Hi Product Hunt, Anthony founder of Cavela here 👋
We’re making it easy for anyone to create custom physical products.
Here’s how it works:
1. You tell our AI agent what you want to make.
2. Our agent scans our global network of 200,000+ premium suppliers to find the best match, and then reaches out and negotiates with them on your behalf to obtain quotes.
3. You purchase samples and place orders right on the platform. Samples are sent to your doorstep, orders to your warehouse or office.
That’s it.
Cavela handles everything for you: finding and vetting suppliers, negotiating quotes, coordinating sample creation, tracking order progress, quality assurance, and shipping.
After working with several dozen brands and startups creating all sorts of different products, we’re finally ready to open up Cavela to the wider public. We’re operating on a waitlist basis to gradually onboard new users, ensuring a smooth experience and delivering top-tier service for everyone. Sign up at www.cavela.com.
We can’t wait to see what incredible products you’ll make.
<3 from the Cavela team
----
Why use Cavela?
⏰ Save Time: We’ve automated away hundreds of hours of manual work, reducing the number of touchpoints with suppliers from 1000 to under 10. No more staying up late fielding hundreds of messages from suppliers over WeChat.
💸 Save Money: By combining our expansive network with the ability to get quotes from hundreds of manufacturers at once, we’re able to get the most cost effective quotes, guaranteed. We’ve been able to cut production costs for our partner brands by 40% on average, and beat traditional merch websites by 50%.
🧘Peace of Mind: From order tracking to on-site quality control, you can rest assured you’re in good hands.
What is Cavela for?
Creating 🔥merch: You’ve spent all this time differentiating your startup from the others, so why are you pushing out the same tired merch as everyone else? Notion famously swears by unique merch, and for good reason: it’s a differentiator that helps establish your company’s brand, and it gets people excited and talking.
Launching your tech product 🚀: Your startup has built an incredible hardware product, but you’re struggling to find a supplier to create that one accessory to tie it all together. From tablet sleeves and smartwatch bands to your product’s packaging, we have the perfect supplier for you so you can focus on your core tech.
Promoting your events 📅: I’m sure the attendees of your launch event loved the pens, but Torch Labs had branded hot sauce at theirs, and Blaze AI were giving out branded rolling papers. Whether it’s branded margarita flavored lip balm for the pre-party, or branded glow sticks for the afterparty, don’t get caught giving out boring promotional items for your big event.
Building a brand 🛍️: Sure you love tech, but your real passion is that line of dog pyjamas you’ve wanted to start since you adopted Waffles. Use Cavela to build your brand, whether that’s creating a new line of products or finding a better, more cost-competitive supplier for your existing products.
@asardain this is amazing, I have several friends who struggle in procurement. This one will definitely change the landscape.
Do you operate as an opaque marketplace where you list the demand to suitable suppliers or more like fiverr physical goods procurement?
Nonetheless all the best for a killer launch
@asardain Simplifying Custom Product Creation - A Great Idea!
This is a fantastic solution for anyone looking to create custom physical products without the hassle of sourcing and negotiating with manufacturers. Cavela's AI-powered platform and global network of suppliers streamline the process significantly.
Here are some questions that come to mind:
- What are the typical MOQs for products sourced through Cavela?
- Can Cavela handle complex products with intricate designs or specific materials?
- How does Cavela's pricing structure work? Are there any hidden fees?
As a developer with experience in full stack development, I'm interested in exploring ways to further enhance Cavela's platform. Here are some ideas:
- Allowing users to upload 3D models or detailed design specifications for more accurate sourcing.
- Developing an AI model that can generate instant quotes based on user specifications.
- Building a comprehensive dashboard to track sample creation, order progress, and quality control steps.
I'd love to learn more about your development roadmap and see if my skills could contribute to Cavela's growth.
Overall, Cavela is a valuable service with the potential to democratize custom product creation. Keep up the great work!
@prad_vv Great question. We surface to suitable suppliers in order to not overload them with requests and to ensure that the final product is of the highest quality to satisfy the buyer.
Excellent branding and beautiful website. Having already procured some custom hats from Cavela, I’m excited for what we can do next. I never would have been able to order direct from a trusted manufacturer on my own and Anthony and team made this easy. Lastly, as investors in Cavela, it’s been fun to watch how fast this team moves!
Not gonna lie, when I looked at the tagline, I thought this is some kind of 3D printing farm. But this is even better.
The problem with lots of marketplace is they are too free. Anyone can join and that causes a problem. People want quality over quantity. There are tons of industries like this - I can see a platform like this in the wedding supplier industry can work really well too!
How good is the agent at filtering out suppliers? Looks like there are real footage of real suppliers, what's the process for getting this to work?
Congrats on the launch here and the fundraise @asardain
@tonyhanded Great question. We use various vetting methodogies before bringing them onto the platform, and we further filter further downstream on the basis of responsiveness, quality of sample/order photography, previous experiences, and more. You don't want to be too rigid, however, because of the tradeoff between quality and cost. Some users are willing to take a slight quality hit if it means significant cost savings.
On the point about marketplaces are "too free" — that's true, and it creates issues on the user side too. Too many "unserious" users can create problems for suppliers as well.
Cavela
Picture Picker—Collect,Create,Edit Image
Stella AI
Surfsite AI
Cavela
Cavela
Cavela