Selling on Ebay vs a REAL webstore?

twiley

Anyone have experience with this?

I tried ebay out for a whole year. After doing the math I have had well over 10-20% money taken away from me.

I might as well sold all those cards to a dealer at a physical store because I would have made the same! What a huge waste of my time!!!!

I decided to bail on feebay and open a real web store. I can list a million cards and it still only costs me the monthly server cost NOTHING extra. Everything I have sold Nobody has reached into my pocket and taken any % of my money.

I might still run an auction on ebay in the future just to generate more traffic to my web store.

Anyone else doing this?

ArnyVee

I was toying with the idea, but it really boils down to exposure. With eBay, you reach millions of eyes....which can (and mostly does) lead to more sales versus your own website. Now, you can combat that with good marketing campaigns & e-mails, etc. But, that marketing usually cuts into your profit which closes the gap.

There are lots of benefits, but if you have a great website and no one buys from it, you might as well have an eBay store and move product.

twiley

Well for only have a temporay html page for my website store in one month I have made the same amount as I did on any given month on ebay. Only last month I made more since there were no fees other then the monthly server cost. My monthly server costs is less then $15 a month is what ebay charged me to have a store (before the listing and final value fees)

I also noticed places also pay you to advertise on your website like Google and in return they promote your store for having their adds on your website. I have not gone this route yet but I am concidering it if traffic slows down. However at least for me so far the sales have been the same as on ebay only I am not getting slammed with final value and listing fees. I can actually say it has been worth my time listing what I have on my website so far...

Only thing I can say that is not great with having your own webstore is you really have to know how to run a website. Its not something a newbie would be able to pull off w/o RTFM on how to code and run a virtual server properly. Also web/server security is another thing one must know if you are keeping records of people's accounts and CC info. etc. etc.

I am lucky and have and still successfully run websites that are mysql / php driven as well as php code the site's pages from scratch.

Either way I feel alot better not having to pay ebay from my profits anymore

MorrellMan

<< <i> Its not something a newbie would be able to pull off w/o RTFM on how to code and run a virtual server properly. Also web/server security is another thing one must know if you are keeping records of people's accounts and CC info. etc. etc.

I am lucky and have and still successfully run websites that are mysql / php driven as well as php code the site's pages from scratch. >>



I've found that to be true as well. After revving mysql / php with stp and my RTFM down with some LSD, I found my WTF soared.

ArnyVee

This one time I sent an IOU to the IRS via UPS. I had to involve the FBI due to the IOU going MIA. I was like...WTF!

twiley

hahaha - funny

mysql and php are not easy to learn.

For those that dont know...

RTFM = Read The F-ing Manual

Sorry apparently I went over some heads on my last post...

SportsItUpCards

Hi, whats your website name? Do you have any Basketball HOF Autographs? Thanks

Griffins

I'm in the process (a long slow one, at this rate) of building a gallery site and including a page of cards for sale. The tough part is driving traffic to your site, and the key is search engine optimization (SEO). If you can build your site and included backlinks and meta tags to get it to come up pretty high in searches over time you should be able to replace ebay in direct sales, but it's hard to beat the reach of ebay. I know of a few large dealers that have just resigned themselves to the higher cost of ebay, because they get the traffic and sales from their stores.
The big advantage of having your own site is for buying.
PHP and SQL can make your brain explode.

alnavman

Is SQL the language for the web site? if so I tried to learn it at work and agree that it made my head explode...not really but I never did learn it. very confusing.

pandrews

ive got a friend who has been trying to teach me programming stuff for a webstore, site building, etc..

he does it for a living, so i think he gets frustrated sometimes at my lack of knowledge but i think im catching on..

alnavman

I think that's why I never learned it...the guy who was teaching me used to really get po'd when something he said didn't make sense to me......he finally gave up...

sagard

Roughly speaking:

SQL - Database for storing your inventory.
PHP - The scripting/code that displays your inventory.
HTML - The results of the PHP/SQL. Also a the Web Page standard.

None of it is overly complicated to anyone who has completed an entry level college C-SCI course or an equivilent 100 hours of studying.

twiley

Mysql is basically a Database server. It holds all the info in tables with entries. I created from scratch a non profit site that has thousands of users daily that uses 44 tables on one database. Php is code on pages that uses mysql querys to show the data on the pages. I right now only have a temp index.html until my index.php and other php pages are complete on my new store. What I am writing for example is a code that basically keeps track of my inventory. So when I have product A and I have 7 quantity of product A. Mysql has an inventory table with an entry that handles 7 of A. When all 7 of product A is sold the entry is udated as zero and you can have it as no longer available on the php page. Basically so nobody trys to buy something you dont have in stock. I know there are codes out there that you can buy but I rather write my own code since. I already know how to code and know how I want my store to run. It is very hard to learn how to code and it is a constant learning process. I would say its harder to code php then it is to run a webserver...

Ichiro51fan

Gotta agree with Arny on this one... the main thing is being able to get enough targetted/appropriate traffic to your site, and that can be difficult/costly to do. I built a site several years back to sell my extra time share weeks. Granted, I am not programmer... just built it using MS Front Page. I had ok results, but the hardest thing is getting your page to appear high on the search engine results list. This is not as easy as just using key words, etc. There's page rankings, which are affected by links and reciprocal links, and a bunch of other highly technical and very time consuming issues that the common (non-programmer) guy probably does not have time for. After time, my page eventually rose up on a few of the search engine lists, but I still haven't been able to get good results from Google, which is the most important one.

One thing I did have good success with was with the Google Ad Words service. It's pretty user-friendly and you can basically drive as much traffic to your site as you want. It even gives you estimated placement/hits based on the key words you choose and the amount of money you want to spend. However, it does tend to get costly and I'm not sure it would work as well for a high volume product like cards are (depending upon what you sell of course). For my time share weeks, I'm looking at a profit of $300-$400 per sale, so it makes sense to pay a moderate amount per hit, assuming your sell-through rate is decent. I actually had to stop the program due to lack of time more than anything else. And now we're down to less than 20 weeks so I will probably not start up again until we buy some more (if we do). However, if your average profit per sale is a lot less than that, it may not make sense to pay that amount per hit through Google ads.

Anyway... hope this helps.

jamesgotpoorman

stevek

The website store of course is an alternative. Afraid to say though that the odds of getting your items high up in the Google search engine placement to the point of people looking at them let alone buying anything is extremely slim if not almost impossible.

The only way the website store will work is advertising the heck out of it - and even then it's gonna be tough. Especially in this day & age of so many thousands of baseball card websites.

One thing people usually don't think about when starting a website store such as that - just because even if you do get people to finally find you and visit you, how do they know you're reputable? Not to be a wise guy but Tonis Cards had a good looking baseball card website. At least with the ebay feedback system, people can get a good glimpe of the reputability of a seller, and that's an important factor in a successful online business.

Good luck!

Rogermnj

You can go to a web design forum and post a thread that you want someone to build you a site. You can probably get 10-20 replies of people willing to do the whole site for 200-300.
Roger-

theplasticman

Great point on the exposure...

If you have that taken care of, I would suggest trying this ecommerce solution called Shopify.
http://www.shopify.info

I absolutely love it and use it in 2 different spots for business I work with.

rube26105

you can make a webstore website,.tie it to your ebay listings,and if anybodys buys from it,you are chaged no final value fees,that helps me alot with about 2,000 items on,i send out an auto email that says go to website,then store next time you buy,that way i dont get charged vby ebay,between ebay and paypal,they have you coming and going!

elsnorto

I actually tried this myself but ultimately failed because I could not match the prices on eBay moving mostly graded rookies, wax, and sets.

A few things to consider...

#1 Content. There are a ton of people with the same thinking who have stood up sites of various quality. You need content to distinguish yours from all the other 'net noise. I put a huge amount of effort into developing content. I had monthly contests such as investing $100 high book (virtual money) and seeing who made the most after a month. I did box breaks and reviews as new product came out. I had hobby news, bulletin boards, opinion articles, and a slew of other content. I was actually successful in getting traffic, but my prices just could not compete.

#2 Selection. Not only are you trying to compete with every other website for traffic and price, but also selection. People are only going to keep visiting for so long when they find nothing of interest or competively priced. Sometime you get one shot to make an impression as many sites do not update their content or offerings very often and people assume you will not either. Try to have a good selection and update the site often.

#3 Do not underestimate the time and energy it takes to maintain a web presence. You specifically said you were unhappy with the amount of money you made for the time you invested on eBay. Standing up a website, updating content, and staying on top of your inventory and pricing can be just as time consuming if not more so.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I think most everyone who sells cards on eBay can relate to your frustration with the site, but you just may find it is the best deal going because of all the traffic and tools eBay provides. What eBay sellers really need is another viable option in the auction space, but it does not appear anyone can break eBay's monopoly to date.

Snorto~

rube26105

very true scott, most of my stuff is military,a complete diff market with alot of 9 year repeat buyers,i got some cards mixed in with it now just to buy upgrades for my 50 bowman fb set,anything that dont grade a 10-bam-goes on ebay-i can see where cards take a whole lot more describing and stuff its its raw,not so much graded, all my stuff is patches and pins easy description, buyer to pay 2.50 mail, paypal fine lol- i have trying to descibe old raw cards because im no authority on grading for sure-nor do i plan to be-i see where its pretty much one opinion vs somebody elses
Randy

TheCARDKid

To add a few more points...

-Also consider the time value of your inventory.

I see alot of guys on ebay that might have a $200 card for sale, and its in their store for months. Say 3 months.

You can sell pretty much any card for at least 80-90% of its going market value in a week (if you start cheap, w/ solid reputation, good scan, description).

So you sell the $200 card for $175 in an auction. You've got your money in 10 days. You could do that 9x, and that'd be equal to the one card sitting in an ebay store at a higher price for a few months.

Even if you sell it for $150, and turn your money over 6x, you're going to be way ahead vs the store.

I would only open a real webstore if I was doing, maybe mid 5 figure to 6 figures in annual sales or more. Otherwise, I dont think its worth the time or hassle.

The beauty of ebay is you have an almost automatic sale in 7 days, I've sold boxes and singles I never could have sold on an online store.

Wabittwax

<< <i>So you sell the $200 card for $175 in an auction. You've got your money in 10 days. You could do that 9x, and that'd be equal to the one card sitting in an ebay store at a higher price for a few months.

Even if you sell it for $150, and turn your money over 6x, you're going to be way ahead vs the store. >>



Problem is, how often are you going to buy a $200 card for $100 to make a $150 sale worth doing? You could sell it for $10 and turn it over 1000 times but how is that profitable. My store makes money, not a lot, but at least it's not in the red. I think a successful formula to store sales is to price stuff at around 10% higher than average auction closings. It's still a fair price and it makes squeeking out a small profit margain feasible. I came across an ebay store the other day that had a 1996 Bowman Paul Molitor for $5. Such a smokin deal I had to convince myself not to gobble up half his inventory.

TheCARDKid

<< <i>

<< <i>So you sell the $200 card for $175 in an auction. You've got your money in 10 days. You could do that 9x, and that'd be equal to the one card sitting in an ebay store at a higher price for a few months.

Even if you sell it for $150, and turn your money over 6x, you're going to be way ahead vs the store. >>



Problem is, how often are you going to buy a $200 card for $100 to make a $150 sale worth doing? You could sell it for $10 and turn it over 1000 times but how is that profitable. My store makes money, not a lot, but at least it's not in the red. I think a successful formula to store sales is to price stuff at around 10% higher than average auction closings. It's still a fair price and it makes squeeking out a small profit margain feasible. I came across an ebay store the other day that had a 1996 Bowman Paul Molitor for $5. Such a smokin deal I had to convince myself not to gobble up half his inventory. >>



High prices can work if you have alot of inventory or if you dont mind waiting for your price (i.e. 707).

I dont know if that model works at the low end, you might be waiting a long time for your price.

In the last year, I've sold....81 Fleer box, 72 Topps Nm+ commons, 84 Star Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Stuff I just cant see selling in a store. I cant think of anywhere else where I could have sold those items in a week.

Say you buy auction lots or sets to break up. Buy for $1,000, sell for $1,200. Maybe you could list it at $1,300, $1,350 and get a bite.

Or sell it at, $1,070, $1,100 in a week or 10 days. Obviously, that'd be alot of work. Then the $1,100 into $1,200.