Adult Product Online Store Purchase Options

[BedBuddies]

Hi,
I own and operate Bed Buddies, an Australian online adult products store.
Im considering adding a different pricing model option, and was hoping to get some honest feedback.
Currently, Im using the same old system as every other site, I buy the products at wholesale prices, put a markup on them to cover my costs and a bit of profit, then sell them as a retailer.
The option Im considering is to offer "subscriptions" or "memberships" (not sure what the right word is here) where people pay an annual fee upfront, and this entitles them to purchase products at my cost price while ever they are active subscriptions/members.
Any thoughts? Ideas? Would you buy from a site that has this kind of arrangement? It will take a bit to setup, as I will still need to maintain the existing pricing model for people who dont want to subscribe, so dont want to spend time on it if it isnt something people would take on.
Thanks for taking the time to read, and thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

[WildBrumby]

Interesting concept.
Do you ship from your own stock or direct from reliable suppliers? Cutting some cost by shipping from suppliers is how many EBay entrepreneurs run online business meaning they have no dead stock along with no shipping management or warehousing.
If you are the sole worker in your business it could become a handful setting up memberships unless you have a good automated computer model that does the discount at point of sale.
Great business model, I hope it goes brilliantly for you. Online shopping is really taking off now.

(Post note: Great website, will take a closer look.)

 

[BedBuddies]

Interesting concept.
Do you ship from your own stock or direct from reliable suppliers? Cutting some cost by shipping from suppliers is how many EBay entrepreneurs run online business meaning they have no dead stock along with no shipping management or warehousing.
If you are the sole worker in your business it could become a handful setting up memberships unless you have a good automated computer model that does the discount at point of sale.
Great business model, I hope it goes brilliantly for you. Online shopping is really taking off now.

(Post note: Great website, will take a closer look.)

Thanks for your reply. I am fortunate to have a wholesaler in Melbourne who packs and ships my orders directly to my customers, so I do not have to manage the logistics side of this business. Although this frees up a lot of time for me to work on the marketing and business building aspects of the business, it does come at a cost.
I have many years experience in the IT industry, so have a great automated system for managing the integrations with my supplier. Likewise I would automate the membership setup. Im thinking of a tiered system, so that it caters for the less frequent buyers, as well as whose who would buy more regularly and benefit from a one time fee.

 

[WildBrumby]

Thanks for your reply. I am fortunate to have a wholesaler in Melbourne who packs and ships my orders directly to my customers, so I do not have to manage the logistics side of this business. Although this frees up a lot of time for me to work on the marketing and business building aspects of the business, it does come at a cost.
I have many years experience in the IT industry, so have a great automated system for managing the integrations with my supplier. Likewise I would automate the membership setup. Im thinking of a tiered system, so that it caters for the less frequent buyers, as well as whose who would buy more regularly and benefit from a one time fee.

Awesome, sounds like your on track. Yes the tiered system appears the way to go. All the best.

 

[mrys]

Interesting idea bed buddies. If a client is a frequent flyer (or f*cker in this case) there would probably be a value proposition there. If you are a once a year customer less so. From memory Adult Shop in the early days used party plan to sell as well as their bricks and mortar shops. Perhaps an enterprising person could pay to be a premium member of bed buddies and then sell your product at a margin to others?

 

[BedBuddies]

Interesting idea bed buddies. If a client is a frequent flyer (or f*cker in this case) there would probably be a value proposition there. If you are a once a year customer less so. From memory Adult Shop in the early days used party plan to sell as well as their bricks and mortar shops. Perhaps an enterprising person could pay to be a premium member of bed buddies and then sell your product at a margin to others?

Thanks for your feedback. Yes, the concept has merit for people who are both amateur and professional frequent f*ckers. That's why I would leave the traditional method for one off purchases. I tried to promote the party plan method, with essentially no success.

 

[GreatAnt1]

it sounds like a great idea, but definitely traditional one off method is a good idea, a lot of people probably dont buy THAT many sex toys.


tho i guess once you get started...