Okay, I have a storefront application, now what? There’s a lot more to a web store then a slick application. Below is my list of other things that I’ll  need to start a store:

1. Web Address – I’m using Solutions4Tech.com– A site I registered with GoDaddy.com‡
2. Company Name — I’m using the web address
3. Inventory — Initially, that’s my closet.
4. Regulatory Issues — These are already setup through Solutions4Stuff,LLC.
   -Business License
   -Sales Tax
   -Business Organization
5. Payments — (My Favorite Part) – I’m going to use Paypal for now because I have an existing account. The down-side is  cusotmers will have to leave my site to pay, and it may be confusing. (Even with integration PayPal usulay requires you go to their site)  Luckily I sususpect my customers are used to buying stuff with paypal and won’t be too discouraged.
6. Shipping — I’m using my UPS Online account which integrates with Acutiva Commerce very well.– I’m happy about this

Lucily since my last post, Auctiva fixed most of the issues that I had, and now I have my own Terms and Conditions and I’ve put them in the header instead of on the front page.

“Fun”  Stuff that’s left to do:

1. Entering more inventory –Entering  Inventory is very tedious,  you need pictures, and descriptions — but at least it pays off in the end
2. Entering sales tax info — The state of Georgia has more than 70 different sales tax jurisdictions (mostly counties) . Auctiva lets me setup tax by zip code, but I still have to set them each up and each county doesn’t necessarily follow a zip code perfectly.  Georgia is not the most  Internet business friendly state.

I have quite a bit of computer and consumer electronics junk in various closets, drawers, and the attic of my home. In an effort to clean up, and make a little money,  I decided that I would try and sell this stuff.  Being the tech-geek that I am, obviously I want to sell it on the Internet.  So where’s the first place that I would want to try,  eBay of course right — wrong!!.  Why not sell on eBay? in addition, to having to follow their listing rules (limited external links), and submit to their requirements for payment (they reserve the right to hold payments for a certain amount of time on some products from some sellers), and their shipping cost requirements (shipping must  be ‘reasonable’ according to eBay’s standard), they are also very expensive.  Here is an example based on my initial junk sale.

I have 10 items with an estimated average  $12.50 final sales price, and I’m guessing it will take, on average, 3 weeks to sell them.  (I’m not counting PayPal fees, since you have to have some type of payment method) I plan to sell my items with the default 7 day auction style and a ‘Buy-It-Now’ button. Here’s what I would have to pay eBay:

The cost of a single listing is $0.35 for a standard 7 day listing plus a  $.10 for ‘Buy-It-Now’ (fee for a price over $10.00) for a total per listing of cost  $0.45.  I have 10 listings so my per week listing cost is 10 x $0.45 for a weekly listing cost of  $4.50.

Muliply my weekly listing cost times 3 to cover my three week sales average and my total cost is now $13.50 for my 10 items over 3 weeks just to list (doesn’t matter whether they sell or not)

Once you sell an item, you pay eBay an additional percentage. In the case of my items the eBay fee is 8.75% (the percentage gets lower the higher the price)  So my total final value cost is 8.75% x $12.50 x 10 (items) or $10.94

The total cost to sell  my 10 items is  $24.44 (13.50+10.94). Thats 19.6% of sales.

That quite a bit to give up on a sale (in addition to the cost of processing the payment -about 5%).

But what does eBay bring to the table for all that money and effort?  Millions of potential buyers, who know that when they need to find something,  they just go to eBay– and this is a heck of an advantage. There is no way I can possibly get that kind of presence for about $25.00. But then again all I have to do is sell my stuff, not the millions of items listed on eBay.

My challenge is to see if I can sell my stuff for less without eBay. Next time,  I’ll let you know what platform I have chosen to use for my sales and why (which just may surprise you).

In the last couple of weeks, a nasty virus has been going around, so I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that you need to secure you computers. 

1. Use a firewall (built in to windows) make sure its turned on.

2. Install antivirus/antispyware software, use it, and  and keep it updated..

3. Keep your system updated. (Turn on automatic updates)

4. Secure your wireless network.

Resources

Microsoft Security Information

Secure your Wireless Network Please!

From BNET.com

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