Solid platform BUT
I recently bought Pietra Tier 3, and I didn't really know what to expect. I am used to buying products in China using different types of agents to organise the delivery, and I thought I would see some similarities. Pietra offers a complete solution in terms of services, sourcing, storing, e-commerce website, and delivery.
I like the fact that I can now send my products to their warehouse and they organise the delivery for a small fee. I also like that I can send products from different suppliers and they pack it all together for a small fee. This means I can now sell to the USA.
Why is there a BUT?
1. Suppliers are mainly in China, and you can find the same on Alibaba and get the samples sent directly to your company and not the Pietra US warehouse. I would have loved to find an injection company where you can make tailor-made products other than T-shirts and jewellery.
2. The website builder is very poor, but I was happy to see a WooCommerce, Shopify, and Wix integration. This means you can create a customised store with WooCommerce.
3. There is no API or webhook to use or link services outside Pietra.
4. The pricing is very messy; you have to download different PDF files to know your final price. It would be so easy to integrate all options on a page so that if you input weight and dimensions, you know your delivery price, storing cost, handling cost, and so on. At the moment, it's like working in the 90s.
5. I would love to be able to sell on different US platforms like Amazon, eBay, and so on easily. At the moment, it's possible but not practical if you have a high volume of sales.
6. Pietra ships outside the US, but the delivery prices are high, making some of my products not competitive.
I had an onboarding Zoom call, and it was good. All my questions were answered. Will I use the platform? I still don't know because I have to set up a WooCommerce store first and send my products to their warehouse without knowing my exact retail price. I have to read all the documents and create a spreadsheet to know the costs.
I will keep my Tier 3 because Pietra can open a new market, but I wish it was easier to know all the costs and start selling everywhere in the US on many platforms.
Diego_Pietra
Aug 7, 2024Thank you for your review labaude,
We’re currently sprinting to increase the amount of factories outside of China as well as providing cheaper international shipping.
We’ve taken your feedback regarding pricing into account and are exploring ways in which we can make 3PL pricing clearer for users.
One quick clarifying note: you already have the ability to ship items from a factory in our network directly to your company and not the Pietra US warehouse.
We’re curious to learn about your vision and use case for an open API. If you could share more details on this by emailing creators@pietrastudio.com or leave a comment below, our team will take that into account. Thank you!
All the best,
Diego Salinas
Growth Operations @ Pietra