prof2
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posted on April 1, 2004 06:22:25 AM new
I would like to have my own website (besides a storefront on Vendio) so it will appear on Google. Does anyone have a good software to use? How about with a shopping cart too that links it to e-bay purchases?
Thanks
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fenix03
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posted on April 1, 2004 09:08:29 AM new
Check out TheTemplateStore.com or EcommerceTemplates.com Both have some great template, easy to edit and include shopping carts. EcommerceTemplates has a "chat" forum which is well monitored by their staff. I asked a question on the a couple days ago and had the answers from staff within a couple hours. There are also other users on the forum that could probably answer your question as well.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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stopwhining
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posted on April 2, 2004 05:20:09 AM new
does paypal provide shopping cart??
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
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fenix03
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posted on April 2, 2004 10:13:21 AM new
Yes they do. If you are doing a basic site with a small amount of items and intend to run your most of your payments thru PayPal their cart is quite sufficient. If you are planning on eventually expanding your site and someday using a merchant account it is better to use an independent shopping cart since once you make the expansion, you are just going to have to redo all of the work you already did setting up the PayPal cart.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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gtootie
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posted on April 2, 2004 10:53:52 AM new
What is the advantage to having your items listed on your own website and using a separate cart from your Vendio store? When Network Solutions stopped supporting stores, I just put a link to my Vendio Store on my website and added to it. Should I have found a new shopping cart and left my website separate?
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fenix03
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posted on April 2, 2004 11:18:05 AM new
My personal opinion is yes, you should have had the website as a seperate standalone issue. It's all about appearances and impression and a website looks more professional that a Vendio Store (I have a Works store but am currently working on seperate sites that carry the same merchandise.)
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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gtootie
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posted on April 2, 2004 12:08:50 PM new
I have a Works store but am currently working on separate sites that carry the same merchandise.
What do you mean by a Works store?
I agree about a website store looking more professional. But at the time, I was in the middle of changing jobs and got really stressed about the change over and having to change merchant accounts. I guess I need to look into to it further.
Do you know anything about Monster Shopping Carts? Do you have an opinion on the price range per month?
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
[ edited by gtootie on Apr 2, 2004 12:09 PM ]
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stopwhining
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posted on April 2, 2004 02:01:16 PM new
years ago aol and bank of america paired up to offer storefront with shopping cart,at first it is free,then they want to be paid for processing credit card.
you can search and find out -there are some banks which offer this feature.
the problem is how do you drive traffic to your website.
it seems the only place where you get good traffic is ebay.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
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gtootie
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posted on April 2, 2004 02:50:57 PM new
That is one of the things that scares me. I don't have any extra money to play around with. I looked at the cost of a shopping cart and decided to stick with my Vendio store and try to build the business a little. My sales did pick up, but I don't know if that was because I went with Vendio, or because I keep adding more item, or because I've had it open for a year and a half. It could be everything put together.
I use eBay as advertisement and had hoped to gradually back off of it as my store business grew. Now, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to.
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
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cblev65252
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posted on April 2, 2004 05:38:26 PM new
I use an Ecommerce.com template and love it! Once I got used to php it was a snap. Yes, their support is great.
http://www.kcskorner.com if you want to check out an example.
Good luck to you!
Cheryl
http://www.kcskorner.com
[ edited by cblev65252 on Apr 2, 2004 05:40 PM ]
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fenix03
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posted on April 2, 2004 09:20:35 PM new
GT - here is a simple series to ask yourself... what are your favorite sites? What are their URLs? How easy are they to remember? Is yours that simple?
When I referred to Works, I was referring to AuctionWorks, a Vendio like auction service that includes the customer management and store modules included in the basic price rather than add-ons.
I really like their store but I cetainly don't excpect that anyone will remember it's address after they leave.
If you want to start building a self sufficient entity you need to give it it's own presence. Since you already have a URL (I asume since you mention formerly having a store) rebuild it! Is your ebay username the same as your url? If not - change it. Have cards printed up with your URL and include then with every order your ship. To start off you can use the free PayPal shopping cart then switch to a more traditional cart when and if you decide to get your own merchant account.
I don't know what types of items you sell but another way to publicize your site is to become involved in discussion groups, etc that relate to your items and include your URL in your signature. I'm not talking about spamming but rather contributing help or opinions etc in a forum of people interested in the products you sell.
Of course don't forget search engine submissions.
It takes time to build a self sufficient site and constant work marketing it but if you have a good product it can be done. Also, if you have friends with other site, try to make sure they include a link to your site on theirs even if it is an invisable text link. One of the ways that sites are linked by engines is by the number of other sites they are linked to. (remember the "French Military Victories" google search hoax site?)
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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stopwhining
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posted on April 3, 2004 05:09:45 AM new
join a cybermall used to be popular.
rubylane - you can drop items to ebay or yahoo.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
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gtootie
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posted on April 3, 2004 08:37:06 AM new
Fenix
I do have a website, which has a gift shop. It is hosted by Network Solutions. The gift shop was doing OK, but not enough to make any real money. Last August NS decided not to support stores and shopping carts any longer. They sent a recommendation on a new cart, but I would have had to change my merchant account. I didn't want to do that because it is Verisign and I use that here on Vendio. My customers on eBay like using their credit cards.
At the time, I was really stressed out about life in general and the whole process of switching, saving my inventory and rebuilding the store was too overwhelming. I already had a Vendio store, so I decided to build on that. On my website I simply put a link to Vendio.
I already do the business card thing. My website name fits my product. Visitors like the design and comment on it often. I also joined discussion groups. And most of the time my site is #1 on Google. It's not right now, but I haven't been pushing it enough lately. I also put a large red line in every one of my auctions stating the name of my business and how many items I carry. My ID on PayPal is my business name. The only thing that is not my business name is my eBay ID. Someone else has it. It has never been used and has 0 feedback.
I would be glad to share a banner with anybody, but I don't have any friends who have websites.
Debbie
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
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fenix03
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posted on April 3, 2004 08:52:07 AM new
Deb - if you have a store, people can find it, it is ranked well and your existing customers have been complimentary then I can only think of two possible issues.
1) How do your prices stack up against your competitors.
2) Are you selling a product with an interest level capable of achieving the sales numbers you want?
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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gtootie
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posted on April 3, 2004 09:21:01 AM new
Fenix
1) My prices are right down the middle. There are others who price the same thing I have way above me. Then, every now and then, some yahoo comes along and puts $1 over the cost. I just have to wait them out. They go broke after a while. My Dad has been in retail for 50 years. I listen to him on percentages.
I offer good customer service and fast turn around. At least that's what my feedback says.
Feedback Score: 2144
Positive Feedback: 99.9%
Members who left a positive: 2146
Members who left a negative: 2
All positive feedback received: 2587
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
[ edited by gtootie on Apr 3, 2004 09:22 AM ]
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gtootie
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posted on April 3, 2004 09:28:50 AM new
Must be getting old. I forgot the second part.
2) I have two main items. Both have thousands of variations. One is really hot right now, but is a low price item. To make any real profit, I would have to have a huge volume. If I had a few extra thousand dollars to invest in inventory, I could do very well.
The other is one that if you are that type of person, you will buy anything related. Like a NASCAR fan will buy anything related to NASCAR.
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
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fenix03
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posted on April 3, 2004 11:27:31 AM new
::The other is one that if you are that type of person, you will buy anything related. Like a NASCAR fan will buy anything related to NASCAR.::
That is a dangerous misconception. Take a look at the enormous popularity of wrestling a few years ago. WWF had over 200 licensing contracts out their for every piece of merchandise you could imagine. Check out discounters and liquidators and see how much of that merchandise ended up in closout. When corporate identities get over licensces (which many do in order) it weakens the line and damages the sellers of their merchandise. Another example of that is Barney. When Barney hit, the creators sold licensces to everyone who wanted one it seemed (was there anything that could not be found with Barney on it?). The market was so flooded that it resulted in consumer backlash against the franchise.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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gtootie
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posted on April 3, 2004 11:37:11 AM new
I was just using that as an example. This is not a license product. This is an item that has been around since the beginning of time and will be here until the end.
On this one, I know my market and I know what these people like and how to get their attention. If I can get these people to my website and store, they will buy.
My problem is: No money to work with. To buy a large enough quantity to get the discounts and make more profits. And to finance the advertising to get the people to look. eBay is about to get me with the fees. But then again, rent and utilities would be a lot higher, with no where near the traffic.
Be kind. Everyone is fighting their own secret battles.
...Author Unknown
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