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Obilia



Posts: 5

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:02 am    Post subject: Hello all Reply with quote

Hi All,

I'm fairly new... 1st forum posting, but have been scrabbling about listing stuff in my store for almost a month.

I've linked my domain www.obilia.co.uk to me ecrater store, and I'm rather happy with how it looks.

But now I am concerned a tad...

I just tried to buy a 'TEST' product I had listed (I'm probably a bit expensive, and thought that is why I have had no sales)... it would appear in my basket... I would click to pay by Paypal and it throws me back to the homepage, the item removed from the basket. Crying or Very sad

Am I doing something wrong?
... I'm probably being stupid... I just need it confirming.

Any help gratefully received.

Smile
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Obilia



Posts: 5

PostPosted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just spotted the advise about "TEST" items, and have deleted it... I guess I learnt what I needed to in the time it was there.
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Obilia



Posts: 5

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I removed anything I think might be thought to be a boilerplate.

When I tried to buy one of my items, it wasn't to falsify feedback... I just want to see that it's working. I don't want to spend days, weeks and months building my inventory up, only to find I did something wrong and need to go back to the beginning and start all over again.


Any help, adivse would be greatefully received.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just peeked at a couple of your book listings and noted your listing style, for instance:

Quote:
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
Ladybird Classics

Ladybird Book

SERIES :
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED :
THIS COPY PUBLISHED :
COVER PRICE : £1.75
TALLY :
ISBN :
CONDITION : Nice, light edge wear (See pictures)


As someone from the US, I have no clue what the Ladybird part means or maybe it is because my 'baby' turned 32 on Sunday. Then to have all those things that aren't filled in, isn't really impressive as it looks like someone was to lazy to fill things in. If you don't have that info and it isn't on the book itself, then you need to delete things that you don't have an answer for. You don't include many authors names, no page counts, no real description of the book including the cover, etc. I have no clue what you mean by 'tally' I saw it used once on one of your listings and it was some number I think in the 300's. If tally means pages then why not say that? Especially for your American audience, you need to say things in a way they will understand.

In your terms, you mention waiting up to three days to pay. eCRATER is set up for instant payment. I've found that if someone doesn't pay immediately then at least 75% of the time they aren't going to. At times we can rescue a sale by sending the buyer a note within a few hours asking if they had trouble and volunteering to help or send them an invoice.

Otherwise things look pretty good although I would strongly urge more photos and much better descriptions. Best wishes with your new store.
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Obilia



Posts: 5

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks MoonwishesStore,

I agree, I need to tidy them up... it's a a bit boilerplate I guess... I need to put the information I do have, and remove signs of information I don't know (or I'm being to lazy to type out).

Ladybird books are a range of books that were made in the 1940's and have been continued to be made to current day. Fairly common in the UK, and have been printed around the world.

To my knowledge the page count is always the same (they are small hardbacks, and I believe the book could be printed from one large piece of paper)

The Tally number is the number of books that were available in the catalogue at the time of the actual book I'm selling. A book may be part of the 606D series (first printed in 1960), but a count of 300 would indicate a mid 70's publication... with the cover price being another indicator.

My TERMS & CONDITIONS... I am so used to selling on other platforms, which wait for invoicing and stuff... instant payment is good... all items I have listed here are unique to this platform, so I shouldn't have any worries about items being sold elsewhere etc.

If it's all ok... I'll get on with listing... once I feel good with it... then starts the process of trying to draw in the crowds!!

Smile
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I still don't really understand about the 'tally' number or why a buyer would want to know it unless it has to do with the collectability of a book. But then I have read over 30,000 books without needing to know about it so I guess it doesn't matter if I understand. I used to sell books and never heard of it either. Maybe one of the 'Yanks' can explain it better. Here I think for regular adult books we depend more on the number line for publishing data.
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Obilia



Posts: 5

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ladybird books are a UK children's range... so nice large print and uncomplicated plots, whimsical and educational.

Like most books, there are collectors of the range of Ladybird books in full... those who collect the 1st editions... and there are huge number of grown-ups who like to relive their youth (or want their kids to have the same books), which means they would like the version they grew up with.

The back cover will say "there are 270 other ladybird books"... this and the cover price are the only indicators of which year it may have been printed. They never printed the actual date of the actual book. (early copies pre-decimal sold for 2'6 from 1940 through to 1971 without ever changing).

I believe that every title in the range has continued to be printed... some have changed in outer design, some have been completely re-written, new artists... all of which will effect people childhood memories.

I'm not just a childrens book person... my grown up books, like my 1800's astrology items, will have every detail possible... I know that the more unique your item and the more information you give... the more information is picked up by google and the like...
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to eCRATER. I took a few minutes to review your store. I clicked on one item, placed it in my cart and proceeded to checkout and was taken to PayPal to sign in to complete the transaction. Since I was only testing your checkout setup, I backed out and returned to your store. It appears everything is set correctly and ready for business. Very Happy

Your Ladybird books are charming. They remind me of our Golden Books here in the States. I totally agree with Moon that you should delete the items for which you don't have the information. I did notice some of the books have ISBN: listed with no information, yet the ISBN number is shown on the back of the book. This caused me to wonder if you are completing your Google Attributes. It is a must if you want your books to appear in Google Shopping UK & Google Shopping US. Books MUST have the ISBN number if available or you must use the attribute Name "identifier_exists" with a value of "FALSE". (Do not use the quote marks, I added them to show exactly how the name and value should be entered.)

I have sold Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Series Books in my eCRATER Book store. Google had a hard time understanding that a title sold in 1935 would not have an ISBN and would be very different from the same Hardy Boys book by the same title released in 1948, 1958, 1978 and 2008. In some cases they have less chapters and have been rewritten to update the story. They are much better now compared to a few years ago, but it does still happen.

I've talked about series books, however it is important that you use the ISBN Attribute OR the identifier_exist with every book. There are many topics here in the forum about Google Attributes. You will probably want to read them and ask questions if something isn't clear.

A second big problem I saw was the size of your photos and, in some items, the lack of photos. The photo size recommended for eCRATER is at least 800px on one side. All sizes are allowed, but smaller sizes are given lower placement in marketplace searches. Google Shopping strongly recommends larger than 800px on both sides. I noticed all but one image I checked was in the 500 to 600px range. You are allowed to add 10 photos per item. I have an ashtray collector on my gift list so unusual ashtrays always catch my attention. I have been unable to figure how a globe on a stand can be an ashtray. That is one item that I would think would be a hard sell without additional photos.

Overall, you have a really good start to your store. It's so nice to see a new seller with the text pages completed. The search engines check these pages and it's a waste when they aren't completed, plus it makes your store look incomplete.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
nice large print and uncomplicated plots, whimsical and educational.


This is part of what should be in your description! Very Happy Large print and little words. Simple structure for early readers or whatever age they are geared to if you know or could guess or research it. Seems with that many titles if they are still being produced they should have a website to inform more aobut the books. At least I would look for one.

I did notice that you have more than one of the books with the same name and different covers, so you do need to find a way in your description to really differentiate them from each other, especially for those who just want to buy them to read to their little ones and don't understand the tally thing.
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I actually understood how the ashtray is supposed to work, the upper arm of the stand is connected to the ashtray lid and when you pull back on it the lid comes off but the lid remains attached to the stand even when opened. But I do agree you should add some more photos as not everyone understands how mechanical things work based on a description alone.

Isbn may pose a problem in more ways than one. I have a handful of cookbooks that do have an isbn and google always rejects those items by the next feed, telling me the isbn is incorrect or invalid. I have checked those numbers again like 7 times and even had ecrater take a look and was told by the staff I was using the correct isbn and the numbers did match exactly and they had no clue why google was rejecting the isbn as invalid. Tried using the upc scan code instead and google kept saying not good enough, we need the isbn too. So I ended up having to use the identifier_exists attribute and remove the publishing company's name and the isbn for google to finally accept it. So weird when that happens.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@Tiger - back when I was doing exclusively books I would find that by ISBN a Harlequin romance would end up on the same page as some highbrow thick text of some sort. Someone had it wrong and since ISBNs for the same company all have the same leading numbers, I would suppose the Harlequins were in the right, but since many were apparently listing via an upload, the sellers didn't know the mess those pages were. So someone sees the price for the heavy-duty reading book and since many didn't have descriptions, imagine how they felt when they received a Harlequin??? Very Happy Or the other way around. One reason it is so important to be very clear about what you are selling.

Google is not known for it's full info about all books ISBNs especially since some books are so rare that until someone lists one for sale then Google didn't even know it existed. I don't know how those 'buy an ISBN' places work, but I would think they are 'stealing' isbns that companies may have been planning on using but haven't yet.
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theartsandlettersofmaggiethecat



Posts: 2099

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to eCRATER.

Agree with everything said above. The reason you've had no sales yet probably has a lot to do with this being a particularly slow summer for sales. Things should start picking up a bit in September.

I noticed this item:
http://obilia.ecrater.co.uk/p/23022287/baule-yoruba-ivory-coast-bicephalous
That is over $10,000US so I would recommend giving information about provenance, age, and info about the carver or tribe.

You use the word "nice" to describe the condition of a lot of items. That is a meaningless term. Nice is what you say when someone gives you white socks for your birthday. Books have definite terms to describe condition.

Somewhere you wrote about being too lazy to type in info. This is not the place to be too lazy. Shoppers can not touch your listings. You need to describe everything as though there were no pictures and take enough pictures that if someone can't read English they have adequate photos to help them make a decision.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No reason to mention previous prices either as buyers don't really care, at least for something like that face mask. Is keloids the correct word for what you are describing on their faces? Keloids is a medical term for a built up of scar tissue way beyond a standard scar after an injury to the skin, most generally it happens with black people, so I struggle with keloids on a carved mask. This is just another place where you need to define what you are saying. Many words do not translate 'across the pond' and mean something completely different. I've always had to be aware of this since the name for garments change so much. The mask is also a good place to mention that the buyer will be on the hook for any duty, VAT, etc. And to mention that you will be sending it insured at YOUR cost. Insurance is to protect the seller not the buyer.
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MoonwishesStore
moderator


Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No reason to mention previous prices either as buyers don't really care, at least for something like that face mask. Is keloids the correct word for what you are describing on their faces? Keloids is a medical term for a built up of scar tissue way beyond a standard scar after an injury to the skin, most generally it happens with black people, so I struggle with keloids on a carved mask. This is just another place where you need to define what you are saying. Many words do not translate 'across the pond' and mean something completely different. I've always had to be aware of this since the name for garments change so much. The mask is also a good place to mention that the buyer will be on the hook for any duty, VAT, etc. And to mention that you will be sending it insured at YOUR cost. Insurance is to protect the seller not the buyer.
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tigercreekgifts



Posts: 6293

PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember something being mentioned a while back about test products, that we are allowed to create them just to see how the store looks etc. but the test products have to remain hidden from customer view. A while back, a few of us noticed a seller that had probably well over a dozen test items in his store but they were all visible which means they could have accidentally been purchased by a buyer that did not read the description and like I said, test products are supposed to be hidden until we test whatever it is we are testing, then we are supposed to delete those test listings.

So it's possible, in order to prevent other sellers from doing what that one seller was doing, ecrater could have done something with the software so that if any items labeled as test product are added to the cart they will be instantly removed to avoid any accidental purchases of those test items from buyers. Maybe that's why when you added a test item to your cart, it was removed every time? Because I was under the impression that creating a test product was only supposed to be used for seeing how the layout looks and such and not for making test purchases, and as someone else here mentioned I also tried your shopping cart by placing an actual item into my ca as if I was going to checkout and it worked just fine using an actual non-test version listing.

So your cart is working just fine. Try doing the test again with an actual product and see what happens this time just make sure you do not proceed to the paypal login and actually pay as you will get suspended for this. I know you said you were not doing this test to make an actual purchase or leave false feedback, but the ecrater system does not know that, so if you don't back out when you get to the paypal login section you can get in trouble for that.
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