# Online stores and selling opportunities



## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

I thought we should have a list of places online where the small-business owner can market their wares. Here are the details of a few that I've used and/or researched and the pros and cons of each:

www.ebay.com It's the largest online market place, but does have its downsides. You must research all costs before listing an item or else you may be losing money instead of making it. Stores are available starting at $15.95 per month and offer lower insertions fees but higher final value fees. Ebay will soon take away the ability for the buyer to pay by check or money order which will be a hindrance to those who prefer not to have a paypal or similar account. Ebay does offer a free bulk listing tool called Turbo Lister in which you can create and upload several auctions at once.

www.etsy.com is a marketplace for handmade and vintage items and supplies. Currently there is a .20 insertion fee to list an item for up to four months and a final value fee of 3.5%. You can set up a shop for free.

www.rubylane.com is an online antique store and auction site for the serious antique seller. There is a one-time $75 shop set-up fee, a monthly advertising fee of $20 and listing fees of .30 per item with a minimum charge of $15. There is a maintenance fee of .30 per item in the following months. Tiered pricing is offered for sellers with more than 150 listings and there is no final value or commision fee on items sold.

I'm sure there are several others out there, so feel free to share and offer insight. Remember we all have to work together to make this forum a success!

Maggie


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

I think sales venues, as you've mentioned Maggie, are absolutely invaluable, particularly when one is first getting started. 
Here's another: http://www.usfreeads.com
An example of a store there: http://www.usfreeads.com/catalogs/363692

But I think if you have a hope of growing, you _really_ need to have your own free-standing website. I use mine in conjunction with eBay. It not only expands my net presence, it also gives a legitimacy to my business.


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## Mel- (Mar 30, 2004)

there is also:

http://www.tias.com (antiques/vintage)
http://delcampe.com (postcards, ephemera, vintage)


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

I have my store through yahoo stores . it runs 40.00 per month and is a pretty good setup. the folks on the phone and email end are good at answering questions. Have had the store for two years now. sis


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

I have had my own website since 2002, though I have sold on http://www.amazon.com as well as http://www.ebay.com and http://www.craigslist.com and my local cheap cycle group. I also place ads in my local pennysaver online and many people now read it online also. Many of the forums have barter type boards where you can place ads for your products. Blogs are great for marketing too.....but you have to write on them regular. I get orders from people who came to me from my four blogs all the time. http://www.myspace.com is another great place as you can send bulletins to all your friends there every day if you want. 

Nothing though, beats having your own site. So much easier and less stressful. It just takes times and patience. You are not going to make a living overnight....but if you work it and stick with it.....it will pay off. I use all open souce software for my site from http://www.oscommerce.com/ and my hosting fee is $20. monthly and then my Paypal fee is $30. The expensive part for me is my internet hook ups as I have 2 telephone lines and 2 internet hook ups. But it is still cheaper than owning a physical store and cheaper than going to a job somewhere. 

katlupe


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## shepmom (May 29, 2003)

I have a Etsy store and a no listing fee or purchase fees at ecrater.

www.ecrater.com

I think my url there is
http://DianasCreationStation2.ecrater.com

smile


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

For the members here who are trying to make their home businesses successful a great tool is the RSS feeds and Google Base feeds. Our products go up on Google Base and RSS Feeds every night at midnight. It is a wonderful way to get your products out there on Google. You don't have to be an online store. You can list your products for sale one at a time. Like if you sell fiber, soap, books, quilts, etc. you can list each one for sale and it will appear on Google. If you have lots of products, then you do a data feed (which is what we do here) and they all go up together. You can also have your customers pay through Google Check Out.

From Google Base:


> Google Base is a free Google service that helps you publish virtually any kind of information -- be it your latest riveting screenplay or a listing for your slightly dented 1989 Honda Accord -- on Google Base or other Google properties.


Many times our products are in the cluster at the top and sometimes it is something I just put on. No waiting for weeks to get to the first page of Google! 

http://www.google.com/base/

Here is a search on Google of other feeds. They are out there and you should learn about them if you are not familar with them. They are essential in getting the business because your competition is using them. 
[ame="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=data+feeds&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq="]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=data+feeds&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=[/ame]

Check it out! Free marketing! 

If you have any questions just ask.

katlupe


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## Matt B (May 15, 2008)

Anyone who would like to have a website for their store send me a PM. I'm just starting to get into building websites and would love to do some for home based businesses and homesteaders. I'll admit I've not got that much experience at it, but I have built a few and have several in the works. I could also host them for you as well. This would be a way for me to make a couple extra bucks on the side so I'd say I could be fairly cheap as well (I've not done any that I've charged for. Only personal and work ones that I've done as part of my daily duties). 

..if interested just send me a PM and I'll send you the links to the websites I've done so far.


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

Matt B said:


> Anyone who would like to have a website for their store send me a PM. I'm just starting to get into building websites and would love to do some for home based businesses and homesteaders. I'll admit I've not got that much experience at it, but I have built a few and have several in the works. I could also host them for you as well. This would be a way for me to make a couple extra bucks on the side so I'd say I could be fairly cheap as well (I've not done any that I've charged for. Only personal and work ones that I've done as part of my daily duties).
> 
> ..if interested just send me a PM and I'll send you the links to the websites I've done so far.


Awww, why don't you post the links to them so we can all see them? Get your work seen by everyone, then maybe someone who needs one will take a chance on sending you that PM? 

katlupe


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## Rocktown Gal (Feb 19, 2008)

You can get a store at http://wahmshoppes.com/ for $7.00 a month.


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## Matt B (May 15, 2008)

katlupe said:


> Awww, why don't you post the links to them so we can all see them? Get your work seen by everyone, then maybe someone who needs one will take a chance on sending you that PM?
> 
> katlupe


Well, two of the ones I'm working on are hosted internally at the hospital I work for, therefore not accessible via the web. I can send screen prints if anyone is interested. the one that I am the most satisfied with is actually the company's intranet page. 

Here is one site that I have just started working on. there's not much to it yet and it's not officially been announced. 
www.urmclifestyle.com 

As you can see it is a work in progress.

I have a friend that uses the same system I do to make websites. Here are a couple of his so you can see what can be done:

Nursery Portal (we live in McMinnville, TN the "Nursery Capital of the World"
Middle Tenn Consulting


And please, don't anyone think I am spamming here. I wouldn't have posted anything about this but since this is a "home based business" thread I decided this fit the bill. I don't do this professionally and I'm not trying to get rich off doing this kind of thing. My wife and I are looking to pay off as much debt as possible so we can build our home out in the country on some land my parents have. I figured a few extra dollars a month could help with that.


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

> And please, don't anyone think I am spamming here. I wouldn't have posted anything about this but since this is a "home based business" thread I decided this fit the bill. I don't do this professionally and I'm not trying to get rich off doing this kind of thing. My wife and I are looking to pay off as much debt as possible so we can build our home out in the country on some land my parents have. I figured a few extra dollars a month could help with that.


No one thinks that....I asked you to post them. I love to look at other sites because that is what I do all day. We have three going that we designed and maintain. Here are two we designed and maintain:  http://trepaoffthegrid.com/catalog/ and this is my church's site: 
http://heart-of-god-fellowship.com

We do not do web design for a living. Our online store is the way we make our living and that keeps us hopping all day. 

Your site looks good. I will keep an eye on it. Your friend's was real slow coming up in my computer, but I am on dial up. Real slow when you are trying to work. I'll try his tomorrow. 

One thing is that lots of free sites include lots of advertising and you don't have good control over your own site. Free is not always good.......you get what you pay for. I like open source software......but not free sites. There is a difference.

katlupe


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