TulipTools Internet Business Owners and Online Sellers Community

So stop picking on eBay, XPP, and BBH. You have to have a little thirst for learning the technology before you leave eBay's security blanky. You're just setting up the overconfident imbeciles on the planet for dismal failure.

You guys are able to make it, but you're too stupid to realize how stupid the masses are. They need eBay.

If I managed to leave eBay without failing then others can too. The only thing I lost by leaving was my $5,000 monthly feepay bill.

"Selling" businesses don't need eBay.  There are excellent 3rd party hosted shopping cart solutions that allow many small businesses to completely bypass eBay when they transition to Internet selling. No technical expertise required.

Some examples:
(used by Angel, Frik-n-Frak): http://www.3dcart.com/clients.htm
(used by valleygirl) http://www.make-a-store.com/site/categor...ware_Sites
(used by maggie777): http://www.monstercommerce.com/ecommerce...lients.asp
Volusion is good too: http://volusion.com/shopping-cart-softwa...allery.asp

So we have five who "claim" to be making a living? We have to be making at least thousands in PROFIT, or it doesn't count. What do we have? 200 members on TT and GBB, and half a dozen are making a living? Maybe?

I'd like to.  I don't know where to start.  I sell wunuvakind items --exception would be picture frames.  I have inventory from $20 to $20,000.  They're hard to mix.  It's also hard to mix contemporary New Mexico with antique American and/or vintage European.  I'm having numerous senior moments in trying to logically organize categories or subsites.  I do think I've decided that I don't want three or four separate web sites to begin with.  That would be a complete PITA, I think.

Most 'galleries' don't have shopping carts.  They don't even have prices, as they don't really expect to sell anything, I guess.  Dumb move on their part, I think, but that would be to my advantage. 

And, yes, Mr. O is somewhat correct in stating that some of us are just stupid regarding programming and ecommerce knowledge.  However, much of this stuff is really beyond some of us who just don't have the mental faculties any more to easily comprehend all the information.  Three years ago I would just forge ahead and consider it an exciting challenge.  I did that with purchasing my first computer -- had never even seen on and didn't know what they looked like.  I taught myself how to use it, and taught myself basic HTML so I could do a nice listing page for ebay. 

However, with all the water that's gone under the bridge, now, I just can't do that.  It's very discouraging and frustrating.  I don't know where to being the thinking and planning process...........  I think if I could figure out the actual structure of the site I could start building it.

I DO have the choice of putting the less pricey items in a store on ebay, plus auctioning off the 'interesting' vintage/antique American items on ebay -- which would leave the bulk of what we have for the web site.  However, now that they've totally screwed up the search function (it is so bad I'm not even getting any hits in the store right now) that it might not be worth the time unless it's fixed somewhat. 

Phil wants to sell the entire collection(s) in bulk.  I've got to get stuff up on the web so folks can see what kind of inventory we have.  At this time, sales would not be as important as exposure.

I just don't know where to begin.  *sigh* 

misteroriginal Wrote:before you leave eBay's security blanky

Why put a noose around your neck by choosing eBaY when you start? If I'd chosen to go with eBaY instead of a website when I started selling I'd be doing my own shipping in between bites of ramen noodles late at night after working 9-5 at a second job .  eBaY is a casino.  The house almost always wins and only a handful of players get lucky. 

amy Wrote:There are excellent 3rd party hosted shopping cart solutions that allow many small businesses to completely bypass eBay when they transition to Internet selling. No technical expertise required.

I'm nodding my head yes. 

stardust Wrote:I think if I could figure out the actual structure of the site I could start building it.

Step 1 Take a look at the store hosts Amy linked and look at the features,  their clients stores, and try their demos.  You don't need computer programming knowledge to get a store off the ground.

Step 2 Ask questions here if you need help.  It's free.

misteroriginal Wrote:half a dozen are making a living? Maybe?

Based solely on the web sites of TuliPosters who used their site domain's email addresses during registration, I believe the true number is a minimum of a few dozen.  Only 2 of  6 TulipTools moderators/administrators have sold on eBay, but all of us except :animal020: Kim :animal020: (all her bills paid by her guitar since age 18) make our livings entirely on the Internet.  eBay isn't a requirement for a fulltime Internet business. 

Well I know I make a living full time on the net.

From Christmas day of I think it was back in 1998
we opened a gift from my brother. A web TV.
As soon as I got online I said
"WOW I got to find a way to make money with this".

The rest is history.

Star there are a lot of free templates out there to get started with.
Heck you can even just play around for FREE with a website
by creating a FREE YahooGeocites account.
http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/

Back when I started developing my online presents in early
1999 (I was just fascinated on how to make web pages and stuff and
played around for a few months and taught myself HTML).

I used Geocities and sold on Yahoo Auctions at first.
Yes a FREE website and people were buying
stuff off of me left and right and sending checks and MO's.

Funny thing is the LOGO we used in our first online sales sites was
the same exact cat you are using as your avatar here. 

I had already dabbled once before with a Mail Order biz,
(that was before the net and SMC was my supplier).
It was way to expensive plus my now x other half was not and is stil not
a very motivated person. We got out of that after about 6 months.

What I'm saying is Basic HTML is all that is really needed.

Now we all know there are all the ad ons and cool junk out there.
I myself prefer the keep it simple method.
Just woke up this morning to a large order from a Thai restaurant in Ga.

Back to the OP's thought: misteroriginal is right...
Most people are too stoopid to make it outside of eBay.

But the real stoopid ones IMO are the ones who don't even try
and that is sad.

I kind of stopped trying to motivate others back when FAS became
Nazi Central and was full of undercover feebay cheerleaders / evangelist
telling everyone how they will fail with out feebay.

But here is where I stand today:

I'm not rich but am making a living off my website
sales and it just seems to keep getting better.

Even though Sell through on feebay has been hit and miss for a long time,
I still run anywhere from 1-3 auctions a week for obvious reasons.
(If I was relying 100% on feebay I would have been out of business three years ago.)

My merchant account now captures about 95% of my sales
and over 99% of my sales are from my site or other venues.

Both ebay and PayPal keep getting less money from me and I like that.

I'm in the process of sourcing and expanding my product line and have
also been approached by some vendors who wish for me to drop ship my
products for them. (Still considering that possibility).

I could go on but....

As much as it pains me to see so many still clinging to eBay's security blanky,
I also love it at the same time because that just puts the rest of us
that much further ahead of those too stoopid to see that ebay
is just fleecing them anymore
and that ebay WILL continue to ride that pony as long as
the stoopid ones continue to give them the bulk of their money.

I know if I were ebay I would keep taking it too.
After all:
ebay also knows that most people are too stoopid to make it outside of eBay.

But the real stoopid ones IMO are the ones who don't even try
and that is sad.

I agree.  I'm getting stoopider by the day. 

That said, I do have a pretty good idea of what my *back* pages should be, with several good options of what their design could be.  It's the home page -- *front pages* -- and basic presentation, that are causing the stall in any forward movement for me.  Also the fear of not knowing how to fix something should it go wrong because of total and complete non-understanding and ignorance of how it all works and what it all is.

I'll get there.  It'll happen all of a sudden.  *insert lightbulb smiley here*  Usually works that way for me.