Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay

Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay®

to Amazon®, craigslist®, and Your OwnE-Commerce WebsiteCopyright © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without writtenpermission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed withrespect to the use of the information contained herein. Althoughevery precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book,the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors oromissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting fromthe use of the information contained herein.

ISBN-13: 978-0-789-73974-2ISBN-10: 0-789-73974-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Miller, Michael, 1958–Selling online 2.0 : migrating from eBay to Amazon, Craigslist,

and your own e-commerce website / Michael Miller.p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-7897-3974-21. Electronic commerce. 2. Selling. 3. Internet. 4. Amazon.com

(Firm) 5. Craigslist.com (Firm) I. Title. HF5548.32.M538 2009658.8'72--dc22

2009003467

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Introduction

Selling online isn’t quite as simple as it used to be. In the good olddays, just about anybody could create an eBay listing and let theonline auction site do the bulk of the work. All you had to do waswait for the auction to end to see what the final price was and whoto ship to. This model created a lot of successful sellers.

All things change, however, and online selling is in the process ofsome major changes. The eBay auction site isn’t near as friendly tosmall sellers as it used to be; sellers are finding that it’s harder andharder to make a decent profit selling exclusively on eBay.

If you made your mark as an eBay seller but find eBay an increas-ingly unfriendly environment, what do you do next? It’s all aboutmigrating your sales to the next-generation selling model—what Ilike to call Selling Online 2.0.

Selling Online 2.0 doesn’t completely abandon eBay—at least, itdoesn’t have to. But it does embrace alternative marketplaces andchannels, opening up the opportunity for you to sell your merchan-dise on sites such as craigslist and Amazon, as well as on your owne-commerce website.

Here’s the bottom line: If you want to maintain or grow your currentlevel of sales, you have to move beyond eBay auctions. To do this,you have to learn some new skills and fine-tune some old ones; youmay even have to spend some money setting things up. But theupside is that your online sales can be even more profitable thanbefore—and you may be able to attract a completely new base ofcustomers.

If all you know is selling on eBay, how do you learn what you needto know to sell in other marketplaces and channels? Well, you’vecome to the right place; that’s what this book is all about. While

selling on Amazon or craigslist or your own online store might seemdaunting at first, it’s something you can do if you have the motivationand the knowledge. You’ll have to supply your own motivation, of course,but the knowledge you can get from reading this book.

What’s in This BookAs you can probably tell from the title, this book tells you everything youneed to know to migrate your current eBay business to other online mar-ketplaces and channels. You’ll learn how sites such as Amazon andcraigslist work, how to plan for success on these sites, and how to createlistings, manage sales, accept payments, and even migrate your existingeBay sales to the new marketplaces. You’ll also learn how to plan for andlaunch your own e-commerce website and how to promote and managethat site on a day-to-day basis. Some of the information presented will befamiliar to you (both craigslist and Amazon share some similarities witheBay, after all), and some will be completely new. That’s the nature ofthe beast.

There are 22 chapters in this book, divided into five major parts. Eachpart deals with a different online selling channel, walking you througheverything you need to know to get your business up and running in thatchannel:

• Part I, “Beyond Online Auctions: Creating a SuccessfulOnline Business,” is the part you want to read before you get intoall the details in the rest of the book. Here is where you learn abouthow eBay is changing and how to plan for online sales success out-side eBay.

• Part II, “Fixed-Price Selling on eBay,” shows that there is lifeon eBay beyond the auction format. You’ll learn how to migrateyour auction listings to fixed-price listings, how to open an eBayStore, how to sell on Half.com, and how to promote your fixed-pricesales on the eBay site.

• Part III, “Selling via craigslist Online Classifieds,” presentsthe first alternative to eBay: local online classified ads. craigslist isthe biggest online classifieds site, and in this section you learn howand what to sell on craigslist, how to migrate your eBay listings tocraigslist, and how to promote your online classifieds business.

• Part IV, “Selling on the Amazon Marketplace,” details how tosell your merchandise on the Amazon.com website. You’ll learn what

2 Introduction

types of items sell best on Amazon, how to create and price your list-ings, how to migrate your existing eBay listings to Amazon, and howto promote your new Amazon business.

• Part V, “Selling on Your Own Website,” is the section for anyseller who wants to launch a standalone online store. You’ll learnhow to plan your online presence, set up an e-commerce website,manage your store’s sales, promote your online business, migrateyour eBay business to your own store, and sell items in multiplechannels.

That’s a lot to cover—because there’s a lot you need to know to be success-ful. While you can skip around a bit, particularly if you have no inten-tion of selling in a specific channel or marketplace, my recommendationis to start with Chapter 1 and read the whole way through the book.There’s a logical process to migrating from eBay to these other channels,and what you learn in one chapter will be applied in following chapters.

Who Can Use This BookI assume that if you’re interested in Selling Online 2.0, you’re not a new-bie to selling online. You have some experience as an eBay seller underyour belt, and you have a handle on what you sell and how.

In other words, I’m not going to teach you how and what to sell. If you’relooking for the magic product that will make you rich, look someplaceelse. This book is for serious and experienced sellers who are ready tomove to the next level of online selling.

That said, you don’t have to be a large seller to move beyond eBay. Thisbook is written for all levels of sellers, large and small; all you need issome online selling experience and the willingness to make the nextmove. It also doesn’t matter what you sell; all types of sellers can besuccessful selling beyond eBay.

How to Use This BookThis book is easy enough to read that you really don’t need instructions.But there are a few elements that bear explaining.

First, there are several special elements in this book, presented in what wein the publishing business call “margin notes.” There are different typesof margin notes for different types of information, as you see here:

How to Use This Book 3

noteThis is a note that presents information of interest, even if it isn’t wholly relevant

to the discussion in the main text.

tipThis is a tip that might prove useful for whatever it is you’re in the process of

doing.

cautionThis is a caution that something you might accidentally do might have undesir-

able results.

Because many of the solutions presented in this book involve various web-sites on the Internet, there are lots of web addresses in the text. When yousee one of these addresses (also known as a URL), you can go to that webpage by entering the URL into the address box in your web browser. I’vemade every effort to ensure the accuracy of the web addresses presentedhere, but given the ever-changing nature of the web, don’t be surprised ifyou run across an address or two that’s changed.

For that matter, some of the products and services (and correspondingprices) presented here are likely to change by the time you read this text. Iapologize in advance, but that’s the way the online world works.

There’s More Online…When you need a break from reading, feel free to go online and check outmy personal website, located at www.molehillgroup.com. Here you’ll findmore information on this book and other books I’ve written. And ifyou have any questions or comments, feel free to email me directly, [email protected]. I can’t guarantee that I’ll respond toevery email, but I will guarantee that I’ll read them all.

Making the MoveWith all these preliminaries out of the way, it’s now time to get started.Put on your reading glasses, put on your best business thinking cap, andget ready to migrate to the next level—Selling Online 2.0!

4 Introduction

www.molehillgroup.com

15Establishing Your Own Website:Is It Right for Your Business?

When it comes to moving beyond eBay, the holy grail for manysellers is running their own e-commerce website. For small sellers,this is what Selling Online 2.0 is all about—controlling your ownonline sales from start to finish, with no reliance at all on eBay,craigslist, Amazon, or any other online marketplace.

The grass, however, is not always greener. Creating and maintain-ing your own online store takes a lot of time and money. While youmay be able to generate more profit per sale (by not paying anymarketplace fees), you also have expenses that you don’t have oneBay—and you also need to promote your site to attract potentialcustomers.

The big question then, is whether establishing your own website isright for your business. Read on and then make up your mind.

Building an Online Store—What’s Involved?Selling on eBay or Amazon is one thing. Selling on your own web-site is quite another. Just what is involved with building your owne-commerce site—and how much does it cost?

The Components of an E-Commerce Website

When you sell on eBay or Amazon, you’re taking advantage ofeverything these sites offer—the existing infrastructure, the built-incustomer traffic, the fully functioning checkout and payment

services, you name it. When you launch your own e-commerce website,you have to build all this from scratch. It isn’t easy, but the end result isyour online store, one that looks and functions just the way you want it.

What constitutes an online store? To successfully sell merchandise to cus-tomers online, every web storefront needs the following components:

• Site hosting. First things first: Your website needs a home. Thatmeans contracting with a website hosting service, to provide storagespace and bandwidth. Note that some website hosting services pro-vide services specific to online retailers, offering various selling-related features, such as checkout and payment services—for a price,of course.

• Domain name registration. Your website also needs a name.You’ll want to register a unique domain name for your site, one thatreflects the name and nature of your business. You’ll then want toprovide that domain name to your site hosting service, so that yoursite and your name are connected.

tipMost website hosting services also provide domain name registration, so you

can do all this front-end work in a single stop.

• Home page/gateway page. Every website needs a home page,but the home page for a retailer’s site is especially important. Yourhome page must not only promote your business but also profile keyproducts. The page can’t be static, either; you need to refresh the fea-tured products on a fairly constant basis so that returning customersalways see new deals when they visit. It’s easiest if you use some sortof template for the home page design, into which you can easilyplace the products you’re currently promoting. This argues for somesort of home page automation, as opposed to you manually recod-ing the page each time you change featured products.

• Navigation and search. While you may sell some of the productsyou feature on your site’s home page, it’s more likely that customersare going to either browse or search for the precise products thatthey’re looking for. That means you need to organize your site in alogical fashion (by product categories, most likely) and then estab-lish an easy-to-use navigation system that can be accessed from allpages. You’ll probably do this via a sidebar or drop-down menu.You’ll also need to integrate a search function across your entire site,with a search box at the top of each page that visitors can use tosearch for specific items.

204 Chapter 15 Establishing Your Own Website: Is It Right for Your Business?

• Product pages. Every product you have for sale should have itsown page on your site. That page should be kind of like an eBayproduct listing, except more professional looking. You need toinclude one or more product photos, a detailed description, all rele-vant dimensions and sizes and colors and such, as well as any otherinformation that a customer might need to place an informed order.

• Customer reviews. Many sites let their customers rate and reviewthe products they sell. This provides another key information pointfor shoppers, and it provides unique feedback to the seller. While cus-tomer reviews aren’t a necessity, many customers are coming toexpect this feature.

• Inventory/listing management. You don’t want to manuallyupdate your site’s product pages whenever you sell an item. Instead,you want some sort of automatic inventory and listing managementsystem, so that when a product sale occurs, both your inventorydatabase and your product pages update automatically.

• Shopping cart and checkout system. When a customer pur-chases a product, that product needs to go into the customer’s shop-ping cart—the online equivalent of a physical shopping cart. Thecart holds multiple purchases and then feeds into your site’s check-out system, which then interfaces with your online payment service.

• Payment service. If you sell something, you need to get paid. Thatmeans, for all practical purposes, accepting credit card payments.While you can try to establish a merchant credit card processingaccount, more likely you’ll sign up with one of the major online pay-ment services—PayPal, Google Checkout, or Checkout by Amazon.The payment service you choose should integrate with your owncheckout system so that customers have a seamless purchasingexperience.

• Customer management. Your customers will want to contact youwith questions or issues. You’ll want to contact your customers withpurchase confirmation and shipping information. It’s best if you canautomate all these customer communications.

In addition to all these necessary components, you’ll also need to pro-mote your website; unlike with eBay and Amazon, you won’t automati-cally have 40-plus-million potential customers stopping by your firstmonth in business. That means an investment—in both time andmoney—in various promotional activities, from pay-per-click advertisingto email marketing to whatever works for you.

Building an Online Store—What’s Involved? 205

Bottom line: You need to do a lot of work to get an online store up andrunning—and even more work to keep it running on a daily basis. You’reused to eBay or Amazon providing most of these pieces and parts anddoing most of the heavy lifting for you. When you launch your own webstore, however, you’re on your own; you have to do everything eBay andAmazon do, and then some.

Different Ways to Build a Store

How do you go about building your own online store? There are a few dif-ferent approaches.

First, you can literally build your site from scratch. You start with a blankpage and go from there, designing your home page and product pages,plugging in navigation and search modules, integrating a shopping cartand checkout, and signing up for an online payment service. If you’re anHTML master with a lot of time on your hands, you can do this yourself;otherwise, you’ll probably hire a website design firm to do most of thework for you.

Hiring a contractor to design your website can save you time but cost youmore money. Let’s face it, hiring out website design is an expensive propo-sition. Although you get a site that is as custom-designed as possible, you(and your designer) end up reinventing a lot of wheels along the way.

For many sellers, a better approach is to go with a prepackaged store-front. When you contract with one of these services, you essentially plugyour logo and product inventory into a predesigned store template.Everything you need is provided—automatically generated product pages,inventory and customer management, shopping cart and checkout sys-tem, and online payment service. With this kind of service, you can getyour site up and running quite quickly, with a minimum amount ofeffort. The downside of this approach is that you pay for it—and keep onpaying for it. Most of these services not only charge you an upfront cost(typically quite low) but also an ongoing commission on everything yousell. In other words, you pay for the convenience of this type of prepack-aged storefront.

Between these extremes is a sort of middle ground. Many third-partyservices provide the needed features for a quality online storefront, so youdon’t have to do the coding from scratch—and you don’t have to cede aportion of your ongoing profits to a service. You simply pick and choosethe modules and services you need and plug them into your site. You can


find inventory management modules, shopping cart and checkoutmodules, and the like. (And, of course, it’s relatively easy to connect anycheckout module with an online payment service.) Depending on theprovider(s) you use, you may pay a larger upfront cost with no ongoingfees, or you may “rent” the services via a monthly or yearly subscription.

noteLearn more about the various ways to build an online store in Chapter 17,

“Setting Up an E-Commerce Website.”

How Much Does It Cost?

How much you have to invest in an online store depends on the size andnature of the store, as well as the approach you take to constructing thesite. That said, I can provide some general cost guidelines.

If you build your site yourself, you don’t have any upfront costs except foryour domain registration, which can be as little as $10 or so for the firstyear. You do, of course, have monthly site-hosting fees; while some freesite-hosting services exist, you’ll probably spend anywhere from $10 to$50 a month for professional hosting.

More likely, you’ll contract out the site design, which costs real money.Depending on the size of the job and the firm you choose, expect to spendseveral thousand dollars at a minimum, perhaps $10,000 or more. Mostdesign firms charge by the hour, so you’ll want to work through an esti-mate beforehand. Here is where it pays to shop your needs to severaldesign firms and go with the one that not only offers the best price butalso is best attuned to your needs.

The prepackaged storefront route offers perhaps the lowest initial invest-ment—often with zero upfront costs. For example, an Amazon WebStorecan be had for no money upfront. Instead, you pay $59.99 per month,plus a 7% commission on all sales you make. That’s a low-cost way to getinto the market, although you have to share your future profits with thestorefront host.

If you decide to forgo the prepackaged storefront and instead purchase orsubscribe to seller services from third-party providers, your costs aredependent on the services you need, the size of your business, and theprovider itself. Some online shopping modules go for as little as $50 permonth, while larger retailers may end up spending $1,000 per monthor more.

Building an Online Store—What’s Involved? 207

Then, of course, there are services that charge a fee per transaction. Mostnotable are the online payment services you need to process credit cardtransactions. Whether you go with PayPal or one of its competitors,expect to pay anywhere from 2% to 3% of each transaction paid for viacredit card, perhaps with a $0.30 or so flat fee per transaction as well.

So, how much does it cost to create your online storefront? As little asnothing or as much as five figures upfront, plus (perhaps) monthly feesand transaction fees and commissions. So if you think that establishingyour own storefront frees you from all those niggling fees that eBaycharges, think again; nothing is free.

Pros and Cons of Running Your Own WebsiteWhen you’re slave to the eBay marketplace, running your own onlinestore certainly looks attractive. But is the grass really greener on the otherside of the fence? Not always, as you’ll see.

Pros of Running Your Own Online Store

There are many benefits to being your own boss, which is essentially whatyou get when you run your own online store. Here are some of the goodpoints:

• You create your own business identity. This is a big one. Whenyou sell on the eBay marketplace, you’re often viewed as justanother eBay seller, no matter how hard you try to establish yourown identity. It’s even worse on Amazon, where you’re just ananonymous face behind a simple product listing. But when you cre-ate your own website, you’re not part of any marketplace—you’renot an eBay seller or an Amazon seller, you are your own business.You can establish your brand however you like, and you can buildyour own business on your own name.

• You pay fewer transaction fees. Well, at least you might,depending on how you do things. eBay sellers complain about beingnickel-and-dimed to death with eBay’s various listing and final valuefees—not to mention the ever-present PayPal fees. So it’s a quarterhere and a few percent there, but it adds up fast. It’s tempting tothink that running your own website means escaping all thoseannoying and costly fees, and that’s mostly true. While you can’tfully escape all fees (you’ll still have to pay a fee for credit cardtransactions), it’s likely you can at least reduce the per-transactionfees you pay.


• You’re not beholden to a marketplace’s rules. Many sellerschafe under eBay’s various rules and regulations. You can’t do this,you have to do that; you’re not really in charge of your business—eBay is. Well, when you’re running your own website, you’re notbeholden to anyone but yourself. You make up the rules, you runyour business as you please. You’re finally free!

• You’re not held hostage by a marketplace’s feedback policy.Here’s something else that many eBay sellers find particularlyannoying: A few cranky customers can completely ruin your feed-back rating and perhaps force eBay to drop you from the market-place. (And you can’t even retaliate with negative feedback of yourown!) Well, moving to your own website means that you deal withdissatisfied customers on your own terms, not on theirs. (Or oneBay’s, for that matter.)

In general, moving from eBay to your own online store means freedom—freedom from rules and regulations, freedom from control, freedom fromfees. There is a price to pay for this freedom, however—which is one of thecons we discuss next.

Cons of Running Your Own Online Store

If running your own e-commerce website was so great, everybody wouldbe doing it—but everybody isn’t. All the benefits of running your ownonline store are counterbalanced by a few negatives, including thefollowing:

• It’s a lot of effort—both upfront and on an ongoing basis.When you run your own online store, you have to do everythingthat eBay does—and that’s a lot. In fact, you don’t really start toappreciate eBay until you have to do it all yourself. You may findthat it’s worth paying a few eBay fees to receive all the benefits youget from the eBay marketplace. In any case, get ready to start put-ting in longer hours when you’re running your own shop; a lot oftime and effort is required.

• There may be substantial upfront costs. Depending on theroute you go, you may have to invest a substantial amount ofmoney upfront to get your site up and running. If you go completelyfrom scratch (that is, eschew the prepackaged storefront approach),you could spend $10,000 or more to create a unique and fully func-tioning website. That’s not small change, folks.

Pros and Cons of Running Your Own Website 209

• There may be ongoing fees. Let’s say you don’t have all thatmoney to invest upfront. Instead, you go with a prepackaged store-front or contract out for various prepackaged e-commerce services.This lets you get into the game without a big upfront investment, butinstead you have to pay ongoing monthly fees to use those services.Sometimes the fees are a flat monthly subscription, sometimes thefees are a commission on what you sell; in any instance, make sureyou don’t pay more in fees for your own site than you did in theeBay marketplace.

• You still have to pay for credit card sales. Here’s one expenseyou can’t get away from. Some of the most disliked fees on eBay arePayPal fees; some sellers just don’t get that you have to pay for theprivilege of accepting credit card orders. To that end, PayPal’s 2.9%fee isn’t that out of line. It’s likely you’ll pay at least 2% for third-party credit card processing. You may also be stuck (or prefer to go)with PayPal on your site—which means you still pay that dreaded2.9% fee per transaction. Get used to it.

• You won’t have any customers on day one. One of the primaryadvantages of selling on eBay or Amazon is that you get to tap intotheir huge established customer bases. Millions of potential cus-tomers come to those sites every day, looking to buy something;they’re great places for a seller to be. Unfortunately, when you createyour own online store, you don’t have those millions of visitors. Infact, you don’t have any visitors on day one. How do you get cus-tomers to your site? That leads us to our next disadvantage…

• You have to promote your own business. Smart sellers knowthat the exorbitant fees they pay to eBay are primarily not servicefees but rather advertising fees. That is, they pay to have eBay drivebusiness to their product listings. Well, on your own website, youhave to do all the promotion yourself. That means paying for pay-per-click or display ads, organizing your own email mailing lists,doing all your own online public relations, you name it. If you havea marketing degree, this is probably second nature to you; if not, youmay be in over your head. And whether you know what you’redoing or not, it costs time and money to conduct a full-fledgedonline marketing campaign. How much money do you have in yourmarketing and advertising budget?


• You’re not completely your own boss. So you got yourself outfrom under the yoke of eBay to be your own boss. Good for you!Except that you’re never totally your own boss. You’re still at themercy of your customers, of course; if you can’t make them happy,they’ll find a way to get back at you. (And you won’t get any newones, either.) Plus there are various restrictions you may have to fol-low if you subscribe to a storefront service; there may even be rulesthat your web hosting service enforces. And, of course, your onlinepayment service will tell you various things that you can and can’tdo when accepting payments. It’s not quite like being a slave toeBay, but it’s not that different, either. Meet the new boss, same asthe old boss.

Put simply, running your own website takes a lot more time, effort, andmoney than you probably expect—and you may not have the specificexpertise required. Are you really ready to run everything yourself? Somesellers are, some sellers aren’t. That’s a judgment you need to make.

Does an Online Store Make Sense forYour Business?

Pros and cons weighed, it’s time for the tough question: Does it makesense for you to abandon eBay and build your own online store? As withall other questions of this nature, it depends.

When you move from eBay to another online marketplace, such asAmazon, one of the key considerations is what type of products you sell.It’s a fact: Some items sell better on eBay, some sell better on Amazon.

But that’s less an issue when you’re creating a stand-alone web presence.You can sell virtually anything from your own website; it doesn’t matterwhether you’re selling $2 cables or $2,000 industrial supplies: If you candraw customers to your site, you can sell it. No one type of merchandise isany better or any worse in this regard.

To my mind, then, the key consideration isn’t the products you sell butrather your own experience and skill set. eBay makes selling easy; sellingon your own website is a lot harder. This is what a lot of eBay complain-ers fail to consider. Yes, you pay a lot of fees to eBay, and sometimes ran-kle under eBay’s many rules and regulations. But this is all in service to

Does an Online Store Make Sense for Your Business? 211

what is truly an easy selling environment. You don’t have to do a lotmore than put together an item listing in order to sell on eBay; practicallyanyone can do it, to some degree of success.

In fact, eBay makes selling so easy that it’s a relatively level playingfield—which constrains some truly skilled sellers. But it also makes it easyfor the little guys to compete with the big guys, even if they’re not particu-larly skilled or experienced. Just follow the rules, and you’ll do okay.

The same cannot be said for selling on your own website. If you’re not anexperienced seller or trained businessperson, you’ll quickly find yourselfover your head with your own website. There’s a lot involved; it’s runninga real business, complete with all the issues and headaches that entails.If you’re not prepared for that, you can fail spectacularly.

To run a successful online store, you need to treat it like a real business—because it is a real business. That means creating a business plan, arrang-ing proper financing, researching site design and product sales, closelymanaging the day-to-day operations, devising compelling marketingcampaigns and promotional activities, and providing exemplary cus-tomer service. You don’t have to worry about many or any of these thingswhen you’re selling on eBay, but it’s all there every day when you’re run-ning your own site.

So my advice is simple: If you have formal business training or previousbusiness experience, by all means consider creating your own e-commercewebsite. But if your business experience consists only of selling via eBayauctions, think twice before you go this route. It’s a big jump from eBayto your own website, and it may be better to take an intermediate step(such as moving to the Amazon marketplace) before you put all yourchips on your own online business. It’s a big risk and a big effort; makesure you know what you’re getting into before you’re in too deep.


Are You Ready to Go It Alone?Many successful sellers got their start by putting a few old items up for auction on

eBay. Those auctions went well, so they found more stuff to sell. And then even

more stuff. And then they started purchasing items specifically to sell on eBay, and

before they knew it, they were “professional” sellers.

But the thing is, making it big like this is more a matter of luck than of skill. Not

that anyone can be successful on eBay (there are lots of folks who aren’t), but eBay

does provide a marketplace that is incredibly kind to inexperienced sellers. Yes,

you’ve learned a lot over the years, but chances are you got started selling on eBay

before you really knew what you were doing. I call it “stumble-on success,” and

eBay is home to lots of it.

When you move away from eBay, out onto your own website, you have to be more

prepared. All that hand-holding and support you get from eBay? It’s not there any-

more. Inexperienced, unskilled sellers are most likely to fail when they launch their

own online stores; there is little or no stumble-on success to be had.

Are you ready to go it alone? Some sellers are. Some sellers think they are. Some

sellers most definitely are not. Yes, I provide a lot of advice in the following chap-

ters on how best to make a go of it, but if you’re not sufficiently skilled or experi-

enced in the ways of running a business, all the books in the world won’t help you.

Running a website is a great way for some sellers to expand their online presence.

It’s also a way for many sellers to go belly-up. It all boils down to whether you

know what you’re doing. Do you? ■

Does an Online Store Make Sense for Your Business? 213

Index

Aaccountants

Accounting Assistant,exporting data toQuickBooks, 60

online stores, 246-247

adCenter (MS), PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 285

AdCommerce softwareCreate Campaign

page, 98promoting fixed-price

auctions, 97-98

Add to Cart buttonCheckout with

Amazon, 263PayPal, 254

advertisingdisplay ads, 197, 286-287online classifieds

backpage.com, 114costs of, 117craigslist, 110-111development of, 107-109Google Base, 116-117Kijiji, 113-114LiveDeal, 115moving business to,

120-121Oodle, 111-112

pros and cons of, 117-120

shipping, 117transitioning from print to,

122-123PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 280

Amazon Marketplace, 196-197Google AdWords, 283-284importance of, 281keywords, 281-282marketing campaign creation,

285-286Microsoft adCenter, 285Yahoo! Small Business Search

Engine Marketing, 284-285Product Ads (Amazon

Marketplace), 196-197

AdWords (Google)Google Checkout integration, 260PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

283-284promoting fixed-price auctions,

99-101

<ALT> tags, 90, 275

Amazonaccounts

adding seller information in, 172creating, 172managing, 173-174signing in, 172

Checkout by Amazonaccount setup, 262-263Add to Cart button, 263

312 Amazon

Buy with 1-Click button, 263Continue Checkout button, 263pros/cons of, 261transaction fees, 262

Fulfillment by Amazon program, 183

storefront page, 176

Amazon Marketplace, 25, 153Amazon WebStore accounts,

156, 163eBay comparisons to, 188

Amazon business model, 189-190incorporating both

marketplaces, 191listing fees, 185-187shipping/handling, 187

Fulfillment by Amazon program, 164

Half.com comparisons to, 188Inventory Loader Templates,

178-180listings

closing fees, 160-162commission fees, 159-162competitive listings, 193-194condition of items, 171fees of, 185-187per-transaction fees, 159pricing collectible items, 158pricing information, 171receiving payments, 175selling your first item on, 169-173shipping/handling fees, 158-159shipping/handling information,

171, 175uploading multple listings,

178-180Your Marketplace Open Listings

page, 174Manage Your Orders page, 175More Buying Choices dialog,

154, 170

moving auctions to, 191Amazon business model, 189-190determining items to move,

188-189listing fees, 185-187shipping/handling, 187

multichannel sales, 301, 309channel conflict, 304effectiveness of, 305inventory management, 303-307marketing plans, 307-308pricing, 304pros/cons of, 302-304

Pro Merchant accounts, 156-157, 161

fees, 177upgrading to, 177uploading multiple listings to,

178-180Product Detail pages, 181-182Product Identification pages, 181promoting businesses on, 198-199

competitive listings, 193-194display ads, 197feedback, 194-195Product Ads, 196-197

pros/cons of, 166-167Review and Sell Your Product

page, 173Seller Central, 173-175Selling on Amazon accounts,

156-157, 162third-party sellers and, 154-155

Amazon WebStore, 230accounts (Amazon Marketplace),

156, 163creating stores, 231hosting plans, 231transaction fees, 231

auction sales, eBay’s movement awayfrom, 12

Change Store Color and Theme window (eBay Stores) 313

auctionsAmazon Marketplace, moving

to, 191Amazon business model, 189-190determining items to move,

188-189feedback, 194-195listing fees, 185-187shipping/handling, 187

craigslist auctionsmoving to, 139-141, 145promoting, 147-148

fees, eBay’s changes to, 12-14popularity of, 17

Bbackpage.com online classifieds

website, 114

Basic Stores (eBay Stores), 62

Best Match system (eBay), 15

Bid Confirmation page (eBay Stores), 59

BIN (Buy It Now) option (eBay), 44,51-52

fees of, 46fixed-price sales, 42

BizHosting pre-designed online storefront website, 236

blogseBay Stores widget, 95marketing strategies, 289-290

business plans, developing, 26-28, 215building online stores, 217choosing

payment services, 218webhosting services, 217, 223-227

determining what to sell, 216evaluating store performance, 221Financials section, 31-32

implementing plans, 33importance of research in, 34launching online stores, 220-222mission statements, 29Opportunity section, 30Organization and Operations

section, 31promotions, 219, 226rough drafts, 33Strategy section, 30-31Strengths and Weaknesses

section, 31transitioning from eBay

auctions, 19determining merchandise for sale,

20-21finding other marketplaces, 25-26inventory management, 23-25packing/shipping, 24receiving payment, 24setting financial goals, 21-22

Buy Now buttonGoogle Checkout, 257-259PayPal, 254

Buy with 1-Click button (Checkoutwith Amazon), 263

Buy.com, eBay’s deal with, 16

buyers, popularity of online auctions, 17

Ccash payments, craigslist listings, 143

categorizing craigslist listings, 131

Change Custom Listing Frame window (eBay Stores), 66

Change Item Display window (eBayStores), 66

Change Store Color and Theme window (eBay Stores), 65

314 Change Store Description window (eBay Stores)

Change Store Description window(eBay Stores), 66

channel conflict (multichannel sales), 304

chargebacks (PayPal), 251

Checkout by Amazonaccount setup, 262-263Add to Cart button, 263Buy with 1-Click button, 263Continue Checkout button, 263pros/cons of, 261transaction fees, 262

Checkout Confirmation page (eBayStores), 59

checkout systems (online stores), 205,225, 243-245

checks, craigslist payments, 137

Choose a Subscription Level page(eBay Stores), 64

classifieds (online), 25backpage.com, 114costs of, 117craigslist, 110-111development of, 107-109Google Base, 116-117Kijiji, 113-114LiveDeal, 115moving business to, 120-121Oodle, 111-112pros and cons of, 117-120shipping, 117transitioning from print to,

122-123

close rates, eBay auctions, 40

closing fees (Amazon Marketplace),160, 162

collectibles, pricing in AmazonMarketplace, 158

color themes, customizing in eBayStores, 65

commissionsAmazon Marketplace fees, 159-162Half.com, 48, 80

comparison shopping websitesexamples of, 276promoting via, 275

data file creation, 279examples of, 276submissions to, 278-279

complaints, handling, 246

Congratulations page (eBay Stores), 64

Continue Checkout button (Checkoutwith Amazon), 263

CoreCommerce pre-designed onlinestorefront website, 237

“cost plus” prices, fixed-price sales, 53

craigslist, 110-111accounts, creating, 130availability of, 126business model

accepted businesses in, 144commercial postings and, 144convenience, 144large inventories and, 144listing creation, 143-144local sales, 141-142pickups over shipping, 142-143receiving payments, 143safety, 144scams and, 144shipping and, 142-143

development of, 125-126eBay, cross-promoting items

with, 146Google and, 149history of, 125-126listings

buyer responses to, 136cash payments, 143categories of, 127-128

e-commerce websites 315

categorizing, 131category selection, 147checks and, 137creating, 131-133, 143-144credit cards and, 137deleting, 136durations of, 129editing, 135example of, 129HTML formatting, 133-134images in, 134-135, 145inappropriate listings, 138navigating, 126-129optimizing searches for, 148posting on multiple local sites, 138posting too frequently, 138preparations before creating, 130receiving payments, 137, 143reposting old listings, 148spam and, 138

moving auctions to, 139-141, 145no-show buyers and, 137promoting auctions

category selection, 147optimizing listing searches, 148reposting old listings, 148

seller opportunities in, 140-141

Create Campaign page (AdCommercesoftware), 98

Create Your Sale page (eBay Stores), 72

credit cardscraigslist payments, 137merchant accounts

credit card processor selection,265-266

pros/cons of, 264-265processor selection (merchant

accounts), 265-266

cross-promoting eBay items oncraigslist, 146

customers (online stores)managing in, 205, 225, 245-246reviews, 205

customizing eBay Stores, 64color themes, 65Display Settings page, 67-68displaying items, 66-68headers, 68navigation bars, 68navigation links, 66personalizing Store descriptions, 66promotions, 66Store Design page, 67themes, 68

Ddeleting craigslist listings, 136

descriptions, writing for eBay listings, 89

discounting merchandise, eBay Stores, 72

display ads, 286-287

display advertising, AmazonMarketplace, 197

Display Settings page (eBay Stores),67-68

domain nameschoosing, 299registering, online stores, 204

DSR (detailed seller ratings), eBay, 14

Ee-commerce websites, 26

accountants and, 246-247Amazon WebStore, 230-231building, 206

316 e-commerce websites

business plan development, 215building websites, 217choosing payment services, 218choosing webhosting service, 217,

223-227determining what to sell, 216evaluating website

performance, 221launching websites, 220-222promotions, 219, 226

checkout systems, 243-245components of, 203

checkout systems, 205, 225customer management, 205, 225customer reviews, 205domain name registration, 204gateway pages, 204home pages, 204inventory management, 205, 224navigating feature, 204, 218payment services, 205, 219, 225product pages, 205search feature, 204shopping cart feature, 205, 225site hosting, 204, 207, 217,

223-227costs of, 207customer management, 245-246domain names, choosing, 299eBay, moving from

business model changes, 297cost comparisons, 293-294determining items to move,

295-296effort comparisons, 295pricing items, 297-298promotions, 298website setup, 298

feedback, 245inventory management, 241-243

multichannel sales, 301, 309channel conflict, 304effectiveness of, 305inventory management, 303-307marketing plans, 307-308pricing, 304pros/cons of, 302-304

order verification, 245payment systems

Checkout by Amazon, 261-263Google Checkout, 255-260merchant accounts, 264-266PayPal, 249-255profit-making process, 266

pre-designed storefront websites,236-239

preparing to operate, 213promoting, 291

blogs and, 289-290comparison shopping websites,

275-279display ads, 286-287email strategies, 287-288marketing plan development,

267-268PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

280-286PR (public relations), 290SEO (search engine optimization),

269-275YouTube and, 288-289

pros/cons of, 208-210ProStores (eBay)

eBay integration with, 227-228example of, 229moving eBay auctions to, 228subscription levels, 228-229

shipping/handling, 245shopping cart feature, 243-245stand-alone service websites, 239successful business models, 211-212

eBay 317

Yahoo! Merchant Websitescreating, 235features of, 234-235inventory management, 235payment services, 234promotional services, 235subscription levels, 233-234

eBayAmazon Marketplace comparisons

to, 188Amazon business model, 189-190incorporating both

marketplaces, 191listing fees, 185-187shipping/handling, 187

Best Match system, 15BIN (Buy It Now) option, 44, 52

fees of, 46fixed-price sales, 42, 51

Buy.com’s deal with, 16changes to

auction sales, 12effects of, 16fee structure, 12-14feedback system, 15fixed-price sales, 12payment system, 14PowerSeller discounts, 13-14searches, 15

close rates, 40craigslist, cross-promoting items

with, 146development of, 8-9

abandonment of small sellers, 10-11

effects of, 16shifts to professional sellers, 10-11

DSR (detailed seller ratings), 14eBay Store listings, 61evolution of, 8-10feedback system, changes to, 15

feeschanges to, 12-14FVF (final value fees), 13PowerSeller discounts, 13-14

fixed-price sales, 12, 25, 37adding images to listings, 89adding packing/shipping

costs to, 53BIN (Buy It Now) option, 42, 51“cost plus” pricing, 53creating, 50-51cross-promoting, 91-92customer demand, 41determining profits for, 53duration of, 40, 43, 51eBay Stores, 43email notifications, 54fee comparison table, 39FVF (final value fees), 38-39Half.com, 43, 49insertion fees, 38, 43, 51linking to, 90optimizing searches, 88-89over auction sales, 12promoting on, 87-90pros and cons of, 54-55receiving payments, 54searching for, 43setting prices, 53writing listings for, 89

history of, 8-10insertion fees, 38multichannel sales, 301, 309

channel conflict, 304effectiveness of, 305inventory management, 303-307marketing plans, 307-308pricing, 304pros/cons of, 302-304

318 eBay

online stores, moving business tobusiness model changes, 297cost comparisons, 293-294determining items to move,


payments, changes to, 14previous business models, 8-10ProStores


QuickBooks, exporting data to, 60searches

changes in, 15keyword searches, 88optimizing, 88-89

small sellers, abandonment of, 10-11

transitioning from, 19determining merchandise for sale,

20-21finding other marketplaces, 25-26inventory management, 23, 25packing/shipping, 24pros and cons of, 54-55receiving payments, 24setting financial goals, 21-22

eBay Selling Manager, 60, 71

eBay Stores, 57adding items to, 70-71Basic Stores, 62benefits of, 59Bid Confirmation page, 59Change Custom Listing Frame

window, 66Change Item Display window, 66Change Store Color and Theme

window, 65

Change Store Description window, 66

Checkout Confirmation page, 59Choose a Subscription Level

page, 64Congratulations page, 64Create Your Sale page, 72customizing, 64

color themes, 65Display Settings page, 67-68displaying items, 66-68headers, 68navigation bars, 68navigation links, 66personalizing Store descriptions, 66promotions, 66Store Design page, 67themes, 68

discounting merchandise in, 72Display Settings page, 67-68eBay Selling Manager

subscriptions, 60fixed-price sales, 43

cross-promoting, 91-92promoting, 90-101

FVF (final value fees), 63headers, customizing, 68home page of, 57insertion fees, 46-47, 60, 63listings, creating, 70-71managing, 69

adding items, 70creating listings, 70-71Markdown Manager, 72Sales Reports, 74Selling Manager, 71Traffic Reports, 73

Markdown Manager, 72My eBay Summary page, cross-

promoting auctions, 92navigation bars, customizing, 68opening, 64, 75Premium Stores, 62

fixed-price sales 319

promoting sales in, 61Promotion Boxes section, 66promotional services, 60Quick Store Setup page, 64QuickBooks and, 60Review & Submit page, 64sale prices in, 72Sales Report Plus reports, 59Sales Reports, 74Select Additional Products page, 64Selling Manager, 60, 71Store Design page, 67subscription levels, 61-64Traffic Reports, 59, 73website/blog widgets, 95

editing craigslist listings, 135

emailbuyer response emails, craigslist

listings, 136fixed-price sales, payment

notifications, 54mailing lists, promoting auctions,

92-94marketing strategies, 287-288

Etsy marketplace website, 168

evaluating online store performance, 221

expenses, business plan development, 22

Ffeedback

Amazon Marketplace auctions,194-195

eBay’s feedback system, changes to, 15

online stores, 245

Feedburner website, RSS feeds as auction promotional tool, 96

feesBIN (Buy It Now) option (eBay), 46Checkout by Amazon transaction

fees, 262eBay fees

changes to, 12-14FVF (final value fees), 13PowerSeller discounts, 13-14

eBay StoresFVF (final value fees), 63insertion fees, 46-47, 60, 63

Google Checkout transaction fees, 256

Half.com, 48PayPal transaction fees, 252-253

financial goals, business plan development, 21-22

Financials section (business plans),31-32

fixed-price sales, 37BIN (Buy It Now) option, 42, 51“cost plus” pricing, 53creating, 50-51customer demand, 41duration of, 40, 43, 51eBay, 12, 25

adding images to listings, 89linking to listings, 90optimizing searches, 88-89promoting on, 87-90writing listings for, 89

eBay Stores, 43cross-promoting, 91-92promoting on, 90-101

email notifications, 54fee comparison table, 39FVF (final value fees), 38-39Half.com, 43, 49, 102insertion fees, 38, 43, 51packing/shipping costs, adding

to, 53

320 fixed-price sales

payments, receiving, 54profits, determining, 53promoting, 87

AdCommerce software, 97-98adding images to, 89cross-promotions, 91-92eBay searches, 88eBay Stores widget, 95email mailing lists, 92-94exporting listings to search

engines, 96-97exporting listings to shopping

websites, 96-97Google AdWords, 99-101keyword searches, 88linking to eBay Stores, 94linking to listings, 90newsletters, 94PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

97-98real world promotions, 101RSS feeds, 95-96writing descriptions, 89

pros and cons of, 54-55searching for, 43setting prices, 53

formatting craigslist listings, HTML,133-134

Fullfillment by Amazon program(Amazon Marketplace), 164, 183

FVF (final value fees)eBay fees, 13eBay Stores, 63fixed-price sales, 38-39

Ggateway pages, online stores, 204

Google, craigslist and, 149

Google AdWordsGoogle Checkout integration, 260PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

283-284promoting fixed-price auctions,

99-101

Google Base online classifieds website,116-117

Google Checkoutaccount setup, 257API (application programming

interface), 257-258Buy Now button, 257-259Google AdWords integration, 260online payment services, 257-258payment collection, 259-260pros/cons of, 255-256Shopping Cart feature, 257-258transaction fees, 256website integration, 258withdrawing funds from, 260

HHalf.com, 47

Amazon Marketplace comparisonsto, 188

categories of, 77commissions in, 48, 80fixed-price sales, 43, 49, 102listings

creating in, 79, 81-82fees, 48

More Info link, 79My Account page, 85pricing merchandise in, 83pros and cons of, 86purchasing multiple items from, 80searches in, 79Sell Your Item page, 81-82sellers, payments to, 85shipping charges, 84-85

listings 321

headers (eBay Stores), customizing, 68

home pageseBay Stores, 57online stores, 204

Homestead pre-designed online store-front website, 237

hosting websitesfeatures to look for, 224-226online stores, 204, 207, 217,

223-227price comparisons, 226-227

HTML, craigslist listings, 133-134

Iimages

<ALT> tags, 90craigslist listings, 134-135, 145eBay listings, adding to, 89SEO (search engine

optimization), 274

inbound links, SEO (search engineoptimization), 271-272

insertion feeseBay, 38eBay Stores, 46-47, 60, 63fixed-price auctions, 43, 51

InstantEcom pre-designed online storefront website, 237

inventorieslarge inventories, craigslist

and, 144managing

Amazon Marketplace, 173-174business plan development, 23-25online stores, 205, 224, 241-243Yahoo! Merchant Websites, 235

multichannel sales, 303-307

Inventory Loader Templates (AmazonMarketplace), 178-180

item listings. See listings

J–Kkeywords

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,281-282

searcheseBay listings, 88SEO (search engine optimization),

269-270

Kijiji online classifieds website, 113-114

Llarge inventories, craigslist and, 144

launching online stores, 220, 222

linkseBay listings, 90fixed-price sales in eBay Stores, 94inbound links, SEO (search engine

optimization), 271-272

listingsAmazon Marketplace

closing fees, 160-162commission fees, 159-162competitive listings, 193-194condition of items, 171fees in, 185-187per-transaction fees, 159pricing collectible items, 158pricing information, 171receiving payments, 175selling your first item on, 169-173shipping/handling fees, 158-159shipping/handling information,

171, 175uploading multiple listings,

178-180Your Marketplace Open Listings

page, 174

322 listings

craigslist listingsbuyer responses to, 136cash payments, 143categorizing, 127-128, 131category selection, 147checks and, 137creating, 131-133, 143-144credit cards and, 137deleting, 136durations of, 129editing, 135example of, 129HTML formatting, 133-134images, 134-135, 145inappropriate listings, 138navigating, 126-129optimizing searches for, 148posting on multiple local sites, 138posting too frequently, 138preparations before creating, 130receiving payments, 137, 143reposting, 148spam and, 138

cross-promoting, 91-92descriptions, writing for eBay, 89eBay listings, linking to, 90eBay Stores, creating in, 70-71fees, eBay’s changes to, 12-14Half.com, creating in, 79-82images, adding, 89online stores, managing in, 205optimizing searches, eBay, 88-89

Live Small Business (MS Office), pre-designed online storefronts, 237

LiveDeal online classifieds website, 115

local sales, craigslist and, 141-142

Mmailing lists (email), promoting

auctions, 92-94

Manage Your Orders page (AmazonMarketplace), 175

managingeBay Stores, 69

adding items, 70creating listings, 70-71Markdown Manager, 72Sales Reports, 74Selling Manager, 71Traffic Reports, 73

inventories (online stores), 241-243

Markdown Manager, eBay Stores, 72

market analysis/dynamics, 30

marketing, 291Amazon Marketplace businesses,

198-199competitive listings, 193-194display ads, 197feedback, 194-195Product Ads, 196-197

blogs and, 289-290business plan development,

219, 226comparison shopping websites, 275


craigslist auctionscategory selection, 147optimizing listing searches, 148reposting old listings, 148

display ads, 286-287eBay Stores, 61email strategies, 287-288

More Buying Choices dialog (Amazon Marketplace) 323

fixed-price auctions, 103AdCommerce software, 97-98cross-promoting, 91-92eBay, 87-90eBay Stores, 90, 92-101email mailing lists, 92-94exporting to search engines, 96-97exporting to shopping websites,

96-97Google AdWords, 99-101Half.com, 102linking to eBay Stores, 94newsletters, 94PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

97-98real world promotions, 101RSS feeds, 95-96

multichannel sales, 307-308online classifieds

backpage.com, 114costs of, 117craigslist, 110-111development of, 107-109Google Base, 116-117Kijiji, 113-114LiveDeal, 115moving business to, 120-121Oodle, 111-112pros and cons of, 117-120shipping, 117transitioning from print to,

122-123online stores, 298plan development, 267-268PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 280

Google AdWords, 283-284importance of, 281keywords, 281-282marketing campaign creation,

285-286

Microsoft adCenter, 285Yahoo! Small Business Search

Engine Marketing, 284-285PR (public relations), 290SEO (search engine optimization)

<ALT> tags, 275inbound link solicitation, 271-272keyword searches, 269-270<META> tags, 271text versus images in, 274<TITLE> tags, 271website submissions to search

engines, 272-274website updates, 275

Yahoo! Merchant Websites, 235YouTube and, 288-289

merchandiseinventory management, business

plan development, 23-25non-product costs, determining, 23selling

determining costs of, 23determining what to sell, 20-21specializing in a specific category,

20-21

merchant accountscredit card processor selection,

265-266pros/cons of, 264-265

<META> tags, SEO (search engineoptimization), 271

Microsoft adCenter, PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 285

mission statements (business plans), 29

money, financial goals (business plandevelopment), 21-22

More Buying Choices dialog (AmazonMarketplace), 154, 170

324 More Info link (Half.com)

More Info link (Half.com), 79

moving auctions toAmazon Marketplace, 191

Amazon business model, 189-190determining items to move,

188-189listing fees, 185-187shipping/handling, 187

craigslist, 139-141, 145ProStores (eBay), 228

multichannel sales, 301channel conflict, 304effectiveness of, 305inventory management, 303-304pricing, 304pros/cons of, 302-304

multiple item purchases, Half.com, 80

multiple listings, uploading toAmazon Marketplace, 178-180

My Account page (Half.com), 85

My eBay Summary page (eBayStores), cross-promoting auctions, 92

Nnavigation bars (eBay Stores),

customizing, 68

navigation feature (online stores),204, 218

navigation links (eBay Stores), 66

Network Solutions website, pre-designed online storefronts, 238

newsletters, promoting auctions via, 94

no show buyers, craigslist and, 137

non-product costs, determining, 23

OOffice Live Small Business (MS),

pre-designed online storefronts, 237

Omidyar, Pierre, eBay development, 8

online classifieds, 25backpage.com, 114costs of, 117craigslist, 110-111development of, 107-109Google Base, 116-117Kijiji, 113-114LiveDeal, 115moving business to, 120-121Oodle, 111-112pros and cons of, 117-120shipping, 117transitioning from print to,

122-123

online storesaccountants and, 246-247Amazon WebStore, 230-231building, 206business plan development, 215

building stores, 217choosing payment services, 218choosing webhosting service, 217,

223-227determining what to sell, 216evaluating store performance, 221launching stores, 220-222promotions, 219, 226

checkout systems, 243-245components of, 203

checkout systems, 205, 225customer management, 205, 225customer reviews, 205domain name registration, 204gateway pages, 204

Organization and Operations section (business plans) 325

home pages, 204inventory management, 205, 224listing management, 205navigation feature, 204, 218payment services, 205, 219, 225product pages, 205search feature, 204shopping cart feature, 205, 225site hosting, 204, 207, 217,

223-227costs of, 207customer management, 245-246domain names, choosing, 299eBay, moving from

business model changes, 297cost comparisons, 293-294determining items to move,


feedback, 245inventory management, 241-243listings, managing, 205multichannel sales, 301, 309

channel conflict, 304effectiveness of, 305inventory management, 303-307marketing plans, 307-308pricing, 304pros/cons of, 302-304

order verification, 245payment systems

Checkout by Amazon, 261-263Google Checkout, 255-260merchant accounts, 264-266PayPal, 249-255profit-making process, 266

pre-designed storefront websites,236-239

preparing to operate, 213promoting, 291

blog marketing strategies, 289-290comparison shopping websites,

275-279display ads, 286-287email marketing strategies,

287-288marketing plan development,

267-268PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

280-286PR (public relations), 290SEO (search engine optimization),

269-275YouTube marketing strategies,

288-289pros/cons of, 208-210ProStores (eBay)


shipping/handling, 245shopping cart feature, 243-245stand-alone service websites, 239successful business models, 211-212Yahoo! Merchant Websites

creating, 235features of, 234-235inventory management, 235payment services, 234promotional services, 235subscription levels, 233-234

Oodle online classifieds website, 111-112

Opportunity section (business plans), 30

order verification (online stores), 245

Organization and Operations section(business plans), 31

326 packing/shipping

Ppacking/shipping

business plan development, 24fixed-price sales, figuring costs

in, 53

payment servicesPayPal, 254Yahoo! Merchant Websites, 234

payment systemsCheckout by Amazon

account setup, 262-263Add to Cart button, 263Buy with 1-Click button, 263Continue Checkout button, 263pros/cons of, 261transaction fees, 262

Google Checkoutaccount setup, 257API (application programming

interface), 257-258Buy Now button, 257-259Google AdWords integration, 260online payment services, 257-258payment collection, 259-260pros/cons of, 255-256Shopping Cart feature, 257-258transaction fees, 256website integrating, 258withdrawing funds from, 260

merchant accountscredit card processor selection,

265-266pros/cons of, 264-265

PayPal, 249account setup, 251-252chargebacks, 251payment collection, 254-255pros/cons, 250-251transaction fees, 252-253

website integration, 253-254Website Payments Pro plan,

251-254Website Payments Standard plan,

251-254profit-making process, 266

paymentsAmazon Marketplace payments,

receiving, 175craigslist listing payments,

receiving, 137, 143eBay’s changes to, 14fixed-price sales, receiving for, 54Half.com sellers, 85payment services (online stores),

205, 219, 225receiving, business plan

development, 24

PayPal, 249account setup, 251-252Add to Cart button, 254Buy Now button, 254chargebacks, 251payment collection, 254-255pros/cons of, 250-251QuickBooks, exporting data to, 60transaction fees, 252-253website integration, 253-254Website Payments Pro plan,

251-254Website Payments Standard plan,

251-254Yahoo! Merchant Websites, 234

per-transaction fees (AmazonMarketplace), 159

performance (online stores), evaluating, 221

personal checks, craigslist payments, 137

promoting 327

planning business models, 26-28Financials section, 31-32implementing plans, 33importance of research in, 34mission statements, 29Opportunity section, 30Organization and Operations

section, 31rough drafts, 33Strategy section, 30-31Strengths and Weaknesses

section, 31transitioning from eBay

auctions, 19determining merchandise for sale,

20-21finding other marketplaces, 25-26inventory management, 23-25packing/shipping, 24receiving payments, 24setting financial goals, 21-22

PowerSellers, eBay’s discounts for, 13-14

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 97-98, 280

Amazon Marketplace, 196-197Google AdWords, 283-284importance of, 281keywords, 281-282marketing campaign creation,


Engine Marketing, 284-285

PR (public relations), marketingstrategies, 290

pre-designed online storefrontwebsites, 236-239

Premium Stores (eBay Stores), 62

PrestoStore pre-designed online storefront website, 238

pricing merchandiseAmazon Marketplace

collectibles, 158entering listing information, 171

Half.com, 83multichannel sales, 304online stores, 297-298

Pro Merchant accounts (AmazonMarketplace), 156-157, 161

fees, 177multiple listings, uploading to,

178-180upgrading to, 177

Product Ads (Amazon Marketplace),196-197

Product Detail pages (AmazonMarketplace), 181-182

Product Identification pages (AmazonMarketplace), 181

product pages (online stores), 205

professional sellers, eBay’s shift to, 10-11

profitsbusiness plan development, 22fixed-price sales, determining

for, 53

promoting, 291Amazon Marketplace businesses,

198-199competitive listings, 193-194display ads, 197feedback, 194-195Product Ads, 196-197

blogs and, 289-290business plan development,

219, 226

328 promoting

comparison shopping websites, 275data file creation, 279examples of, 276submissions to, 278-279

craigslist auctionscategory selection, 147optimizing listing searches, 148reposting old listings, 148

display ads, 286-287eBay Stores, 61email strategies, 287-288fixed-price auctions, 103

AdCommerce software, 97-98cross-promoting, 91-92eBay, 87-90eBay Stores, 90, 92-101email mailing lists, 92-94exporting to search engines, 96-97exporting to shopping websites,

96-97Google AdWords, 99-101Half.com, 102linking to eBay Stores, 94newsletters, 94PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

97-98real world promotions, 101RSS feeds, 95-96

multichannel sales, 307-308online classifieds

backpage.com, 114costs of, 117craigslist, 110-111development of, 107-109Google Base, 116-117Kijiji, 113-114LiveDeal, 115moving business to, 120-121Oodle, 111-112pros and cons of, 117-120

shipping, 117transitioning from print to,

122-123online stores, 298plan development, 267-268PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 280







Promotion Boxes section (eBay Stores), 66

promotional services, eBay Stores, 60

promotions, 291blogs and, 289-290business plan development,

219, 226comparison shopping websites, 275


display ads, 286-287eBay Stores, customizing in, 66

search feature (online stores) 329

email strategies, 287-288multichannel sales, 307-308online stores, 298plan development, 267-268PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, 280







ProStores (eBay)eBay integration with, 227-228example of, 229moving eBay auctions to, 228subscription levels, 228-229

Q–RQuick Store Setup page (eBay

Stores), 64

QuickBooks, eBay Stores and, 60

real world promotions, 101

registering websites, online stores, 204

reposting craigslist listings, 148

research, importance in business plandevelopment, 34

Review & Submit page (eBay Stores), 64

Review and Sell Your Product page(Amazon Marketplace), 173

reviews, customer reviews (onlinestores), 205

RSS feeds, fixed-price auction promotions, 95-96

Ssale prices, eBay Stores, 72

Sales Report Plus reports (eBay Stores), 59

Sales Reports (eBay Stores), 74

scams, craigslist and, 144

search enginesfixed-price auctions, exporting to,

96-97SEO (search engine

optimization), 269inbound link solicitation, 271-272keyword searches, 269-270<META> tags, 271text versus images in, 274<TITLE> tags, 271website submissions to search


website submissions to, 272-274Yahoo! Small Business Search

Engine Marketing, 284-285

search feature (online stores), 204

330 searches

searchesBest Match system (eBay), 15craigslist auctions

Google and, 149optimizing searchability, 148

eBay listingschanges to, 15keyword searches, 88optimizing, 88-89

fixed-price sales, 43Google searches, craigslist listings

and, 149keyword searches, eBay listings, 88

Select Additional Products page (eBayStores), 64

Sell Your Item page (Half.com), 81-82

Sell Yours Here button (AmazonMarketplace), 170

Seller Central (Amazon Marketplace),173-175

sellersAmazon

adding account information in, 172

managing accounts, 173-174storefront page, 176

Amazon MarketplaceAmazon WebStore accounts,

156, 163feedback, 194-195Pro Merchant accounts,

156-157, 161Pro Merchant program, 177-180Selling on Amazon accounts,

156-157, 162third-party sellers, 154-155

business plan development, 215building online stores, 217choosing payment services, 218determining what to sell, 216

evaluating store performance, 221launching online stores, 220-222promotions, 219, 226

DSR (detailed seller ratings), eBay, 14

Half.com payments to, 85professional sellers, eBay’s shift to,

10-11small sellers, eBay’s abandonment

of, 10-11

Selling Manager (eBay Stores), 71

Selling on Amazon accounts (AmazonMarketplace), 156-157, 162

shipping/handlingAmazon Marketplace, 171,

175, 187fees for, 158-159Fullfillment by Amazon

program, 164business plan development, 24craigslist items, 142-143fixed-price sales, figuring costs

in, 53Half.com, charges in, 84-85online classifieds, 117online stores, 245

Shopify pre-designed online storefrontwebsite, 238

Shopping Cart featureGoogle Checkout, 257-258online stores, 205, 225, 243-245

shopping websites, exporting fixed-price auctions to, 96-97

site hosting, online stores, 204, 207,217, 223-227

SKU (stock keeping units), 40

small sellers, eBay’s abandonment of,10-11

spam, craigslist listings, 138

websites 331

Store Design page (eBay Stores), 67

storefront page (Amazon), 176

Strategy section (business plans), 30-31

Strengths and Weaknesses section(business plans), 31

subscription levels (eBay Stores), 61-64

Ttext, SEO (search engine

optimization), 274

themes (eBay Stores), customizing in, 68

third-party sellers, AmazonMarketplace and, 154-155

<TITLE> tags, SEO (search engine optimization), 271

Traffic Reports (eBay Stores), 59, 73

transaction feesCheckout by Amazon, 262Google Checkout, 256PayPal, 252-253

transitioning from eBay auctionsbusiness plan development, 19,

26-28determining merchandise for sale,

20-21Financials section, 31-32finding other marketplaces, 25-26implementing plans, 33importance of research in, 34inventory management, 23, 25mission statements, 29Opportunity section, 30Organization and Operations

section, 31packing/shipping, 24receiving payments, 24

rough drafts, 33setting financial goals, 21-22Strategy section, 30-31Strengths and Weaknesses

section, 31pros and cons of, 54-55

U–Vupdating websites, SEO (search engine

optimization), 275

upgrades, Pro Merchant program(Amazon Marketplace), 177

USPS (U.S. Postal Service), Half.comshipping charges, 84-85

Vendio pre-designed online storefrontwebsite, 238

video marketing, 288-289

View Your Orders link (Seller Central), 175

Volusion pre-designed onlinestorefront website, 238

WWebsite Payments Pro plan (PayPal),

251-254

Website Payments Standard plan(PayPal), 251-254

websitescomparison shopping websites,

promoting via, 275-279domain name registration, online

stores, 204e-commerce websites

accountants and, 246-247Amazon WebStore, 230-231blog marketing strategies, 289-290

332 websites

building, 206business plan development,

215-227Checkout by Amazon payments,

261-263checkout systems, 205, 225,

243-245comparison shopping website sub-

missions to, 275-279components of, 203-207, 224-225costs of, 207customer management, 205, 225,

245-246customer reviews, 205display ads, 286-287domain names and, 204, 299eBay’s move to, 293-298email marketing strategies,

287-288feedback, 245gateway pages, 204Google Checkout payments,

255-260home pages, 204inventory management, 205, 224,

241-243marketing plan development,

267-268merchant account payments,

264-266multichannel sales, 301-309navigation feature, 204, 218order verification, 245payment services, 205, 219, 225payment systems, 249-266PayPal payments, 249-255PPC (pay-per-click) advertising,

280-286PR (public relations), 290pre-designed storefront websites,

236-239

preparing to operate, 213product pages, 205promoting, 267-291pros/cons of, 208-210ProStores (eBay), 227-229search feature, 204SEO (search engine optimization),

269-275shipping/handling, 245shopping cart feature, 205, 225,

243-245site hosting, 204, 207, 217,

223-227stand-alone service websites, 239successful business models,

211-212Yahoo! Merchant Websites,

233-235YouTube marketing strategies,

288-289eBay Stores widget, 95gateway pages, online stores, 204Google Checkout integration, 258home pages, online stores, 204hosting

features to look for, 224-226online stores, 204, 207, 217,

223-227price comparisons, 226-227

inbound links, SEO (search engineoptimization), 271-272

navigation feature, online stores,204, 218

online classifiedsbackpage.com, 114craigslist, 110-111Google Base, 116-117Kijiji, 113-114LiveDeal, 115Oodle, 111-112

PayPal integration, 253-254

YouTube marketing strategies 333

search featureonline stores, 204submitting to, 272-274

shopping websites, exporting listings to, 96-97

updates, SEO (search engine optimization), 275

WebStore program (AmazonMarketplace), 156, 163

widgets, eBay Stores, 95

Wigix marketplace website, 168

withdrawing funds from GoogleCheckout, 260

X–ZYahoo! Merchant Websites

creating, 235features of, 234-235inventory management, 235payment services, 234promotional services, 235subscription levels, 233-234

Yahoo! Small Business Search EngineMarketing, PPC (pay-per-click)advertising, 284-285

Your Marketplace Open Listings page(Amazon Marketplace), 174

YouTube marketing strategies, 288-289

Documents

Selling Online 2.0: Migrating from eBay