Music Website

[Musicstore]

Dear All,

I have designed a new flash outstanding marketing and sales aimed website for selling musical instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards etc....

Allot of the music websites out there are very boring, not that easy to locate around and most are aimed at a certain demographic (mainly guitar geeks).

So I have designed a new fantastic website which could generate huge sales but I haven’t a clue how to get the instruments to sell on it. I know I will probably have to go through the actual manufactures them selves but does anyone know if you can just sell guitars etc off a website or do you need a retail shop as well?

Many Thanks

J

 

[MartinJonsoin]

Uhm, you certainly don't have to have a physical presence along with your website in order to sell instruments, no. Just working off the web is perfectly doable.. Not necessarily easy, though. As for where to purchase the instruments, I'm afraid that's outside my domain (sad pun regrettably intended).

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

I'm a musician and an internet marketer and here's my opinion:

The most informative website for guitars, amps, effects pedal, etc is Harmony Central. You can't beat user reviews and not just one or two - lots of them!

I often visit YouTube to see other musicians testing equipment.

I prefer e-commerce guitar website to upsell we complimentary item e.g. valve amp head would go nicely with this cab, etc.

Bearing all of this in mind I would expect to see a website that sells guitars to incorporate all of the above features. Your conversion rate may be low for keyphrases relating to "research" or "just browsing" related searches but these users will be much more likely to trust your website has being a complete resource than if you just sold products.

It must be noted that customer reviews and opinions work for many other products too. You only have to look at the success of Amazon to notice this. But remember this is music we're talking about here so don't forget to include audio and video on your website or at least a link to it.

I hope that these insights have been useful to you.

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

Probably best trying some wholesalers if you are going to be drop-shopping or storing stock. As for sites looking dull/boring, I quite like this one http://www.dawsons.co.uk/

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Probably best trying some wholesalers if you are going to be drop-shopping or storing stock. As for sites looking dull/boring, I quite like this one http://www.dawsons.co.uk/

I agree good looking site. But I just did a quick usability test and clicked on Slash Les Paul but no user reviews. I've now got to go to Harmony Central or YouTube to read/watch some reviews. I'm, therefore, clicking away from and, potentially, forgetting about that website.

Solution - being more proactive in encouraging buyers to leave equipment reviews. e.g. 1 month after equipment purchase you get three free plectrums if you leave a customer review of the guitar that you purchased.

 

[Archil]

Dear All,

I have designed a new flash outstanding marketing and sales aimed website for selling musical instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards etc....

Allot of the music websites out there are very boring, not that easy to locate around and most are aimed at a certain demographic (mainly guitar geeks).

So I have designed a new fantastic website which could generate huge sales but I haven't a clue how to get the instruments to sell on it. I know I will probably have to go through the actual manufactures them selves but does anyone know if you can just sell guitars etc off a website or do you need a retail shop as well?

Many Thanks

J

Maybe we can cooperate. I'm setting up an online music store. I'll let u know as soon as the website is ready.

 

[guvna]

Probably best trying some wholesalers if you are going to be drop-shopping or storing stock. As for sites looking dull/boring

I am interested in setting up an online music retailer too.

I got as far as phoning a couple of distributors to discuss the process and they said that relationships start by new shops having to have the upfront cash to buy the stock.

They then may decide to offer a line of credit.

So does that mean there is no way to set up a music equipment shop without having all the cash upfront for the equipment you are selling? I can't believe all of the existing online stores had to have £100k plus in the bank when getting started

 

[-Joe-]

I am interested in setting up an online music retailer too.

I got as far as phoning a couple of distributors to discuss the process and they said that relationships start by new shops having to have the upfront cash to buy the stock.

They then may decide to offer a line of credit.

So does that mean there is no way to set up a music equipment shop without having all the cash upfront for the equipment you are selling? I can't believe all of the existing online stores had to have £100k plus in the bank when getting started

My stepfather works in the music industry, PM me, I'll ask him if he can help

 

[Gregan]

This interests me as well as as a musician. Think Computer Coders is onto something there as I don't buy anything unless i've read or watched every review I can find (Harmony Central and Youtube are two good starting points).

Might be interested in this as a venture if anyone wants to maybe join forces.

 

[John_Orcus]

We have a few customers who sell musical instruments online as well as through bricks and mortar stores.

Selling musical instruments online is hugely competitive. The start-ups mostly seem to be individuals from within the industry who already have relationships with the suppliers.

I would say that the best thing you can do is approach existing retailers who perhaps don't have a website and seeing if they will drop ship for you. No capital outlay for you, and they should be getting the right products for a good price. It sounds like you are new to the industry, so my advice is to do a hell of a lot of research as there are lots of suppliers and middlemen.

One thing which is badly eroding the market (like a lot of other markets) are the bedroom ebayers who are happy just to make a few quid on every item sold. For example, a guitar bought from the suppliers at £500 and usually retailing in a shop for £999 will be sold on ebay for £600. The ebayer will be happy, the buyer will be happy, but the traditional retailer will lose out.

 

[Musicstore]

I agree good looking site. But I just did a quick usability test and clicked on Slash Les Paul but no user reviews. I've now got to go to Harmony Central or YouTube to read/watch some reviews. I'm, therefore, clicking away from and, potentially, forgetting about that website.

Solution - being more proactive in encouraging buyers to leave equipment reviews. e.g. 1 month after equipment purchase you get three free plectrums if you leave a customer review of the guitar that you purchased.

-----------------

This is a VERY good idea, I do want the website to be more usable for people not only buying but able to use our site for reviews/ overview on products. As you said, this means more people will stay on the site and not click away to another like youtube. The more users for the site the more we might sell, even if we dont sell products we can sell advertising space on the site due to the amount of people who visit.

 

[Musicstore]

I am interested in setting up an online music retailer too.

I got as far as phoning a couple of distributors to discuss the process and they said that relationships start by new shops having to have the upfront cash to buy the stock.

They then may decide to offer a line of credit.

So does that mean there is no way to set up a music equipment shop without having all the cash upfront for the equipment you are selling? I can't believe all of the existing online stores had to have £100k plus in the bank when getting started

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I think all guitar manufactures want their sellers to have a shop of some sort, so you can provide a service for a customer to come along and see/ play the guitar first if they wish to do so. So you have to have a shop and then have your awesome website connected to that shop.

Regarding the stock, yes you will need to buy all stock off the guitar companies first. But some do deals like - Buy X amount guitars and if they are all not sold in 8 months they will take them off your hands in a return policy etc etc...

I dont think your looking at £100k though unless your opening a HUGE warehouse. If you think the average guitar costs £400, I think you buy this from the manufacture at 40% from the selling price so the shop makes 60% mark up (£240 profit for this example). So lets say ALL guitars cost £400, you buy it from the manufacture for £160, lets say you have a small shop to start off with, you buy 100 different guitars (electric, acoustic, bass) - that is £16K on guitar stock. But realistic you would need to spend about £25k for starting up a shop.

 

[Pap_sak]

As people have said, you do not need a high street location. Parking would be a plus though - and I would guess at least 1000 sq. feet.

Most suppliers would start extending credit after 6 months or so, as long as you have ordered and paid regularly. Always ask for a COD discount (normally 2.5-5%) - on your opening stock of 25K it should at least be 625.

 

[JamieM]

Dear All,

I have designed a new flash outstanding marketing and sales aimed website for selling musical instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards etc....

Allot of the music websites out there are very boring, not that easy to locate around and most are aimed at a certain demographic (mainly guitar geeks).

So I have designed a new fantastic website which could generate huge sales but I haven’t a clue how to get the instruments to sell on it. I know I will probably have to go through the actual manufactures them selves but does anyone know if you can just sell guitars etc off a website or do you need a retail shop as well?

Many Thanks

J

Most e-commerce sites are similar and 'boring' because they convert sales.

What makes you think your site would convert better? Can we see it?

 

[Esk247]

Most e-commerce sites are similar and 'boring' because they convert sales.

What makes you think your site would convert better? Can we see it?

in the same way that a lot of open source shopping carts have a similar layout. Logo top left, search on the right, categories in a column down the left hand side and terms/delivery information in the footer. It just works.

As has been mentioned elsewhere on the forum, check out http://www.realbusiness.com it looks cool but it fails at usability. Unavailable for iPhones or iPads and slow/cumbersome to use.

 

[Esk247]

On another note though...you setup a website BEFORE finding the products to sell on it? how does that work?

Normally you have an idea of what you want to sell, source the product and research the competition then build a website to enter the market. You don't build the website before you know what you're going to stock in it..how is that possible..what categories have you used? what products are on the homepage to entice people in?

 

[Musicstore]

Most e-commerce sites are similar and 'boring' because they convert sales.

What makes you think your site would convert better? Can we see it?

Most of the music sites are more info overload, a few photos and LOADS of adverts for specific manufactures.

Take GAK (dot) co (dot) uk for example, this is one of the UK's largest selling companies. Their store in Brighton is HUGE and the footfall is the busiest part of town. But the site is over crowded with banners and adds and logos... If you click on guitars and go to the Fender Strat page - You will see tiny small info on all their guitars. This is not a helpfull for anyone wanting to buy a guitar.

My point is, my website is far more a selling tole as well as acting as an info, helpful site on product and customer interactive site. I will have videos, clear large photos, carosel of products scrolling across the screen and loads more flash and fun ways to display guitars.


It wont be far off from looking like gibsons site, clean, large displays, easy to use, interactive with twitter & facebook etc.


My site isn’t up and running yet unfortunately so I can not show you, I need to register my company first..

Thanks

Jack

 

[Musicstore]

On another note though...you setup a website BEFORE finding the products to sell on it? how does that work?

Normally you have an idea of what you want to sell, source the product and research the competition then build a website to enter the market. You don't build the website before you know what you're going to stock in it..how is that possible..what categories have you used? what products are on the homepage to entice people in?

I am actually setting up a shop now, the website will be an added service to the products I will be selling in the shop.

Thanks for your comment