posted on December 31, 2000 05:41:32 AM new
Is it worth having a website in addition to using eBay?
Now I'm working to find web hosting and many of you have been very helpful. Thank you.
posted on December 31, 2000 07:18:32 AM new
I have a website on Bigstep.com which has many of the things that I sell on ebay, and every auction listing has a link to it. My prices on the website are slightly higher than on ebay. What I have found is that a lot of people check out the website, see the higher price, and then go back to ebay to place a bid. In the past 3 months, it has meant about a 20% increase in bids and sales on ebay, so I would say it is worth it.
Bigstep is rather basic but works ok for me; it's not as sophisticated as some other hosting systems, but has been good to me, seeing as how I don't have the technical expertise to design my own site. The walk throughs on it are nice.
The above are my opinions only and not an endorsement for Bigstep, nor do I work for them. As always, you should decide what is best for you. Best of luck!
Sword013(Joe)
www.13swords.bigstep.com
(edited by Sword013 for spelling)
[ edited by sword013 on Dec 31, 2000 07:20 AM ]
posted on December 31, 2000 07:56:14 AM new
I think it depends on what kind of merchandise you offer. Unique collectibles, or newer merchandise with repeat sales?
I set up a website when eBay implemented their reserve fees. I figured it was a better investment of many of those "dollars," and it has surely paid off! eBay ultimately lost the lion's share of my good items with that ploy. I deal in vintage jewelry, and the eBay Jewelry categories have become so glutted (much of it either flea-market type junk, or Reproduction/New items inappropriately listed in Vintage categories), plus quality/service so iffy any more, that many true collectors and connoisseurs prefer to shop from websites. What's more, I get much better prices than I do on eBay.
posted on December 31, 2000 08:02:16 AM new
Good question.
To establish a Web Site that truly produces, is a major project, AND it takes time to promote said site. We have a large web site and have for 4 years, but only in the last 2 years has it really been producing for us. Promoting it merely via eBay or any other auction, just isn't enough, in my opinion.
We use Submit Wolf, a program that one can automatically submit your web site to hundreds of links and browsers. We do a submit on the site every 15 days. We keep the site updated, and with such a large site, it is definitely continual work.
It will work well, depending on what you are selling, and how much your promote your site.
A few years ago folks thought "BUILD A SITE AND THEY WILL COME - WRONG and even large commercial firms have failed because they though merely having a presence on the www guaranteed sales - WRONG!
It takes time, work, and continual updating and promotion, BUT if one is patient, and has good products at a reasonable price, it will pay off - but it isn't an overnight sales gimmick.
Wishes to you and yours for a Blessed 2001. Our New Years Greeting to YOU at this URL:
posted on December 31, 2000 08:14:04 AM new
I would say its definately worth it if you have similar items for sale most of the time. You should be able to setup something fairly good with one of the free hosting providers. I would say I do about 1/4 the amount of sales from my site as eBay, but thats without promoting it almost at all. I also use to keep track of my items, bid and shipping.
posted on December 31, 2000 09:13:57 AM new
One thing I have done is put a link in my EOA emails to my website. I ship all items UPS, and have a special page where my customers can copy their tracking number, and trace their package instantly. People really love to be able to track their items, and see my larger selection at the site. I sell gifts and crafts, and eBay is so saturated with SMC that my better line of items get lost in the shuffle. It works for me.
posted on December 31, 2000 09:45:04 AM new
I have definitely noticed an increase in sales since I put my website link in my ebay auctions. I would recommend it. I sell exactly the same thing for the same price on my site as my auctions, but the site seems to draw more attention, I guess because it gives even more information and it is a really nicely designed site which I get a lot of comments on. As far as web hosting, I went to cybergalleries.com because they are the host/server/designer, did everything for me which I did not know how to do myself. (I am not up on all the latest "computer geek" stuff as I'd like to be.) I am VERY happy with cybergalleries, I would highly recommend them, the tech support is excellent there too. My site is www.jantilley.com if you want to see it for an example. Good luck. And HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!
Rocker
posted on December 31, 2000 09:57:01 AM new
Rocker and Sword013...thank you..
do those places accept Paypal. I noticed that it was difficult to find an email to contact Bigstep- it looked great...thanks
posted on December 31, 2000 10:02:22 AM new
Over the past 6 year I have set up several website some personal site two domains after some 5 1/2 years promoteing listing on spider search engines FAA sites adding several banner exchange programs adding a small local guide for visiters telling about things to do when visiting our area of the country a chat room I have never been to free classifides a message board serveral web rings includeing one of my own pay banners and links to some of my auction booths a TV wrestling history section a Music review page a kiddys area with cartoon reviews and links to nicklodeon
and WB network a way to send E-greeting postcards to friends. an electronics mall type store for a while was offering free web based email adding redirects URLs and pointing all the sites togeather under one of my two Domain names I now have one hugh page that genorates about a 100 or so visitors a month but has not made any income over .50 to my sales.
when I started selling at online auction I found the time I spent with the website took away from the time spent with auction and sales would go down the time I spent with auction would take away from the time spent daily promoteing my website and visitsthere would go down.
I get sale on auctions most days nothing from my website even though both are in some way linked togeather.
over the six year working on my HTML skill which I might add once you know most web programing you get request 24/7 for free advice untill you inform all you will make there webpage for a price then people pretend they dont know you.
I have spent on program domain names and what not over $6.000 and made nothing but friends who want free help with webdesign.
how ever the year I been doing online auction though I sell personal item and many times lost money on shipping and stuff I get checks in the mail and some times break even so you decide.
My opion is if your a one person show doing everything your self you can do one or the other but not both Wont say you will fail but you will lose on one or the other over time.
posted on December 31, 2000 10:14:08 AM new
I would agree that posting banners, affiliates, LEs is not really worth the effort. For my site I just made a list of items the quickest way possible and a couple of links, so it does not get too hard bo update. http://www.vfxweb.com/ebay/
posted on December 31, 2000 11:12:29 AM new
If you are selling a standard set of items over and over, then the answer is a big YES. I sell standard items. Some of them are just not worth posting on ebay because the fees would eat all the profit. But from my about me page I link to my site. In my EOA letters, I mention my site. I get lots of repeat business from former customers or folks referred by former customers. I have a 50 meg site with unlimited email IDs and the entire thing including the domain name registration only cost me $10 a month.
posted on December 31, 2000 01:45:36 PM new
ThePriest
You are very welcome And yes cybergalleries.com accepts Paypal. Let me know when your site is done - I would love to see it I am very interested in what everyone here is doing. Have fun!
Rocker
posted on December 31, 2000 03:25:15 PM new
I got my web site through a consultant who sets up web sites for businesses large and small. He can be reached at [email protected]. My particular site is on nshosts.com and I believe the company itself is in Australia. But that doesnt bother me. My site is fast, it's always up and when I have a question, I email shaffren who's in New York and he usually responds within minutes. My email to [email protected] is actually forwarded to my home and office email. I was surprised to discover how quickly this works. If I go into my regular account using outlook and send an email to my ygoodman account, outlook first displays 'sending outgoing messages' and then 'getting new mail from server' and in that brief period, the email gets forwarded and comes back to me.
posted on January 1, 2001 09:03:39 AM new
Yes, a website is DEFINITELY worth it! Be sureto include your web address with EVERY PACKAGE you send out.
So many sellers on eBay just list there and do not build up any "repeat business". BIG MISTAKE!
I would suggest a MIVA MERCHANT enabled website. Especially if you do not have a lot of technical expertise. It costs more, but will allow you easily add (and delete) merchandise which is a real blessing when you have multiple unique items.
Personally, I use Site Works. They are reliable and at $50 per month are well worth it. No, I don't own Site Works OR Miva. So I get ZERO if you decide to use them. But I like their setup, in which a Miva license is included in the monthly cost (buying Miva outright costs about $500).
So, if you decide to go this route, make sure that your host provides the MIVA License, and is not simply "Miva Enabled". Miva Enabled means they have the required back end stuff on their servers, but you'll have to BUY the Miva program outright.
posted on January 1, 2001 09:16:42 AM new
For me, it has been worth it. I use one of the free hosts & link from my auctions. I also include the web address on my business cards which go in each package. Much of what I am selling is hand-dyed items and the website allows me to go into more detail and also allows people to request different colors or sizes. I do not promote the website otherwise, as I do not want to take on more business than I can handle. It is great for repeat business & for supplemental business--a bidder can order something to match their auction win. I think that having a coherent website adds to your credibility and can help to set you apart from your competitors.
posted on January 1, 2001 09:40:18 AM new
I don't have a sales-related web site but I'm speaking from the perspective of both a web designer and a buyer here.
If you set up a up site for your merchandise, it will be worth your while to put enough effort into it to make it a good site, not just something you've thrown together because you want a web site. That doesn't necessarily mean spending a lot of money -- see the advice above about hosting companies who will provide templates and instructions.
But it's important to provide a good user experience, which means making sure your site is appealing, straightforward, and easy to navigate. You should make it as simple as possible for someone visiting your site to find what he wants. Skip unrelated materials and banners, make your site focused, and give visitors a reason to return. Make it visually appealing but forget about bells and whistles, and don't clutter up your site with a zillion junky pictures.
I recently had a bad experience as a buyer on a site run by an eBay seller. I was sent there to pay by credit card for an auction. The seller gave me an extremely convoluted set of instructions, and the payment ended up going wrong because the process was so confusing and non-intuitive. Not only that, but the site looked very dated and the layout and colors were terrible. Some words in the navigation bar which appeared to be links were not, and it had an unfinished and hastily put together look to it. They had nice products, but I won't be shopping there again.
Good luck to you! Don't hesitate to work hard on the initial setup if you decide to set up a site. It will pay off in the long run.
posted on January 1, 2001 10:01:20 AM new
Might want to look into Freemerchant.com - they have a free package that allows you to create a store with products... In their pay packages they interface with eBay.
I've just started setting mine up... and other not knowing how I wanted to organize my products, it was a no brainer... no HTML needed at all, just enter your items, upload a picture (and you are limited to one picture per item), customize your template, and that's it.
Payment and shipping is kinda tricky, but once I asked a geeky friend to come up with the shipping it was easy to set up.. and they support merchant accounts, including one that has a flat $29 fee for sales up to $500 (which seems cheaper than most merchant accounts, but still too high for me since I may only sell $100 a month). I prefer to accept BillPoint, etc for credit cards, and they have no easy way to do that.. they do however allow customers to select money order/checks and "on account".
Anyway, it seems to be a good product for people wanting to get their feet wet without a lot of headaches.
How it performs on a long range scale is yet to be seen since I just started using it.
Rocker
And yes cybergalleries.com accepts Paypal. Let me know when your site is done - I would love to see it