When I first started deltabase, I had no clue how to get a B2C business on track.
I had spent most of my working life in B2B. deltabase became my first real attempt at selling directly to consumers, and one of the first problems I ran into was very simple:
What was I going to sell?
I contacted brand after brand. Most did not take me seriously. Some did not even care enough to offer me reseller pricing.
So I tried harder.
I bought a plane ticket and flew to China to attend hobby fairs, thinking that if I could introduce myself to the brands in person, maybe I would have a better chance.
What actually happened?
The brand owners shook my hand one minute, and forgot my name the next.
Then I discovered Sheik Mainland.
Not at a hobby fair.
Not through Sheik Mainland themselves.
I simply saw a photo of Zi-Kron in one of my China contacts’ WeChat Moments. I asked what it was, and he told me it was from Sheik Mainland.
“Just buy one and try.”
So I did.
I ordered one from other store, paid full retail price, and waited for it to arrive.
The moment I started building it, I thought I had discovered an oasis.
Actually, no.
It felt more like I had discovered a whole new continent (酋长“大陆”) 😏
I went on to buy several more Sheik Mainland kits to build, and with every kit, I became more convinced that this was a brand I wanted in the deltabase catalogue.
Eventually, I managed to get in touch with their main distributor and started bringing in more and more Sheik Mainland products.
But I did not want to simply put the boxes on my website and wait for people to buy them.
I translated product information.
I studied the lore.
I built the kits myself.
I brought them to events.
I let people pick them up, pose them and experience them.
I wanted people to understand why I believed in the brand.
As time went on, my orders became bigger.
Eventually, Sheik Mainland themselves noticed what I had been doing.
They saw the work.
And somehow, I ended up with the boss on my direct line.
Then one day, he told me that if I wanted it, he would be happy to let me take charge of Singapore.
That was a sentence I never imagined hearing when I first bought Zi-Kron from Taobao at full retail price.
Today, it is official.
deltabase is now the Exclusive Master Distributor for Sheik Mainland in Singapore.
This means more than having a title behind the business.
It gives me a stronger foundation to do more of what I have already been trying to do from the beginning: bring the products in properly, explain them properly, support customers locally, work with suitable retail partners, and give more people the chance to discover Sheik Mainland for themselves.
It also opens the door to bigger things.
More retail presence.
More events.
More opportunities to put these kits into people’s hands instead of asking them to judge the products from photos alone.
At the same time, this new role also means I need to be more focused about where I put my time and resources.
A temporary pause for international orders
Over the past few months, deltabase has also been serving a small number of customers outside Singapore.
I was able to do this because I had logistics support within China, which made it possible for certain overseas orders to be shipped directly from China. Sending products to Singapore first and then shipping them overseas again would often make the delivery cost too high to make sense.
As I move into a more direct working relationship with Sheik Mainland and take on the responsibility of developing the Singapore market, that logistics arrangement is also changing.
Rather than continue accepting international orders without being certain that I can fulfil and support them properly, I have decided to pause international shipping for the time being.
This is not because I no longer care about overseas customers.
Quite the opposite.
I would rather pause than take your money first and figure out the problems later.
For now, I need to focus on building the Singapore market properly, supporting local customers and retailers, and putting the right structure in place for this next stage of deltabase.
I hope this is only a pause, not an ending. If I can establish a reliable way to serve overseas customers again in future, I would be very happy to reopen it.
To everyone outside Singapore who has supported deltabase so far: thank you. I genuinely appreciate it.
And to everyone here who bought your first Sheik Mainland kit from me, came by a pop-up, picked up one of the display kits, read one of my translations, shared a post, asked a question, or simply told someone else about the brand:
you helped make this possible.
So I want to celebrate this milestone with you.
Free local delivery on all online orders until 31 August 2026.
No minimum spend.
Just a small thank-you while I get ready for the next big chapter.
And when August ends…
I should have another announcement to make 👀
