The Wholesale Forums

[homeless]

Hi guys, I'm sorry if this post was posted before. But with an independent business owner, especially for starter (like me), which way would be a more promising place, ebay or a website that I build on my own ?
A lot of people have succeeded on both ebay and thier own websites make me a little confuse to choose where to start. I actually was thinking about ebay, there's no monthly fee, no setup fee and there's no need to promote website or products. But with ebay, there's a serious competition with prices. So ... please anyone advice me on this ?

[Saajan]

Well I would definitely start off with eBay and build up a good reputation and high amount of feedback. Once customers get to know you a bit more, you could open up a site and a eBay Shop. Within your eBay shop you could promote your website.

[MustHaveMobiles]

Ebay simply cannot be matched when you are starting out because of the huge marketplace that it provides, fees are good (lots will moan that they are overpriced but when you consider what you are getting then they are really quite good).

AS SOON as you launch on Ebay then develop your site, even if its a simple one page info site to start with, this is for a number of reasons:

1. You can start getting the search engines to it and start the climb out of teh sandbox and into the SERP's.

2. You can, within Ebay's TOS, link to your site to get customers aware that the site will be developing (read Ebay Linking to see the legal Ebay way)

3. Make the page good enough and it can provide that differentiation between you and your competition and create customer confidence.

As time passes and with a carefully structured traffic plan these customers can be diverted and moved to your own site before even hitting Ebay which is the perfect way to up sell and lock customers to your product/service

[NorthyImports]

HERE Is a good site to start learning how to make a website.

[PT]

You should definitely be selling on eBay to some degree. Do the maths and you'll see the fees are far from expensive. Try getting the same volume of sales from your own store, the time and money involved would be phenomenal.

Due to the amount of buyers lurking eBay, you should be able to get a nice flow of sales. Which, if you keep reinvesting your profits, will give you a growing buying power and a larger catalogue of products. This extra capital could go towards building and promoting your own store.

You should also get your site up ASAP, it really doesn't cost much at all and can add allot to your companies reputation. Just adding your email to your listings (sales@yourdomain.com) can provide traffic, most will figure out it must be attached to a website of some kind. Set up an "About Me" page, your allowed to have your web address here, so make the most of it. Include a flier or product list with any package you send out, make your buyers aware of what else you can offer. As ultimately, if you provide a good service your customers will return. Just simple things like the above will gain extra custom outside of eBay.

Ebay is a blessing for any new business, take advantage of it.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by NorthyImports

HERE Is a good site to start learning how to make a website.

There is no need to build a site from scratch. There are so many free shopping carts available and someone can be literally selling items the same day they get their cart. Why re-invent the wheel?

homeless, AKA as "travelin' man ain't got no zip code", you can definitely do both. For under 10 bucks you can get a domain name and for under 5 bucks a month you can have your very own online store, on your very own host, where you control it all. Add a free PayPal account and for a grand total of $ 60 per year or so you can have your own online store.

Sell both ways. eBay if you want, and through your store.
.

[NorthyImports]

That was mainly to give him tips on HTML and CSS

[amguncrazy]

@pete or anyone else

could you recommend any free ones with pay pal ??

thanks in adavance

[homeless]

thanks a lot guys, I got an ebay account and started to sell my own stuff ... got some old stuff to sell ... I think I am going the right way. Thanks guys.
By the way, I am still looking for a nice niche to start with. Anybody has an idea which should be the products to sell ? I am thinking about men clothing. Please give me some advice.

[PT]

Originally Posted by amguncrazy

could you recommend any free ones with pay pal ??

CubeCart, osCommerce, ZenCart, etc. etc. There are many, many free carts out there, most of which have PayPal as a gateway. It just comes down to personal preference, have a play around with a few of them and see which suits you best.