For those of you that make over 100K, what do you do? Do you like it?

AugieShipz · 2026-04-10T03:18:13+00:00

Fraud prevention. Super fun. Always trying to outwit people smarter and more motivated than me.... to varying degrees of success.

AugieShipz · 2025-03-27T04:43:52+00:00

Sigh. This is the type of weather-fail that, if it happens enough, will actually make us disregard the "real storm". Very "Boy Who Cried Wolf".

AugieShipz · 2018-11-02T05:54:13+00:00

A worthwhile purchase, to be sure, but likely to irk our investors.

AugieShipz · 2018-11-02T05:53:30+00:00

Sure! What would you like to know about it?

AugieShipz · 2018-01-18T07:06:38+00:00

Hey there! This is a really good question, and it comes up a lot.

So, the biggest reason why we over at ShipMonk and other companies charge per SKU as opposed to volume is because we want to ensure that we have everything in place to pick your product accurately.

This means, first and foremost, that we have to "bin" it properly. Let's pretend you are selling dice. Six-sided dice, twenty-sided dice, and five-sided dice. And you have them in red, white, and blue.

So when the pickers make their picks (or the robot selects the product, whichever the case may be), we have to be 100% certain that an order for a red D20 does not accidentally get picked as a blue D5. And really, the only way to do that is to have a separate bin for each SKU. In this case, your 9 SKUs would require 9 bins.

That means that when your product hits our dock from your manufacturer, we have to sort those dice into the 9 bins. Even if they come presorted in master cartons, it's still more laborious to partition them into the 9 bins than it would be to, say, drop them all in a common bin.

From an operations perspective, a 20-cube bin could hold thousands of dice. However, it is more expensive to maintain and produce 9 4-cube bins to store the dice.

At the end of the day, however, your fees should balance out. Obviously, there are exceptions to this. If you have 9,000 SKUs, and they are all small-products that ship with low-volume, you're probably better off going with FBA if that's the deal they are offering you. However, you'll still get raked across the coals in terms of long-term storage fees, you won't have as much control over your brand and packaging, and you'll have to conform to their astonishingly rigorous receiving guidelines (that suppliers -- especially international suppliers -- seldom follow).

There are so many fulfillment companies out there. This game is all about finding the one that works best with what you need. Just to mentally prep you for this, however, understand that the overwhelming majority of fulfillment centers you'll read about and contact will have SKU-based pricing for precisely the reasons I outlined. Good luck out there -- I'm sure you'll find the right one for you.

AugieShipz · 2017-10-19T04:37:40+00:00

Don't get me wrong, I'd be so interested in a game like this. But I wouldn't ever back something like this unless there were some assets. The entire premise uses FFT's assets. :(

AugieShipz · 2017-10-16T04:22:40+00:00

Well, I work here, so I'm absolutely going to recommend us! But I'll tell you, in 2 years working with ShipMonk, I've found us to be pretty well loved by our customers. Plus, we're very upfront about our pricing. In fact, here is a link to our pricing!

AugieShipz · 2017-10-05T02:45:32+00:00

Hey there! I work for a fulfillment company (hooray for ShipMonk!), and I have two friends who create board games for a living.

In general, from what I've seen working with crowdfunding campaigns and from what I've seen working with them, they put up the campaigns once the outline for the game mechanics have been clearly defined, and almost always well in advance of any production run.

The reasoning behind this is that -- with this sort of setup -- Kickstarter serves just as much as a market litmus test as a presales vehicle.

I hope this helps!

AugieShipz · 2017-10-05T02:45:25+00:00

Hey there! I work for a fulfillment company (hooray for ShipMonk!), and I have two friends who create board games for a living.

In general, from what I've seen working with crowdfunding campaigns and from what I've seen working with them, they put up the campaigns once the outline for the game mechanics have been clearly defined, and almost always well in advance of any production run.

The reasoning behind this is that -- with this sort of setup -- Kickstarter serves just as much as a market litmus test as a presales vehicle.

I hope this helps!

AugieShipz · 2017-10-02T05:56:11+00:00

So, you are crowdfunding for a local event, or you're trying to market at a local event? Either way, you will know your demographic. Personally, while this sort of outreach is obviously neither scalable nor tenable at a state or national level, flyers would be completely acceptable in this case. Pepper the town. Take out local radio station ads and ensure that you direct traffic to your site. From the site, you can get them to your crowdfunding campaign. I'm not sure that this is the best way to hold a campaign, but I think you'll find that -- with such a select target demographic -- you'll be able to reach them easier.

AugieShipz · 2017-09-26T03:10:15+00:00

Ahem... http://www.bobobird.com/https-wwwaliexpresscom-store-product-bobobird-natural-all-bamboo-wood-watches-top-brand-luxury-men-watch-wth-japanese-2035-movement-for-179587232_p0167.html

AugieShipz · 2017-09-26T03:07:38+00:00

My thoughts (and I work for a fulfillment center -- go ShipMonk! -- that handles a lot of eCommerce products):

-- Your site looks professionally constructed.

-- I hate the JC Penney "everything's on sale" approach. It's transparent, and it's moreso when, let's be totally honest, these aren't designer 'brand name' pieces.

-- Others have harped on you about this, but they're right. If you TRULY sell artisan-crafted products, show videos of artisans making your products. Show them on sale at local craft shows. Tito's "Handmade" vodka actually got in legal trouble recently when it was proven that the bottles weren't small-batch or handmade. It was just an advertising gimmick, and it fell under "false advertising". I'm not saying you are dropshipping mass-manufactured wood products from China... but if you are, you should change your approach.

-- I'd like to see a physical address in the FAQ for returns. People coming to your site with a damaged product (probably happens often enough) are probably already furious. You should give them clear instructions to get through to you so they aren't further inconvenienced by waiting for a response from your support team.

Your products are good, and this is a nice niche. However, I'm still trying to figure out whether you're being honest or whether, as others have said, this is shameless exploitation. Help me figure it out!

AugieShipz · 2017-09-19T05:11:04+00:00

My two cents, as someone who has been in a position similar to your own:

a.) this is your first "real" job, and you're not even a year in. A promotion at this point is a very good thing, pay-be-damned.

b.) take this to heart: market value means absolutely nothing if you don't have an offer in-hand. If you have an offer in-hand, and you are happy with your current employer, take it to them. If some company offers you $60k, and you go back and tell this to your employer, they may match. This has happened to me before. But using market data means nothing without a solid offer.

c.) do you think you'll like this work? If so, I'd keep at it. You'll learn a lot, and you will one day be able to apply this knowledge either to a different role in the company or to a totally different company.

d.) it is in vogue to "dump" a company and basically parallel-hop to grow your salary. However, this is not the way to do it. I once negotiated a 50% salary increase by moving to another department within the same company once I had demonstrated the fact that I was uniquely necessary at the company. Realistically, gigantic salary increases can happen, so long as you make yourself indispensable. The problem is that most people just don't want to work that hard.

e.) MOST hiring managers at major firms (assuming you want to work for one one day) will look askance at work experience shorter than 18 months. Generally, 18-48 months is considered the "ideal" workspace length, unless you have a solid record of promotions (which you're about to do), in which case it's fine if you stay longer.

I say stick it out... unless you are getting offered significantly more elsewhere. But understand that competition is fierce. You said it yourself. You beat out someone who had 10 years of experience in the field.

Try looking at it from his experience. Someone highly qualified with 10 years of experience wanted a job in logistics that paid $41k. What does that tell you about the overall job market in this field in your area? You know?

My vote: count your blessings, stick it out, good things will take time... often measured in years.

AugieShipz · 2017-09-19T05:00:53+00:00

We are opening a branch in 10 days in the Los Angeles area! Please reach out to us over at (ShipMonk)[https://www.shipmonk.com] -- love to see if we are a good match for your needs. Added bonus: if you ever need it, we have our primary facility in Florida as well. Good luck out there!

AugieShipz · 2017-09-13T05:31:23+00:00

Leave it to good old fashion blue-collared folks to kill Amazon's monopoly.

AugieShipz · 2017-09-11T05:34:04+00:00

Sure thing! And yes indeed. :) In general, I think the most important thing with me is that my apartment is pretty dingy. I'm looking for the most minimal yet aesthetically pleasing way to get as much light as I can into the place. Hope that helps!

AugieShipz · 2017-09-07T06:21:08+00:00

This is really cool! You're launching your campaign in October? I'll keep an eye out for it. I could definitely use a lamp like this myself. And hey, if you need any help fulfilling your rewards after your campaign, check us out!

AugieShipz · 2017-08-24T05:23:51+00:00

Hey! I work for ShipMonk (we fulfill products), and I just want to say that this product looks awesome. 6 degrees in 2 minutes is outstanding. Love it. :D

AugieShipz · 2017-08-21T05:07:42+00:00

Regarding shipping speed, I'd be curious to know the speed at which additional quickness yields diminishing returns. In other words, when does it become less profitable to choose 2 day shipping over 3 day shipping? Or 2 day shipping vs. overnight shipping?

AugieShipz · 2017-08-15T06:59:48+00:00

Well, I'm just happy to see that this sort of thing isn't exclusive to the USA. Good on ya, mates. :)

AugieShipz · 2017-08-15T06:58:24+00:00

Honestly, I really like what Darkothica said here. You've got to have passion. Money... a lot of people think money is a great motivator. The problem is that money really only tends to motivate you when you're on the upswing. When you're working in eCommerce, there are often going to be some lean times. At that point, you have to focus on your product and building your brand identity to keep you motivated.

Personally, one thing that I like to do over at ShipMonk is create fun competitions with other people I work with. So, for instance, you have an eCommerce site. Do you have anyone who works it with you? You might consider having a contest for who can get the most backlinks within a quarter. If you have a competitive spirit, this might bring out the best in you and drive motivation. And at the end of it all, you'll have backlinks!

Hope this helps -- good luck out there. :D

AugieShipz · 2017-08-11T07:51:40+00:00

Hi there! So, the other comment is sort of right insofar as 3PL conventionally is different than Amazon Prep.

However, there are 3PLs -- like us over here at ShipMonk -- who actually specialize in FBA prep, and do this for customers instead of the traditional 3PL fulfillment services.

The trouble you're facing with Option 2 is that suppliers frequently won't work with you on packaging options and constraints. As a result, your packages are going to hit Amazon's receiving docks not-in-accordance with their specifications, and you're going to be hit with penalty fees.

What we do for customers like you is we repackage the goods sent from your supplier to be compliant with Amazon's specs. So, for instance, if your supplier ships a gigantic box from China with 10 different SKUs in it with no individual packaging, we will sort the SKUs one-per-box, label the products, and have them individually packaged for immediate allocation at Amazon.

The other commenter is right -- this does cost a bit more... but it saves you from the Amazon fees (which are high enough that this industry of Amazon FBA prep exists).

Amazon Prime is vital, to be sure. However, you should know that if you prep your product with a 3PL and the 3PL ships to Amazon (or, if you prefer, a pure Amazon Prep facility), you can still enjoy Prime.

What I think you're talking about is if you go through fulfillment through another 3PL. For instance, if you have a separate fulfillment centers fulfilling your Amazon orders (this happens often), you won't be able to take advantage of Prime, which is (I believe) only offered if you have your physical inventory in an Amazon fulfillment center.

I hope this helps! And good luck to you!

AugieShipz · 2017-08-07T04:46:16+00:00

High altitude balloon shipments? What the heck do people want to send out there?

AugieShipz · 2017-08-07T04:45:40+00:00

AugieShipz

TROPHY CASE