eBay

momcqueen · ‎09-24-2017

Without getting into specifics (because I cannot without violating Usage Policy) I'd like to report that I am making progress and have three solid leads on software tools that migrate listings as opposed to offer only a solution that allows you to sell across multiple channels. The difference being that I don't want my listings synced, I want them transferred.

In clarifying the exact nature of the service provided with these software developers, I found it interesting to note that one told me to lower my expectations for rapid sales from an off-ebay store. A year at least, was the advice, for how long it takes people to find you elsewhere and even that is only after a great deal of self-promotion. So.... it seems I will allow my store subscription to expire with stock photos replacing my own on listings, and then maintain a cursory presence only with the regular listing allowed to non-store subscribers.

It's too bad, I liked selling here.

That time is over. Even I have reached my cracking point. I supported the Product Identifier initiative, I supported the shift to CAD only, I supported ebay's efforts to influence Canada Post last summer and fall. I supported countless other buyers and sellers here through the ebay Canada Community. I did enjoy most of it, it felt like there was a purpose to it all.

That purpose has shifted. I will write you from the Land Beyond eBay as time permits.

dutchman48 · ‎09-24-2017

Which host are you going to be using for your website?

I have 2 through Zen Cart which is open source but if any issues, I have someone fix it for me.

Most can import a CSV file. If you set up TL, you should be able to export a CSV file and then import that file to your new site with some tweaking in the columns. You may have to do some fine tuning, especially with images as they will not import in a CSV without a specific URL to each image.

Many more will look at this option over the next while. And yes, your own website has many issues for the search and exposure. One of my niche sites has been on page 1 of Google for years and still very limited sales and traffic these days. It is a sign of the times.

Do a Google search for one of your products and see what comes up for competition on the web and where.

The person who told you about the problems with websites and sales was being very honest with you. A website is a full time job and many times, minimal returns.

One thing I have never done it devote enough time to my websites. Ebay, due to cost of a store, takes up a great deal of time to keep it stocked and make all the changes necessary. The web sites suffer as a result. Someone told me once, make a clean break from Ebay to be able to deal with the website properly but I have never done it.

Once my store goes away due to lousy sales, especially to the US, I will spend more time where I should, for me, and not Ebay.

As far as Ebay and no store, it is very hard to keep track of what is there and not and with TL going away, to keep track of all your listings, will take a 3rd party listing tool which again takes a great deal of time.

I would also suggest getting a program like mail chimp to let all your previous customers know where you are.

The mods may post all of this and if you like, feel free to PM me and I am sure there are others that know a great deal more about web sites than I do.

So much fro my ramblings.

ricarmic · ‎09-24-2017

I've always said that creating your own site is like building a Tim Hortons in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of nowhere.

It takes time for word of mouth to get out there as to where the Timmies is and/or it takes a lot of advertising to tell everyone where to find it....

That's what I'm paying eBay to do.

My situation is somewhat like dutchman's, I dedicate the most time to the most successful site (I dropped my own dedicated site over 10 years ago now though).

So far despite all the headaches this is the place I spend the most time....that could change at any day it seems but so far I'm here the most....

rose-dee · ‎09-24-2017

@mjwl2006 wrote:
I found it interesting to note that one told me to lower my expectations for rapid sales from an off-ebay store. A year at least, was the advice, for how long it takes people to find you elsewhere and even that is only after a great deal of self-promotion.

Yes I think that's very reasonable and realistic advice. You'll need to plan on being able to get through your first year or so with little income. In my own case, with a "niche" market, very few competitors and a lot of cross-promotion on various social media channels, it took less time (about 6 months) to see results in sales. However I made the transition a couple of years ago while I was still very busy on eBay, so I could afford to wait.

I sincerely wish you the best, and I hope this works out for you, although I still believe eBay has the greatest overall exposure for online sales. That's part of the problem, they know it, and they know we're somewhat captive here as long as that's true, which means we have to play by whatever rules they decide to introduce. Unfortunately the exposure is something that only becomes clear once you try selling elsewhere.

My only suggestion would be rather than dropping your store subscription here entirely, to consider downgrading to Basic (once you're near the end of your current subscription) and try that for a year as you transition. Having a permanently recognizable presence or "brand" is a valuable thing, in my estimation worth a few extra dollars per month to maintain even if you only plan to continue listing a few items.

rose-dee · ‎09-24-2017

@ricarmic wrote:
I've always said that creating your own site is like building a Tim Hortons in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of nowhere.
It takes time for word of mouth to get out there as to where the Timmies is and/or it takes a lot of advertising to tell everyone where to find it....

Yes, I agree. It can be like shouting in the wilderness while burning through dollar bills.

I decided many years ago to use my website only as a gateway to eBay and the other platforms on which I sell. It's been far, far less expensive and less time-consuming than maintaining a full-service commercial site with all the ugly headaches and costs of site security and upgrading. Anyone who happens to drop by my website can browse around then jump straight to eBay, etc. if they want to buy. I used to be able to see those stats at work when eBay had Omniture in place.

As you say, the high profile (and presumably the site security) is what we pay eBay for.

(P.S. I guess I should make clear that in the post above, I wasn't transitioning to my own selling site, but to another selling platform. Even there -- with relatively good recognition and exposure by the site -- it took a few months to get established).

dutchman48 · ‎09-24-2017

A secure site is only around $60 per year for a dedicated IP and an SSL certificate

dutchman48 · ‎09-24-2017

I can also take multiple currencies and set up shipping for different types of products.

The biggest advantage is, it is not constant changes month after month with no benefit or increase in sales.

I also have no listing limitations, don't need a 3rd party to look after listings and don't have to spend a lot of time juggling listings due to limited capacity in a Ebay store. When sales were good on Ebay, it was a no brainer to spend all the time on Ebay. Now that sales are pathetic, I can't see wasting time and money on Ebay for very little return.

Ebay is doing nothing to help the small niche seller so I will start spending less time on Ebay and more on my web sites. I can also copy all my listings on the site to CSV to any listing site that accepts CSV imports which is all of them today except of course Ebay.

Peace of mind is going to be very nice once my store is gone.

dutchman48 · ‎09-24-2017

@ricarmic wrote:
I've always said that creating your own site is like building a Tim Hortons in the middle of a cornfield in the middle of nowhere.

It takes time for word of mouth to get out there as to where the Timmies is and/or it takes a lot of advertising to tell everyone where to find it....

That's what I'm paying eBay to do.

My situation is somewhat like dutchman's, I dedicate the most time to the most successful site (I dropped my own dedicated site over 10 years ago now though).

So far despite all the headaches this is the place I spend the most time....that could change at any day it seems but so far I'm here the most....

Canada Post Costs and the fees on shipping that Ebay charges, will kill a lot of sellers as there will be no profit in small items that won't be able to go letter mail.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-24-2017

In my own case, with a "niche" market, very few competitors and a lot of cross-promotion on various social media channels, it took less time (about 6 months) to see results in sales.

I'm curious, since you don't do sales on your website, how do you know that it took about 6 months to see results in sales?

rose-dee · ‎09-24-2017

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
In my own case, with a "niche" market, very few competitors and a lot of cross-promotion on various social media channels, it took less time (about 6 months) to see results in sales.

I'm curious, since you don't do sales on your website, how do you know that it took about 6 months to see results in sales?

I don't really understand your question. It took a few months before I began to get noticed and "up to speed" in sales on the new site (I won't mention the name here). That site had statistical tracking, so I could see where the interest was coming from and could watch it grow over time. I knew it took a few months because it actually took a few months, as in -- very few hits and/or sales the first few months. Now I have a pretty regular level of monthly visitors and sales.

rose-dee · ‎09-24-2017

@dutchman48 wrote:
A secure site is only around $60 per year for a dedicated IP and an SSL certificate

That's impressively inexpensive. Does it include checkout facilities? I just shelled out nearly $400 to renew a 2-year web hosting plan for a basic, non-commercial site. But then I'm paying for a few domains and privacy packages which may make a difference. My provider has really good service response and also offers a whole lot of add-ons for free, as well as custom design services -- at a price of course.

The thing I'd find daunting would be the prospect of having to pay a web designer/geek type to keep an active commercial site up to date, so I've avoided that by simply placing links on my website that automatically jump back to the item(s) for sale on eBay and other platforms. So far that's worked well with minimal maintenance or oversight required on my part.

silverpinups · ‎09-24-2017

I just paid 800.00 for my Annual Hosting and SSL Certificate for my commercial website.

hlmacdon · ‎09-24-2017

@mjwl2006 wrote:
Without getting into specifics (because I cannot without violating Usage Policy) I'd like to report that I am making progress and have three solid leads on software tools that migrate listings as opposed to offer only a solution that allows you to sell across multiple channels. The difference being that I don't want my listings synced, I want them transferred.

In clarifying the exact nature of the service provided with these software developers, I found it interesting to note that one told me to lower my expectations for rapid sales from an off-ebay store. A year at least, was the advice, for how long it takes people to find you elsewhere and even that is only after a great deal of self-promotion. So.... it seems I will allow my store subscription to expire with stock photos replacing my own on listings, and then maintain a cursory presence only with the regular listing allowed to non-store subscribers.

Ebay scrapers (this is the more commonly used term for what you are looking to do)/importers are available for many different ecommerce platforms. Google ebay scraper and whatever platform you are looking at to see what is available. Most will at least have basic csv import, but generally this is a commonly add-on that gets developed for any platform. If you want to push items back to ebay you have to look more carefully at your choices as there can be higher costs involved there. The main thing you should be considering is the cost and functionality of the overall platform. You are either looking at commercial services that host and maintain their own developed ecommerce platform or an open source platform that can be implemented in a variety of ways.

The cheapest option for an open source platform would be a shared server that you completely manage(unless you are highly technical forget it), a shared server that a hosting reseller specializing in your platform manages (easiest but you'll pay more), or a managed shared/dedicated server that your hosting provider provides 24/7 support for, but won't necessarily specialize in the software you use. Keep in mind opensource platforms provide only the basics, and a lot of features may be paid add-ons.

Easiest option is to go with one of the bigger hosted services but their model usually relies on charging tiered monthly rates with different levels that may limit the number of products or have other gotchas. Their pricing model is basically how Apple prices storage upgrades (ie you pay more than the add-on is worth). Their platforms are generally fairly locked down and are somewhat limited in what you can do with them, but the essentials are there and you don't have to worry about maintaining much of anything. This is probably where you want to start. Unlike open source packages, you don't get large disruptions when say Canada Post or another shipping company changes something significant. A hosted platform like this is basically a turnkey solution.

For a less technical person, the other best option would be going through a hosting reseller that markets/specializes in your particular open source ecommerce software. You'll be paying a premium as they are reselling hosting and providing some level of support, but they'll be able to manage/help the basic maintenance side, and crucially they maintain the server OS. They basically buy server space with hosting companies then assign a number of users to that server. Resources are shared so this is best suited to lower volume sites that aren't high traffic. Some guys get greedy and oversell space on a given server which can break things with your software. You can pay a web developer to set something up and host for you, but you'll pay quite a bit and they may not be overly familiar with the platform.

As far as traffic goes you seem to have a very specific focus and spend a lot of time taking quality photos. You could always start a wordpress blog targeting your niche and linking back to your ebay/webstores. I have no idea what sort of attention your niche gets on Instagram but that is something else. You can also look at your niche and see who is spending money on google adword campaigns. If the niche doesn't have savvy retailers it can be pretty cheap to target certain keywords to promote yourself whether ebay or elsewhere. If you opt for a hosted platform they generally have a decent level of SEO baked into their platform, whereas with open source packages you may have to buy some add-ons to get better SEO results and half decent ranking.

momcqueen · ‎09-25-2017

Don't worry, above all, I am practical. While I would like to depart like this:

I'm fully aware the day may come when I must return like this:

The take-away from all this is that, 'Everything you need to know about life can be learned from The Simpsons. It's funny because it's true.' "And Maggie Makes Three" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' sixth season. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Maggie_Makes_Three

rose-dee · ‎09-25-2017

@hlmacdon wrote:
You could always start a wordpress blog targeting your niche and linking back to your ebay/webstores. I have no idea what sort of attention your niche gets on Instagram but that is something else. You can also look at your niche and see who is spending money on google adword campaigns. If the niche doesn't have savvy retailers it can be pretty cheap to target certain keywords to promote yourself whether ebay or elsewhere.

I've used my own website (which has none of the checkout/transaction facilities) in this way for years, and it can be done effectively. A lot of people are using Wordpress in this way now, as you say, but things seem to be moving fast and the more potential sellers who get on that bandwagon, the more crowded it becomes and the less likely one voice will get attention. Facebook and Pinterest (as you probably know) are also offering listing features for selling (without integrated checkout/transaction tools).

People these days are used to linking around the world to get at what they want. Using links back to eBay (or whatever selling platform is being used) can be a good alternative as a transition to jumping straightaway into the deep end of commercial website selling, especially if a seller is dependent on the income. IMO of course.

momcqueen · ‎11-26-2017

Making slow progress. My migration was delayed by another, more urgent project. As exciting as it is to be building a store from the ground-up, it reminds me how far I've come in the past five years as a seller here where very little now takes me by surprise. At the moment, I am plodding through it over there, irritated that I cannot do the things I want to do in the same manner as I am used to doing them, the learning curve being what it is. My goal is to have everything ready to go live in early 2018 and perfected by spring at which point I intend to push my way into a third venue, The River.