[paulw1283]

If you make a product that cost $20 to make. Is it better to sell it yourself through a website or sell it to a store (actual brick store)? Obviously, you can make higher profit by selling it yourself, but when you are just starting up, you might not have the marketing power of an existing business. Would it be a good idea to sell it to a store first and settle for a lower margin initially? And do you have to be a distributor to do this?

Thanks

[pboychuk]

Hmm, i would do both. As far as being a distributor, I dont see why a retail chain would say, we will not deal with you because you are not a middleman, by selling directly you are saving them money. The hard part I would assume is to get them to agree to put the product on their shelves.
Also, I would think selling it to a retail store for a lower margin would be a powerful form of marketing, not to mention using this fact as leverage for future sales.

[bizdev]

I would absolutely do both. However, I wouldn't attempt approach the big boys (WalMart, etc) yet. Stay local if possible. Go the the small shops rather than the chains. Local shop owners are likely to be more open to helping out another local business (you).

After you have the numbers showing your product produces sales, then you are ready to approach the chains. It could takes years to get to that point or your product could take off and make millions within a couple of years. You won't know until you get it out there.