| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
carolanscollection
Posts: 8
|
 Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:04 am Post subject: Overwhelmed |
 |
|
My store is up and running. I am getting plenty of traffice but unfortentely no buyers. I have set up a Squidoo account, myspace, in the process of starting a blog and added my ecrater site on just about everything I can think of. along with others suggestions from the forum:?  I've sent emails to everyone in my address book and asked them to pass my website to everyone in there address book.
What is the normal time frame for sales to start coming in?
Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
acread
moderator
Posts: 11986
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 7:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
Don't get discouraged. You made a good start. But your site has some room for improvement. Here are a few points to look into:
1. Unless you or the company you are selling for has physical presence in all those states you listed, you cannot charge sales tax in all of them.
2. Your descriptions are very short. Your items are high priced merchandise. If I'm to give $125 for a bracelet, I would like to know at least what grade it is (or whatever the jewelers use. I'm no expert). A couple of fluffy sentenses is not going to cut it.
3. Do you realize your welcome message is cut in mid-sentence? Detail like that make people think you are not careful and thorough. Attention to detail tends to impress customers and make them trust you more to make purchases (enough to risk $125).
4. You offer Cash on Delivery as payment method. Have read this: http://www.ecrater.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=3756 Not the best choice in your case. Sending the $125 item not knowing for a very long time weather or not you got a fake check as payment. By the time it reaches your hand the scammer might have moved on.
5. This comment on your About page make you sound like you are not serious about your online business.
| Quote: | | I started making jewelry as a hobby. I would design different pieces for close friends and family as gifts. Upon request, I hosted a couple open houses around the holidays and found them to be very successful. My dream is to own an actual store but until I can fullfill that dream I thought ecrater is a great way to start. |
You need to establish confidence in your customers. You need to show them you are capable of handling orders without trouble. Saying it is just a hobby might be undermining your commitment to it. If I were you I wouldn't even mention eCrater there, it might just confuse the buyer, if they don't know anything about eCrater and arrive at that page through a Google search or a referral page without ever seeing the eCrater name. But it's up to you. I just think your about page needs a bit of work.
6. Since you are accepting check's you might add to your terms page how long it might take for you to ship. That you will not be shipping until payment is in your account. How long it would take for packages to reach the customers (an estimate based on shipping method(s) you use).
7. We are going through a very though time economy wise. Jewelry like other luxury items may have problem selling on such times. So you need to keep promoting. And maybe up your efforts if you can.
8. I'm a bit confused about your "Examples" category. Are those items for sale. If they are not. You cannot list them at eCrater (it's against the terms).
9. Your product titles are very short. You have 100 character space, use them. Fill them with keywords that people would search in search engines to find your items. (use keywords in your descriptions as well).
10. If you haven't been using Google Attributes, learn about them and add them. The info is at the FAQ and Solutions section of the Community page here.
11. I think having a large number of listings does help with sales. So keep listing more items. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Periwinkles
Posts: 2907
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
I'm with AC your titles need to have what the item is included at least. One of them says shades of blue, another double colors. What does that mean? If I were looking for a bracelet I wouldn't look for shades of blue - maybe the blue like - silver bracelet with blue beads. You can put really long descriptive titles so it will give people many key words to come to your item.
I want to welcome you and say good luck.
Joyce |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
carolanscollection
Posts: 8
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Thank You very much for the feedback. I have some more work to do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lotsofpatterns
Posts: 42
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 10:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hi and welcome! One thing I noticed is that your Terms page lists Paypal and Google Checkout as payment options, but on your item listing for Green Memory Bracelet you also state Personal Check, Cashier's Check, Money Order, and Cash on Delivery. It might be a good idea to have the Terms page match the item listing.
Just my 2 cents!
Linda |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
zickit
Posts: 21857
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
From the time you submit your url to search engines it takes them about 4-8 weeks to find your store.
Your keywords and meta tags will help get the right buyer to your store.
Remember promote is an endless job. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MaggietheCatsMeows
Posts: 2853
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Very few of your listings would show up in a search even a very general search. You can't expect anyone to enter just a color or the name of a gemstone in a search engine. They would enter silver bracelet with blue topaz, but not blue topaz. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Search
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
