Web site for selling your product?

[Joe Pack]

I have been asked so many times at craft shows, "Can I order on your web site?" that I really need to consider it. The problem is that I have no idea where to start. I see lots of ads for web site design and for hosting, but I wouldn't know a good designer/host from a bad one. Prices are all over the place, and they all speak a language I don't speak.

I make pens, bottle stoppers, key chains, weed pots, tea lights, etc., mostly small stuff. I would want the customer to be able to read about me and the production process, see pictures (that I can post/remove easily), prices, ordering info, payment info, etc. I take credit cards, so any credit information would need to be encrypted.

Do any of you have a web site you use to sell your product? If so, how did you go about it? Are you satisfied? What would you do differently next time? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Ed Sallee]

I set mine up with google.... it's only $10 a year and they provide the hosting and the tools to design your site. It's very simple.

I think the link is www.google.com/a (http://www.google.com/a)

You can check out my site and see if it'll work for your needs.... www.waxingmoonwood.com (http://www.waxingmoonwood.com)

I designed my website in about 3 hours. But, with adding more pages, etc... I probably have a total of 10 hours in it.

Hope that helps.....

Good Luck!

[Mitchell Andrus]

Joe, what most of us have learned is...... <drum roll>......

You'll either spend lots of time, or spend lots of money - usually both - to get a good, solid, secure, stable, attractive, profitable website. Click on my name and have a look. Mine isn't really great, but it's what I can do without spending a lot more money. It's my third major re-do/platform in 13 years. The industry changes very fast these days. I started with a show and sell site - forget it, people don't call. My sales quadrupled overnight once I got my first shopping cart site up and loaded with products, and this current one (launched in May 2006) doubled retail sales. Most of my retail sales come in after I've eaten dinner - when most people won't pick up the phone and call to order something.

Websites are invisible unless Google and the others can index you. Do it right, spend some of your budget on SEO (Google that).

Show and sell sites (quickie GoDaddy and Google fare) are OK for starters, but if you want to get serious about selling, get serious about your website. A robust cart system, credit card handling and security, database handling of products, email handling of orders and shipping info, product choices, images, client info, re-order capability, UPS or Fed Ex integration, security... on the list goes. FORGET Paypal. Get real - get Visa and M/C capable. Make sure you can handle returns, various shipping configurations, payment types (I still get checks once in a while), etc.

My site's platform starts ootb at $499.99, but it'll hit $3-6K very fast unless you plant your butt in a chair and learn a LOT more than beginner HTML. It's .asp, .aspx and CSS now.

Go to any of the major forums set up for the better known carts and you'll see that even the pros call out for help when dealing with common issues that the shoppers never hear about.

[Lon LeBlanc]

Joe,

Check out www.serif.com (http://www.serif.com). The software is pretty robust, and not at all pricey. English company. I've used their web building software for years. It works like desktop publishing...pretty simple stuff...and no need to know HTML at all.

Normal disclosures: I don't work for Serif...not a reseller...yada, yada, yada!

My personal business site is designed with Serif software. www.lpleblanc.com (http://www.lpleblanc.com)

Good luck.



Lon

[Roger Jensen]

If you want a low cost / low risk entry point for selling small goods you could try Etsy (www.etsy.com (http://www.etsy.com)). You can think of it as an eBay for handcrafted goods. I have not used it, but I understand you can setup your own store front at xxx.etsy.com, with xxx being your profile name. I just looked at one called http://woodturner.etsy.com.

They charge a small listing fee per item, plus 3.5% of your selling price. The good part is you'd have full shopping cart functionality right out of the gate.

It may be an easy way to try it out before you start down the path of building your own web site. Since you have your own web address you'd be able to print up business cards with a link to your products.

Roger

[Gary Ratajczak]

Joe:
For your products and budget, I would highly recommend you look into Homestead. You can set up your domain name through them very reasonably, and they maintain it as long as you keep your site with them. No complicated software - you download their editor directly. It's all drag and drop - nothing difficult to learn.


www.homestead.com (http://www.homestead.com)


I agree that for high traffic, you should get a full merchant account. Starting out, however, dos not always justify the expense.

Homestead lets you get going with vaery easy and seamless paypal integration, as well as going further with a merchant store. You can use Paypal buttons on your pages with no additional charge, or set up a full merchant store for a small additional fee. If business takes off, you can go that route and get more services like inventory tracking.

Setting up pages is nothing more than drag and drop. If you have any html scripts such as videos, pic displays or anything else, you just create an html box and drop in the code. Adding pictures and text is very simplae, as well as creating the menu system - just drag and drop.

Here is a site I have started (non-woodworking) that took about 2 hours to do so far. http://flyfishingadirondacks.com/

Gary R.

[Gary Ratajczak]

Here is another Homestead site I set up for a friend.

http://www.themulberrytree.com/Update_1/Candles/Candle_Main.html

This is an example of integrating the Paypal buy it buttons onto the page. Vary easy to set up, and no cost (only small % on sale).


Gary R

[Harley Reasons]

[quote=Mitchell Andrus;920150] FORGET Paypal. Get real - get Visa and M/C capable. Make sure you can handle returns, various shipping configurations, payment types (I still get checks once in a while), etc.

/quote]
While I agree that if your selling products for a full time job you should get a good shopping cart package, I disagree with "forgetting paypal". There is a large population out in internet land that have paypal accounts and like to use them because of the security involved. Soon there will be a whole lot more folks with a paypal account. Ebay will soon start requiring all payments for sales be paid via paypal. I like paypal because no financial data is transmitted to the vendor. It all stays at home on Paypal. I'm biased though, because I use paypal all of the time. They have a new plugin feature that allows you to generate a one time or a multiple use Mastercard number for those sites that don't accept a direct paypal payment. So, for me forgetting paypal as a buyer is unacceptable.

[Mike Conley]

I set mine up with google.... it's only $10 a year and they provide the hosting and the tools to design your site. It's very simple.

I think the link is www.google.com/a (http://www.google.com/a)

You can check out my site and see if it'll work for your needs.... www.waxingmoonwood.com (http://www.waxingmoonwood.com)

I designed my website in about 3 hours. But, with adding more pages, etc... I probably have a total of 10 hours in it.

Hope that helps.....

Good Luck!

Is this the same thing as Google Sites???

http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/overview.html