Best of luck man. If I ever make it to the haunted prison in that area, I'll definitely stop in. I live in Columbus.
Where did ya purchase your bottles?
I can't remember where I got them. I have it bookmarked on my computer back home so when I can I'll look it up for you. We had all the labels printed locally and just stuck them all on by hand. Took us ages to do that.
Any update on where you got the bottles? Do they work well?
They work very well. They're a little stiff when you squeeze to pour out the liquid though. After asking my partner where he got them from he told me from Aliexpress.com. We buy them in large bulk orders from there to keep the costs down. If you want the exact link here it is. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wholesale-100pcs-Empty-Clear-PET-10ML-Liquid-Needle-Bottles-Plastic-Dropper-Bottles-With-Childproof-Cap-With/1688173510.html
The colored caps are pretty nice too. Only issue we had with those were a couple random colors mixed with the other caps, but those were few. The only bad part about the bottles, as I said before, is they are a little stiff. I used to have the frosted bottles and they were much easier to press the liquid out of.
I actually ended up ordering bottles from two online suppliers to see if there was any difference in quality and lead times. They were identical. If you're willing to order in bulk, you can find lots of highly-rated vendors on dhgate for these. Otherwise, there are lots of stores that sell them online like madvapes.com
Good luck to you, sir!
Whats the brand name?...and what do you charge (so I can know what I am saving :-)
The name is Puckerfish. We sell the custom flavors (make your own with any of our base flavor choices) at $10 for 10ml, $27 for 30ml. Our signature flavors are $8 for 10ml and $21 for 30ml. If you choose just a base flavor it's $6 for 10ml and $15 for 30ml. All orders will be taken on June 1 when we first open!
I'm in Cleveland and I've been wanting to open a shop for a while now. Any advice?
It seems to have gotten completely saturated out here, stores opening left and right, but all of my friends buy juice from me so I really can't comment on whether or not they are any good lol.
I'll jump in here. We went out of our way (probably a bit of overkill) to ensure everything was legal. Getting vendors' licenses is rather easy; getting insurance and finding merchant processors who will work in this industry is a bit more difficult. Getting the hardware, finding quality suppliers, etc is tedious. We ordered initial items from several vendors to discover lead times and quality of goods; then made larger orders from the best out there. I also, like you, asked lots of people who have been in our shoes before us. Everyone has been so helpful, it's amazing! Anyway, I'm getting off point...
We have a lot of unique things in our processes, so our costs are a bit higher than most, but I think if someone finds a good location, you can probably open a nice B&M store on a 40 - 50K budget
As cliche as this sounds, if you have a great product and can offer equally good service, it's a great stepping off point. Sounds like you have a product your friends enjoy, so that's covered. :) Good luck on growing what yours!
Thanks. I already knew I was in over my head for trying to do this myself with absolutely no experience in business lol. What I really want is to have someone come along and do all the store things for me and leave me alone in my lab to mix juice hahaha. Best of luck to you!
Congrats on the success!!! PM me if you're interested in getting some high quality labels printed. Got a bunch of cool perks for fellow redditors!
It's a LABOR OF LOVE to do what you are starting...being surrounded all day with all the BEAUTIFUL BOTTLES of SUCCULENT JUICES just BEGGING to get into your ATTY PANTS....SMELLING SO GOOD and SWEET...it makes my MOUTH WATER.....DRIP DRIP..... REALLY PUCKER...BEST WISHES on your LABOR OF LOVE. Just remember "DON"T GET HIGH ON YOUR OWN SUPPLY"...
Thanks guys! We're located in Mansfield, Ohio. The store name is Puckerfish and for a custom flavor is $27 (30ml bottle) $10 (10ml bottle). We do online ordering as well for both custom flavors and our signature flavors. It's a bit rough now as our store isn't opening until June 1, but we will have everything functional to do orders by Friday!
Im sorry but thats an absolutely outrageous price.
This is /r/diy_ejuice... We wouldnt be here unless we know a bit about making our own and even with retail mark up, that is an insane price. $1/ml is crazy.
Cool concept, but I agree. I know a guy has to make a living, but at the same time, It's hard for me to plop down ~$30 for a bottle of juice when I can get some average quality juice from mbaker for $8.50/30mL.
Blame me more for the pricing, rather than Derrick. We spent a lot of time and effort to come up with a price point that we feel is fair. On top of that, I want to pay the staff and cover the overhead (of course), while also ensuring our quality controls are as top notch as can be. Should we discover that custom flavors can be offered even more affordably, believe me, we'll be all over it.
We do offer free shipping on all orders over $30, too, but yeah, I'm to blame for the pricing in the end. Your input is genuinely appreciated.
I appreciate the reply, really.
And in truth, I fully understand the need and requirements to charge those types of prices for a brick and mortar shop. There is a LOT that goes into producing and selling at that level.
I think the issue is that this stemmed from was the sub itself... I was more than happy paying around $.50-$.75/ml when I started to try out great juices and many not so great ones. But on a sub like this, people are far more used to paying between $1-3/30ml of their own custom blends.
I'm sorry for the hate that this seemed to cause though...