Getting started eCommerce

[BIG IGG]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering what people use as a eCommerce website or how they got started selling items on the web. I’m very new and just learning. Any recommend places to learn.

Thanks

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[Jim Dawson]

Ebay would be worth a look if you want a wide audience. Facebook is also useful for targeted advertising to user groups.

[jwatte]

It depends entirely on what you're trying to sell.

Etsy is good for things that "normal people" look at.

Ebay is fine for "let's agree on what I will send you and how much money you will send me" for standard things, but modification requests are tough on their platform, because scammy purchasers may use the return policies against you. Also, you will be competing with the lowst-cost sellers across the world, so it's hard to make the case for your own value and pricing there.

To get better recommendations, you might want to be more specific in what you want to do. Do you want to find buyers of whatever you're selling? Are you selling "things" or "services"? Or do you want to manage ordering, fulfillment, and billing? Or do you want to manage the manufacturing flow (designs/revisions/drawings/...)? There's very different systems for these different needs, and if you need to BOTH reach people (marketing) AND deal with payments AND deal with design/revision, you may need three different systems.

One example of someone who solved the platform is https://www.xometry.com/ -- you can presumably actually sign up as a "provider" on that platform, and they'll send work your way if they have it and it matches your capabilities. Might be interesting to look around, just to learn what's out there.

[R.DesJardin]

I created a PayPal business account, use GoDaddy to build my website and all payments go through PayPal. It's simple but works.

[popspipes]

Ebay short term is OK, if its on there long term our asian friends will copy it and put it back on ebay for less than your material cost, I know of several folks this has happened to, I make a few RC car parts and the guy wont sell on Ebay, just word of mouth for that exact reason............

[BIG IGG]

Ebay short term is OK, if its on there long term our asian friends will copy it and put it back on ebay for less than your material cost, I know of several folks this has happened to, I make a few RC car parts and the guy wont sell on Ebay, just word of mouth for that exact reason............

I think your right with the coping thing. Yes it is a RC product. I might just start by word of mouth and see from there.

It depends entirely on what you're trying to sell.

Etsy is good for things that "normal people" look at.

Ebay is fine for "let's agree on what I will send you and how much money you will send me" for standard things, but modification requests are tough on their platform, because scammy purchasers may use the return policies against you. Also, you will be competing with the lowst-cost sellers across the world, so it's hard to make the case for your own value and pricing there.

To get better recommendations, you might want to be more specific in what you want to do. Do you want to find buyers of whatever you're selling? Are you selling "things" or "services"? Or do you want to manage ordering, fulfillment, and billing? Or do you want to manage the manufacturing flow (designs/revisions/drawings/...)? There's very different systems for these different needs, and if you need to BOTH reach people (marketing) AND deal with payments AND deal with design/revision, you may need three different systems.

One example of someone who solved the platform is https://www.xometry.com/ -- you can presumably actually sign up as a "provider" on that platform, and they'll send work your way if they have it and it matches your capabilities. Might be interesting to look around, just to learn what's out there.

Selling things not service. I don't mind doing all of it (I think LOL)

[BIG IGG]

I created a PayPal business account, use GoDaddy to build my website and all payments go through PayPal. It's simple but works.

I'm going to look into that to. I don't want to spend a ton of money, not even sure how sales are going to be.

[rodw]

ecommerce is not just a simple exercise. It takes, time, money and effort for it to work for you well. I thought I knew a bit about it after running one for 10 years then I went to a ecommerce conference and found out I knew Jack Sh!t! Shopify is probably the leading platform globally. I use a system called neto which is Aussie based but establishing in the US. Its strength is the integrations in the back end to freight companies and to platforms like ebay and Amazon. Marketplaces are a big thing so your products are pushed to ebay and amazon etc and the sales come back in and you fulfil from your back end which in turn integrates with your accounting and payment gateways. Problem with market places is that you don't own the customer. Buy now pay later are big winners so you need to offer them too. You need to have good SEO adn site structure to keep Google happy and you must have instant messaging (I use Facebook Messenger via a product called Chatfuel) You also need a CRM and email list management system that has automated email sequences for things like abandoned carts, nurture series, onboarding etc. You also need to do advertising on say facebook (and we are not talking about boosted posts but properly structured ads in Facebook Business manager) and most likely Google Shopping and Adwords. Don't forget data feeds to the Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics. Put the effort in and you do well but in my view you need a unique niche based product that is yours . So thats just a few of the basics and what I've done to grow my business 10 fold over the last 3 years and I've only scratched the surface.

[ger21]

I created a PayPal business account, use GoDaddy to build my website and all payments go through PayPal. It's simple but works.

I did the same thing.
A website will only cost you $15/month (as long as you design it yourself).


Set up your site, and spread the word in all the RC forums.

[jwatte]

Everything RodW says is a technique that competitors use to get front and center of consumers. If you're not doing this, then the competitors will likely do better than you, but that doesn't mean that all of those things are necessary to do OKAY on your own.
Especially if your business is a side business, or you have a very niche product that nobody else provides, then you can probably build a sustaining small business with much fewer bells and whistles.
Separately, if you are a "job shop" or sell to specific companies, rather than fickle consumers, then different rules apply as well. Most business buyers don't actually look on Facebook for the best widget for their needs...

[C*H*U*D]

If you're selling items that you will keep in inventory on your site, I highly recommend using an E-commerce Store Front. The last thing you want is people placing more orders than you have inventory for (sounds like a nice problem to have, but it's a nightmare to manage).

If you want to get started for little cost, try Ecwid. Unless you have more than 10 unique products, their free service will get you going, and give you a chance to try things out. It will manage your inventory so you can't sell more than you have, and send emails to alert you to sales. You will still need to set up your website, and incorporate the store, but it's really not that difficult.

Like rodw says there's a ton to learn, but it sounds like you're just trying to get your feet wet. Take it in small bites and you'll be fine going forward...you don't have to do it all at once.

[BIG IGG]

My head hurts LOL

Thank you for everyone's input, keep them coming. Trying to get production going and looking into the E-commerce stores to see which one AND working my full-time job. I will keep you posted.

[rodw]

One of the biggest decisions you need to make as an online business is what is your technology stack your business runs on? Now I don't know how big your business is or what you sell, but the odds are you are a manufacturer and need to build bills of materials for your products so they are costed out and you track everything in inventory. I think/Xero that when I adopted an inventory management system, I had to add about 90 products before I created my first sellable product. So with that in mind, DEAR Inventory is the standout performer. So Shopify/DEAR Inventory/Xero and you are set. But start with DEAR and Xero, if you are wholesaling, that might be all you need as it has a B2B portal for your customers.

Respectfully, this forum is not the place to get advice about ecommerce. I'm sure here are other forums that would be more focussed on the topic.

[LarthPece]

You need to have a well-visited website to have a successful internet website. Which means a lot of money into ads. I have build a website for internet shop blog for tools, and it never worked well.

You know this is none of my business of course, but I also see your main problem as lack of promotion of that blog online. There are many other websites and blogs that occupy the top lines in Google search. This is why you will never see it in search. So if you read about natural links you will see how you can fix this situation and make the website a better visited place. I wish you best of luck.

[urban_buy]

You should pay attention to Chinese dealers

[jonykeyn]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering what people use as a eCommerce website or how they got started selling items on the web. I’m very new and just learning. Any recommend places to learn.

Thanks

Well, there are various ways to start trading. I've been using eBay for a while ago, but this platform isn't the best option.
I'd recommend creating your own website. Clearly, it is far more difficult, but if you succeed in getting on TOP of search engines, the results can be tremendous.
I sell printers in California. Now, my website is in TOP five for the search query: "buy printers California"
Here, I'd like to thank the SEO company https://crowdmark.net, as they have helped me optimize my website and get it to the TOP of Google.

[Diana_Joiner]

you can find a lot of great ecommerce forums and communities online to start connecting with people who are also trying to make a living online

[ZaydenRoach]

First, you have to decide where to take clients from. You need visitors if you want to create your own site for an online store. So you need to order the development of the site and advertising. I tried to do it through the Internet. But it is best to start with social networks. There you will quickly spread the word about your product. I also tried printing booklets and handing them out to people, leaving their website details and personal phone number. When my profits were stable, I started posting discount promotions on https://heydiscount.co.uk/ so that people could take advantage of coupons and redeem items from previous collections.

[rorymackins]

I am skeptical about these earnings. Many people lost all their savings during the pandemic. It is very hard to anticipate.

[bidgetkloke]

I think you’d better turn to qualified specialists in this field. Fortunately, you can find him almost in every city nowadays. You have to be careful. There are a lot of scammers on the Internet who will give ineffective advice and kill your desire to trade. I quit my old job and decided to open a shoe store two months ago. Almost immediately, I realized that I needed an online sale. Therefore I turned to eCommerce solutions for small business. Btw, you can also watch tutorials about doing business. These bloggers shoot their way from the beginning to the present day.