Question for my Soft Plastic Business Owners

[Chance_Taker4]

So I had a soft plastic business for about 4 years. I recently closed up shop because of frustration. I would bend over backwards for my customers and it came back to bite me. I would get emails almost daily asking if I could get a certain mold or color that I did not offer on my website. So I would go out of my way to get whatever the customer wanted. Then they would order a couple packs once or twice a year and I was left with molds or coloring that the masses were not interested in. So my question is, because I am debating on relaunching my site and opening again, do you go out of your way to make every customer happy or do you just send them to what is already offered? I was also thinking of different ways to combat the special orders either by charging more for them or putting a minimum order requirement for the order.

[J Francho]

People will pay for a custom color, and should.  Determine a minimum order that makes it worth your while, and possibly offer a discount on a very large order.

[Comfortably Numb]

Selling Soft plastics is tough these days. Too competitive. We all pretty much use the same molds. Some guys sell so cheap they are pretty much working for free. Add up your expenses and time and the $5-10 per hour you make is just not worth it to me. 

 

As far as special orders, payment in advance. And I would not order a speacial mold with out a contract for quantity made. 

 

 

[Chance_Taker4]

1 hour ago, Comfortably Numb said:

Selling Soft plastics is tough these days. Too competitive. We all pretty much use the same molds. Some guys sell so cheap they are pretty much working for free. Add up your expenses and time and the $5-10 per hour you make is just not worth it to me. 

 

As far as special orders, payment in advance. And I would not order a speacial mold with out a contract for quantity made. 

 

 

I work for baits so to speak. I sell at extremely low margins but I sell only to regain the expenses of making baits for myself. I do not wish to do this full time or to make a living just to help cover my personal and professional expenses. My gripe and frustration is when a customer contacts me saying he wants a bait I don't currently offer so I got spend a couple hundred on this mold for the customer to order 4 packs. Then when I put the mold on my site it gets no other orders. I wasn't sure if other people are just saying no to special order molds or requiring a large quantity to do it.

[Dave A]

You need to decide where to draw the line. If one of the local guys asks for something, it is because he is catching fish on it. I might invest in the mold. Otherwise, no dice.

[Karma]

I dabble in custom plastics... I have a few molds, I mostly recycle my old baits. A friend of mine who has helped me a lot is the plastics guy around here so I try not to cut into his business. He is also a 70 year old vet and its how he supplements his income. With that being said, he had some guys asking him about various molds last spring and to make them happy he went out and ordered them. Now, he only does hand poured baits so they were not overly expensive as with the injection molds but to him they were pricey and none of those guys who asked him about the molds ever placed any orders for them. He was pretty upset over the deal.

 

Luckily enough just a few weeks ago he got a few orders on them that he told me were large enough to cover the investment but the lesson learned here is what others have already mentioned above.

[Fguy]

Need help removing water from rubber worms any tip. 

[Chris]

Custom colors in most cases it why some people buy from small manufacturers. Crazy cool looking colors not offered by large or growing companies is another reason. Then there is a shape that maybe someone wants that is out of date from what the masses make that can draw business. When I was heavy in tournament fishing I asked a company for a special run color and was told I had to buy 5 gal worth. I asked why so much and was told that they (not all companies) bought their plastic pre mixed with color. Other companies per thousand per style per color. Your niche is per 50-100 for a small company at a premium price for the service. You can also pilot test the color for your other customers and add it to your list of other colors if applicable. As said the problem is when everyone is selling the same baits it is a rush to bottom and low man wins. When these same kind of people are asking you to buy other molds it is because your price is lower than others for your other baits. They want a certain bait they have been buying from someone else cheap. If the mold plays into the direction you want to go I would buy or make it provided there was enough interest in it. Worse case you trade it on facebook, here or sell on ebay.   

[Deleted account]

On 10/17/2017 at 3:35 PM, Chance_Taker4 said:

I work for baits so to speak. I sell at extremely low margins but I sell only to regain the expenses of making baits for myself. I do not wish to do this full time or to make a living just to help cover my personal and professional expenses. My gripe and frustration is when a customer contacts me saying he wants a bait I don't currently offer so I got spend a couple hundred on this mold for the customer to order 4 packs. Then when I put the mold on my site it gets no other orders. I wasn't sure if other people are just saying no to special order molds or requiring a large quantity to do it.

The "gripe and frustration" is all of your doing. You are either doing this as a hobby, and hence it will costs you money (as it has), or its a business, and then ALL your decisions should be made based on making $, and never the twain shall meet. But what do I know, I've only been doing sporting goods for almost 4 decades...

[thinkingredneck]

Figure out your business model.  Are you custom shape,  color guy? Cheap guy? Special textures guy?  Original design guy?what is your niche?

 

For custom stuff, get paid in advance, enough to cover your cost.