Selling via your own online shop - cheapish options?

mynamesnotdave

Hi,
The easiest, cheapest and quickest option for you is to use a company called BigCartel http://bigcartel.com/
It's free with just a few products and then $10 (£5) a month if you want to add more. Pefect place to start.
Otherwise, I'd recommend getting a shared-1 package (£9.99 a year) from Orchard Hosting (http://orchardhosting.com) and using one of their auto-install shopping carts, although this is a little more complicated.

babybimbles

HI all


sorry for the late reply. I have a craft fair this Sunday so i'm extremely busy. I wil read all you replies and carefully think about my options. Will update soon!

tia

dmbw

To add to further posts there is also WAHM/Owls Host which I use http://owlshost.com/ i got a business starter and it only cost £38 for the year including domain. It's helpful if you are not so clever with html (like me ), i tried free sites such as !!!!!!!!!! but just couldn't get it how i wanted. A lot is done for you as it is a built cart and there support forum is very handy. Okay the starter pack is pretty basic but i found it difficult to justify £100's some of these places charge on something that might not have taken off. HTH's and good luck!

Mayflower10cat

I know quite a lot of jewellery makers who Blog and promote their Etsy/eBay/online shop via their Blog. Definately use Facebook to promote your goods, also Myspace. Keep them updated regularly. I'd also suggest joining various craft message boards, especially those who allow you to upload photos to an album which you can link to when you post. I was pleasantly surprised the first few times someone Pm'd me asking if they could buy something I'd just posted a pic of!

My sister is a web designer so I was lucky she did my site for 'cost' as practise when she first started. It uses e-commerce and I also pay for a secure server. Don't forget so many ISP's offer free webspace - use it to show pictures of your work. You can't sell through them, but nothing to stop you hosting pictures there & linking to them.

I agree there is so much competition on eBay/Etsy; I gave up trying to sell handmade quality items there. So many people simply want a bargain as cheaply as possible.

Very good luck!

paulwf

Mayflower10cat wrote: »

I know quite a lot of jewellery makers who Blog and promote their Etsy/eBay/online shop via their Blog. Definately use Facebook to promote your goods, also Myspace. Keep them updated regularly. I'd also suggest joining various craft message boards, especially those who allow you to upload photos to an album which you can link to when you post. I was pleasantly surprised the first few times someone Pm'd me asking if they could buy something I'd just posted a pic of!

My sister is a web designer so I was lucky she did my site for 'cost' as practise when she first started. It uses e-commerce and I also pay for a secure server. Don't forget so many ISP's offer free webspace - use it to show pictures of your work. You can't sell through them, but nothing to stop you hosting pictures there & linking to them.

I agree there is so much competition on eBay/Etsy; I gave up trying to sell handmade quality items there. So many people simply want a bargain as cheaply as possible.

Very good luck!

Not sure I would bother with Myspace for anything other than music but each to their own

Just to pick up on your point about photo albums...Facebook photo compression is awful and really doesn't do an image justice. Although Facebook has its uses I would suggest using Flickr or hosting the pictures on your own website so that customers can see the craft items in proper detail. Facebook is fine for holiday snaps and that's about it sadly...it is very convenient posting items on there but there are plenty of times I wished a link was given to somewhere I could view the images properly as well.

babybimbles

Thanks all

I'm pretty new to this whole thing and to be honest want a ready made package. Something that has pre-designed pages etc. I don't have much time between now and sunday and do want something to offer my customers.

babybimbles

Pennywise wrote: »

I use http://freeola.com/website-builder/ £3 + VAT per month (but I get it free because I have my broadband with them). Quick and easy if you're happy with something relatively basic and don't want a lot of gimmicks. Easily integrated with paypal and the other popular systems if you want more than paypal, such as worldpay etc.

I'm on freeola now. How easy is it to turn your website into a 'shop'. Sorry if that sounds dumb!

babybimbles

http://www.ekmpowershop.com/

This looks good but it's £19.99 a month

babybimbles

ok have registered with 1 and 1, let's just see how it goes!

seismicryan

selling stuff through ebay is expensive because of the fees....

your best bet is to get a simple website built, and use paypal to sell your stuff... no monthly feels and you only loose about 3.5% in paypal fees...

drop me an email if you want any advise on building a cheap and simple website... i've built and opperated loads!

Ryan