How to take orders for custom products?
Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 9:59 am
I've gotten pretty good response from my first couple of holsters that I've posted for sale, and want to make more. I probably have a couple dozen buyers just from posting photos on the 1911 message board, and I'm having a hard time keeping track of all of the interested parties. Some responded directly in the thread, while others private messaged me, and yet a couple more clever folks found my email address in my profile and contacted me directly via email.
I'd like to create a web page to take orders. My thinking is that I'll build a submission form where the user can enter their name, email, then select what item they want from a drop-down list. Once they hit submit, I'll receive an email (probably setup a special "orders@myholstercompany.com" email address to keep my inbox organized. Then, I simply build each order from oldest to newest emails. Once the order is complete, I send the buyer a PayPal invoice for credit card payment, and ship it once payment is received.
OR, I could incorporate a PayPal shopping cart, which wouldn't be too complicated since I won't initially be offering very many products - keeping it slim to start with.
What do you pro's do? How do you handle orders for stuff you don't have an inventory of?
My biggest concern would be receiving more orders than I can reasonably fill. But, perhaps it's too soon in the game to realistically worry about that just yet...
I'd like to create a web page to take orders. My thinking is that I'll build a submission form where the user can enter their name, email, then select what item they want from a drop-down list. Once they hit submit, I'll receive an email (probably setup a special "orders@myholstercompany.com" email address to keep my inbox organized. Then, I simply build each order from oldest to newest emails. Once the order is complete, I send the buyer a PayPal invoice for credit card payment, and ship it once payment is received.
OR, I could incorporate a PayPal shopping cart, which wouldn't be too complicated since I won't initially be offering very many products - keeping it slim to start with.
What do you pro's do? How do you handle orders for stuff you don't have an inventory of?
My biggest concern would be receiving more orders than I can reasonably fill. But, perhaps it's too soon in the game to realistically worry about that just yet...
"more orders than I can reasonably fill" in a reasonable time.