Going to the next level, building an ecommerce site

**oddball** · Jun 1st, 2011, 03:21 PM

Alright, so I buy and sell a lot of things on the internet. It's how I make my money, but right now my system is terrible. I buy on ebay and forums and usually sell it on amazon. I make good money doing it but fees kill me. I also could get a better audience if I have my own site.

I started looking into ecommerce sites and I have heard a couple things. One of my buddies does a lot with making websites but he hasn't really doing ecomm sites. He did point me to something. He recommended using wordpress for the site and then this for the ecomm part.... (Wordpress ecommerce and member management plugin | Cart66) Has anyone tried this before or heard about it?

Before I talked to me friend, what I was planning on doing was buying a template and then having someone modify it. This is what I read from old threads on here. If I have someone make it, what do I need to know/do to maintain and run it afterwards?
Also, what are the costs to have someone build one? I'm sure they can get quite expensive but I would just be looking for a nice simple website to sell on. (I buy and sell used, sometimes new items. Almost like a pawn shop type operation)

Any help is appreciated, I have been trying to research as much as I can but it can get confusing sometimes.

Sparknotes: Need to make ecomm site to sell new/used things I buy. No more than around 50 sku's. I'm not the best programmer but can learn. I would rather just have easier to manage so I can focus on products more.

**Inphinity** · Jun 1st, 2011, 04:12 PM

Check out Magento, I'm not a huge fan of using Wordpress for a purely ecommerce site.

Shopify is pretty awesome, too, but is more expensive (though their package includes hosting etc)

**oddball** · Jun 1st, 2011, 04:25 PM

Thanks, I will have to check those out.

One thing I was thinking about doing is adding a blog to go with it? Still researching all my possibilities now though.

**oddball** · Jun 1st, 2011, 04:42 PM

Actually, I remember checking out shopify and yea, it is kind of pricey. I'll keep it in mind though.

**biophase** · Jun 1st, 2011, 06:39 PM

Are all the things you buy related? You can't just make a site and sell random things. You won't rank for anything and nobody will buy from you because your store is too random.

**458** · Jun 1st, 2011, 06:49 PM

Learn php & mysql, then make it pretty with some css.

**oddball** · Jun 1st, 2011, 06:56 PM

Originally Posted by biophase

Are all the things you buy related? You can't just make a site and sell random things. You won't rank for anything and nobody will buy from you because your store is too random.

98% of my stuff is electronics. I actually can't think of the last time I sold something that wasn't.

I also want to continue what I am doing with it and allow people to submit stuff that they want to sell.

**Ebee** · Jun 1st, 2011, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by oddball

98% of my stuff is electronics. I actually can't think of the last time I sold something that wasn't.

I also want to continue what I am doing with it and allow people to submit stuff that they want to sell.

Try Prostores, Volusion, Yahoo Stores and Godaddy they are all pretty easy to use.

**LightHouse** · Jun 1st, 2011, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by oddball

98% of my stuff is electronics. I actually can't think of the last time I sold something that wasn't.

I also want to continue what I am doing with it and allow people to submit stuff that they want to sell.

Right but i think what biophase is getting at is it random items that you only have one of? or do you keep an inventory of 50 skus that never change? If its random items yoou wont have them long enough to rank for them, then you will be ranking for things you dont have.

**Santiago Sosa** · Jun 1st, 2011, 09:16 PM

I'm an experienced web designer i totally recommend using wordpress.

I can help you with your new site pm me if interested.

Good luck

**oddball** · Jun 1st, 2011, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by LightHouse

Right but i think what biophase is getting at is it random items that you only have one of? or do you keep an inventory of 50 skus that never change? If its random items yoou wont have them long enough to rank for them, then you will be ranking for things you dont have.

Very true. I usually keep a lot of the same things kind of. For instance, I always get iPhones, models and sizes usually vary though. Same with ipods. I also deal a lot with camera and lens. One of the reasons I want to do it this way is I feel it would be better than not having a site for one. Also, paying the 3% paypal fee is better than amazon's 10-15% or ebays whatever %.

I'm trying to think future. I want to maybe look into wholesale. This way I can always have same items, same price, and buy when I need.

I was even thinking of doing an electronics blog?

**biophase** · Jun 2nd, 2011, 01:24 AM

Originally Posted by oddball

Very true. I usually keep a lot of the same things kind of. For instance, I always get iPhones, models and sizes usually vary though. Same with ipods. I also deal a lot with camera and lens. One of the reasons I want to do it this way is I feel it would be better than not having a site for one. Also, paying the 3% paypal fee is better than amazon's 10-15% or ebays whatever %.

I'm trying to think future. I want to maybe look into wholesale. This way I can always have same items, same price, and buy when I need.

I was even thinking of doing an electronics blog?

How are you going to get traffic to your store? To me, a random store selling iphones and ipads with camera lens will just look like a stolen Iphone shop. You would do better narrowing your niche down.

But the question is how will you get traffic? You can't exactly bid PPC of Ipads and Iphones. SEO will be very tough for those terms. The reason you pay Amazon and Ebay the 10-15% is because they get you the traffic.

What do you do the minute your site is completed and you have your products? What's the next step.

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