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ATTENTION New ecrater.com Sellers - please read
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:51 am    Post subject: ATTENTION New ecrater.com Sellers - please read Reply with quote

Let me start by saying WELCOME!!

Now for the nitty gritty!

I have been looking at several stores and thought we need an announcement - so this is it

#1 - READ the terms of selling on ecrater.com!
If they are not followed your store will be suspended WITHOUT NOTICE.

#2 - Make sure you are selecting the best GLOBAL CATEGORY possible for your items! If not, the category mods will either move them or delete them completely.


#3 - if you are not completely ready for buyers to shop your store - please put it on hold.
To put it on hold -
log in
select On-Hold (left side menu under Orders)
select Yes

What do I mean by "completely ready"
Your shipping matrix is filled in (if shipping by weight)
Your home page, about us page, and all other text pages are filled out.
Don't forget about the importantance of your Meta Tags!
Your payment options are entered and active.
NOTE: You must have a business or premier PayPal account to accept creidt cards. It's against PayPal rules for you to show the PayPal logo with credit cards if you only have a personal account.

#4 READ these forums
Start with Store Set Up - please read this before you ask questions

There you will find some very helpful information like
What to do AFTER you register Picture Tutorial - How to set up your eCrater store
then proceed to
FAQs and Solutions - just about everything is covered in that FAQ section of this forum.

The eCrater.com community is fill of very helpful sellers. But please try to find the answer first. There is a Search at the top of your screen (not the best, I admit) try using it.


eCrater.com is not an auction site. Buyers do not bid. So if you are copying and pasting your descriptions be sure to clean them up for words like bidder, auctions etc.


Your success on ecrater.com is 100% up to you!
eCrater.com does do a feed to google but everything else is up to you. Once you get your store OFF HOLD then be sure to submit your URL to all the major search engines. Search engines can take 4-8 weeks to find your store AFTER you submit the URL to them.

Many sellers have taken the time to post in Advertising ideas for PROMOTING your store
to help you with ideas that are free or inexpensive to promote your store.
There are many other topics within this community on the subject as well.

Unlike ebay, you must bring your buyers to your store. Think of your store on ecrater.com as your very own website. eCrater.com is nice enough to give you the hosting space for free but your success here is up to you. Think of ecrater.com as a shopping cart with free hosting.
Since this is so well put I am hyst going to quote it
poopsheet wrote:

Just make sure you realize that eCrater is an eBay alternative in the same sense that opening your own website is. All those eBay fees are replaced by a whole lot more work promoting your individual store.


My customers are just that - my customers! They won't even see your store or your items. Other sellers marketing is NOT really going to help you succeed at all. You have to do the work yourself.

With the flood of new stores I am very concerned that many of you are wasting your time. If you can't or don't plan to spend the time to market your store AFTER it's ready to open you won't be successful here.
Sales normally don't happen in the first month. There are some that get lucky but it's not the norm. If you are not willing to commit to your store on ecrater.com then this might not be the place for you.


That's all I can think of at the moment. But I'm sure I'll have more to say later, lol


Promote, Promote, Promote!

Best of luck to everyone!


ADDITION ---
IF you open more then ONE store
#1 you need a different email for registeration purposes only
#2 you can not list the same item in two stores. That is against the terms of selling on ecrater.com



Possible way to market your site - http://www.bummarketingmethod.com/Article_Marketing.html


Last edited by zickit on Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:42 pm; edited 4 times in total
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 4:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OH -- and if you haven't ready them already -- READ the forum RULES!
If you don't follow them you post might disappear, or be edited with ot without any notice!
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cuppatea



Posts: 565

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good morning all and Welcome! A few other things to watch for:

1. In Payment Options, Cash on Delivery is not "cash", it is a Post Office service that costs extra. Do you really want to offer it? See more at:
http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=3756
and
http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendmail/extraservices/collectondeliveryservice.htm

2. The logo at the top left of your store page is your opportunity to put your store name - I've seen several stores with just a picture there, no one will know it is your store. Use the space wisely!

3. If shipping is all zeros, is it free? Or do you need the buyer to contact you/wait for an invoice for shipping charges? Clarify in the text description.

4. It is important to fill in the other pages like Terms, About, FAQ. They provide additional opportunities for great keywords, and give people a feeling that you have a real store.

5. Be aware that when buyers come in from a Google Shopping link or when they are searching in eCRATER, they will be in eCRATER, not in your store. The links at the bottom and top go to eCRATER information. So, put important information in each listing also. See more details on differences:
http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=5301
(I need to update the manual to add new info like Google Analytics - so much to do, so little time!)

Hope that helps, wishing you sales early and often!
Heather Ellen


Last edited by cuppatea on Sun Nov 23, 2008 3:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Submitted by djpoorfarmherefords

Questions most often asked.

Q...Where will I find the eCrater terms.
A... http://www.ecrater.com/terms.php

Q....How do I set up the feature pictures for my items?
A.... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=3740

Q....How & where do I get a logo
A.... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=301

Q....How do I put a picture in?
A.... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=2097

Q...I can have 10 pictures, how do I add the other 9 pictures?
A...
1. Log into your admin and click on products in the navigation menu on the left.
2. Scroll down to the product you want to edit.
3. Look at the three icons on the right (camera, pencil, red x)
4. Click the "camera icon" adds extra pictures

Q...Can I list the same item in more than one catergory?
A...No, you may only list your item in only one catergory.

Q...How do I find my Google ID # and Merchant Key #?
A... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=7197

Q...Can I have more than one store?
A...Yes, http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=2634
.
Q...Where did my hit numbers go?
A....At the beginning of each month, your hit counter is turned back to zero.

Q...What are and how do I use Google Attributes?
A.... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=5937
A.... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=5912&start=0

Q...How do I add Google Analytics to my store?
A... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=6512&start=0

Q..Why can I not find my items in a search of eCrater products?
A... eCrater term--3.4 All products from affiliate websites will not be included in "simple" searches in the main eCRATER marketplace and will appear at the bottom of the respective categories. Affiliate website is a website provided with products, images and texts from another company to sell their products. Dropshippers and distributors are considered as affiliate too.

Q..Where did my items go, I can not find them when I click on my categories to view them?
A... http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1214.
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ribbonbytheyard
Guest




PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Those are excellent tips for new store owners....and all in one handy location.

You do have to work at marketing your eCrater store. Many of the Big E sellers have not fully defected yet and, in doing so, it is a great time to heavily market your store with inserts boasting your new ecrater store URL.

Also, do some reading on using coupons and codes in Google & Paypal so that you can entice your customers to start shopping here versus "there."

Kim
Ribbon By The Yard
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't expect any more out of YOUR ecrater.com store then you are putting into promoting it.
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mumublu



Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is really handy and useful information. Thank you for putting it together for us new sellers. Smile I have found the forums in general to be quite helpful already, particularly the FAQs threads.
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TexasTreasures
moderator


Posts: 3467

PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just another thought here. Already folks seem to be asking for this feature and that, things they had at the other place.
Remember, your high, high fees paid for all those features-here there are no fees, (not even for those ten photos per listing!) and you do all the work yourself to make your store look good and attract customers. Best of luck to each of you!
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you list in collectibles please read
About listing in the collectibles category!


IF you list in clothing please read
Welcome new clothing sellers please read


Last edited by zickit on Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:10 am; edited 1 time in total
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ladiesngentsclothes



Posts: 30

PostPosted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks! those tips are very helpful!
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Regarding Stock Photos

ecrater Posted 06 Feb 2008 12:45 wrote:
Just want to clarify some confusion. Yes, you can use stock photos for your items on eCRATER. However, please make sure you do not infringe someone's copyright.

If we are notified by the image owner that you are using a photo without a permissions your account may be deactivated until you address the issue.

Please also note that merchants who uploaded their own photos may achieve higher ranking for their products in the respective global categories and eCRATER searches.


It's posted in
I just want to clarify the rules on stock photos.
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BowtieBabe66



Posts: 2

PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:25 pm    Post subject: Im a newbie...advise is needed here please Reply with quote

Im having a little trouble figuring out what the Mega and such is, are these nessecary? Im an Ebay refugee looking for a new home, I like the ease of listing here, I just cant figure out what some of the add-ons are..call me blonde! LOL
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KeyCreative



Posts: 5

PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very Pleased to be here. Very Nice site and this post was very helpful.

Michael
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zickit



Posts: 21857

PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 1:19 am    Post subject: Re: Im a newbie...advise is needed here please Reply with quote

BowtieBabe66 wrote:
Im having a little trouble figuring out what the Mega and such is, are these nessecary? Im an Ebay refugee looking for a new home, I like the ease of listing here, I just cant figure out what some of the add-ons are..call me blonde! LOL


are these nessecary - YOU BET! If you want a search engine to find your store that's what they look at. No meta tags tells them not to look any further and they leave.

what the Mega? (sorry I am not sure what you refer to when you say and such)
HELP WITH META TAGS & SEO

http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=14&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
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cuppatea



Posts: 565

PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another note:

"Test" listings are against ecrater policy and can lead to suspension. From the eCRATER terms:
3.3 What is not allowed to post?
- Test items unless your store is put on-hold
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