Candy Japan April Income Report • Hacker News Board

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#71

Post by bemmu » Thu, May 17, 2012, 6:59 PM UTC

famousactress wrote: post #70

I love it, but I'm really curious about taxes/export-import-duties/regulations, FDA, etc. I guess I always assumed there'd be some strict rules that would make starting this kind of business kind of hairy. Not so?

I'm far from expert yet on this, but as I understand it depends on whether you are the one bringing the product into the country or not.

For example if I were to go to an anime expo in the US to sell candy there, then I would need to clear the customs and comply with FDA regulations such as the list of ingredients that have to appear in the packages.

But when I am situated here in Japan and people order things from me from all over the world, then they are the ones who are clearing the customs. However when the shipments are really small, customs is not a problem for the person receiving them and many countries have limits where you never need to deal with customs if the order size is small enough.

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#72

Post by KaoruAoiShiho » Thu, May 17, 2012, 7:11 PM UTC

bemmu wrote: post #68

mendable wrote: post #67

Have you thought to tap out the Japanese Expat market as an advertising/marketing opportunity? That might include Japanese people living abroad, students, workers living in the middle east for 12 months, etc The service could very easily appeal to people living abroad and wanting a reminder of home every month.

I might try it, but wouldn't they have friends who send them items? It's very common even inside Japan that relatives send food items to each other, and I the Japanese expats who I knew in Finland were also getting items sent to them by their parents.

I agree with mendable, I feel like your service is very convenient, much more so than having friends send you things.

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#73

Post by famousactress » Thu, May 17, 2012, 7:20 PM UTC

bemmu wrote: post #71

famousactress wrote: post #70

I love it, but I'm really curious about taxes/export-import-duties/regulations, FDA, etc. I guess I always assumed there'd be some strict rules that would make starting this kind of business kind of hairy. Not so?

I'm far from expert yet on this, but as I understand it depends on whether you are the one bringing the product into the country or not. For example if I were to go to an anime expo in the US to sell candy there, then I would need to clear the customs and comply with FDA regulations such as the list of ingredients that have to appear in the packages. But when I am situated here in Japan and people order things from m…

That's interesting, but I would think it would have limits. Would you be able to send small amounts of a drug that was legal in your country to a country where it's illegal? I suppose you'd only be subject to the laws of your country in that case, the buyer would be subject to the laws in theirs?

Of course, we're talking about Candy.. I'm just intrigued by the idea of shipping-worldwide subscription businesses in general.

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#74

Post by bemmu » Thu, May 17, 2012, 7:42 PM UTC

famousactress wrote: post #73

bemmu wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm far from expert yet on this, but as I understand it depends on whether you are the one bringing the product into the country or not. For example if I were to go to an anime expo in the US to sell candy there, then I would need to clear the customs and comply with FDA regulations such as the list of ingredients that have to appear in the packages. But when I am situated here in Japan and people order things from m…

That's interesting, but I would think it would have limits. Would you be able to send small amounts of a drug that was legal in your country to a country where it's illegal? I suppose you'd only be subject to the laws of your country in that case, the buyer would be subject to the laws in theirs? Of course, we're talking about Candy.. I'm just intrigued by the idea of shipping-worldwide subscription businesses in gen…

Yeah, I suppose if you mail-ordered illegal drugs from abroad it would be you who gets into trouble, not the person sending them if they were perfectly legal in their home country unless the country in question had specific rules forbidding sending such items.

I am at least a bit encouraged by jlist.com et al. doing direct-sending including food items from Japan for years apparently with no significant problems.

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#75

Post by jianshen » Thu, May 17, 2012, 7:43 PM UTC

bemmu wrote: post #71

famousactress wrote: post #70

I love it, but I'm really curious about taxes/export-import-duties/regulations, FDA, etc. I guess I always assumed there'd be some strict rules that would make starting this kind of business kind of hairy. Not so?

I'm far from expert yet on this, but as I understand it depends on whether you are the one bringing the product into the country or not. For example if I were to go to an anime expo in the US to sell candy there, then I would need to clear the customs and comply with FDA regulations such as the list of ingredients that have to appear in the packages. But when I am situated here in Japan and people order things from m…

I heard that the Kinder Egg in Germany isn't sold in the US because it has a toy in the center and would be considered a choking hazard by US safety standards.

I realize right now it's just a small operation but if you hit it big, what are the approval hoops that you have to run thru for stuff like that?

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#76

Post by nimrody » Thu, May 17, 2012, 7:59 PM UTC

Having tried Japanese candies (and deserts in general) while visiting Japan, I'm very surprised that this actually works.

When it comes to sweets and deserts Japanese taste is so different from what's popular in the west. It might be interesting but I'm not sure I'd want to pay for a continuous supply.

French/Belgium products might appeal to western taste better.

Other than that - Good luck!

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#77

Post by DarkShikari » Thu, May 17, 2012, 8:00 PM UTC

aw3c2 wrote: post #62

rmATinnovafy wrote: post #31

I've been following your posts since you started with the business. Have to say that I'm impressed by your tenacity in keeping this fun idea going. Now, your marketing copy is all over the place. The layout is so hard to follow. Things are just too spread around, and the eye cannot follow an easy reading path. Put everything into two columns, side by side. Put more pictures, and more information. Get a smaller third…

oh yes, have some random Japanese person pick stuff and ask them to say eg "from whatevercity, greetings to the rest of the world. I am Mr x and picked some of my favourite candy for you. this one is called sgggddtgcf, it tastes like qetffhh. the bright green one is a bit special, be careful. -- I hope you will enjoy them!". show the shopping/picking. ask cute Japanese girls if men are most of your customers. maybe d…

Candy is hardly a gendered product, and foreign interest in Japanese culture and food isn't either. Adding gendered advertising in such a way is unlikely to gain many new leads, but will certainly limit the audience dramatically.

For some reason, the "testimonials from random Japanese people" idea seems rather unsettling to me. It makes it feel exoticized, touristy, and fake.

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#78

Post by lewispb » Thu, May 17, 2012, 8:18 PM UTC

bemmu wrote: post #26

lewispb wrote: post #24

I like how you've used my IP address to tell me that delivery will be free 'even to the United Kingdom'. May I suggest using the same code to also convert the price from $23.95 to the users local currency as this will help increase conversions. £15.10 feels a lot less than $23.95! Other than that, great idea and I wish you all the best!

That's a great idea, I get this gut feeling/fear though that it might introduce some extra complexity. I might be able to do that at least for EUR/USD/GBP but I suppose have avoided it until now to keep things simple. Will have to think that through more.

Sure. I see your PayPal subscription is $23.95 per month - which is fine, there's no need to change that. I'm just thinking from a UI perspective you could try using money.js (1) to show to the user the current price in their local currency:

Mystery sweets from Japan for £15.10 ($23.95 USD) / month

(1) http://josscrowcroft.github.com/money.js/

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#79

Post by WiseWeasel » Thu, May 17, 2012, 11:05 PM UTC

nimrody wrote: post #76

Having tried Japanese candies (and deserts in general) while visiting Japan, I'm very surprised that this actually works. When it comes to sweets and deserts Japanese taste is so different from what's popular in the west. It might be interesting but I'm not sure I'd want to pay for a continuous supply. French/Belgium products might appeal to western taste better. Other than that - Good luck!

Because it is different than what is typically available, there is a market for those who have developed those tastes which isn't being served in a lot of places.

Re: Candy Japan April Income Report

#80

Post by bemmu » Sat, May 19, 2012, 12:54 AM UTC

nimrody wrote: post #76

Having tried Japanese candies (and deserts in general) while visiting Japan, I'm very surprised that this actually works. When it comes to sweets and deserts Japanese taste is so different from what's popular in the west. It might be interesting but I'm not sure I'd want to pay for a continuous supply. French/Belgium products might appeal to western taste better. Other than that - Good luck!

I think that's exactly why it works, because you get to try something different. Before living in Japan I did some holidays here and it was one of my favorite activities to just buy random things from kiosks and vending machines and to be surprised with new tastes.