place, with offices in Japan and the US. I'm sure
there is plenty of room for competition, but I'd be aware of them as a
business rival in this market.

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ZipCordManiac
I'd sign up but none of the candy listed seems very unique or special, it
seems like stuff you could pick up at your local Asian grocery. I think if
people had a bit more of an idea what they were actually getting they would be
more interested in putting down $. I don't want to pay 4x what I would pay
here just so I could say it was 'shipped from Japan'.

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glimcat
The fact that it's a recurring charge alters the economics. You could probably
reduce costs considerably by sending fewer international shipments and
distributing locally from there.

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creativeone
Anything from Israel that people might want to subscribe to? I was thinking
maybe wine.

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aw3c2
Connoisseur olive oil maybe. But at least where I live that market is already
saturated (with greece stuff I think).

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whichdan
I wonder what the price difference would be for one shipment a month vs two?

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SoftwareMaven
I bet you could cut the price to $15 for once a month and increase margins and
potentially sales (A/B test this one!) in the process.

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moses1400
love the idea!

i think one shipment a month is plenty... you don't want people to get
overwhelmed - this should be considered like a treat and will probably help
with shipping and labor costs too.

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platz
enjoyed this line: "This leaves a pre-tax profit of 3.39 EUR / month per
subscriber if I calculate it Groupon-style, totally ignoring marketing costs."

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derre1
Anything you may need from Spain monthly?

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nvk
Awesome! just signed up :D

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jsavimbi
I'm so tempted to use your service that I might give it a try, even though I
think the price is a little too high due to what appears to be a shipping
channel problem. I can get a lot of Japanese candy at my local Asian
supermarket (kiwi gummis and pocky) but I'd really be interested in seeing a
list of what goes in the envelopes prior to committing.

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lliiffee
My guess is that shipping costs could be reduced substantially if the number
of subscribers in a country/region gets very big: send one large package and
have them shipped individually from there.

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jsavimbi
Yes, I concur with your answer. Maybe start serving one location first and
them expanding to others once you have a working system in place.

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Qa8BBatwHxK8Pu
Living in Japan here, WHY on earth does this make sense to the "180"?

