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Will Ecrater remain free?
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lastade-designs
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Posts: 2903

PostPosted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember when Paypal was free, so many years ago. Plus I think they paid me a few cents every time I used them, if I recall correctly.
I have started stores on many sites and everyone of the free sites except for Ecrater began charging fees, not too long after setting up a store. Not any of those stores ever did so well for me as Ecrater.
Ecrater has been such a good place for me and I also love the simplicity. I would not be as successful as I am now, without Ecrater.
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TyreeTrading



Posts: 1608

PostPosted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When paypal first started, they were offering $10 for joining and another $10 for getting someone else to sign up. I had just started selling on eBay and my second buyer got me to sign up. It was free for a long time.

Will eCrater stay free? I think it will. Would I leave if it weren't? That would depend on what is charged.

I've sold on places that charge, from small amounts to larger amounts. It really depends on what is offered for the fee. I thought some were over priced for what you got. Others just didn't pay for themselves.


Last edited by TyreeTrading on Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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MoonwishesStore
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Posts: 17389

PostPosted: Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some didn't even make sense. One place if you sold something for $9.99 is had one fee but if you sold it for $10 the fee was another nickel so in reality it was cheaper to sell something for $9.99 than $10.
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campingoutlet



Posts: 68

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:47 am    Post subject: all of us united Reply with quote

i think we all need to look at it differently, although we are not in control, i hope the ecrater owners negotiate a way to avoid fees...BUT
every ecrater store pooled together is just as big as some medium sized retailers and maybe even large ones. if there was a fee, or even fee based on number of active items for sale, all combined together we could have some serious ad/goggle shopping buying power.

if a small fee, whether yearly or monthly scares you, then try to imagine the cost of opening up your own .com webstore and paying google individually for the right to get on google shopping.

would a fee drive some away from ecrater? maybe, but it would leave serious sellers of higher quality, which google wants in its listings.
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FoxAndFish



Posts: 1585

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:04 am    Post subject: Re: all of us united Reply with quote

campingoutlet wrote:
if a small fee, whether yearly or monthly scares you, then try to imagine the cost of opening up your own .com webstore

That currently can be done for free, with services such as Weebly, among others.

campingoutlet wrote:
and paying google individually for the right to get on google shopping.

Some sellers aren't interested in being listed in Google Shopping...and may not consider listing there a "right."

campingoutlet wrote:
would a fee drive some away from ecrater? maybe, but it would leave serious sellers of higher quality, which google wants in its listings.

It would leave sellers with deeper pockets. The ability to pay for advertising has nothing to do with the quality of the merchandise being sold or the seriousness of the seller. Google is not looking for "quality"...it's looking for income, and it is immaterial to them how they obtain it.
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thecheapskirt



Posts: 2123

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:09 am    Post subject: Re: all of us united Reply with quote

campingoutlet wrote:
if a small fee, whether yearly or monthly scares you, then try to imagine the cost of opening up your own .com webstore and paying google individually for the right to get on google shopping.


I pay $8 a month for web hosting for my own web stores (I have 3, so that breaks down to $2.67 a month for each store). If I'm selling online and couldn't afford $8 a month, then I'm doing something wrong Wink
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campingoutlet



Posts: 68

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i know everyone here has an individual story but im referring to people running stores that are not selling knick nacks, real webstores cost over a thousand to design and build, add the authorize.net payment processing, cart, advertising through google yahoo, and others, then general maintenance costs to keep the site up to date, like ssl certificates, and hosting for more than 100 visitors a month, inventory databases....

i would happily pay ecrater $10 or more a month to get us on google shopping, where almost all traffic comes from, especially serious buyers ready to buy real products.

i know there are plenty of stores on here that do the antique, used, small item garage sale type thing and that is cool, you dont like google shopping and dont need it, but there are plenty of ecrater stores that do tens of thousands of dollars revenue a month and would love to pool our resources together and stay on google shopping with ecrater.

like i stated, a fee would also weed out the sellers who would give ecrater a bad reputation. if a small fee make it economically impossible for you to do business on ecrater then perhaps you should think about getting out of the retail business because its probably not worth your time.

perhaps ecrater could set up something to gauge interest and see how much money we could raise from sellers who want to be on GS. and those who dont can still use ecrater as normal with out being on GS. im still not sure how a nominal fee for increased visibility would be bad for your business.
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thecheapskirt



Posts: 2123

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

campingoutlet wrote:
i know everyone here has an individual story but im referring to people running stores that are not selling knick nacks, real webstores cost over a thousand to design and build, add the authorize.net payment processing, cart, advertising through google yahoo, and others, then general maintenance costs to keep the site up to date, like ssl certificates, and hosting for more than 100 visitors a month, inventory databases....


One of our sites gets over 55,000 unique visitors a month (that would be over 180,000 pageviews per month). that one is $10 a month for hosting.

You really should investigate things a bit more before dismissing them in hand.
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SheilaDeesPostcards
moderator


Posts: 4614

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

campingoutlet wrote:
i know everyone here has an individual story but im referring to people running stores that are not selling knick nacks, real webstores cost over a thousand to design and build, add the authorize.net payment processing, cart, advertising through google yahoo, and others, then general maintenance costs to keep the site up to date, like ssl certificates, and hosting for more than 100 visitors a month, inventory databases.... Your lack of knowledge is showing.

i would happily pay ecrater $10 or more a month to get us on google shopping, where almost all traffic comes from, especially serious buyers ready to buy real products. Your lack of knowledge is showing again. The traffic to my eCrater Stores for the month of June ranges from 2% to 40% depending on the store. Even the store that saw a 40% traffic flow would not pay to be in Google Shopping based on principle. I feel sellers should not have been requested to comply with all the attributes without knowledge that Google was going to start charging for the service. Also, if Google thinks their Shopping is worth a price, they should have provided an easy way for sellers to see the great volume of traffic they were receiving and would loose if they didn't pay.

i know there are plenty of stores on here that do the antique, used, small item garage sale type thing and that is cool, you dont like google shopping and dont need it, but there are plenty of ecrater stores that do tens of thousands of dollars revenue a month and would love to pool our resources together and stay on google shopping with ecrater.

like i stated, a fee would also weed out the sellers who would give ecrater a bad reputation. if a small fee make it economically impossible for you to do business on ecrater then perhaps you should think about getting out of the retail business because its probably not worth your time. I resent the implication of your statements. I find it hard to believe eCrater would receive a bad reputation from the huge number of dealers who are doing very well here, but do not wish to pay to be in Google Shopping. I feel the reputation of eCrater will be hurt far more by the dealers whose feedback is 25% neutral and 25% negative and who are trying to buy their way into Google Shopping while not following Google rules. Merchants who sell drop shipped items are not allowed to be in Google Shopping.
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thecheapskirt



Posts: 2123

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very well stated, SheilaDee Smile
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FoxAndFish



Posts: 1585

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

campingoutlet wrote:
i know everyone here has an individual story but im referring to people running stores that are not selling knick nacks

Yes, they do. And one of the most valuable traits of eCrater as a venue is its egalitarianism, whereby every store, every story, is treated and respected exactly the same. Regardless of whether they are selling "knick knacks" or otherwise.

campingoutlet wrote:
where almost all traffic comes from

Perhaps all of your traffic emanates from Google Shopping. But the same may not hold true for other sellers.

campingoutlet wrote:
especially serious buyers ready to buy real products.

B/c sewing patterns, clothing, collectibles, books, home decor, jewelry, vintage postcards, and the like are not "real products"...and the people who buy them aren't "serious"? What exactly are "real products"? And how do we distinguish "serious" buyers from buyers who spend money in our stores but aren't "serious"?

campingoutlet wrote:
there are plenty of ecrater stores that do tens of thousands of dollars revenue a month

Really? How many is "plenty"?

campingoutlet wrote:
a fee would also weed out the sellers who would give ecrater a bad reputation.

Who would those be? Sellers, for example, who have negative feedback for not fulfilling their orders?

campingoutlet wrote:
if a small fee

Since Google has not yet revealed the cost of paid ad placement, how do you know whether a "small" fee would suffice?

campingoutlet wrote:
make it economically impossible for you to do business on ecrater then perhaps you should think about getting out of the retail business because its probably not worth your time.

Each seller is responsible for determining the worth of his or her own time, as well as whether it is economically feasible or desirable to invest advertising budget with Google Shopping.

campingoutlet wrote:
im still not sure how a nominal fee for increased visibility would be bad for your business.

Leaving aside the fact that how and where a seller wants to be visible is the concern of each individual seller, it is also the case that Google Shopping may not result in "increased visibility" for some businesses.
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campingoutlet



Posts: 68

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thecheapskirt wrote:
campingoutlet wrote:
i know everyone here has an individual story but im referring to people running stores that are not selling knick nacks, real webstores cost over a thousand to design and build, add the authorize.net payment processing, cart, advertising through google yahoo, and others, then general maintenance costs to keep the site up to date, like ssl certificates, and hosting for more than 100 visitors a month, inventory databases....


One of our sites gets over 55,000 unique visitors a month (that would be over 180,000 pageviews per month). that one is $10 a month for hosting.

You really should investigate things a bit more before dismissing them in hand.
cool, thats impressive. what site is that? and like i said above what about ssl's, coding, inventory, advertising? you must have those for your site right?
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campingoutlet



Posts: 68

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:46 pm    Post subject: Re: all of us united Reply with quote

thecheapskirt wrote:
campingoutlet wrote:
if a small fee, whether yearly or monthly scares you, then try to imagine the cost of opening up your own .com webstore and paying google individually for the right to get on google shopping.


I pay $8 a month for web hosting for my own web stores (I have 3, so that breaks down to $2.67 a month for each store). If I'm selling online and couldn't afford $8 a month, then I'm doing something wrong Wink
is it $8 for everything or $8 and then $10 for your other site?
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thecheapskirt



Posts: 2123

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 1:10 pm    Post subject: Re: all of us united Reply with quote

The $10/mo site is not a store site. You claimed if you get more than 100 visitors a month hosting is expensive. But it isn't. http://lifeinlofi.com/

All my stores used to be on that same $10 a month account. I moved them, though, from Dreamhost (where that one is) to Hostgator (coupon code: thriftsyhostgator25 for 25% off).

As far as the rest goes:

Most shopping carts have payment modules to be are handled via PayPal and Google Checkout, just like here. It is pretty easy to set up, actually.

Also, most sellers do have to buy inventory, just like here.

And most sellers have to do their own advertising, just like here. (If you are waiting for ecrater to do your advertising for you... good luck)

Coding? Many many open source shopping carts out there that work right out of the box, and are free. I think I might pay $50 to buy an add-on to do USPS calculated shipping for one, not sure yet if I want to go that route or not. Customers seem to really like the "free shipping" model.
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AmericanEdge



Posts: 976

PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 1:11 pm    Post subject: Re: all of us united Reply with quote

FoxAndFish wrote:
campingoutlet wrote:
if a small fee, whether yearly or monthly scares you, then try to imagine the cost of opening up your own .com webstore

That currently can be done for free, with services such as Weebly, among others.


I can't say enough good things about Weebly.
They host the eCrater Mall Store Directory under a free account and I will be moving a business website to this account and going Pro for a small monthly fee. You can add PayPal or Google Wallet to accept payments.

Listed below are some of the features and costs for free & Pro accounts at Weebly.

Weebly.com
Free Features to host 2 sites http://www.weebly.com/features.php
includes E-commerce features & more

Pro Accounts
6 Months $3.99/month
1 Year $3.33/month
2 Years $2.99/month (10% discount)

Pro Features
Password-protected pages
Remove or Customize Weebly footer
10 sites per account
100 MB file uploads
Audio player
Video player new!
Embedded documents new!
A $100 Google AdWords

A good day to all.
ralph
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