HONEST HELP, PLEASE! I want to create my own site w/o being taken for a ride

[DecorativeDishes]

I would keep the name your customers know. At first you will be getting your business from existing eBay customers. Strangers shop for items not by store name. Kim

[Alskling]

Thanks, Kim. That's what I thought, as well, but it's always good to have a confirming opinion from an objective source.

[Alskling]

I noticed that you're a big mukeemuk on Shoppal, Dishes, so you aren't giving me a snow job, are you? Anyway, I've been looking at the site and I still don't understand the relationship this outfit has with eBay. If you have your own web site, what's the eBay integration all about? I also am confused on the payment options. Am I to understand that if I want to be PayPal integrated, I have to pay an extra $5/mo fee? I couldn't find answers to these questions in the forum -- they might be there, I just couldn't find them. I'm also going to look at TT's hosting and compare.  Does TT have templates and all that good stuff, where retards like me with no programming skills can get it going?

Eagerly awaiting help. Thanks

[xppman]

TT has FREE oscmax or FREE Zen cart programs.
Those programs come with FREE templates and all that good stuff.

Like we said we can help you and if you would rather NOT use the cart
function you can bypass the cart like I did.

You can use a third party cart or use PP or Google buy now buttons
for your transactions on your product pages.

If you do not need to tinker... there really is not much in programming skills needed
and what is needed some of us can and will help you to get it up and running.

Another option is that there are TONS of free templates on the web.
You simply change a few things, add your products and Buy Now buttons
and you are running a website.

A little knowledge of HTML is needed but HTML is NOT that hard, most people just think it is.

If you have zero desire to do any work and want a pre filled set up than go with Shoppal or something like that.

[amy]

I still don't understand the relationship this outfit has with eBay. If you have your own web site, what's the eBay integration all about? 

It's the same type relationship Marketworks, ChannelAdvisor, Vendio have with eBay.  Your eBay auction winners can use your Shoppal store's checkout to pay for their eBay purchases.  You can also download your Shoppal store inventory into Turbo Lister for listing on eBay.

It's a good way to convert your eBay customers into website customers.

eBay Checkout: *

Optional feature allows your customers to pay for your eBay auctions right in your store thus allowing them to add additional items to their order.

eBay integration details: http://www.shoppal.com/index.cfm/cmd:features.ebay

===

I also am confused on the payment options. Am I to understand that if I want to be PayPal integrated, I have to pay an extra $5/mo fee?

According to their fee page there is no charge for PayPal.  If you have a merchant account and use Authorize.net there is a $5.00 monthly charge.

fees: http://www.shoppal.com/index.cfm/cmd:pricing

The fee I don't like is their one-time $49.99 charge for adding your domain name.

[Alskling]

I don't do Turbo Lister. I tried it once, but it seems too much trouble, since every item I have is unique. So having that integration with Shoppal is worthless to me. I don't know the relationship Vendio and the rest have with eBay, either, so that analogy means nothing. I did want to get a domain name and the $49 fee for that sounds ridiculous. How can Shoppal justify that? I do want a domain. Isn't there any way TT can put something together for the cyber retarded? It makes me crazy to have to stop every 2 seconds to ask some dumb-ass stupid question. I'm sure everybody would be quite helpful in getting me set up on TT, but as nice as that may be, it doesn't make me feel any more comforted knowing I have no clue what I'm doing and would have to be hand-held through the process like a blind-folded kid trying to break the pinata with a base-ball bat ahd losing precious time I could have spent trying to get stuff listed and sold. Whenever I hear the words "don't worry, it's not the hard" I get nervous. I tried making a banner ad for one of my dead stores on a non-eBay site with Addesigner, which is supposed to take "seconds" to do. I started yesterday and it's still not up. As much as I'd like my own site, I'm getting so frustrated already before I've even started, that I'm thinking of just chucking the whole thing and let eBay suck the marrow from my bones.

[xppman]

Alskling
First off... precious time is what it takes to build a website...
That's why they call it "building a website".

A willingness to learn and the ability to learn is also needed
for any business endeavor one takes on. IMO

If your looking for a simple solution you may find no matter
where you look there are no truly
"simple" solutions out there.

The first dip in the pool can be the hardest, many like to
stick thier toe in and will think the water is too cold,
but sometimes it's better to just dive in.
From what I'm getting from you this is your situation.

Perhaps you are better off letting eBay suck the marrow from your bones
if you are too scared or do NOT wish to actually WORK / learn to achieve your goals.

Theses things take a level of commitment and a drive to succeed
and make it work. Maybe you just don't have that drive or feel you don't need
to be committed to be a success in the online sales arena?
I'm betting you do... or you wouldn't be here in the first place.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but honestly don't expect anyone to hold your hand
and talk you into making the moves that ALL eBay store owners
or x eBayers already KNOW they need to do.

So with that said you have been given various choices and
some pretty straight forward information as well
as offers for FREE help to get you started.

It's truly up to you to decide what way to go.

I'll say this one more time and try to be a bit more clear to you.

The most COST EFFECTIVE way to go is to build a WEBSITE.

[cranky_hippie]

Alskling, I've been in your shoes. To a certain extent I still am.

I am seriously tech-challenged so when I went looking for website options I wanted something simple to set up. I chose shoppal for that reason. And it has done the job for what I needed at the time.

Like Amy, I don't care for the top level domain fee. There are also a la carte fees for other things like an international shipping module.  I am a tightwad, by nature and by necessity, so I did not pay for the top level domain. I have a domain name and I have it redirected to my website. Has this hurt me? I don't know. I have had sales so I am not completely invisible but I wonder if I would be doing better if I had paid the fee.  :-\

So what it comes down to for me is this: using shoppal for a web host was definitely the way to go in the beginning. It didn't offer ALL that I wanted but it offered ENOUGH. Now I'm in a different place and need something different. I want to expand. Hell, I NEED to expand. So I am building my own site.

XPP is right . It can be done by the tech-challenged but it is not easy. I am using Tulip Hosting with an oscMAX shopping cart. The customer service is excellent and they installed the cart for me. Now I am wading thru the tons of files setting up the site the way I want it. It is slow going for me because I am afraid I will "break" something. And it's often not clear what files are what and what they all "do." So I do have to be walked thru a lot of this. Fortunately, there are good handholders here. And I don't like feeling stupid but I can live with it.

So what it all comes down to is that you will have to decide what will work for you. No option will be perfect. There will be trade-offs. And, like I did, it may be best to pick one option now and another option down the road. Or do both: get the easy to do website and work on building one from scratch at the same time. That's where I am right now.

The one thing that I don't regret is walking away from Ebay. When the roof caves in, I won't be there watching it fall on me.

[xppman]

Excellent post Crank Girl.

I hope I wasn't coming off too harsh but in a way I wanted too.

Just do it.

Try something simple first and you will have a whole new set of questions once you start.
I'm a tight wad too when it comes to paying others for my work, but there is a
certain level that we all must pay as web site owners.

Here are some FREE templates for anyone to use and you don't need a cart type set up
but IT TAKES A LITTLE WORK. (not much a little)
http://freesitetemplates.com/templates/b...ore-2.html

NOTE: With these type templates all you need is shopping cart buttons like from PP
and I already have the simple code for that to make that easy for you too.

It's not daunting, not non doable but just some time and usually not that
much time once you get past the fear and the few changes
you need to make to make it your own.
If you can use a key board and a mouse and have a simple HTML editor...
YOU CAN DO THIS.

Most the "codes" that are in these templets don't need to be messed with.
It's just basically changing a few things to suit appearance and
adding product to your site, (and Cart buttons), uploading it to a server like
at TT for instance, and your on your way.

oscmax and Zen do have a few small challenges to overcome but again
they are doable guys and girls.
It's NOT rocket science it's more of a feeling by those who never tried
of being overwealmed by looking at STUFF they really don't need
to worry about and just giving up.
(I almost gave up with the cart types too and thanks to Bell I pushed forward and got it done)

Honestly timing is also a factor and NOW may not be the time to make the transition.
You can (like I did and Cranky is doing and maybe others)
wait till the slowest time to make the move and you can even
keep your other site or store operating while you build the NEW or FIRST one.

In my situation I have two sets of web pages (sites) going on TT's servers.
The old site with the original URL's that are ranked HIGH (page 1, 2, and 3
of major search engines)
that are NOW all transformed to look like the new site but all in static pages...
And the new oscmax site which is a mix of static pages and dynamically pulled pages.
(different url's)

I am chomping at the bit here to help others but time is becoming a factor as the
heaviest sales time of year is approaching rapidly and
before long, I will not be able to look up, let alone take time and work for FREE for others.

I'll tell anyone who is lurking or who will do it NOW.
Get a domain name NOW get a package from TT NOW
58.95 plus what ever your domain name costs.

LET ME KNOW and I will help you get at least a landing page and FREE temple
site up and going in a matter of a few days.

It will take a level of commitment and a trust to allow ME to get it up there
and then turn the keys over to you and walk you through
the process of how to work the site yourself.

I have always wanted to do this and have helped a few in the past.
I am of the thinking that you must SHOW the new owner how to operate the site
so they don't NEED to pay someone else's every time they want to make a change,
add a product or do anything to the site.

Again it is doable and I am one who can "usually" show you how and
put it in layman's terms you can understand and become a confident
web master with out knowing all the BS terms and back end stuff that
you don't need to worry about anyway.

YOU CAN DO IT.....

[Alskling]

I appreciate your advice, and I'm taking it to heart. I am truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. I know you won't believe this,  XXP, but I already work from 6 a.m. to past midnight most every day of my life. The only time my husband sees me is when I come out of my locked office sometime in the evening to take a shower. I even eat breakfast, lunch and dinner while I'm working. Take a picture; take a bite. Wait for the picture to download; take a bite. Answer an email and knaw on an apple. So stop beating me up about how I'm just too lazy to get off my ass. I am so worn and burnt out and frustrated and PISSED at WP for wasting my time, energy and money because those lying, cheating hypocrites present themselves as an e-commerce site, when it's just some cultist freak show. Meanwhile, eBay is sucking the marrow from my bones, so I created a HB store which I have had a few sales off of, but nothing worth writing home about, and now I find HB is a bit suspect. It's taken a whole day for me to try to figure out how to create a clickable siggie for my stupid store over there -- AND I STILL DON'T HAVE IT -- despite tons of hand-holding and everybody telling me it only takes "seconds" to do. I've never even heard of OCMAX or Zen. You could call it ZULU or Yoda, and I wouldn't know the difference. I'm beat up, frustrated , sleep-deprived and  if I don't get some sales my husband will be sending me to debtor's prison.  I don't know what to believe or who to trust anymore and I don't have the money, time or patience to hire anybody to help me work through it, not to mention all the time I would be putting into another effort that I should be putting in listing and at least trying to sell something -- anything. Excuse the rant, but it appears I'm just going to have to put up with eBay for now. I don't know what the hell else to do and it makes me want to  .