Power Sellers Unite

Skyecrafts · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 52

So here we are, it's our main season (spring, we are into selling gnomes) and we are listing on Ebay and Ecrater. Roughly 30 listings on Ebay, 60 on Ecrater. Ebay sells 35 - 50% per cycle ( one week). And Ecrater? Ehrm... well.... try 0. Prices are lower on Ecrater, because we do not have as much overhead cost.... Same photos, same descriptions as on Ebay. What are we missing here? I would have expected at least SOME sales per month. Any ideas, anyone?

lammergeiernet · Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 1007 Location: Canada

Make sure you setup the meta tags and have plenty of your "Gnome" word content on your front page and various sections. Populate your Faq with content that helps your buyers and will be relevant in search.

Make sure your item titles are good since they will pop up randomly at top of google searches via froogle/googlebase.

Be sure to have description that might help close the deal , also take into account you have ZERO feedback.

Froogle and Google should drive a fair bit of traffic

In few weeks you should start to get search engine hits , may want to submit your store to search engines and then directories.

If you are a Yank , join Googlecheckout and take advantage of the free Adwords to get the ball rolling.

------
Myself ,I have had sales far below eBay , but I'm still happy with the results

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

There's also 'posts' here that suggest issues with the feeds to google/froogle/googlebase....I dunno if this is 'affecting' your views/buys, but very well could be!!

Best of efforts to you as you work to sell on other venues! :D

Skyecrafts · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 52

Selling on other venues, yes, that is indeed the goal here. Divide and conquer. Thanks for the tips thus far, we are going to look into it in the next couple of weeks. It would be nice if we could succeed into doing this by the end of this year, else I am beginning to think that Ebay really has a firm stranglehold here, not unlike Microsoft has.

moonMAJiC · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 272

Skyecrafts wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")Roughly 30 listings on Ebay, 60 on Ecrater. Ebay sells 35 - 50% per cycle ( one week). And Ecrater? Ehrm... well.... try 0. Prices are lower on Ecrater, because we do not have as much overhead cost.... Same photos, same descriptions as on Ebay. What are we missing here? I would have expected at least SOME sales per month. Any ideas, anyone?

One HUGE difference between eBay and eCRATER - eBay advertises and brings sellers to you. eCRATER is more like your own web store - they provide you the wonderfully easy set up and maintenance, but it's up to you to do the advertising of it :)

I've been there a couple months - had plenty of lookers and questions asked - but no sales. Just yesterday though I had 2 paid for sales come through :)

I think it takes some time to get indexed in Google/Froogle and be seen by more people. As well as it just takes time for any new business or store to show some profit. People will find you.

I market my eCRATER store just the way I market my own website - I can't afford to pay for advertising, so use different methods to do it, so it may not have people noticing me right away, but they do eventually notice me. And then once they do, they come back or they recommend you to others who buy from you and on and on.

It's all a process - I'm with you, wish it would happen much faster and much more regularly ;) but it does happen.

eCRATER's a nice place to sell from - oh! and check out the forums there - lotsa good information and tips on marketing and promoting :)

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

Sarah - congrats on the sales....awesome news girl - yippee, yahoo for you!! :D

moonMAJiC · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 272

Thanks Erin :) I was absolutely thrilled! Not with the sales alone (which that IS enough to make me do a happy dance!) but knowing that finally some of the promo I've been doing has paid off and people are now finding me!

I'll admit too - I love that eCRATER does the whole Froogle submission automatically - it's something I haven't taken the time to do for my own website, and I'll give that credit for helping greatly when it comes to promoing!

Annsbeauty · Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Posts: 125 Location: Oregon

Hi, I was just reading the posts and I noticed that it sounds like you all have some good ideas for bringing traffic/customers to your sites.
I have a website, and I am looking for ideas to attract more customers, as well as ideas for how to turn visitors into buyers.

I wondered if anyone could share some of the specifics you do to market your sites, etc.

I too, am looking for low or preferably no cost options for marketing my website. I am interested in building a store on ecrater too, just not ready to do so yet. How are sales over there, and how do people find you over there?

Would be interested in hearing from anyone re. any of the above.
Thank you. I just joined psu recently.

Annsbeauty

Toyfads · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 21

Good Morning Everyone,

Ecrater has been doing quite well for me, it is comparable to the store sales I did when I had my ebay store. I signed up for ad words and I made up business cards and magnets to put in all my ebay shipments. I think its all working well. Good luck on your store. I love ecrater! :D

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

Ann - I know of no 'secrets' - just hard work!!

Exposure is everything, especially when you are competing for business. I would recommend you also set up an eCrater store sooner rather than later - for added exposure.

eCrater produces great results in rankings on google, google's froogle and has tons of ideas on how to market your store. These ideas are not unique to eCrater, but getting your name 'out there' is the key to success.

In the meantime, submit your site to any/all search engines possible.

Have your site and your items key-word rich - what would you use to search if you wanted your item/items.

Explore the use of meta tags and linking to other sites.

These are just some starting ideas!

ToyFad - congrats. on your efforts and your sales!! :thumbsup: :mrgreen:

Toyfads · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 21

2BOYSandTOYS wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
Ann - I know of no 'secrets' - just hard work!!

Exposure is everything, especially when you are competing for business. I would recommend you also set up an eCrater store sooner rather than later - for added exposure.

eCrater produces great results in rankings on google, google's froogle and has tons of ideas on how to market your store. These ideas are not unique to eCrater, but getting your name 'out there' is the key to success.

In the meantime, submit your site to any/all search engines possible.

Have your site and your items key-word rich - what would you use to search if you wanted your item/items.

Explore the use of meta tags and linking to other sites.

These are just some starting ideas!

ToyFad - congrats. on your efforts and your sales!! :thumbsup: :mrgreen:

Thank you 2boysandtoys! I agree with you on all of the above I did forget to mention to submit to all the search engines :D

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

You're welcome! I guess you can also 'do' some creative 'stuff' - blogging, myspace, newsletter, etc....

I always forget these things! Then, there is the route of RSS feeds and also traffic sites - like reallysmartdeals.com!

I'm still on my first cup of coffee....Can you tell? :D :? :wink:

treasuresbykat · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 2

Hi all!
I too have a store on ecrater. I put a lot of stuff that was killing me in Ebay fees without any exposure on ecrater. www.treasuresbykat.ecrater.com
to drive people to that store I found a great site Squidoo that actually lets you put items you sell on the site. Here is my lens
http://www.squidoo.com/Usaroadtripphotography/
Give me a rating, it drives my lens closer to the top and gives me exposure. You can also leave your site or lens link on mine by signing the guestbook.
Check out the boards on Ebay :search Squidoo, sellers are sharing their lens and rating each others to drive everyones exposure up....and it's free!
You can earn money from advertisers too!
Check it out, every little bit helps and Good Luck!
Kat

knappschiles · Joined: 25 May 2005 Posts: 4035 Location: Wi

For about the last 6-8 weeks I've been averaging about 10 sales/ week. 1-2 from eCrater, 1-2 from Blujay and the rest from my web site. Last year it was more, but at least I'm not stuck with all the eBay fees I had then.

I do have a MySpace site and I have a special listed on my site and I've posted it to some clubs, but only 2 people have used the special so far.

I also posted a special here for my friends, but only 1 person has used it so far.

I also have a "coupon" that I put in all my packages to get repeat customers to use GC instead of PP. So far only 1 has used it, but I haven't done that all that long yet.

When my markets open for the season, I have a flyer I have sitting on a corner of a table with info for customers about eBay alts. I will update it with info about all the scams this spring.

If you do flea markets/ craft fairs or any "live" events don't forget to promote where people can find you after the event. So many people "know" eBay but have no idea of the costs, problems and scams or that there are "other places". We have to educate them.

Carol

2BOYSandTOYS · Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 10095 Location: Kansas

Carol raises great ideas - another avenue for sharing is 'everywhere ya go'....Be sure to put your website on the outside of your packages - then all the mail folks can 'find you'.

Leave a card/two/five at the dentist, hairdresser, grocery store, department store, Doctor's Office, Ortho, dry-cleaning, etc...

The best exposure often is casual contact - and a friendly face!!! :D :D