Thinking of starting a web store

[HomeAppraiser]

We are selling my father's art collection on ebay and it has been hit or miss. I feel like I am just placing expensive newspaper ads.

A webstore would allow all items to be displayed at once without all the relisting and ebay fees. His high volume items range from $5 to $50 and he has a few $200 to $500 pieces also. What is the best way to start? DIY software from a box or have a professional company like www.acomsolutions.com maintain the site and process the payments for $21 per month? Any other webstore companies out there?

What does Azurik do?

Thank's in advance for you suggestions.

Edit: Are mom & pop estores taxed by the Feds? We are in Oregon so there is no sales tax to worry about.

 

[imported_Mike]

Pretty sure Azurik does consulting now. Why not do both? Especially with art, the more exposure, the better.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

I think we are going to continue to put the high-end stuff up for auction as we had some crazy last minute bid ups. The economy seems to be very cool on luxury items right now so I want to concentrate on the knick-knack items. For small stuff I end up paying ebay/paypal 20% to 50% of the profit!

 

[imported_Mike]

Depending on how many pieces at any given time are available, you might also consider openeing an ebay store. Less exposure on ebay, but only $.04 for 30 days per item. $15/month for that. You can still have some auctions which can heavily advertise your ebay store which has all your items which also heavily advertises your webstore.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

So an Ebay store costs $15 per month plus $0.04 per item plus sales and transaction fees? Do they auto process payments and alert you that something need shipped out? Do you need to give them a tax payer ID to open an ebay store? Are there taxes on profit from a webstore?

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
So an Ebay store costs $15 per month plus $0.04 per item plus sales and transaction fees? Do they auto process payments and alert you that something need shipped out? Do you need to give them a tax payer ID to open an ebay store? Are there taxes on profit from a webstore?

Ebay doesn't require a tax ID, the ebay store processes closed items like a normal ebay auction. They send you an email, etc.

Taxes from profit is something between you and uncle sam. I personally report profit from anything that I sell whether its from CL, my Ebay store, a regular Ebay auction, or my other venues.

 

[RossMAN]

Since eBay already offers the infrastructure it's hard to beat what they're offering.

Do you have an eBay store like this ---> http://stores.ebay.com/GlobalArtDepot

Maybe you can register a domain like OregonArtWork.com and have it automatically forward to your eBay store or auctions. That way you have an easy to remember and marketable domain for your advertising.

If you want the easiest solution you can get a Yahoo! eCommerce store if you don't mind the $ fees $
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ecommerce/

Or you can do it yourself which is cheaper but a little more complicated especially web design, shopping cart, accepting credit cards, etc.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

My main beef with ebay is that their picture sizes are too small. Even jumbo sizing is small. Is it ebay-legal to link to photos hosted elseware? Ebay store maybe a good way to get our feet wet. How much feedback do you need to start?

Edit: Yahoo is $40 a month, I like the $21 a month company better.

 

[gx3n0]

get your own hosting and buy StoreFront which is pricy but worth it in my opinion (500-600 dollars).. oscommerce sucks. too buggy

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
My main beef with ebay is that their picture sizes are too small. Even jumbo sizing is small. Is it ebay-legal to link to photos hosted elseware?

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/pictures.html

Your Web hosting

If you wish to use your own Web hosting, click the Add Pictures button in the Sell Your Item form, and then click the Self-hosting tab. Enter the URL (Web address) of the picture in the Picture URL field.

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Ebay store maybe a good way to get our feet wet. How much feedback do you need to start?

http://pages.ebay.com/help/specialtysites/questions/open-store.html

How do I open an eBay Store?

Before opening an eBay Store, make sure you meet the following requirements:

You have an eBay seller's account, with your credit card placed on file.
You have a feedback score of 20 or higher, or you are ID Verified.

If you meet these requirements, you can open an eBay Store now. You'll be taken through a step-by-step process to name your Store, choose your Store's basic appearance, etc. You can have your Store up and running in minutes!

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Edit: Yahoo is $40 a month, I like the $21 a month company better.

Cheaper isn't always better

Hope that helps :thumbsup:

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Ok so I can host pictures on my own domain that my ebay store and auctions link to. Then I can have the pictures on my site link back to my ebay store for a "Store Referral Credit" to get 75% off the final value fee. Hmmmmm.

 

[IronWing]

How many items total are you selling? Also, when looking at the various methods keep in mind the total potential sales. Are you selling 10 items? A thousand? If you get what you consider a fair price for all items how much would the total gross be? Is the stuff niche items where you could set up a website and then advertise to a the small potential customer base or is the stuff more pop more you would want to try a shotgun approach?

Edit: For our online store we our own site with paypal web payment links.

 

[maximus maximus]

I remember that you can create your own store on Amazon.com for free.. sorry, but I do not have the link.

 

[maximus maximus]

Originally posted by: maximus maximus
I remember that you can create your own store on Amazon.com for free.. sorry, but I do not have the link.

found the link...

http://www.amazonservices.com/businesssolutions/

 

[uberman]

EBAY is definitely pathetic. I used to get so many deadbeat bidders. I had a few palm pilots with modems for sale. They were trendy at the time and people would bid for kicks with no intention of buying.

Here's a good example. Sony Playstation PS 3

 

[Feldenak]

Yeah, I'm looking for something similar to sell off hardware our company no longer needs. I thought about going EBay but I don't like having to register under my name and potentially having to use my SSN for PayPal.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Well its definately niche stuff we are selling, lithograph prints from 25 to 100 years old. Sometimes items will relist three times before selling, other times a $20 item will bid up to $200 and be paid for! It's crazy.

WebStore by Amazon, hmmmm. Anyone know what the Amazon.com fee is?

 

[maximus maximus]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Well its definately niche stuff we are selling, lithograph prints from 25 to 100 years old. Sometimes items will relist three times before selling, other times a $20 item will bid up to $200 and be paid for! It's crazy.

WebStore by Amazon, hmmmm. Anyone know what the Amazon.com fee is?

I think its free. You do not get charged, since Amazon is still trying this out. I picked this from some deal site where it said that it was free.

I could be wrong too.. just google for Webstore by Amazon charges

 

[HomeAppraiser]

BUMP

 

[Kelemvor]

Store I always recommend is Candy Press (http://www.candypress.com). It's cheap $50 or so) and is fully customizable if you want to. Can be configured to take just about any payment type and is very simple to use.

Need your own website that supports ASP but I think that's about it.

Actually it's free for the front end and you can use it just like that if you edit the back end manually...