Power Sellers Unite

ajoshi · Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 1

The "Big 3" will do it...
1) Own
2) Diversify
3) Build equity.
Now auction sellers can build real businesses that they own.
http://auctions.sitesell.com/unltdsales.html

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17241 Location: Texas

Welcome to PSU and thanks for joining:
Link:
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Who Owns Your Business
You or eBay?

"I get so tired of mailing packages.
Pick, pack and ship... over and over."

"I depend on eBay for traffic.
I don't have any traffic of my own."

"If I stop, how else could I earn income?
It's my only stream of income."

"I've basically created my own hourly wage job,
working harder than ever. For eBay."

If you are an auction seller, you do not own your own business. It owns you.

More specifically, eBay owns you.

Yes, eBay is a brilliant concept. Poor old Amazon -- they have to do all that pick-pack-and-shipping themselves, millions of times a week. But eBay? They get YOU, and millions of others to do the hard part for them, from home, as free labor...

the sourcing of product
the warehousing of product
the packaging
the shipping
the chasing after money
the handling of complaints and support
and so on, and so forth.
And eBay? They let the software run the network of buyers and sellers. And then they let the network effect take over...

More and more sellers meant increasing diversity of product, which attracted more and more buyers. More and more buyers meant more demand, which attracted more and more sellers.

"And thus did eBay's growth feed upon itself"... meteorically. eBay grew into a company worth billions. They now own all "the little people" who do the hard, tedious, physical work that software cannot do.

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PSU here also offers web stores to it's registered users :D

Nikkicute · Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 879

For those of you who have their own store.
Is having your own website cheaper than ebay fee's?

How much does it cost to have your own site??

AuctionRSSFeed.com · Joined: 14 Nov 2005 Posts: 166

Nikkicute wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")For those of you who have their own store.
Is having your own website cheaper than ebay fee's?

How much does it cost to have your own site??

Most people that do their own hosting of their site have the option through their hosting to automatically install store software.

Hosting packages vary in size, but most shared hosting companies charge $3.95 per month and up. It depends on your needs. You may find cheaper, but be aware that they may not be responsive of problems with your account.

There are many available store softwares, add-ons, etc. for free that you can install on your hosting space.Some hosting companies have store software, blog software, forum software and more easily installable with a click.

The advantage of having your own hosting is that you can be the provider of your auction images, store software (and add-ons), blog, RSS feeds, company email addy, etc.

Plus, you can make multiple folders on your account. Point one domain to one folder, point another domain to another folder, etc, and have many sites un-related to the other if you wish.

Then there are the prices of domain names. You pay a low price for 1 year unless you choose to purchase it for more years. I'll let someone else give the low price on their experience with purchasing domain names.

But in all, you get a whole year with a hosting that you can do whatever you want to with (within reason) for a whole year at whatever price you have paid.

I'm all for personal hosting and wouldn't have it any other way.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 17241 Location: Texas

Nikkicute? Under $10 a month or just $99 a year :D

Just PM psunite here and he can give you all of the details as how to get started.

You'll need a DNS (domain name server) but after that?
The PSU stores are easy to use and very economical to operate

Hope this helps!

worldofwholesale · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 99

our site runs us about $35 a month and is well worth the investment. we have become relatively free of feepay, but beware if using feepay as a tool for advertisement they will pick at you with a vengeance
http://www.worldofwholesale.biz
http://base.google.com/base/search?authorid=1395661&hl=en&gl=US

Nikkicute · Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 879

Oh wow do I ever have a lot to learn!!!

Multiple folders??
Point one domain to one folder??,
Point another domain to another folder??
RSS feeds??
Hosting space??

oook breath I will learn all in due time.

Well those prices don't sound bad at all.
I just have to figure out which service I would like to go with.

I was looking at Yahoo Stores.

Nikkicute · Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 879

worldofwholesale wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")our site runs us about $35 a month and is well worth the investment. we have become relatively free of feepay, but beware if using feepay as a tool for advertisement they will pick at you with a vengeance
http://www.worldofwholesale.biz
http://base.google.com/base/search?authorid=1395661&hl=en&gl=US

Oh you mean posting your store link on ebay??

worldofwholesale · Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 99

Quote: › docWrite("quote")Oh you mean posting your store link on ebay??
yes a link is bad or useing a name like yoursitedotcom. it used to be that you could have a link to your policy page if it pertained to what you sell, useing a dotcom user id is allowed but not advised, they will give you a hard time. they have a catch all policy that states if they think you are a troublemaker or will cause potential problems they can and WILL suspend you and with no explanation . the number one reason for ebay suspensions is making money outside of ebay and they use their blanket policy to stop you. been there done that. Paypal is stated to be run seperately but believe me if you rattle the cage of one the other will chime in also. ebay is a resource, no longer is it a ethical resource and they have learned to abuse their position in an unprofessional like manner.they track multiple accounts and probably have their attorneys scan all other sites to watch activities ( an assumption). if you sell outside of ebay they can quickly become an advisary if you dont be careful. we used to pay $1400 a month in fees and I cant imagine what they would run these days. before they bought paypal and totally dominated the market ebay was a user friendly market . I have read that ebays market is 60% "buy it now" in the area of electronics, I dont know this for sure , but it was an article that also stated with google coming on that ebay is moving more towards the buy it now arena and specifically in the electronics market. I think I have gotten a bit off subject sorry, I need to talk to my ebay recovery group HA anyways we have alot to learn also in the promotion of our site, I am old school when it comes to promotion and I know their is easier ways to promote then to pound the keys 24/7. this site here has helped us immensely in new information and thoughts an absolute super group of people. the market is evolving rapidly and we are proud to be here and proud to have sponsored this site. we are always looking for suggestions and looking to link up with our friends at psu. sorry for the long wind, I really do need to get back to my feepay recovery group LOL I hope I was of some help and good luck!
http://www.worldofwholesale.biz
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?hl=en&lr=&lmode=online&authorid=1395661&cdn=worldofwholesale.biz&lnk=storeall

Nikkicute · Joined: 27 Jul 2005 Posts: 879

Thank you.
I don't mind the long answers.

Just let it all out and you'll feel better.
No links for me, I know that will give ebay a reason to give you the boot.

Have a nice day!!!

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

Nikki:

WoW is absolutely correct!! You have to be very careful what you 'put' into your ebaY about me page as well as your listings!

There are allowable links, and I have my about me page 'there' referred to my 'site' which has information for new folks to the internet and also other places to find me. This is allowed. However, a blatant redirect to a competitor or a commerce site - is a no/no!!!

:D :D

FiberGuy · Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 5

Quote: › docWrite("quote")For those of you who have their own store.
Is having your own website cheaper than ebay fee's?

How much does it cost to have your own site??

YES, to the first question... we were former ebay store owners, stocking about 2-3000 items in our inventory. We've since closed our ebay store and have either liquidated what was left or moved it to our web site. (We actually closed about a month or so before the big fee hike.)

Total cost for our site + e-commerce options is around $35/month for us.

No commissions, but our marketing is up to us. Part of what you pay ebay (in theory) goes to their massive advertising, which granted, is very effective.

About the only thing we list on ebay anymore are very unique pieces, or items that we don't have enough knowledge of to properly market, hence letting the bidders take it to wherever. (Yah... that still happens-once in a while!)

Hope this helps!

Cheers