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Ebay and Amazon shops

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Silvery, Jun 5, 2009.

  1. Silvery

    Silvery I won't pretend to be your friend coz I'm just not ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    Remove all ads!
    Hey lovelies

    I have a website for my business but it's not getting much exposure at the moment. I'm thinking about setting up an Ebay and/or Amazon shop to try and get some more customers but I haven't really got a clue as to how one goes about it. I want some info on costs and things as well and to know if I can link my website to it.

    If any of you have any advice it would be much appreciated!

    Rach x
     
    Silvery, Jun 5, 2009
    #1
  2. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    I'd PM Tal since he setup the SP shop at Amazon.
     
    Kitrax, Jun 5, 2009
    #2
  3. 8people

    8people 8 is just another way of looking at infinite ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    [​IMG] Ebay help usually has enough information to cover it. If I remember there is a fixed fee for having shop space and a percentage of sales revenue goes towards ebay. Pretty much the same as selling normally but more options for you to promote better.
     
    8people, Jun 5, 2009
    #3
  4. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    The basic Amazon affiliation is free and you do get quite a few tools to help you along, even a basic store builder, so that's definitely worth checking out. But as with most online stores for the last few years, the "build it and they will come" adage is completely false. You need an audience first and only then you'll have the chance of selling them anything. Going about it the other way is a waste of time and effort, at least in my experience.

    If you're only building a store online (as opposed to opening a store to supplement a website), attracting people to it is the biggest money drain - you have to spend A LOT of time, money and effort in advertising before you'll see any return, if at all. In my case, the time, money and effort poured into the new store so far hasn't even remotely paid off, but naturally, that can vary from one store to another. The recession has hit hard here as well.
     
    Taluntain, Jun 5, 2009
    #4
  5. Silvery

    Silvery I won't pretend to be your friend coz I'm just not ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    Never thought of it like that Tal, thanks for the input. Now I feel like I must buy something off you!
     
    Silvery, Jun 5, 2009
    #5
  6. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I've got these fine leather jackets...
     
    Taluntain, Jun 5, 2009
    #6
  7. 8people

    8people 8 is just another way of looking at infinite ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    [​IMG] And genuine designer watches?

    Amazon looks a lot harder to build reputation than ebay I must admit, then again I have always found ebay more 'browser friendly' as well... and easier to spend my loan on :doh:

    A lot of ebay shops link to a mainsite as well that has more range of products or is cheaper than ebay shops, seems to be quite lucrative for them. Even seen one shop on ebay that is purely there as advertising, not sure how effective it has been for them though.
     
    8people, Jun 5, 2009
    #7
  8. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    Well, the situation is different if you're interested in being a merchant with the Amazon Marketplace - my perspective was basically from a middleman's point of view, not from a merchant's. Joining the Amazon Marketplace isn't much different than with Ebay though, I expect - Amazon takes a certain percentage and you have various obligations you need to adhere to contract-wise. The system is similar to Ebay, the major difference is only that Amazon gives preferential treatment to its own stock and that of their major store partners before the small marketplace sellers in terms of exposure - as long as they have the items in stock, that is. If not, marketplace sellers are brought to the forefront.
     
    Taluntain, Jun 5, 2009
    #8
  9. Ziad

    Ziad I speak in rebuses Veteran

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    I thought you were referencing Secret of Monkey Island until I saw the thread topic :lol:
     
    Ziad, Jun 5, 2009
    #9
  10. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    I was, actually. :p
     
    Taluntain, Jun 5, 2009
    #10
  11. Silvery

    Silvery I won't pretend to be your friend coz I'm just not ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    The thing is, we're pretty specialised with what we do so fingers crossed, we'll get some decent exposure!
     
    Silvery, Jun 5, 2009
    #11
  12. 8people

    8people 8 is just another way of looking at infinite ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    [​IMG] "Specialised" and "Decent Exposure" should not share a sentence! :mommy:
     
    8people, Jun 5, 2009
    #12
  13. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    One thing I've seen a lot of people do around town is plaster their car's rear window with a web address along with a brief description of what they sell. Hell, there’s a shot at the local mall that can make you any custom logo out of vinyl stickers of any color for pretty cheap. It's cheap mobile advertisement...but I'm not sure if that's legal in other countries.
     
    Kitrax, Jun 6, 2009
    #13
  14. Rotku

    Rotku I believe I can fly Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    But do you ever read those, Kit? I see them fairly often (seems particularly common for computer related people, and trades people), but hardly take time to read them, let alone commit anything to memory.
     
    Rotku, Jun 10, 2009
    #14
  15. Silvery

    Silvery I won't pretend to be your friend coz I'm just not ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran

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    The problem is that advertising is very expensive. Even basic adverts cost a lot and there are no guarentees that'll you'll make back your costs.
     
    Silvery, Jun 10, 2009
    #15

  16. Munchkin Blender Gems: 22/31
    Latest gem: Sphene

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    Very true; however, there are a ton of ways to get FREE advertising on the web. Craigslist, Free Classified Ads (I don't remember the exact URL sorry).
     
    Munchkin Blender, Jun 24, 2009
    #16
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