Selling online

[dcroissant]

Folks,

I’m playing around with ideas here and would value your input.

Would you be interested in a website which would take orders for your products (we would maintain control of vendors and the products listed) passing details on to you via email when an order is taken. We take the payment, deduct our commission and pass the balance to yourselves and you post direct to the customer (like dropshipping)

It would be free to register and list products and we would take a commission of each sale price (10% for example).

Thanks in anticipation, please feel free to post any questions.

DC

[Critchley]

I cant imagine why we should pay you to do what we can do for ourselves. I would not let anyone else handle my money either, too risky.

[Oakdale Studios]

There is one out there, it's called ebay, they take 10%, there are others too that charge less.

It would be better to have your own website (IMO) that way you have total control and you can keep the 10% for re-investing, materials or even, God forbid, pay yourself!

So it's a nope from me too.

Vik

.

[dcroissant]

What I thinking is an online store with browsable categories where your products are along side those of other vendors (home workers and boutique) allowing a purchaser to find items in one place rather than having to navigate individual websites.

Rather like notonthehighstreet do but with model that does not require upfront fees.

Again, dropship works on the vendor sending the product to the purchaser and the invoice to the site owner. I thinking of a direct payment (24 hours) to the vendor (paypal?) to keep it simple and improve their cashflow.

[nattynetty]

My big question would be how would you make it different to folksy and etsy (plus wowthankyou, tosouk, etc etc) that are already out there doing this?

[dcroissant]

There is one out there, it's called ebay, they take 10%, there are others too that charge less.

It would be better to have your own website (IMO) that way you have total control and you can keep the 10% for re-investing, materials or even, God forbid, pay yourself!

So it's a nope from me too.

Vik

.
Even if these sales are in addition to that of your own site and eBay etc. After all it's free to list hence you'd only pay a commision on a sale.

Also, I know many people who dont have the skills to create their own sites etc where I am helping them get to that point but I would have though all distrubution channels would have value, esp if their is no up front investion on your part.

[dcroissant]

My big question would be how would you make it different to folksy and etsy (plus wowthankyou, tosouk, etc etc) that are already out there doing this?

I would say they are very craft focused - I'm thinking fashion, lifestyle, homeware focused with crafts being part of the overall offering.

[Oakdale Studios]

I would say they are very craft focused - I'm thinking fashion, lifestyle, homeware focused with crafts being part of the overall offering.

I think you may fine that people on here are craft focused, hence the name.

It looks like you are more fashion, lifestyle, homeware focused and crafters would only fill a little gap?
You may be posting on the wrong forum?

http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/images/cf-logo.gif

[dcroissant]

I think you may fine that people on here are craft focused, hence the name.

It looks like you are more fashion, lifestyle, homeware focused and crafters would only fill a little gap?
You may be posting on the wrong forum?



Sure, this would be one part of an overall range that would include lifestyle items but I see no reason why they could not sit alongside in a professional and well layed out site.

I see items in the craft area that would fit into the overall concept, from my point of view I would be intrested in all methods of getting my product to the market at a resonable cost in addition to my existing methods.

[Oakdale Studios]

Sure, this would be one part of an overall range that would include lifestyle items but I see no reason why they could not sit alongside in a professional and well layed out site.

I see items in the craft area that would fit into the overall concept, from my point of view I would be intrested in all methods of getting my product to the market at a resonable cost in addition to my existing methods.

I Googled "dcroissant" and you (if it is you) seem to be out there but I can't find an example of what it is you're offering in the way of design, is this still an idea or an extension to an up-and-running website?

I did find this through associated email address on a forum post http://www.webit.net/ and wondered if it's something like this you are offering?

I agree with you that any other avenue/s to get our things out there has to be good.

I see that someone with the same username has had problems with eBay and 3rd party hacking access to their account >>>>HERE (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=25906)<<<

PayPal and eBay have some really good defences and still things get through by using "brute force password generators".

There is no suggestion from me that this is indeed you, but it points to security of peoples personal information getting out to a 4th party through a 3rd.

How would you police this and guarantee it not happening to those of us that might register on your website if PayPal and eBay can get hacked into?

Vik

.

[Caroleecrafts]

There are so many sites out there offering different selling platforms, Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda, NOTH's, Handmade with Passion, Wow Thank You, Vintage Victory and this has just scratched the surface. One thing they all do you is get your money instantly then an invoice for commission on sales each month sorry but I would never go to a site where they took my money and then dished it out to me on 'pay day' I like to be in control of my own money and get the funds instantly on completion of a sale via paypal plus as said above have my own website with unlimited uploads. Also mixing handmade with possible cheaper imports which could happen would not work, hence why so many of us do not sell on ebay unless you wish to shift old stock cheap.

There is also a new one started this year called Tosouk run by a famous tv antique expert and they charge no commission or posting fees!

[dcroissant]

I Googled "dcroissant" and you (if it is you) seem to be out there but I can't find an example of what it is you're offering in the way of design, is this still an idea or an extension to an up-and-running website?

I did find this through associated email address on a forum post... and wondered if it's something like this you are offering?

I agree with you that any other avenue/s to get our things out there has to be good.

I see that someone with the same username has had problems with eBay and 3rd party hacking access to their account >>><<<

PayPal and eBay have some really good defences and still things get through by using "brute force password generators".

There is no suggestion from me that this is indeed you, but it points to security of peoples personal information getting out to a 4th party through a 3rd.

How would you police this and guarantee it not happening to those of us that might register on your website if PayPal and eBay can get hacked into?

Vik

.

Hi,

It is a new venture so the site does not exist yet - we're still planning concepts, branding and possitioning etc.

Webit.net is an old site that I still own and no - thats a directory site, with this I'm working on an online retailer that provides mid to top end selected products and was thinking it might be nice if other vendors could sell items alongside to increase their exposure (and of course make a profit on my investment to faciliate this. For clarity the investment to date is ringfenced, when I talk of my investment it was to add the additional changes to allow 3rd party listing)

Yep, my eBay account was compromised in 2005, and was resolved by their support - life happens and no damage done.

I (nor any other sane person) can ever promise that a site will never be hacked - I've spent too long in eCommerce and Internet security in a FTSE 50 enviroment and working on Goverment projects to ever make that claim (ISO27001/2 anyone?)

Some of your research might have turned up a bit more about I. In 2007 I founded a site called the shoppersbible.com (no longer live) that hoped to take small retailers online with the same tools as the 'big boys'

I did a lot of PR (BBC interviews, The Mail, The Sun - page 3 of the business section, and others) as despite being free, having direct payments to retailers could I get them to list and grow the business. That was a good lession.

Anyways, you either like the idea or not and it's sounding is if it's not for the craft world so kinda answers the quest which was my origional intension. Their was more focus on payments than I expected. In truth payment is direct to the retailer (at the point of sale) and whilst cash flow is the most important element of my businesses, I also trust my suppliers (and they do us) and work on an invoice footing.

Still, many thanks for all for your input and best of luck with your enterprises.

[Oakdale Studios]

Thank you for the clarity with your answer, please be aware that I didn't think you were dodgy in any way, I was just doing my homework and saw some potential problems that I simply highlighted.

As for "cash flow is the most important element of my businesses" it's also a very important part of mine too and I for one, don't like percentage charges for a number of reasons, the main one being;

If 10% of my £55 product = £5.50 and 10% 0f someone else's product sells for £12 = £1.20, what are you doing extra for my £4.30 or around + 300% ?

The time we spend on making our product might be the same but our payment is so different.

There are some very nice items that people on here are selling and some are in their £hundreds, not because of the lack of skill and craftsmanship but because of the materials used, I use Gold in mine others use Silver and precious stones.

If someone sells something for £250 why should they pay £25, much more then someone at the lower end of the pricing scale and all for taking the same amount of time, space, pixels and memory on someone else's website?

If you bought our items from us, stored them and then sold them, then that would be a different story.

Why can't we all pay the same fee, say £1 - £2 per sale or at least a "reasonable" maximum cut-off and then invoice us after a sale?

As for the "Their was more focus on payments than I expected.", in this day and age everyone in the £, $ & € World is focusing on finance and payments as indeed are you. That's business.

A "better" way might be something I am working with at the moment? I have my PayPal account "attached" to my partnership website, the payment and order comes directly to me. I print it off 3 times, one for me, one for the customer and one for the partner, I pay the p&p and post the article to the customer and send off the agreed payment to my partner. Simple. Done.

It can't get much simpler than that and as a bonus, I get tax relief on the payment to the partner as they are a charity and they also get gift aid as I'm a tax payer.

Thank you for showing me this opportunity, but as they say on the telly "I'm out".

Vik

.





Hi,

It is a new venture so the site does not exist yet - we're still planning concepts, branding and possitioning etc.

Webit.net is an old site that I still own and no - thats a directory site, with this I'm working on an online retailer that provides mid to top end selected products and was thinking it might be nice if other vendors could sell items alongside to increase their exposure (and of course make a profit on my investment to faciliate this. For clarity the investment to date is ringfenced, when I talk of my investment it was to add the additional changes to allow 3rd party listing)

Yep, my eBay account was compromised in 2005, and was resolved by their support - life happens and no damage done.

I (nor any other sane person) can ever promise that a site will never be hacked - I've spent too long in eCommerce and Internet security in a FTSE 50 enviroment and working on Goverment projects to ever make that claim (ISO27001/2 anyone?)

Some of your research might have turned up a bit more about I. In 2007 I founded a site called the shoppersbible.com (no longer live) that hoped to take small retailers online with the same tools as the 'big boys'

I did a lot of PR (BBC interviews, The Mail, The Sun - page 3 of the business section, and others) as despite being free, having direct payments to retailers could I get them to list and grow the business. That was a good lession.

Anyways, you either like the idea or not and it's sounding is if it's not for the craft world so kinda answers the quest which was my origional intension. Their was more focus on payments than I expected. In truth payment is direct to the retailer (at the point of sale) and whilst cash flow is the most important element of my businesses, I also trust my suppliers (and they do us) and work on an invoice footing.

Still, many thanks for all for your input and best of luck with your enterprises.

[GennaDesign]

These kind of things work if you are churning out hundreds of the same items.

I have found it hard enough making an individual piece, photographing it, writing the blurb, adding to my online shop and then selling at a craft fair a week later (and then having to remove from my online shop) never mind adding it to other sites and maintaining the inventory there too. Making sure you only list in one place in case it sells on both at the same time etc.

That's the point of failure for crafters in all these sites. I have been holding off using etsy/folksy etc until I finish a few new ranges that I can make similar items repeatedly that I also wouldn't be promoting to galleries to stock too.

What is really needed is not yet another site to list items on but a site which collates the stock on existing sites. Given the difficulty of doing this and the need to integrate into all the other types of sites - folksy, etsy, individual sellers e-commerce sites that looks unlikely to happen in the near future.

[nattynetty]

What is really needed is not yet another site to list items on but a site which collates the stock on existing sites. Given the difficulty of doing this and the need to integrate into all the other types of sites - folksy, etsy, individual sellers e-commerce sites that looks unlikely to happen in the near future.

Something that does come close to this is Craft Juice www.craftjuice.com where members can post their work with a link directly to where it's for sale - In the past I have bought something I saw on CJ this way.

[AnnieAnna]

Hi Vik. I read your "Why can't we all pay the same fee, say £1 - £2 per sale or at least a "reasonable" maximum cut-off and then invoice us after a sale?" with a smile. You have your acorns, I have my lucky beans from the Amazon jungle. Not being gold plated, just their normal in your face bright red colour, my lucky keyrings only cost £1. So your £1 fee is a 100% cut or OMG £2 is a 200% cut. :p

Hi Genna. Having things advertised in different places does my head in too especially as I'm a bit lackadaisical over my stock taking. It goes along the lines of "Ooooo I've got an empty box. I must have sold something." "Ah. The bag box is nearly empty I must make some more."

Hi d. Just because we are coming up with problems that are specific to us doesn't mean to say your idea isn't worth pursuing. I think I've said somewhere else it's similar to sale or return in a bricks and mortar shop. I've reckied such shops. Some, I've decided straight away are not for me. Some, I've made enquires, then taken fright and flight (they had no insurance!!!!!). Others I've gone with. Some deals suit some people some of the time.

[GennaDesign]

Something that does come close to this is Craft Juice where members can post their work with a link directly to where it's for sale - In the past I have bought something I saw on CJ this way.

Ah I had used CraftJuice to just post links, never thought to use it to just promote links to online shop (assumed it would be seen as spammy). Might mix in a couple with my next submissions there.

[Oakdale Studios]

Hi Vik. I read your "Why can't we all pay the same fee, say £1 - £2 per sale or at least a "reasonable" maximum cut-off and then invoice us after a sale?" with a smile. You have your acorns, I have my lucky beans from the Amazon jungle. Not being gold plated, just their normal in your face bright red colour, my lucky keyrings only cost £1. So your £1 fee is a 100% cut or OMG £2 is a 200% cut. :p


Put your prices up OR let me Gold plate them!?

This time next year......

http://images.esellerpro.com/2486/I/256/4/smcoaster-only-fools-and-horses-millionaires.jpg

[nattynetty]

Ah I had used CraftJuice to just post links, never thought to use it to just promote links to online shop (assumed it would be seen as spammy). Might mix in a couple with my next submissions there.

As long as you link to the actual product you're posting on CJ then it's fine.