Starting an online rocketry business

[Pem Tech]

Oh, and thanks to all the vendors that somehow manage to make all this work! Your complete lack of sanity is what allows the rest of us to keep doing stuff.

You are welcome. Monkeys, apple butter, toenail, pencils, cheese, batteries.

 

[Pem Tech]

Hello Layne,

Looking at your icon, I was wondering if you were part of the directing crew for Monty Pythons THE HOLY GRAIL?

I was thinking that your icon looks like it might be one of the "40 Specially Trained Ecuadorian Mountain Llamas" as it appears to have an oxygen bottle on its back.

Brad

HA!!! I'm impressed with your knowledge of The Holy Grail. However, the avatar is the RERL (Radiological Emergency Response Llama), he look over after I left the State's Radioactive Materials Program years ago. Man, do I miss it.

 

[JamesS]

The fees will kill ya. The profit margin on this stuff in thin enough. I stopped selling on EBay years ago due to the fees.

I've sold on both and my fees on Etsy look to be around 5% and eBay around 13-15%. I don't really know what typical acceptable profit margins are but for me, I've found the Etsy fees to be acceptable, especially as the site provides a decent portal to post your product or set up your "store", handle shipping estimates and payments (in/out), and communicate with your customers in a timely matter.

 

[jbr]

my website was around $100 a year, the paypal fees were 3-4%

 

[Pem Tech]

From the comments left here, you can create a full-fledged lecture. If the author was going to monetize rockets, I would probably create a business plan based on this discussion lol.

As many others have said, you are never going to get rich in the model rocket biz. I do it to feed my own habit.
(Image of me hunched in a corner with latex tubing around my arm, a dirty syringe, cooking a Mars Snooper in a spoon over a candle.)

 

[Cape Byron]

(Image of me hunched in a corner with latex tubing around my arm, a dirty syringe, cooking a Mars Snooper in a spoon over a candle.)

That's pretty much how I always imagined you, Layne.

 

[Pem Tech]

That's pretty much how I always imagined you, Layne.

Well, not much I can say to that....
I bet you saw it in your mind's eye. Cold concrete, dilapidated clothing, a bitter cold wind carrying swirls of balsa dust.
18mm and 24mm cases strewn about, burnt igniters, half a crusty bottle of wood glue, a tape wrapped razor knife with a broken and dulled blade. fingers bloodied from sanding.
Just can't get that Mars Snooper to cook down!

 

[tsmith1315]

Just can't get that Mars Snooper to cook down!

You're no lightweight, grind that Mars Snooper up and snort it like a man possessed!

 

[KenECoyote]

I could be wrong, but if you want to sell your rocket kits/designs, wouldn't it make more sense to see if an existing seller will partner with you and offer your kits? You'd have the established seller and not have to worry about all the headaches of starting up and you can figure out contracts, etc. if need be and do small batches/limited runs at first.

Also something to keep those startup dreams grounded is this quote/statistic from a recent article:
"Data from the BLS shows that approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more. These statistics haven't changed much over time, and have been fairly consistent since the 1990s. " Source.

Given this, I applaud the sellers here who keep providing excellent products, service and communications.

 

[KenECoyote]

Side Note: I was an Ebay Power Seller years ago and plan to sell more as part of my retirement. The money I was making selling toy collectibles was at times almost obscene , but I've also lost money through scams...something else to keep in mind with any business...there are plenty of scams & scums out there ). A quick trick I've learned is to use Google Maps Satellite Streetview before shipping anything. I was once so rushed I forgot and later found out my item was sent to the back of a warehouse. I lost over $500 on that one (despite Paypal's "protection"), it happened right after 9/11 and the recipient had a Middle Eastern name...almost made me sick at the time to think of the possibilities (please don't blame me...most felt the same way back then and I couldn't help but be suspicious given the circumstances and timing).