Guys…….
Can I be vulnerable with you?………
I’m honestly getting really, really discouraged, and I’m starting to wonder why I ever thought starting AVF was a good idea.
I figured out the reason why things haven’t gone anywhere and it mainly has to do with suppliers. In order to go through a supplier, I would need direct-to-consumer fulfillment, because I cannot drive and it wouldn’t be possible to go to the post office and mail albums after they came to me.
I understand that Shopify users strongly disappoint of Dropshipping items, but for the reason I just listed above, that is why it would be the best option for me.
So right now I really don’t know what to do. Do I just give up on AVF all together? Or do I try to start something else so I can build up the income to be able to pay for the direct to consumer fulfillment?
Guys I honestly feel like all the heart and work I’ve put into this is just………
I don’t want to say pointless, but it doesn’t feel like anything right now………
@aliasmith You dont have to go to the post office. Carriers come to you. USPS will collect parcels from your door for free, you book it online and they take them when they deliver your normal mail. UPS and FedEx do pickups as well, and its the same most places, Royal Mail, Canada Post and the rest. You print the label at home, stick it on the mailer, leave it out.
So not being able to drive doesnt rule out holding stock. It rules out one particular way of doing it that you assumed was the only way.
That matters, because the whole give up or start something else question is sitting on top of it.
On dropshipping, the objection people have isnt really to the model. Its to generic products nobody asked for, shipped slowly from nowhere in particular. Albums from an actual distributor isnt that. Thats just distribution, which is how record shops have always worked. If a supplier will ship direct for you, thats a perfectly respectable way to run it.
The harder thing, and I say this kindly, is that you still dont know whether people want to buy albums from you. Fulfilment is a logistics problem and you now have at least two routes through it. Demand is the real question and its the one worth your energy.
Cheapest way to find out. Take five albums you can actually get your hands on, list them, and try to sell those five to anybody. If they sell, the fulfilment side is a detail you solve on the way. If they dont, no supplier arrangement was ever going to fix that.
The work you’ve put in isnt nothing. You found out one assumption was wrong. That happens to everyone and its not a verdict on the whole idea.
I wouldn’t give up on AVF yet. If the only blocker is getting the albums from supplier to customer without you driving, the next step is to ask the supplier: can they ship blind or direct-to-customer for you, with your packing slip or branding on it?
A lot of suppliers will do that, and if they won’t, a 3PL or fulfillment partner can usually handle the outbound side so you’re not the one making post office runs.
When you first posted and I went to your site, the first thing I saw on mobile was a sign-up form. And I understand just starting, trying things out. But not much later you said “we are open now”, and I checked again and it was password protected.
So I really think you should just take a step back, binge watch some YouTube, and just spend some time online looking at websites, taking notes, and really get a feel for e-commerce.
Do some research. Is this really what you want? Or would you be better off with some other product or service that the world could benefit from? Or was this just a bad idea and it’s better to move on to something else? E-commerce isn’t as easy as people think it is, and it’s not for everyone. So it’s not about “quitting”, it’s about choosing the better path.
Hey @aliasmith, you don’t need to get to a post office to fulfil these yourself. Once you buy a label through Shopify Shipping, you can book a carrier pickup from your own front door under Orders > Shipping labels > Schedule or view pickups, and USPS collects free from a residential address on days it’s already delivering on your street. So print the label, tape it on, leave the parcel out, and it’s collected. Honestly I’d ship the first albums myself before paying anyone for fulfilment, since that’s how you learn what packaging actually survives the post. Book a pickup on your next order and check it shows as scheduled on that order’s timeline.
Hi there @aliasmith
You certainly don’t have to abandon AVF. The challenge of fulfillment is a business constrain and not evidence, the idea is a bust. I’d start by proving demand with a handful of products and suppliers that can reliably fulfill right to end customers. Keep your Shopify setup simple while you find out what actually sells, then use your first income to reinvest in fulfillment. You’ve already invested time and effort into establishing this foundation, so it may be worth tweaking the model instead of scrapping it altogether.