Starting Online Hookah Store?

[PhxKarma]

I am finally putting together my online retail store for hookah products, and I was looking for a little feedback or advice from the community.

What do you want to see in a online store? What makes you shop where you shop?

Do you prefer flat-rate shipping, or shipping based on your location or the weight of the items? What do you feel is a fair price for flat rate shipping?

I am going to be selling a variety of hookahs, probably around 5-10 different models, mainly MYA products to start.

For tobacco, I am not sure if I should carry a variety of brands, or stick to a few I know and trust?

[mjdx88]

Do you prefer flat-rate shipping, or shipping based on your location or the weight of the items? What do you feel is a fair price for flat rate shipping?

Keep the rates fair but economical. Try to keep the flat rate low, also offering an option to go by weight would be nice. I cant stand the fact that Im paying 7 or 8 bucks on shipping for a box of coals.

For tobacco, I am not sure if I should carry a variety of brands, or stick to a few I know and trust?

Keep the few you know and trust. Af, Nak,Tang, SB and Fant, maybe Havana?


All in all, It doesnt matter how good your prices are or what you have. If your customer service is awful, no one will order from you. Be as quick as possible shipping the orders, and admit when you have made a mistake.

Goodluck

Mike

[chinodos]

As far as shipping I agree with mjdx88 I hate paying 7-8 bucks for coals, but I understand flat-rate shipping may cut your profits on some of the large orders. I would say have flat-rate shipping for any orders under a certain amount of $$ and anything over that do it by weight. For example, anything under a hundred dollars= flat rate of $4-$5 , anything over $100 charge by weight.

[Sherwood]

I am finally putting together my online retail store for hookah products, and I was looking for a little feedback or advice from the community.

What do you want to see in a online store? What makes you shop where you shop?

Do you prefer flat-rate shipping, or shipping based on your location or the weight of the items? What do you feel is a fair price for flat rate shipping?

I am going to be selling a variety of hookahs, probably around 5-10 different models, mainly MYA products to start.

For tobacco, I am not sure if I should carry a variety of brands, or stick to a few I know and trust?

There are about 5 shops that get used very often here: hookahcompany.com, hookah-shisha.com, mnhookahs.com, nazarhookah.com, hookahjohn.com.

Anyone here for any period of time knows those shops are run by George, Sammi, Tarik, Mahir, and John, respectively.

If you want your shop to be a success, you need to have a presence on this site. Frat boys buying pumpkin hookahs can't support an online business. They buy once, then go away. Carry good products like Tangiers phunnel bowls, Khalil Mamoon Hookahs, Mya hookahs, Magdy Zidan hookahs, Razan/Nammor hoses, Nakhla/Al Fakher/Tangiers tobacco, CocoNara/Canary/CH coals etc. and you'll get repeat customers. Treat people well and they'll never leave you.

Pricing is pretty much the same with everyone. Set up a special deal on something where you don't make much money but beat the competition -- that'll get people through the door.

Do keep in mind, though, you're gonna have to be better than at least one of these guys to succeed here.

[lowspeedchase]

I am finally putting together my online retail store for hookah products, and I was looking for a little feedback or advice from the community.

What do you want to see in a online store? What makes you shop where you shop?

Do you prefer flat-rate shipping, or shipping based on your location or the weight of the items? What do you feel is a fair price for flat rate shipping?

I am going to be selling a variety of hookahs, probably around 5-10 different models, mainly MYA products to start.

For tobacco, I am not sure if I should carry a variety of brands, or stick to a few I know and trust?

There are about 5 shops that get used very often here: hookahcompany.com, hookah-shisha.com, mnhookahs.com, nazarhookah.com, hookahjohn.com.

Anyone here for any period of time knows those shops are run by George, Sammi, Tarik, Mahir, and John, respectively.

If you want your shop to be a success, you need to have a presence on this site. Frat boys buying pumpkin hookahs can't support an online business. They buy once, then go away. Carry good products like Tangiers phunnel bowls, Khalil Mamoon Hookahs, Mya hookahs, Magdy Zidan hookahs, Razan/Nammor hoses, Nakhla/Al Fakher/Tangiers tobacco, CocoNara/Canary/CH coals etc. and you'll get repeat customers. Treat people well and they'll never leave you.

Pricing is pretty much the same with everyone. Set up a special deal on something where you don't make much money but beat the competition -- that'll get people through the door.

Do keep in mind, though, you're gonna have to be better than at least one of these guys to succeed here.

Listen to this man. Do as he tells you.

[Woodsytheowl]

Just make sure to be incredibly tolerant of assholes. I'm pretty sure that's what got HJ where he is now as opposed to others (probably don't not have to be named). Being a good guy/girl goes a long way

[delSol_si]

I agree with jonbon, you will probably run into a lot of assholes. On the flat rate shipping....I personally don't like it. HJ's flat rate shipping of $11 is the reason he doesn't get most of my business. He is a great vendor and his products are fairly priced, but pretty well 90% of my orders end up cheaper elsewhere ONLY because of his higher shipping. My orders normally ship for anywhere from $5-8 on every other site except his. I am a poor college student so that extra $3-4 makes a big difference to me, especially when most of my orders are around $60-70. I'm not complaining about it, I simply order elsewhere, not that big of a deal. But, it is your business so you gotta do what you feel is right.

[speel]

Also keep in mind getting you local tobacco license and have a little buffer room for shipping errors ( stuff getting lost and such ) and make sure you get SSL cert for your online store to keep the transactions secure.

[ilikemyusername]

My biggest suggestion would be to send your orders that day, or next day latest. I hate ordering from one of the main online vendors because even if I pay for 3 day shipping they seem to sit on my order for 4 days, then I have to deal with a weekend and suddenly my 3 day priority that I payed for has taken 9 days to get to me.
True story.

[gunsboy]

OH CANADA!!!! OUR HOME AND NATIVE LAND!!!!

- When you ship to Canada, you need to ship discreetly with your name (not a company name) on the box. No matter how cheap and affordable your products are I will not order from the same vendor that I had to pay customs for their shipment more than once. Customs here are sooooooooooo expensive. And for god's sake, send with USPS (NO UPS or FEDEX or PUROLATOR).
- It takes my shipments 5-15 days to get here. Please ship ASAP or you are adding more of a painful waiting time for us Canadians.
- Shipping costs to Canada are pain in the ass. I know that some people ship thing to me for cheaper than most vendors do. But I have paid from $30-$70 shipping charges for my orders.
- Many of the great points that people mentioned above are worth looking into.

Good luck, start small and grow big. I will list here the several reasons that I stopped ordering from some vendors. Note that I myself spend about $200-$300 a month on shisha and hookah products (sometimes more if I am ordering hookahs or so).

1 - As mentioned above "Vendor is tagged by Customs". I paid $180 for a $160 order.
2 - Fake products, vendor would not admit it, and ignored my calls.
3 - Incorrect order multiple times, no easy way to get a reply from Vendor.
4 - Vendor uses UPS, FEDEX, or PUROLATOR (From experience, higher chance of being caught by customs and they never deliver on time and their closest location is soooooo far).
5 - Hookah rusted (real bad) within the first month and contacted them a million times. Then they sent me the wrong parts, I lost hope, it was an expensive one too.
6 - Shipping takes too long - Sometimes you get tracking number almost 4 days to a week after I ordered. (I know people have lives and can be busy, but same vendor did it on every order). Some used ground shipping from California to Nova Scotia Canada (It took over a month to get my stuff). I saw the charges on my VISA statement and almost had to pay them before I smelled my shisha.
7 - Rude customer service. (This is part of some of the previous reasons).

Some freebies go a very long way. For example, those AlFakher cards that hookahJohn sent me made me so happy. I forgot about how much shipping cost me (over $40) and had a huge smile on my face and I am planning to order from there next time.

OK OK I will let you go now. Before this becomes an article. Good luck brother.

[EvansLight]

Having made MNH's site and helped Tarik out with it alot up front, i gotta say its a whole lot of work. Be ready for for some long weeks of hard work.

A good design on a site is a must, a crap design turns people off. The whole judging a book by its cover. Being part of the forums and being active here is a must, as well is having very good customer support. Sites like MNH are as popular as they are here because of customer support. Work on getting your payment gateway up front. that was honestly the longest delay with getting MNH up and running, Tarik went through alot of credit card gateways before he found one that allowed tobacco sales.

As for what to carry, up front I would carry the most popular items on the forums. KM's, MZ's, and Myas for hookahs; Tangiers, Nakhla, Starbuzz, etc. for tobacco, and the popular accessories, such as phunnels and washable hoses. But make sure also to have a good selection of the basics. As for coals, get the most popular brands of each type and your covered.

Hope that helps Oh and stay away from OSCommerce, its the damn devil. Zencart is your friend.

[Lunatic768]

forum discount
some variety in shisha brand, but more importantly a variety of flavors within those brands
get more than two kinds of myas (most venders seem to just carry QTs and bambinos it seems like)
authentic phunnels
quick shipping

all that FTW = I'd order from you

[RingsMaster]

fair prices and a good selection is the best way to go, as for shipping i dont like a flat rate because sometimes i make small orders and the shipping kills. i like a vendor because of customer service and web page. thats why i usually shop at mnhookah. so lots of flavors by a good amount of brands(mostly the big ones, tangiers AF al waha tonic starbuz, you get the idea lol) good selection of coals, and accessories and a sweet selection of hookahs. mix that with good prices and customer service and you got yourself a winner

[Stuie]

20% Off Forum Discount?

[Arcane]

1) Try and charge shipping exactly. If you pay $8 to ship something, don't charge $11 to make a few extra bucks.

2) Carry products you can back and that you use

3) Ensure FAST processing times and use a reliable carrier

4) Be knowledgeable about everything you sell. And be honest about your opinions.

5-10) Most important, imo: Offer the best customer service ever. If you can't do that, hire someone who can. Repeat business comes from great products and great customer care.

[RingsMaster]

20% Off Forum Discount?

agreed!!!!! lol

[The Caterpillar]

For me, the speed of shipping is more important than the fees. Hookah-shisha and HookahJohn are my go-tos for very different reasons:

1) Hookah-shisha has an awesome promotion for hookahs themselves (>$100 = free Mini Mya which is like getting 2 hookahs for one). Buy a KM tri-metal, get a travel hookah for nada. Tough to beat.

2) However, anything else I order from HJ as his orders are out the door the next day. It isn't just the fastest service for hookah products; it's the fastest online vendor that I've dealt with period. The flat rate is a bit much... but... if I want it within 48 hours without paying overnight---> HJ every time.

Good luck with your business And don't forget the forum discount, aiiiiiiight?

[PhxKarma]

Thanks for the replies guys.

For shipping, I am planning doing $7-$8 for flat rate, but say you want to order just one box of coals, I want to work it out where you pay cost for shipping like $4 tops. Free shipping on orders over $100 for sure.

As for hookahs, I am going to start with Myas, since I know and trust them. I am working on getting KM's at wholesale but having trouble.

Once the site is up and running, you can expect to see me all over the forum, I want to make buying from me a personal experience, I want people to be able to send me messages and I can reply within hours.

Forum discounts are a given, but it's still a business and might not be available at first due to start up costs.

I am going with either UPS or USPS, still working on those details.

For shisha, I plan on carrying AF, Nak, and SB, working on Tang wholesale and considering AA or AW?

For Coals, I want to offer Exotica, Pharoh, Three Kings, and CoCo Naras, possible Chronic Hookah. Edited June 25, 2009 by PhxKarma

[Scoop]

niche market + economic down turn + too many online sites with the same stuff and no price difference = bad idea to start one in my personal opinion

i wish you the best of luck and i feel the suggestions given are nice

[ilikemyusername]

For shisha, I plan on carrying AF, Nak, and SB, working on Tang wholesale and considering AA or AW?

For Coals, I want to offer Exotica, Pharoh, Three Kings, and CoCo Naras, possible Chronic Hookah.

I wouldn't personally stock Al Amir, and I'm not sure how well it does compared to Al Waha.
Al Waha has some damn solid flavors go with AW.

[PhxKarma]

niche market + economic down turn + too many online sites with the same stuff and no price difference = bad idea to start one in my personal opinion

i wish you the best of luck and i feel the suggestions given are nice

The economy will recover, that's a given. There are not that many online retailers honestly, compared to other markets. And I plan on price matching or beating competetor prices, I check other sites and they are charging more than I plan on, for example, I am going to sell the Mya QT for $35.

Shisha will be cheaper too, I am thinking like $7 for nak, $10.50 for AF, etc.

[gunsboy]

Free shipping to Canada for orders over $100? I would be willing to buy over $200 for free shipping to Canada through USPS.

[e-tan]

Layalina shisha! Don't forget layalina!

[delSol_si]

niche market + economic down turn + too many online sites with the same stuff and no price difference = bad idea to start one in my personal opinion

i wish you the best of luck and i feel the suggestions given are nice

The economy will recover, that's a given. There are not that many online retailers honestly, compared to other markets. And I plan on price matching or beating competetor prices, I check other sites and they are charging more than I plan on, for example, I am going to sell the Mya QT for $35.

Shisha will be cheaper too, I am thinking like $7 for nak, $10.50 for AF, etc.

A QT for 35? I would say if you can build a good reputation, have a decent shipping price, and make sure you have the "https" in your address, you will be getting a bit of business. Main reason I don't buy a QT is they are 45 everywhere, too much $$ for such a small hookah.

[HsK BATES]

hopefully everything works out for you man. I would love to have a retailer that is stationed in AZ!!! that means shipping to me should take no more than a day! haha Good luck man