Ebay Store?

blue_monkey_2

Hi again, yes, we went for pasta bake. The easy way!!

With the site I have with ekn it encrypts in the software so it is all secure, I don;t get them in email form, you log into your account and they are there - when you have processed the transaction then you delete them as you have no further need for them. I have a machine like you see in some shops and cafes, you can get them that are connected to a phone line, you can get these on eBay quite cheap but I have a more expensive one because I used to do markets. Don't whatever you do get anything from Chip & Pin solutions, get a merchant account and get one via your bank and vodaphone. I am with Barclays and they gave me all the info I needed to know. It is more outlay for a new business but I have found since having this option on my site my sales have increased as people were shying away from Paypal. HTH.

skyeandeviesmummy

Thanks for taking the time to give me all that info, its a bit of a minefield when you have a new business! I am going to go off have a look to see what Natwest offer as thats who I have business bank account with.

:beer:

blue_monkey_2

No trouble at all. It is hard when you get started but you'll look back and wonder why I promise.

windswept

Streamline with Natwest is who I have my IMA with, it cost £150 to set up and I use Secpay as my payment gateway on my website, it is just £10 a month for up to 100 transactions and a far lower % rate than paypal.
Sales went up immediately I took off paypal checkout, and the ONLY trouble I've had with customers and 'non-received' parcels has been with paypal, I used to offer payment by paypal invoice as another option but I've taken it off today, as long as buyers know they can get a refund via paypal for the vaguest claim, they will try it on.:rolleyes:
With Secpay I get a full report on the payment, whether all the details match etc. It puts your mind at rest far more than paypal would.
I'm with 'do your own site', you can get to my site through my profile.
For £17 a month you get a good site building package, I tried lots of free trials , including ekm and easywebstore, but I found mine the most user-friendly, go with what you feel most comfortable with.
I'm going to build my next site from scratch for my new venture using oscommerce (free) and cheap/good hosting, as I now know more or less how to build a good site, I can use html etc.
It's hard work and frustrating but very rewarding when you see all the hours of work pay off, it's no good putting up any old rubbish and hoping to sell from it, take your inspiration from all the good websites you admire - do lots of research and take all the advice you can get - the uk business forums are full of helpful (and successful) website owners;) .

skyeandeviesmummy

Thanks Windswept.My website does look very good and I have had lots of positive feedback! I was very lucky as I have a Graphic Designer as a friend and he did all my logos for me free. I know that my products are what people want I am a wedding designer and I also hand make wedding jewellery and veils. I go to wedding fayres as well as having my website but really need to look into more advertising. I think I will probably do away with Paypal as soon as I can as Paypal seems to be a lot of trouble and cost.

kimbatty

Totally agree about ebay stores, I haven't listed anything there for a few years now as it's just not worth the cost of fees etc and people just want everything for nothing. I still use it to buy things but would never sell on it anymore, you're much better off putting money into your own site and making sure it's well optimised for your key products to get you up the top of search engines