Once your store is set up - Adding products to your store

[lastade-designs]

Here are some helpful hints about adding products to your store. Some are new and some that I have copied from previous posts.

First and formost make sure your store is complete before beginning to post products. You can find the ON HOLD button in the MORE OPTIONS section of your admin page on the left side. You should have your store on hold until you have filled out the information for your store under the section TEXTS & COLORS - FAQ, About us, Contact and your terms and conditions, etc. When you have your store looking professional, take it off hold and start adding products!

[lastade-designs]

Here is a very helpful, recent (March 2022) reply to a seller that needed help on listing products from Sheila Dee.

Once you've logged into your store look to the left and click on Products. This will open a page called Manage Products. Look for a button on the lower left of the page that says Add New Products and click on the button. This will open a page called Add Product. This page is where you will add a new product. The first box is Name (item product title). This can be a combination of 100 characters. Since the eCrater search, both in your store and the marketplace, is a title search only this field is really important.

You will need to complete each field that has an asterisk (*) at a minimum. You can add one photo on this page. Once you've completed all the required items and clicked the Add button, you'll still be on this page where you can make changes, add additional information, and you'll see additional buttons at the top of the page. Clicking on Photos will allow you to add a total of 10 photos.

A couple of tips, be sure to add both the Global Category AND the Global Sub Category. These are the marketplace categories and are quite important in addition to your store's local category. When you add the weight this should be the packed weight of your item. If you want to add the pound and ounces, you will need to enter your weight in a decimal format. For example, 1 lb 8 oz should be entered 1.5. There is a chart available in the FAQ section of the forum if you need it.

[lastade-designs]

Here is some posting advice from seller Amy who posted this in 2008 but most of the information is still relevant. I have edited it a bit to add information about icons.

Sign in
Click on Products
Click Add New Product button

1. Name (this is equivalent to title on ebay) You can use more characters so do not abbreviate and fill out as many details as possible to help people find your item.
Write out vintage.

2. Enter your description as you would on ebay.

3. Picture Click on browse. Choose your default (gallery) picture. (The first picture you add is the default.

4. Enter your price

5. Choose your local category. These are the categories in your store. If needed, click on Categories and add new categories.

6. Choose your Global category. Scroll through the list and find the best category match for your item. Try to find the most specific, best match category.

7. If you want the item to be featured on your home page or have a featured position check the boxes. IMPORTANT DONT FORGET to check the USED Products box if the item is used or vintage. Otherwise it will show as Brand New Product.

8. Choose Yes or No if the item is Taxable.

9. Enter the Quantity. Example If you have five identical items enter 5 for sale individually. If you only have one enter 1. If you are selling 3 items in one lot, enter 1.

10. Enter the weight. Check Weight dependable (middle circle) or free shipping if you want to offer that. There are other posts will helpful info on shipping matrix.

When you are done 1 10 Click UPDATE button.

It will come to the manage product page. To the right you will also see icons
Click on the Camera icon button to add additional pictures.
Click on the pencil icon image if you want to correct or add additional wording.
The red X icon deletes the product.
The g icon is where you will add google attributes and variants (different sizes and colors)
The icon that looks like 2 pages will allow you to duplicate your listing so that you may list a similar item.
The icon with 2 people will let you post to your facebook page, although you can just post the url for your item if you wish.

[lastade-designs]

Here is some good advice about descriptions and titles from seller, Maggie the Cat. This post was also written in 2008 and it is still helpful for everyone to think about when you write your titles and your descriptions.
Get one of your items. I'd suggest a doll, and place it in front of you on your desk or a table. One a pad of paper, make a list of all the words that come to mind about the doll.
cute, cuddly, soft, stuffed cotton, painted face, blue knit polyester sweater, white onesie, newborn cap, hand made, 12 inches long, and whatever else your doll says to you. Just put the words on the paper. When you can't think of any more, go to step two.

Divide the words into groups. Which tell about the
construction, size
clothing
finishing
emotional--how the doll comes across--funny, sweet, lovable, crying

Then you make a sentence using the words from each group. That should make a paragraph and a good description.

Then you take the most important words -- up to 100 spaces and letters, and create a title
Handmade Peek-a-boo boy doll blue sweater white onesie

There you have your title and description.

Then you put the doll in a well lit place. Choose a background that contrasts with the doll. Dark for a light clothed doll, light for a dark clothed doll. Take a bunch of pictures in all different poses. Think of all the cute poses real babies get into and try to do the same with the doll. Take a closeup of the face, the clothing if it is special, and then choose the cutest picture to use as your number one default picture. If all your pics are lousy, take them again.

Once you have created one good listing you will find the second one only half as hard and it won't take nearly as long, and by the time you've done 5 you will wonder what all the fuss was about.

If you had to be a marketing genius to sell on ecrater or anywhere, probably none of us would be here so you are in great company. If selling your creations online is something you want to do, then it is probable you can do it.

[lastade-designs]

If anyone else would like to add some tips on posting your items please send me a pm.