This article contains information about websites that are no longer in operation.
Time is a precious commodity for an online seller. It's sometimes the only cost we never factor into our business. I have spent 14 hours a day in from of a computer listing consignment items on eBay with my prices too high, and saw almost no return on my investment. For that 14 hours I don't think I even made $50.
There are some sites that you can spend hours and days listing your wares, and never see a return worth those hours you spend. There's a great way to judge your sales potential though. You can guess that visits have a lot to do with sales. Without the browsers, there are no buyers. Unless the site has a 1:3 visit:listing margin over the past several months, it is not worth your time.
One of my favorites right now is Bonanzle.
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/bonanzle.com/
The average visits are 1.12 million for last month, . Their total listings are 2.8 million, which is better than a 1:3 visit:listing ratio.
Another interesting note is at the bottom of the Compete statistics, their 5th highest referrer is Paypal. This likely means that the 5th biggest traffic draw is a redirect from Paypal after making a purchase. The other 4 are high traffic websites eBay, Facebook, Google, and Yahoo, which shows a great organic grassroots marketing strategy.
Another one that comes as a surprise to me is Webstore.com.
With 129k listings, they receive 160k visits monthly. That's better than a 1:1 margin, and most sellers should be able to see results from their time on the site.
Next, let's take a look at an example of where not to list and expect results.
Wensy has over 250k Listings, but their site only receives 63k visits a month, giving it a 1:4 visit:listing margin. While the site specializes in coins and collectible cards, not many sellers will find success with this site.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
March Madness site reviews: eCrater - Get your first online store today 100% free. - Archive March 2010
This was my first post back after a long break from writing, in March 2010.
My first ecommerce website was built on eBay's ProStores platform. It was slow and cumbersome, and a nightmare to customize with their online Dreamweaver-clone app. Listing was a pain because html wasn't allowed. No bulk listing tools were available.
It's no wonder I abandoned the shop, moving it to PrestoStore after a year.
Today, as I work with heavily customized OScommerce sites (that I spent countless hours customizing) I look back and wonder, why didn't I jump straight from ProStores to my own cart? Or even better, try out that new free marketplace/store site everyone on PSU was raving about, eCrater.
Don't get me wrong, I would no sooner trade my websites for eCrater. But eCrater could have changed my whole business model if I had given it a shot in 2006, instead of setting up at another overpriced web hosted cart.
eCrater offers everything simple about online selling. You get a fully functional Paypal/Google Checkout cart, instant Google feeds, a branded site with your own logo, and nothing fancy to get you tied up over design. It's all about adding your products for sale, selling them, and adding more. It's so simple, a treeman could do it.
You can import directly from your eBay listings, which works well for sellers of renewable products (replenished new items, handmade jewelry, homemade soap, etc.) You also have the option to use a pretty simple bulk import tool by creating an Excel file. If you choose to list one by one, you can list each item in under a minute in most cases.
The site's dedicated ownership has built eCrater from the ground up, with two things in mind: Simplicity and functionality.
The best sellers are having a hundred sales a month, and some of the lowest volume sellers who work on their stores find at least a dozen customers a month.
Want to know more? Read the seller's successes and opinions on their eCrater stores.
http://www.powersellersunite.com/about31303.html
eCrater will be a force as long as it's sellers continue to thrive. It's rich community, strong base, and simple features make eCrater a great place to start your very first non-eBay webstore today.
My first ecommerce website was built on eBay's ProStores platform. It was slow and cumbersome, and a nightmare to customize with their online Dreamweaver-clone app. Listing was a pain because html wasn't allowed. No bulk listing tools were available.
It's no wonder I abandoned the shop, moving it to PrestoStore after a year.
Today, as I work with heavily customized OScommerce sites (that I spent countless hours customizing) I look back and wonder, why didn't I jump straight from ProStores to my own cart? Or even better, try out that new free marketplace/store site everyone on PSU was raving about, eCrater.
Don't get me wrong, I would no sooner trade my websites for eCrater. But eCrater could have changed my whole business model if I had given it a shot in 2006, instead of setting up at another overpriced web hosted cart.
eCrater offers everything simple about online selling. You get a fully functional Paypal/Google Checkout cart, instant Google feeds, a branded site with your own logo, and nothing fancy to get you tied up over design. It's all about adding your products for sale, selling them, and adding more. It's so simple, a treeman could do it.
You can import directly from your eBay listings, which works well for sellers of renewable products (replenished new items, handmade jewelry, homemade soap, etc.) You also have the option to use a pretty simple bulk import tool by creating an Excel file. If you choose to list one by one, you can list each item in under a minute in most cases.
The site's dedicated ownership has built eCrater from the ground up, with two things in mind: Simplicity and functionality.
The best sellers are having a hundred sales a month, and some of the lowest volume sellers who work on their stores find at least a dozen customers a month.
Want to know more? Read the seller's successes and opinions on their eCrater stores.
http://www.powersellersunite.com/about31303.html
eCrater will be a force as long as it's sellers continue to thrive. It's rich community, strong base, and simple features make eCrater a great place to start your very first non-eBay webstore today.
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