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Unfinished stores
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AlmostAntique



Posts: 592

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:03 pm    Post subject: Unfinished stores Reply with quote

I have been doing alot of shoping for items on ecrater as I want to help patronize the store owners here at ecrater, however, what I have found is that many of the stores that I have found items that I might be interested in do not have any information on their about, terms, contact, home, and faq pages. They look very unprofessional and I am afraid that I won't receive what I have ordered. So this is just a friendly reminder that if you truly are sincere about selling on ecrater then finish the look of your store with a bit more detail. Instead, as they are - they appear as fly by night stores that will not deliver. That is just my opinion. The more work you put into your store the better success you will experience. There are many wonderful posts here in the forum to help you make the best use of your store space. And don't forget to promote your stores to. If you are just creating listings and not promoting you will likely never have sales.

Best of luck to you all
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lastade-designs
moderator


Posts: 2903

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with you Almost Antique.
New store owners:
In addition to what Almost Antique says, don't be afraid to ask questions and to participate in the forums. The people here are very helpful.
Your store needs to look professional to buyers and the more attention and detail you add to it, the more successful you will be!
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thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat



Posts: 10158

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those unfinished stores are a thorn in my flesh too but read the invisible sign on the front door.

I AM A JERK AND FLY-BY-NIGHT. PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ITEM SO WHAT. I HAVE YOUR MONEY AND THAT IS ALL THAT COUNTS. PS: I AM ALSO LAZY AND SLIGHTLY DISHONEST.

I don't ever buy from unfinished stores or those that are sloppily thrown together.

Something I regularly do if the seller has little or no feedback is use the ask seller a question even if I already know the answer. If the seller doesn't get back to me within 24 hours, I don't buy.
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Bumptronix



Posts: 4

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:14 pm    Post subject: Hi Reply with quote

I'm new to ecrater and i dont think it's fair of a couple comments. I'm doing my store and yet have not promoted it due to I do not want to promote it with half my inventory. So just because I dont have everything there or it looking good the very first day does not mean Im a lousy seller. my business happens to be registered with the state of Oregon were it's ran from and also i'm a actual authorized dealer such as TomTom etc were a lot of sellers are not authorized even though they get there stuff from a distribitor. I'm not upset on your board i'm just saying find the facts out first.

Bumptronix
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lastade-designs
moderator


Posts: 2903

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I regularly troll the crafts section because I like to look at what the other crafts people are selling. I will send the store owner a message if I see the store with nonsense titles and unfinished storefronts about what they need to do. I usually only bother with crafts people because I can relate with them. They tend to appreciate a place like eCrater. Drop-shippers and people with wild get rich quick schemes, I let them fly right on by.

Quote:
I'm not upset on your board i'm just saying find the facts out first.


All the facts a new store owner needs to know are right here on this forum. Everyone is welcome to join in and learn from each other. It is a great community. It always amazes me that out of the 1000's of stores here, only a few like to stick around. Bumptronx, brand new stores aren't the problem, it is the stores that are unfinished and do not look reputable.
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thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat



Posts: 10158

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bumptronix, no one is talking about stores that are being constructed although you can put your store on hold and people will see your items but won't be able to buy and that lets us know it is a new store. However some stores have been here unfinished for many months.
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kjscreations



Posts: 1727

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have several stores here & I'm setting up another. I don't promote it yet cuz I am adding products HOWEVER....
After registering my new store.... #1 I set the front page with color...catagories...logo's & welcome message.
#2 fill out my payment info & shipping matrix if I'm using it.
#3 terms...faq....contact info.
THEN I start adding products. That way as I add.... anyone looking sees that I am stocking my store but they know I am open.

I am so used to setting up stores.... after I get my confirmation email... I am up & stocking within an hr.
All the meta tags etc. get done last once I have at least 20 or so products ready.
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acread
moderator


Posts: 11986

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

To be fair no one has to do anything. If the product they are selling is listed properly with correct price and shipping cost. With enough info on it. The rest is up to the seller.

Yeah it is good practice to enter Terms of Service so when something goes wrong there are rules to refer to. It would help the seller if there is a lot of information on the site. The relavant info will help drive traffic in from search engines and establish more confidence in the sellers.

But none of it is a must. Cause most of the times customers don't even see the rest of the store. They just come to the product page. Hence you see the complaints when stuff goes wrong and then they look at things.

The new sellers can put their store on hold if they don't feel their store is ready to do business. But if they manage to put up decent listings there is no need for putting the store on hold in my opinion. They can gradually build the rest.


Some just like to try out a site first. They post a thing or two to see the traffic and if there are any takers. If so they might add more stuff and spruce up the store. It may not be an option that would make them successful, but there is rule as to why they shouldn't be able to.


And I do not agree with the opinion that if you don't have the site in tip top shape you are a dishonest person. That's just incongruous. They may be lazy, or busy (some do it in addition to full time jobs), may not care too much (could be just a hobby they took up without much care) or may be misguided in expectations or uninformed about how a site works (or works well) none of that means they are dishonest. Oh and they may be dead. I don't know what would happen if a seller dies and no one else in the family new the details of the business to close the shop or even think of it.
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poopsheet



Posts: 4865

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ACRead wrote:
The new sellers can put their store on hold if they don't feel their store is ready to do business. But if they manage to put up decent listings there is no need for putting the store on hold in my opinion. They can gradually build the rest.


I agree with this. I definitely understand why a potential customer would back away when the rest of the store is blank (I would too) but I've never understood the advice of putting a store on hold when items are available. It would only make sense if the store wasn't accessible at all to customers or if we had the ability to globally hide/unhide all items at once.

I also wonder how many of these sellers that never fill out the blank pages of their store come from eBay and only see eCrater as another venue. Maybe they don't get the concept of the store side or maybe they think they don't have to worry about it. Who knows.
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kjscreations



Posts: 1727

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[url]Oh and they may be dead. I don't know what would happen if a seller dies and no one else in the family new the details of the business to close the shop or even think of it.[/url]

LOL... I have thought of this. I have a binder that I call my "If I get abducted by aliens" book. it has all ID's, passwords, acct #'s & what to do with everything. What to shut down & what to try & sell ... etc. bank accts, life insurance, paypal info, google... my go daddy acct.

That's why I like the idea of contacting seller & if they don't respond in a few days.... then you may want to think twice about ordering.
ESPECIALLY if the "last updated" is really old too. Now I KNOW some stores are active but not updated alot (I have one thriftstore that I don't update very much) BUT with the ask question & the update combined would be a good idea. UNLESS you are an active forum member.... then we know you are still alive & kicking Laughing
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Bumptronix



Posts: 4

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the help.
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AlmostAntique



Posts: 592

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:25 am    Post subject: Re: Hi Reply with quote

Bumptronix wrote:
I'm new to ecrater and i dont think it's fair of a couple comments. I'm doing my store and yet have not promoted it due to I do not want to promote it with half my inventory. So just because I dont have everything there or it looking good the very first day does not mean Im a lousy seller. my business happens to be registered with the state of Oregon were it's ran from and also i'm a actual authorized dealer such as TomTom etc were a lot of sellers are not authorized even though they get there stuff from a distribitor. I'm not upset on your board i'm just saying find the facts out first.

Bumptronix


As maggie stated, I am not talking about the new store owners that are just setting up shop, and maggie does have a point it is better to put your store on hold until you get it presentable. It makes it look more professional and items of interest are bookmarked and I return to see if the shop is truely reputable with more information to make me an informed buyer.

I am talking about the shops that get set up and there is no information on the Home page, No info on the about page, no info on the contact page, nothing put in on the FAQ tab. There are tons of poorly listed items that don't have any kind of description to even entice me into the listing. It justs looks so unprofessional and makes the store owner look like they are just out there to take our money and run.

A truely professional seller is going to take some time to list his merchandise in a presentable manner as to give the buyer enough information to make an informed purchase. Anything short of that is poor business sense and will only hurt your future sales.

Our stores here are a work in progress and I have always tried to continually update and reword listings so that they are appealing and inform the buyer so they can purchase with confidence.

That should be the goal of all store owners because the whole point of being here is to sell our stuff and if we can't get our buyers to feel confident in our ability to give them a fair honest sale our sales will ultimately suffer.


I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, I am just stating that there are alot of unfinished stores that make me feel like they are wasting my time by cluttering up the site with items that noone will purchase because they didn't take the time to make themselves look like a legitimate store.
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joyfulsleep



Posts: 569

PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't like to see half finished stores with categories set up but no inventory, no information about the seller, terms and conditions, etc. It is very unprofessional in my opinion and reflects poorly on the entire ecrater community. I also think it's critical to proofread your pages and product listings. I would never buy from an online store that couldn't spell their own products correctly.

Just my two cents.

Ann Clark

quality products for heavenly sleep
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SammieShepherdJewelry



Posts: 22

PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I feel the need to put my 2 cents in as I fit in to some of this-I think after reading all this there are 2 separate issues 1) fly by nites, no info, contact, FAQ's etc and 2) new stores with little or no inventory that some people feel is not a good sign. I have been opening a second store called Bracelet heaven for WEEKS because as AC mentioned some of us have full time jobs. Mine happens to be a 12 hour day, but my point is that one day I set up the logo etc, several days later I set up my texts, a week later I put in categories, and I now have a whopping 10 items on there.
I do have a note in my welcome inviting people to my regular store for now but why should I put the new one on hold in the meantime? I already have had a bunch of hits on those items (maybe from people in this thread ha ha) but I think there should be a difference between the 2 as mentioned above. Sorry but I guess I'm taking some of these comments personally Laughing
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keechauctions



Posts: 133

PostPosted: Wed Feb 04, 2009 9:33 pm    Post subject: I Agree! Reply with quote

I pretty much pride myself on customer service, so if I buy something, I always ask a question first, and as maggie said, if they don't get back to me within a reasonable amount of time, i'm gone....and they lost a sale. I always try to answer my emails ASAP......Too many fly by nighters.
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