Need a critique on sales page

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 3:41AM

I supposed this could be considered SSP, but I'm in the process of setting up a coin sale list. It's a script generated from a coin database. I've been toying with what information to include or not include. I want to provide as much information as possible, but keep it readable, and keep it as a single page list.

Sale List

The majority of coins will probably not have pictures. Do you feel there is more information I should add (or omit for that matter)? Any instruction/logistical stuff you think is missing? I thought about having the notes at the far right as opposed to underneath the individual coin listings, but this resulted in pages that were far too wide. As it is, this page may be too wide for some folks...

(Please don't actually order anything yet; I don't have some of the prices finalized.

Also, I need to add/revise notes on several of the coins.)

Any suggestions/advice appreciated.

Thanks!

ajaan · January 9, 2006 4:17AM

I would do away with the mintage column. If the mintage is very low, I would just mention it in the notes.

Steve27 · January 9, 2006 5:32AM

Unless it's just for people here, I would say "world" vice "darkside" coins.

gxseries · January 9, 2006 6:13AM

Let's see - Country, year, denomination and mintmark are essentials. One cannot do away with those. Pictures are not really essential unless the coins are starting to get pricy and that is when people who want to know how they look like. Catalogue no. is good for reference and yes, I would agree with ajaan that mintage numbers might not be necessary. I would recommand the remark comment to be left as it is, short and precise, which I honestly like.

SYRACUSIAN · January 9, 2006 6:13AM

Ditto for the mintage, this way the price will show up without having to scroll to the right.

Please add the images of these fractional farthings!

Nice job overall.

Refrema · January 9, 2006 6:35AM

Basically I like the layout of it, my only comment is that I do not like fonts with serifs. It may look cleaner and be more readable with a font like Arial. It might also be nice if both photos show up by a single link.

Good Luck with it.

Bob

laurentyvan · January 9, 2006 6:39AM

Very easy to use, good pictures (agree pics are necessary on more expensive coins), mintage not necess. although I happen to like mintages, overall very serviceable sales page..

You'll find yourself tweaking it as time goes by and at some point, hopefully you'll be perfectly happy.

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 7:16AM

<< Basically I like the layout of it, my only comment is that I do not like fonts with serifs. It may look cleaner and be more readable with a font like Arial. It might also be nice if both photos show up by a single link.

Good Luck with it.

Bob >>

I've done some tweaking and created 2 different versions. Let me know which you prefer:

Version 1

Version 2

1960NYGiants · January 9, 2006 8:12AM

I like the structure of v1 and the order of v2. Sorry to muddy the waters.

Do you plan to have a search function?

Gene

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 8:14AM

Since it will be one long page, I figure there isn't the need for a search, since you can use your browser's built-in search function to search the page...

ajaan · January 9, 2006 8:36AM

I prefer v1 but do away with the mintage column. Like dimitri said, the prices can then be viewed without having to scroll over.

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 8:55AM

<< I prefer v1 but do away with the mintage column. Like dimitri said, the prices can then be viewed without having to scroll over. >>

At what screen resolution? There isn't one standard (unfortunately). You have to scroll over to get prices, but you may be using 800x600 whereas more people are using 1024x768 these days. I use 1600x1200, so I can see everything.

At any rate, enough people seem to not care about the mintages, so I've ditched them from v1.

The one disadvantage to v1 (although it may not matter to most) is that it only shows the first N characters of each field (for example, in the "India (Madras Presidency)" entry, you can see where it gets truncated. That will only be a problem in extremely long country names...

I think I'll throw together a v3 that uses the traditional table construct and see how that looks...

Thanks for being guinea pigs...

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 11:46AM

Version 3

Refrema · January 9, 2006 12:03PM

The third time was the charm.

I like it.

Bob

wybrit · January 9, 2006 12:10PM

Version 3

Avarel · January 9, 2006 12:19PM

I agree, V3. Very easy on the eyes and all the info without having to scroll left/right. Looks nice!

Av

satootoko · January 9, 2006 1:57PM

Definitely V3 -

But if it were mine, I would take out all references to payment via Bidpay, in view of the notice posted at the top of their home page, in red letters, at www.bidpay.com.

<< Effective December 31, 2005, BidPay.com, Inc. will be discontinuing operations. As a result, BidPay will no longer offer payment services to the online auction industry. We regret any inconvenience to our users and thank them for their loyal patronage. Customer service will remain available at bidpayservice@bidpay.com through the month of February. >>

rhound1977 · January 9, 2006 6:39PM

Looks great to me too, as a personal preference only I would like the images to open in a new window.

gxseries · January 9, 2006 8:42PM

Most definately third table. Third table is easy to view due to the table format.

Well done!

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 9:45PM

The ayes have it. Version 3 it is.

<< But if it were mine, I would take out all references to payment via Bidpay, in view of the notice posted at the top of their home page, in red letters, at www.bidpay.com. >>

Nice. As a BidPay user, no email notice of any kind that they are shutting down.

<< as a personal preference only I would like the images to open in a new window. >>

Done!

Keep those suggestions coming...

ajaan · January 9, 2006 9:48PM

v3 is excellent! Let us know when you go 'live'.

Aethelred · January 9, 2006 9:50PM

I really like V3, good job!

bonkrood · January 9, 2006 10:08PM

V3 looks great, personally though I won't buy anything raw without pictures, can it be to much work for inexpensive coins? I did notice you had pictures with a 45 cent coin but not with a $38 coin, how do you decide which coins get pictures. Great looking site, looking forward to adding it to my favorites list

Edit for spelling.

ajaan · January 9, 2006 10:26PM

The only other comment I have doesn't have to do with the layout. It concerns your policies. Why accept PayPal from US buyers but not from overseas buyers? You have effectively eliminated all non-US buyers. Just wondering. As a said before, the layout is fantastic. Many dealers could learn from you.

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 10:56PM

<< V3 looks great, personally though I won't buy anything raw without pictures, can it be to much work for inexpensive coins? I did notice you had pictures with a 45 cent coin but not with a $38 coin, how do you decide which coins get pictures. Great looking site, looking forward to adding it to my favorites list >>

At this point, the pictures are simply those I already had on file for for my collection list or coinpictures.com. If I had a picture I used it.

We're talking a fair amount of effort to photograph every coin, including the dollar coins. Bleagh.

Just out of curiosity (and this question goes to all folks), where would you put the cutoff pricewise to bother putting up pictures? Or do you think that coins below $x.xx should just be dumped into lots rather than listing individually?

satootoko · January 9, 2006 11:04PM

<< We're talking a fair amount of effort to photograph every coin, including the dollar coins. >>

How about a link to be used for requesting a picture when someone is specifically interested in a particular coin?

<< do you think that coins below $x.xx should just be dumped into lots rather than listing individually? >>

No way. A date/mintmark set always needs some specific, frequently low value, coins - especially with regard to minors. Although I have done it on occasion, I really hate buying a lot of 5-6 coins in order to get just one that I need.

coinpictures · January 9, 2006 11:06PM

<< The only other comment I have doesn't have to do with the layout. It concerns your policies. Why accept PayPal from US buyers but not from overseas buyers? You have effectively eliminated all non-US buyers. Just wondering. As a said before, the layout is fantastic. Many dealers could learn from you. >>

Thanks for the praise on the layout.

The policy comes from being burned on Ebay and PayPal's inane lack of protection for U.S. sellers on international transactions. PayPal requires "proof of delivery" in order for a seller to be protected against chargebacks, yet does not accept Rgistered Mail as that proof. There is no international USPS method that PayPal accepts other than Global Express Mail (not Priority), which is prohibitively expensive.

What this means is that any non-U.S. buyer can claim nonreceipt of merchandise at any time, and it is an auto-lose situation for the seller/shipper. There is no proof that a seller can give to fight the claim.

While I wouldn't have a problem accepting PayPal from established forum members here, the goal is to (hopefully) not only sell here.

It's a conundrum, and not a good one. I could require that the buyer pay for insurance, however there are many countries (including ones in Western Europe) that the USPS does not offer insured mail services to. I could require Registered Mail, since that comes with some indemnity, but in most cases it is capped at $42; not only that, but USPS Registered Mail is stupidly expensive at $7.50 in addition to mail fees.

Off topic: has anyone noticed that as of January 15, sellers on Ebay may no longer advertise ANY online payment method other than PayPal, and may no longer request cash via registered mail as a payment method?

With BidPay shutting down, this severely curtails international payments.

It was only a matter of time before Ebay's purchase of PayPal resulted in forcing people to use that payment method.

I'm open to suggestions on international payments...

ajaan · January 9, 2006 11:12PM

<< and may no longer request cash via registered mail as a payment method? >>

I wonder how are they going to enforce this?

coinpictures · January 10, 2006 12:01AM

<< 

<< and may no longer request cash via registered mail as a payment method? >>

I wonder how are they going to enforce this? >>

If you have this in your auction description or checkout notes, they cancel your auctions.

newbiecollector · January 10, 2006 12:46AM

Personally I am sorry to hear about your Paypal decision.

I have purchased a lot of coins and other items on eBay and I never have paid any other way. Next to impossible for me as a option

coinpictures · January 10, 2006 1:10AM

Trust me, I'm not happy with it either, but I have to have some safeguard in place.

What if I were to add a policy for international transactions like the following: International customers that are DarkSide forum members may pay via PayPal; PM your order to "coinpictures".

It's oblique enough that random folks won't probably have a clue what I mean, yet it will allow folks here to buy. I don't have a problem with established folks here buying with PayPal, since if things go wrong, they can be outed, but I really don't feel comfortable accepting PayPal from random unknown individuals outside the U.S.

I'm sorry if I seem so uncomfortable with accepting PayPal from you overseas folks, but I've been bitten just once too often. It's not meant to be a swipe at non-U.S. residents, but the loophole is there and some people take advantage of it. It's a case of the few rotten apples spoiling the barrel...

Need a critique on sales page

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