WAHM Forums

Hi!

I am the owner of The Sample Market. We are a new sample bag company. We are different because we allow our customers to build their own sample bags.

I would love to feature some handmade candles on the site. Would anybody be interested in being a sample sponsor? We only require 10 samples to participate.

Let me know if you are interested.

www.sample-market.com

I might be interested in doing this.
What exactly doI need to do?

How long have you been in business? What kind of advertising are you doing? What is your target market? I noticed that you're website is registered in Hawaii... so how does that affect your shipping costs?

Thanks for your reply. Please visit our website and click on Sponsor Sign-Up.
You can read the FAQs and fill out an application if you are still interested.

How long have you been in business? What kind of advertising are you doing? What is your target market? I noticed that you're website is registered in Hawaii... so how does that affect your shipping costs?


<ul> As stated above, we are a new business, our Grand Opening is scheduled for March 5th. We offer an affiliate program so a lot of our advertising comes directly from our affiliate participation. We also network through various social venues--twitter, forums, and myspace. We will be purchasing monthly ads through various websites as needed. Currently we are advertising on www.momchats.com Our target market is WAHM's and crafters. To keep our shipping costs low for customers we will be shipping via USPS. FedEX, DHL, and UPS rates to/from Hawaii are outrageous. USPS does not charge anymore for flat rate or priority mail than any other shipping zone in the USA.[/list]

I meant your target market as far as... consumers you would be targeting who WANT the sample packs. As a person in business who already offers low price samples, I'd want to know the benefits of sending samples to your business. This is the question you will likely get quite a bit of, as in the past there have been several businesses of this nature that ended up being little more than fronts for freebies.

I meant your target market as far as... consumers you would be targeting who WANT the sample packs. As a person in business who already offers low price samples, I'd want to know the benefits of sending samples to your business. This is the question you will likely get quite a bit of, as in the past there have been several businesses of this nature that ended up being little more than fronts for freebies.


I understood your question and my answer is still the same. I plan to feature WAHM's and crafters and will also be targeting WAHM's and crafters as consumers. In the past most of my sales have been from WAHMs whom I've met through online networking for my direct sales companies. I find that as WAHMs we are all supportive of eachother in most cases.

I am a Rep for Spa Girl Parties &amp; Monet Minerals and have used other sample bag companies as a vehicle for distribution in the past. This is great way for me to reach new people because I do live on an island and there are only so many people to sell to here. I have even been an affiliate for one of these companies. My issue with these types of companies is that the consumer is never offered a choice in which samples they would like to receive and that is how The Sample Market is different--we allow our customers to choose which samples they want.

I certainly am not trying to get freebies if that is what you are suggesting. I'm more interested in getting my samples and the samples of others to new people. I also offer an affiliate program so that other WAHMs can participate and make a little extra income. By no means do I plan to make this a full time job or have hopes to make a lot of money. I do this because I enjoy meeting new people and helping them with their businesses as well.

I'm not suggesting that at all... I'm just telling you based on my experiences that you are going to get many business owners with that very concern. There are TONS of freebie scams out there right now, the worse the economy gets, the more scams that are out there. So expect people to question you thoroughly. My first concern is that your target market is the same market that most of us already post toward to begin with... so where is the benefit of paying to market to the people we already market to? See what I'm saying?

I think the point of this is to offer samples of products to people who may be interested in trying the product before spending a lot of money on something they may or may not like. Giving out samples is an excellent marketing tool. I see this as a chance to get a product to people who otherwise may never have heard of it. I don't charge for samples, I think it defeats the purpose.
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Edited by: satx728

Here's my two cents on this subject, even though Simplewrath has mentioned some very good points.

Giving freebies as a sample is a good marketing tool yes, but a very expensive one. The return on investment is very, very low, especially when sending in mass quantities in competition with other customers.

Think about it this way - let's say you give out 100 bags to consumers with 25 different samples. How many of those 100 are going to purchase anything? Not many, since those searching for freebies want freebies. Period. If you doubt this, hang out on a freebie forum for awhile. Some people make a business out of searching for free stuff and never once actually buying the item they've tested. Even saying 20 people out of those 100 will buy is quite high.

So let's take this a step further. Let's say 25 people out of those 100 actually do buy something. There's 25 vendors to choose from in that bag, so the odds are everyone makes one sale (which is also no likely, but let's go with it). Let's also say that your sample cost you 25 cents (that's $25 per the 100) and your customer spent $25 with you. You've just lost money because your product isn't free. And these are HIGH averages, mind you.

Instead of giving away free samples, we have something different set up. We advertise "free with shipping" melt samples where the customer can spend $5 for 5 melts. After our cost and shipping, we make pretty much nothing. However, we also don't LOSE money on that deal either, and our customers get a low cost way to try out the product. The return on this is going to be MUCH higher because not only have they picked US out alone to try out, but they've also already shown us they are a buyer and not a freebie seeker. Even still, the rate of return customer is still pretty low - about half will come back and buy. The reason? Most people were looking for a deal and found one. Even though they spent a little, it wasn't much. They pretty much got that sample for cost which is pretty cheap.

Now I see the way you have this site set up is for the consumer to actually pay for the sample. My biggest concern with this though is that the sponsors aren't making money off of this, or even getting back some of their cost. So really the ones sending in the samples still lose for the most part, and recovering the cost is something most aren't going to be able to do so easily. And I know just from offering paid samples on our own site that not everyone comes back and buys - not even close.

I also am concerned with the narrow market being advertised to. WAHMs aren't always consumers. In fact, if you would compare a regular group of shoppers to a group of WAHMs, the regular group would buy a lot more. I have always found the best way to gain real customers and visitors online is through SEO, which I see this site is not optimized in the least. Your average online shopper is going to use search engines to find what they want.

Sorry to nit-pick, but number-crunching is something I'm a bit obsessive about. As a business woman I can't just shell out freebies out of the kindness of my heart - there MUST be some substantial return in it for me, or I might as well not be in business, ya know?

It seems to me that whether the practice of giving free samples is expensive depends on what the product is. If you are selling jewelry or purses then this type of marketing isn't going to work. In my case, I can make 20 to 25 samples for about a nickel a piece. If I don't get any orders for my nickel, I'm not losing much money. I have been at vendor shows where I have given out 75 to 100 samples. It's a way to get your name &amp; product noticed. I have had people call after several weeks to order because they found my card &amp; sample in their car, purse, pocket, whatever and they remembered they wanted to buy something. The percentage may be low, but it's more than I would have had if I had not given those free samples.

As far as a "narrow market", the same can be said for buying banner ads, etc. on WAHM sites. I have never received an order or had a person join the company because they saw an ad.

My point is that giving out samples is a good thing and doesn't have to be expensive. Just go to one of the big warehouse chains on Saturday or Sunday. You can get a 5 course meal for free!

If someone wants to start a sample business and others want to participate, I say go for it. It will either work or not, but at least it's worth a try.

JMHO

If you are selling jewelry or purses then this type of marketing isn't
going to work. In my case, I can make 20 to 25 samples for about a
nickel a piece.


How do you make this many samples from a nickel? I wouldn't think a customer would be able to try out anything with a sample that small aside from getting a whiff, and I also don't think it's what the original poster is looking for.

The samples we give are full size that can actually be used, which is what I would want my customers actually trying out. When it comes to melts, scent throw and how long it lasts is what a customer cares about (in addition to the scent of course).

I don't make the samples from a nickel, I make them from a candle. (Just kidding, I know what you meant) So you use melts as your samples? I use grated candle wax which works very well to give the customer an idea of the fragrance. Occasionally, I will use larger pieces which can be used in a wax melter. I can certainly see why you wouldn't want to give away too many melts. I sell quite a few candles based on these samples, so for me it works.

Well that's what I'm talking about. I don't think tiny pieces of wax is what the original poster is looking for. I know I wouldn't want to pay for just a sample of the scent that I couldn't do anything with.

Regardless, I would be curious as to see what your return rate is. I just figured up some numbers today and I know we couldn't afford to give away real samples for free.

All I am saying is my personal experience with "samples" has been, what I consider, worth it. You don't agree &amp; I respect that. I just don't agree with making broad statements that this idea doesn't work. If I get 1 sale out of 25 that is one sale I would not have made otherwise. That one person knows 5 people, who know 5 people, etc.