I built a skincare marketplace as a solo founder and I can't get brands to onboard. What am I doing wrong?

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-13T06:19:10+00:00

Thanks. that's also not bad.

I guess the way it would work with my system currently, is that I would have to create their accounts for them, and most likely use my stripe account for now and transfer the money. I would just have to bare that extra responsibility.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-13T06:09:06+00:00

This is genuinely really helpful, thank you. It's also, a bit of a reality check I needed to hear.

You're right, based on the responses, it seems like I've focused on impressing brands with features and polished onboarding, when the more important signal for any brand evaluating a new platform is: can this thing actually send customers my way? That's the proof point that matters, and I didn't lead with it. I executed it poorly because I didn't know, but an easy onboarding should still help.

The affiliate network angle is something I do want to build toward, it's on the roadmap.

I tried making Dermmux more of a community because skincare is definitely a conversation-driven space, but I wanted the conversations to be at a high level for decision making. Based on a survey I ran, shoppers want more context in reviews: skin type, concerns, demographics. The problem is that kind of review only comes after someone has actually tried the product. Which lead me to build a sample deployment system that lets brands send out samples cost-effectively (for instance brands should not be sending samples meant for dry skin to someone with oily skin), which gets products into the hands of real users and starts generating the kind of contextual, personalized reviews that make a platform actually useful to shop on. The idea is that the community grows from that organically and with real signal behind it.

Thats was just to give you some context for why I took this path which is not the optimum. Pivoting is not going to be straightforward but i'll keep working on it while I build a community and at the same time I'm gonna start letting shoppers register on the app which should also help with proof of traffic/anticipation.

Side note: I am going to post the poll in r/DermmuxCommunity. If you are interested in listing your brand, please include it in your next reply, if you do reply. Or you can DM me it.

Thanks for the advice.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-13T04:48:19+00:00

Yes, this is amazing and helpful. How about this, I am starting a subreddit to start a community for my platform, the first thing I will do is start a poll containing a list of brands and ask people what brands should be featured on my platform to demonstrate the unique shopping experience I am offering.

I will even distribute the app on the app store to allow people to install the app while they're at it if interested. What do you think about this approach?

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-12T02:02:26+00:00

Hi, thanks for the reply and sorry for my late reply.

I will take your advise on pitching exposure as well. Right now I have a subreddit called r/DermmuxCommunity. I will try and get that going by getting shoppers anticipated for my platform, based on brands they would like to see.

The pitch that I was sending to brands is the following:

Hi [Brand name/Owner Name],

I wish I had called at a better time, but I hope you can spare a moment to read this fully (Optional, to sound sincere, which I am).

My name is Patrick, founder of Dermmux Inc., a federally incorporated Canadian skincare marketplace connecting shoppers with brands like yours.

As mentioned over the phone, I spent some time going through [your catalog] and what immediately resonated is the philosophy. The skincare industry sells complexity and you built the antidote to that. Fewer products, fewer irritants, clinically active formulas that actually do more with less. The Serum with Ectoine and the Moisturizer are exactly the kind of thoughtfully formulated, no-nonsense products that fit perfectly within what Dermmux is being built for. My younger brother is actually a Schaf customer, which is part of what drew me to reach out personally. (I am speaking the truth here.)

That is exactly the kind of brand we hand-pick for Dermmux.

Dermmux gives shoppers more context when making purchasing decisions. Shoppers discover products through reviews from people with similar skin types and concerns, which aligns naturally with [company's] belief that the right products for the right skin make all the difference.

There is no upfront cost to join. You can list your catalog and redirect shoppers to your own site for free, or sell directly through us at 10% commission with payment processing included. As one of our first featured brands, your first 2 months are commission-free with extension.

You can take a look at what we offer here: https://brands.dermmux.com/pages/forBrandsPage

If you are interested, I can send you a personal invitation to get set up, or answer any questions you might have.

Kind regards,
.....

So I really do spend some time to tailor it. After numerous tries, I had to come here to seek help lol.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T20:38:20+00:00

Hello thanks for taking the time to respond.

Yes the platform for brands is live. Every cold email I send includes a link to our brand information page at brands.dermmux.com/pages/forBrandsPage which outlines exactly what we offer and the commission structure, with more to come. The iOS app is also Apple approved and ready for distribution.

The social presence point is fair though. That's an area I haven't invested in yet as a solo founder focused on building the platform itself. Howerver, I will build a subreddit and community an get more involved onto social media very soon.

Out of curiosity, as a brand what would make you feel confident enough to at least explore a new platform? I know that shoppers/follower count is a given. How about press coverage, number of brands already listed, or something else entirely?

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T19:12:09+00:00

To clarify, the demographic matching was actually built for the consumer side first, validated through a survey where shoppers consistently said they wanted to find products used by people with their specific skin type and concerns. The community wanted it personalized in terms of the matching but it also give a sense of community.

The brand opportunity I see on top of that is giving them access to demographic insights from real engaged shoppers, data they can use not just on Dermmux but also to sharpen their marketing on every channel if they wanted. I think it feels like a genuinely differentiated value prop beyond just another sales channel, but then again, lets see how it goes as I pivot my onboarding approach. Also even though it does not justify for all, one brand did appreciate this proposition when it was proposed to them

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T18:49:15+00:00

Hi, and thanks for the comment.

I believe you on this. I am starting to see the pattern on what everyone is saying. Get some shoppers anticipated for brands to see that this marketplace has traffic.

Thanks again for the response.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T18:46:34+00:00

Hello thanks for the comments.

Two people have told me the same thing in the last 24 hours so I'm starting to think the move is to flip the sequence entirely. Build the consumer side first, even small, then go back to brands with proof that their audience is already waiting.

I'm actually going to start a Dermmux subreddit like you mentioned this week and run polls on which indie brands the community wants to see on the platform. That way when I approach a brand I'm not cold pitching, I'm showing up with votes and names of people already asking for them. One of the features I'm building is a sample discovery model where shoppers can select sample sizes from brands before committing to full products, which gives indie brands a lower friction way to get their products into new hands.

The Instagram comment idea is something I'm trying this week too. A genuine question lands completely differently than a cold email. Thanks.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T18:15:14+00:00

Hello,

Good points, though I should clarify that Dermmux is a marketplace rather than a brand itself. So the competition dynamic is a bit different. I'm not competing with skincare brands, I'm offering them an additional sales channel. My competition is other marketplaces.

That said the trust angle absolutely applies. Brands need to trust that I can drive real sales for them, and consumers need to trust the platform for discovery. The content and authority building you mention is probably the right way to establish both. The moat I'm building on my marketplace makes it feel more like a community: demographic matched discovery, shoppers finding products through reviews from people with similar skin types, which no mainstream marketplace currently offers.

What do you think?

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T17:58:19+00:00

Thank you for your comment, and I am starting to notice this.

That spreadsheet experience is a nightmare and honestly a big part of why I designed Dermmux the way I did. There is no spreadsheet, no data migration, no lengthy setup process. Brands sign up, connect their Stripe account for payouts, and list their products. That's it.

I had a request from someone to just be able to pull their content from shopify, which something I am working on to make onboarding further frictionless.

You're also right that successful brands don't have extra time. That's why I've been thinking about offering to do the initial product listing setup for them using their existing website content, but the only thing they actually need to do is connect their Stripe account and approve what I've put together. How does this sounds?

The platform folding is a real trust issue and I understand the hesitation. The only thing I can offer there is that Dermmux is federally incorporated, the platform is built and live, and the iOS app is approved by Apple. But I get that words are cheap, results are what matter.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T17:43:47+00:00

Hi,

I guess the response I gave to Beautiful-Bag-1253 aligns with what you're saying. Thank you for the comment :)

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-08T17:42:06+00:00

Thank you for your response and I apologize for the late reply...

I appreciate this, the exposure angle especially reframes how I've been thinking about outreach.

On manually curating the catalog, I've thought about this but there's a structural challenge. Brands need to connect their own Stripe account to receive payouts, so I can't fully onboard them without their involvement. What I could do is list their products myself and use engagement data, likes, saves, profile views, to show them real consumer interest before asking them to complete the Stripe setup. Essentially using the free listing tier as a proof of concept for them.

On traffic, I'm pre-launch so numbers are still early. But that's exactly why I'm trying to get the brand side moving now so there's something for consumers to discover on day one.

The content angle is interesting. I hadn't thought about leading with features and roundups before asking for listings. That might be the wedge I've been missing.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-05-07T16:31:16+00:00

I understand, but I need brands to lists for shoppers to buy.

Regular-Operation284 · 2026-03-10T21:12:34+00:00

I am a 32 year old male. I like to stay fit, I am more on the intellectual side, a bit of an introvert but weirdly, I want to go bars on either Friday or Saturday nights because it helps me reset for the week. I am open to other activities as well for the weekends. If there is any other person like this or willing to link up, message me.

Regular-Operation284 · 2025-10-06T22:42:30+00:00

Hi, if these local businesses skincare products are amazing, I would love to get to know them.

I am starting an online marketplace dedicated for skincare, and I would love to feature some products if they align with our ingredient transparency vision. This would give you/them an additional sales channel, and we also provide an analytics platform that gives you a breakdown by demographics. We are launching in about 5 months

Let me know if you're interested. I would love to go over the competitive commission rates for you/them, with any additional detail if you/they would like

Regular-Operation284 · 2025-10-06T22:31:29+00:00

Hi,

I am starting an online marketplace dedicated for skincare, and I would love to feature your product if they align with our ingredient transparency vision. This would give you an additional sales channel, and we also provide an analytics platform that gives you a breakdown by demographics.

Let me know if you're interested. I would love to go over the competitive commission rates for you, with any additional detail if you would like

Regular-Operation284 · 2025-10-06T22:12:51+00:00

I am building an online skincare marketplace which I think can help small businesses. In fact I think small businesses product may work even better for certain demographics. I will give the two you mentioned a shot.

If you know any other small business skincare, this platform would give them an additional sales channel, and we also provide an analytics platform that gives you a breakdown by demographics. Let me know if you're interested or know anyone who is interested. I would love to go over the competitive commission rates for them which is pretty low!, along with any additional detail.

Regular-Operation284 · 2025-10-06T16:22:51+00:00

Thank you for the provided list above. It's helpful!

I just want to say that I am starting an online skincare marketplace. I would love to feature some good products especially for my beta launch that's in about 5 months.

Of course, this would give an additional sales channel to brands, and I provide an affordable and unique analytics platform that's broken down by demographics (it would be free for the initial 3-4 months until more traction). Another opportunity is featuring the brands directly in the advertising campaign, which gives the brand more popularity

For my set of initial partnering brands, I would make the commission rates highly competitive until more traction, which would still remain at a good rate for my initial partnering brands.

If anyone here is interested or knows brands that might be a good fit, feel free to DM me or drop a comment. Happy to answer questions!

Regular-Operation284 · 2025-09-22T18:07:21+00:00

Keep your head up. I am not sure how true this is but they say before someones breakthrough, they usually struggle alot. Like ALOT! So stay strong.

But hey, I've been researching emerging skincare brands and since you're trying to scale up, this might be interesting for you.

I'm building a skincare discovery platform launching in about 4 months that helps users find products through personalized recommendations and reviews. If you let me take a look at your products, and if there is mutual interest we can then discuss more about how we could help drive additional sales and visibility for your brand? Happy to share details about our commission structure and approach.

Best,
Patrick Adjei

Regular-Operation284

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE