Selling CDs w/o Getting Caught Up In Details?

Geoffrey Wiseman asks: "I was talking to a music artist the other day who was interested in setting up a store for her new disc, which she's maintaining the rights to, for the first time. Building the store itself is something I can do, but she needs credit cards processed, discs warehoused and shipped, ideally with order tracking. Someone to take care of the real-world pieces of the picture, since she's touring most of the time and can't possibly process transactions, stuff packages and mail them out. Her volume would presumably be low, so it would ideally be fairly low-cost, otherwise it just won't be feasible. While I know some major providers, I don't know anyone in the range she'd need, with maybe 10-50 orders a week at most. Telephone/fax order-processing and online storefront infrastructure are bonuses but by no means required. Anyone know a transaction and fulfillment house that would handle that kind of volume without charging extremely high fees?" It's all about finding new ways of distributing familiar things, without selling your soul (and the rights to your art) in the process. Updated: Title changed to something that better reflected the question. Thanks to all who pointed this out.

Comments

Once Upon a Time

[Anonymous Coward]

Metatec, a CD/DVD duplicator in Ohio, used to offer the disk on demand service. No idea if it is still offered. That leaves the CC processing.

For that, you'll need a merchants account, and then the services of a credit card processor. CyberCash works OK. I'm sure there are a number of good ones. You could even create a Yahoo!'s store.

Re:Once Upon a Time

[martyb]

You could even create a Yahoo!'s store.

My thoughts, exactly, but let's keep going with it. I can't imagine she's the first artist who wants to do this. So, not only is there likely someone else who has done this before, but there's likely to be a market for others who want to do this, too. Having a web-site to handle the orders provides a simple means for follow-on sales from her concerts, as well as a means for you to process the orders that come in. (There's a really geeky image: processing cd sales at a concert using a lap-top, portable printer, and cell phone dialed in to your web site!)

Gather data: Here are some ideas:

• read the music trade magazines,
• check with other up-and-coming artists,
• check out THEIR web sites,
• attend concerts and ask/see what they are doing,
• see what other small businesses have done for credit-card processing.
• ask around at little mom-and-pop-type stores who have sales more comparable to what you envision (asking around at a Sears or Wal-Mart ain't gonna help)
• find out what they did to get set up and see if you can do the same.

Have others do it:If there are already other artists who have found a solution that works for them, and that will work for you, by all means use what works.

Do it for others: If there's a need for this service, and you can REALISTICALLY provide the service for a reasonable price, you may have the makings of a business of your own. From the data you've gathered, you'll have more information about what needs to be done and what it would cost. Use your efforts for her as a prototype and work from there. You decide you might want to pursue this route; if so, and though it may seem tedious and more work than it's worth, I'd suggest making a business plan. The questions and answers will be a guide to clear thinking and better understanding of what you are getting into.

Cautions: It may very well be the case that as much as you'd like to help her, this is an area where it would be best to just say, "No, thanks." Few things have spoiled a good friendship than disputes over money. A business relationship and a personal relationship are two different things. They may very well be compatible, but there's no guarantee. I've declined potential business relationships with friends because the financial risks were likely to spoil the personal relationship. YMMV.

All that said, I wish the best of luck to you on this project, and to her on her aspiring career.

not selling *music*; selling *cds*

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a disconnect between the title and the facts in this item, which goes to the heart of the problems with most so-called net commerce. If this were only about the *music*, something downloadable or transferrable, it would belong in Slashdot. But it's not. At some point in most purchases, however electronic and frictionless the transaction is, a physical item has to be transferred. That's where the whole techie thing breaks down and the old-fashioned store or warehouse comes back into play, and it's where so many of the "online stores" have failed.

As for this case: There are commercial fulfillment houses that handle it, but the cost will impact the amount of profit kept. If you're going to pay someone, it might be worth setting up someone known to you - an elder relative or neighbor, etc. - to handle the business. Or maybe you can get someone to do it for a "piece of the action" - being able to say "I'm with the band", entry to shows, the "buzz". Spend a few bucks on an extra printer, perhaps an old dot-matrix, *just* for address stickers, and automate printing them from the orders without having to change paper, to make it easy for them.

re: the comment above: I agree one must be careful about mixing business with friendship for fear of damaging both, but I do feel it can be done if both parties set out the terms in advance.

merchbox.com

[Cheeze]

i help out with a project called merchbox.com. it allows musicians to directly sell their cd's online with all functions of the sale handled by merchbox. it is a custom online form that accepts credit card authorization. this sounds like what you need. visit www.merchbox.com for more info.

ps. i am affiliated with them so this sounds almost like a sales pitch.

argh! I know the perfect place but can't recall...

[StandardDeviant]

I swear I just (like three days ago) came across this place that basically did everything you're asking for. They would take a master from the musician, along with digitized cover/insert material, and when an order came in, they would burn a Redbook CD copy of the master, stick it in a case with the printed cover and insert, and handle the shipping/billing. At the end of the month, musician gets a check for that month's sales minus their fees (it was linked to from /. I _think_ and the person linking to it was a musician using the service, saying inpassing that the fees were very reasonable). The problem is that I've been racking my brain for about 5 minutes now and I can't recall their URL. :-( Oh well, at least take solace that someone is out there on the net offering what you want (try google for "redbook fullfilment" or something I guess). Sorry to be so vague...

--
News for geeks in Austin: www.geekaustin.org

Re:What vanity

[zeon]

Actually I know of several artist who want to aviod major labels and control their own music. Remember true artists arn't always in it for the money.

The answer I've choosen for book publishing

[arete]

I've recently become the publisher of a book (release date is GenCon - 2 Aug 2001) It'll be available for preorder starting 1 Apr 2001 at www.xig.net/starchildren and I'm very aware that the website isn't up yet - it's not 1 Apr 2001, is it?

I did some pretty extensive research and decided to only accept PayPal. - at 2.2% (worst-case) and no other fees the disadvantages of not having a true merch acct are far outweighed by the savings.
For fufillment, I'm essentially hiring a friend as a subcontractor to fufill them and keep the handling charge... I can't find another good way to do low-volume like this. I'll simply give them an email address for complaints, etc... unless I can find something better for this side of the equation.
this solution is not the most hands-off, but it's much more economical than anything I've yet found. I've emailed you, and I read replies, but I don't leave my address on /.

Re:PayPal Store

[paypaldamon]

Hi, Just as an FYI---we have just announced PayPal Shops, which is a directory where users can put up their web sites to display their products (since you had mentioned our service and selling products via the internet). I read the poster threads in here quite often to see what you all would like to see the service do and I find them all very constructive and creative. Regards, Damon

MP3.com

[Cirvam]

try mp3.com
they have a huge selection plus they will make/sell the cds for you and you get half the profits. Plus if you put samples up, when people download them you get some payment