eBay alternatives: DIY Stores
21 February 2008Starting your own storefront can be a very good alternative to eBay. It won’t replace the auction giant entirely for a while and certainly not without some hard work, but it can bring returns that are several times that of eBay.
Many of us pay for our eBay listing fees, final value fees, feature fees, and even store fees without batting an eye. We pay them because it’s the price of doing business with eBay. What if I you could eliminate nearly all of those fees? Would you? You bet you would.
Starting your own store can be much cheaper and easier than you might think. Let me break down the steps and costs for you. One of the first things you’ll need is a domain name. This is the address where web browsers will find your store. (e.g. ebay.com for ebay.) You’ll want to pick something that will be familiar to your current customers and also something that is explanatory in what you sell. If you sell computer hard drives, you’ll want it to be something along the lines of joesharddrives.com. Some companies get away with funny names that don’t explain much of anything, but they generally have pretty impressive marketing funds as well. Your domain name should only cost you about $7-$10 a year. See the resources below for where you can pick one up.
Once you have your domain name all picked out, you’ll need to find a host to host the website. In most cases, you can purchase the domain name from the host, so look for a good host at the same time as you’re looking for your domain. I like to use 1and1.com’s hosting as they include the cost of one domain in the subscription for the hosting. When you are looking for a host, there are a few things that you’ll want to look for. You’ll want to make sure that you have the ability to run the store software that you have chosen. (more on this later) In some cases, the hosts will actually help with the installation of the software. The thing to remember here is that it’s relatively easy to upgrade your hosting account, but it’s a bit more difficult to change hosts. Again, I currently prefer 1and1.com, but also have used/use godaddy.com. Both have very affordable packages (about $10 a month) and have pretty decent customer help desks.
Lastly, you need to select a software to run your store. There are many, many options that are available. A couple of the more popular ones are OSCommerce and ZenCart. And guess what. They are free. There are paid solutions that are available, but why pay for something when there’s a perfectly good free alternative? The one caveat with the free softwares is that they generally don’t come with much in the way of extra designs or add ons. Of course, you can pay for extras along the way if you want to pretty up the site after getting it up and running.
As a final tip, let me tell you that setting up your own storefront will be quite a bit more difficult than setting up your eBay store. There are a lot more settings that will have to be set and even more that can be set. But the bonus there is that you are in complete control of your site. You control how it looks, feels, works, and everything in between. eBay can’t tell you what to sell, or how to sell it. The rewards that can be had from running your own site can be numerous. Along with that comes the risk of not having eBay as a go between. If a customer has a problem with your product, they come directly to you, not to eBay. Weigh your options carefully, but I think you’ll like it if you do it.
Resources:
Domains and Hosting: 1and1 or Godaddy
Software: ZenCart, OSCommerce, Others (select e-commerce on left hand sidebar)
If you found this page useful, consider linking to it.
Simply copy and paste the code below into your web site (Ctrl+C to copy)
It will look like this: eBay alternatives: DIY Stores