im not the best web designer in the world....as a matter of fact im not even close ) whats wrong with just throwing my shirts up on ebay instead of having my own site? you people that have sites, can you throw some advantages and disadvantages my way please?
eBay has the advantage of a large user base which will certainly bring users to your auctions and listings. The downside is a competitive market, low obtainable prices, high cost associated with the fees and less creativity in the way you advertise your product.
If you feel like your designs would sell then invest in a webdesigner to make your website. If his anygood it'll just be a once-off investment and you can manage your site afterwards.
whats wrong with just throwing my shirts up on ebay instead of having my own site?
Well, low Ebay prices mentioned is the big drawback, plus the whole mess of Ebay fee's that really make it a hassle for one-sie two-sie shirt orders. I would also think that Ebay makes you appear less credible as a source for getting customers to purchase from you... if your trying to sell a "quality" product and establish a good name (my personal opinion)
You dont need to be a "great" web developer to make a usable site, in fact you dont need to know any code in order to use many of the Open Source systems out there. The shopping cart solution I use for my clients just has fields where you type in the information and upload the pictures...it automatically makes the thumbnail images. It comes with PayPal so all you need to use is your PayPal account number to get it going. You could have a website going in a few days.
Then if you used Ebay you could link back to your real website where you can "upsell" your services.
I ran an ebay site for 4 years, mostly vintage tees, but when I got into printing my own, problems started.
First off, PayPal would sometimes remove funds from my account simply because somebody claimed no receipt, and even though I had a tracking number to prove delivery, they would often ignore it and remove the funds permanently. The buyer got a free shirt, and I got an overdraft charge. I had no recourse for this.
I finally opened a merchant account and all was well, but when I listed my whole catalogue, I started getting auctions and store listings removed for "copyright infringement"
This really upset me, because I owned EVERY copyright I was using, I had signed license and royalty agreements with the bands and celebrities! I informed eBay of this, but weeks passed and my auctions continued to be delisted. Finally, a month later, eBay returned ONE of the 38 items they removed to the site, saying they had reviewed my license and determined it was valie, but by then, their own rules had determined that I had listed too many items with "possible" copyright infringement and they blocked my account.
While this made me mad because it cut off my cash flow, it made me madder because they had restricted access to my account and I had hundreds of items that had not shipped yet and NO WAY to find out who bought them! They would not return my access no matter what I did, and hundreds of buyers started compalining (I don't blame them!) eBay did not have a download feature at that time, so it was impossible for me to had downloaded all the addresses from eBay. The negatives started adding up and my feedback went from 98% to 70% in a matter of weeks. Finally eBay decided that I was ripping people off and permanently removed me from the system. I wrote letter after letter to them trying to explain and no one would respond. It seems the different business units at that company don't talk to eachother.
To add insult, in the middle of all this, eBay wrote me a nice letter explaining that two more of my disputed items would be returned to auction because they had verified the license.
In the end, it came to a lawsuit. yes, it got that ugly.
The point is, go it alone. No one owns your destiny but you at that point. eBay is good for selling unique junk, but I would never again put the ability to shut my business down in the arbitrary hands of a few.
Im rather new to this t shirt thing too !! but your story did sound sad :|
Now im currently trying out on cafepress, sorta a warm up lol before doing anything solid. Haven't realli tried e-bay though i must say there are definitely successful and unsuccessful examples from there.
Valcrow: If u are pretty into T shirts, u definitely heard of cafepress do u ? ( links below ) Try it if u haven't im a noob too and no harm sharing a bit of wad i noe.
Last edited by Rodney; June 6th, 2007 at 10:54 AM.
Reason: removed URL as per forum rules - feel free to add your site to your signature
Yes, I do have a cafepress account. I'm more confident going with eBay becuase I've done business through it hundreds of times and I'm pretty familiar and comfortable with it. from what I've heard about cafepress, they steal alot of your profits, but then again, so does eBay. I've also heard having fun with what your doing is the most important thing and if it just turns into a "strict business" atmosphere, then it will wear off quicker than my last job. I'm still counting the costs. Thanks for everybodys opinions, you gave me some inciteful ideas
Also read the "eBay" search tag threads to the left.
Ebay has ben doing nasty things recently, and is most efficiently used as an advertising revenue in a addition to a site.
While advertising on search engines and affiliate marketing can bring in a lot of online business for you...
More than 724,000 Americans use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income!
More than 1.5 million others say they supplement their income by selling on eBay!
Together, they sold over $44 billion dollars in merchandise on eBay in 2005!
That means Ebay is 5 times bigger in ecommerce than Amazon. Without a doubt, many individuals just like you, cash in daily on eBay big time. And we’re not talking about used goods, collectibles, and online auctions. The fastest growing category on Ebay is brand new items going at a fixed price.
But be warned, eBay works very differently. Not knowing what to do may waste you a lot of time and effort. But for insiders, eBay is sure to make you a lot of money with very little effort, to supplement your website.
While advertising on search engines and affiliate marketing can bring in a lot of online business for you...
More than 724,000 Americans use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income!
More than 1.5 million others say they supplement their income by selling on eBay!
Together, they sold over $44 billion dollars in merchandise on eBay in 2005!
That means Ebay is 5 times bigger in ecommerce than Amazon. Without a doubt, many individuals just like you, cash in daily on eBay big time. And we’re not talking about used goods, collectibles, and online auctions. The fastest growing category on Ebay is brand new items going at a fixed price.
But be warned, eBay works very differently. Not knowing what to do may waste you a lot of time and effort. But for insiders, eBay is sure to make you a lot of money with very little effort, to supplement your website.
Is this an eBay press release? Because it's outright propaganda.
I have been a seller on eBay for years, and am a major member of the powerseller's forum community.
eBay is a shell of its former self.
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If you do a search of these forums for eBay, you'll see I'm one of the greatest fans about. I'm also in mourning for what it was due to their 2006 restructuring, absurd new fee system, and the fact that many of the pillars of the eBay community have been forced to flee to St Elsewhere.
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Having ran my t-shirt business on both ebay and private site, I must say both are neccessary. Ebay draws you much more attention while having your own website makes you look more credible.
I've been with ebay (successfully) as a seller since before they went public. Ahhh the good ole' days.
Anyway, eBay is simply another avenue to maximize your business potential, both profits and exposure. eBay should be treated like any other avenue you utilize for your business - with due diligence.
Follow the rules, do your homework, and follow through and you'll be fine. eBay can be a great resource for exposure and income if operated like any other business you manage. Most of the grief I have heard from sellers and buyers, after chewing through the fat to the real story, comes from relying on and empowering eBay (or paypal) for to many aspects of thier operation.
with paypal, a dispute needs to be filed then escalated to a claim before funds are frozen in your paypal account. Usually good communication and customer appreciate solves most of the problems through the dispute faze. I can appreciate the frozen funds policy, mainly because I have actually gone over the user agreement and am not surprised with policy decisions. I have never had a dispute go to the claim faze because I will bend over backwards to appreciate my purchasing customer. Usually a dispute results from some form of miscommunication or slow email of some sort. Sometimes it's simply a overly demanding customer but this can be helped by being very thorough with your auction listing verbage.
Simply put, be very thorough with your expectation of your customer and be very honest with your listing. If a seller fudges anything they'll be called on it at some point in time.
eBay is a wonderful form of marketing and even better helping the exposure of your company. Read the usage agreement very well and dont fudge anything. Linking to your website within your listing is a nono UNLESS you are linking to "more information" about the specific product you are offering. if you fudge this your listing may last a while but it will eventually be pulled for policy reasons. If this happens and you know your stretching the rules then dont complain when you get caught.
Keep good records. when a person wins your auction take or print the information right away so you have it in house. Dont rely on anyone else to keep your own records for you. You wouldnt do that with a brick and morter business dont do it with eBay or paypal. if you do and for some reason eBay goes down, or worse yet restricts your account do to a dispute you cant blame anyone else but yourself for not being able to contact your customers. Thier YOUR customers not eBays or paypals. There is always time to collect email addresses after an auction ends. If you rely on paypal for your payment options you'll also have those records to communicate with them. Check your email often. eBay emails you the buyer information, so does paypal.
when you open an auction your effectively opening a store. Don't walk away and rely on eBay or paypal to operate your business... stick with it, communicate and appreciate your customers and all should be well.
good luck to you, I wish you the best in your business future.
my own site? or ebay.... 
) whats wrong with just throwing my shirts up on ebay instead of having my own site? you people that have sites, can you throw some advantages and disadvantages my way please?
