[impression4444]

Hello all,

I have created my own website - which is quite easy to do nowadays with templates.
...however...
I will not be "official" in any way for the first 6 months or so...and, I was wondering on how to be paid for post orders... Most people will pay by credit card or paypal (and I guess a few pay by checks?)?

Can I set up a paypal payment method without a vendor number and etc...?
I once sold a lot of stuff on ebay - but, they were the middle man and managed the payments.

Also, what are you comments about me having my own website as opposed to using a platform?

Thanks - any comments (even negative) will be appreciated!

P!erre!

 

[TABOB]

Hello all,

I have created my own website - which is quite easy to do nowadays with templates.
...however...
I will not be "official" in any way for the first 6 months or so...and, I was wondering on how to be paid for post orders... Most people will pay by credit card or paypal (and I guess a few pay by checks?)?

Can I set up a paypal payment method without a vendor number and etc...?
I once sold a lot of stuff on ebay - but, they were the middle man and managed the payments.

Also, what are you comments about me having my own website as opposed to using a platform?

Thanks - any comments (even negative) will be appreciated!

P!erre!

Having your own website is a good thing, as long as it is a professional looking one. The point is how do you promote it? How do you get people to visit and see what you have?
Ebay Amazon and Etsy do this for you.

 

[NoXid]

Everything TABOB said.

When I first built my own site, I used PayPal for the payment system. It works, and is fairly easy to implement. See their site for the current How To details. Note, I used the simple integration that only requires HTML tags to mark the relevant fields and your hidden PayPal key. Sorry, can't remember the details of it at this point ... guess it was only 3 or 4 years ago, but seems like ages. They may well have changed all that by now, don't no. Although people do not need a PayPal account and can use a credit card with this system, I was worried that people would think they needed a PayPal account, so I didn't keep this for long.

I soon redid my site to use Stripe, which requires some backend access to your server and coding in PHP, or the like, in order to integrate.

I'm no coding genius, but I can figure anything out if I have the time and interest. But if that is not for you, there are plugins for WordPress, and the like, that provide payment/cart integration.

For the time and effort I have put into my own site early on, I would have been better off getting started sooner with eBay, Etsy, etc.

 

[TABOB]

Everything TABOB said.

When I first built my own site, I used PayPal for the payment system. It works, and is fairly easy to implement. See their site for the current How To details. Note, I used the simple integration that only requires HTML tags to mark the relevant fields and your hidden PayPal key. Sorry, can't remember the details of it at this point ... guess it was only 3 or 4 years ago, but seems like ages. They may well have changed all that by now, don't no. Although people do not need a PayPal account and can use a credit card with this system, I was worried that people would think they needed a PayPal account, so I didn't keep this for long.

I soon redid my site to use Stripe, which requires some backend access to your server and coding in PHP, or the like, in order to integrate.

I'm no coding genius, but I can figure anything out if I have the time and interest. But if that is not for you, there are plugins for WordPress, and the like, that provide payment/cart integration.

For the time and effort I have put into my own site early on, I would have been better off getting started sooner with eBay, Etsy, etc.

PayPal still works the same way, and you can actually make it show the Credit Card form, or the Paypal Member form.
But why put all your eggs in one basket? I like stripe...

 

[impression4444]

I have actually many many many ways I have thought to put myself out there. But, to reply specifically, I wanted to own my own specific site and not feel like I was user #4513 of Amazon or Etsy or etc...
But, I will also try to sell on those sites - just want my main to be a .com.
I just tried some 2 hours ago to make a mock store and it worked real nice!
Not sure if this is TMI but...anyways... I have always been somewhat good in arts and only used them for fun. At the same time, I have been looking for a way to advance myself financially. Selling t-shirts seems like a nice venue because you are actually selling something "physical". People will also always need shirts.
Yesterday I went out and at least 1/3 of people wearing t-shirts had designs on them... I found that amazing!

 

[TABOB]

I have actually many many many ways I have thought to put myself out there. But, to reply specifically, I wanted to own my own specific site and not feel like I was user #4513 of Amazon or Etsy or etc...
But, I will also try to sell on those sites - just want my main to be a .com.
I just tried some 2 hours ago to make a mock store and it worked real nice!
Not sure if this is TMI but...anyways... I have always been somewhat good in arts and only used them for fun. At the same time, I have been looking for a way to advance myself financially. Selling t-shirts seems like a nice venue because you are actually selling something "physical". People will also always need shirts.
Yesterday I went out and at least 1/3 of people wearing t-shirts had designs on them... I found that amazing!

Well you are on the right track, and you have a lot of enthusiasm. That's good, but it is not that easy... so be prepared.

 

[webtrekker]

I have my own site, under my own domain, with Ecwid embedded to handle all the sales and shipping. Ecwid has a monthly or annual fee, but it's well worth it for the time and headache it has saved me. Adding new items and editing listings is a doddle and doesn't take up much of my time which allows me to concentrate on other, more important things.

I might add that I'm no stranger to website design an can code proficiently in HTML, PHP, JS, and use Ajax but still find Ecwid the best option.

 

[impression4444]

Well you are on the right track, and you have a lot of enthusiasm. That's good, but it is not that easy... so be prepared.

I don't have any experience but I figured that at first it would cost me like 1500$ and that I would have a very little boom - friends and family buying. Afterwards, it would take like 6 months before I could generate anything serious.
I am really starting from scratches because I don't really use facebook and have very few twitter followers. I will have to leave cards, pamphlets all over the city - each day!

 

[impression4444]

I have my own site, under my own domain, with Ecwid embedded to handle all the sales and shipping. Ecwid has a monthly or annual fee, but it's well worth it for the time and headache it has saved me. Adding new items and editing listings is a doddle and doesn't take up much of my time which allows me to concentrate on other, more important things.

I might add that I'm no stranger to website design an can code proficiently in HTML, PHP, JS, and use Ajax but still find Ecwid the best option.

I have learned HTML but that was like 20 years ago when internet was a baby... However, since then, there are zillions of site with modules that let you adjust the look you want.

 

[TABOB]

I might add that I'm no stranger to website design an can code proficiently in HTML, PHP, JS, and use Ajax but still find Ecwid the best option.

No it's not... but whatever .
Somebody who really knows how to code would never use Ecwid. I'm one of them.

 

[impression4444]

No it's not... but whatever .
Somebody who really knows how to code would never use Ecwid. I'm one of them.

Not that I would specifically know but, X years ago I was using something called MS Photodraw and I loved it! According to me, it was the best graphic tool eva!
Then...
MS discontinued, I switched to Mac, I tried winebottle to make it work. It kept crashing. I downloaded Gimp...and I think I used more profanity then Scarface those first months... Slowly it sank in and now, I love it...
Maybe the usage makes the user find a program or app the best one in the World...?

 

[TABOB]

Not that I would specifically know but, X years ago I was using something called MS Photodraw and I loved it! According to me, it was the best graphic tool eva!
Then...
MS discontinued, I switched to Mac, I tried winebottle to make it work. It kept crashing. I downloaded Gimp...and I think I used more profanity then Scarface those first months... Slowly it sank in and now, I love it...
Maybe the usage makes the user find a program or app the best one in the World...?

Well, GIMP and Photoshop are good options of raster graphics software.

 

[impression4444]

Well, GIMP and Photoshop are good options of raster graphics software.

Yes, specifically because all elements are separate. Once you have basic know how, you pick up speed. Once this is done - it's amazing elements how you can resize and retool just about anything!

 

[webtrekker]

I might add that I'm no stranger to website design an can code proficiently in HTML, PHP, JS, and use Ajax but still find Ecwid the best option.

No it's not... but whatever <img src="http://www.t-shirtforums.com/images/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Wink" class="inlineimg" />.
Somebody who really knows how to code would never use Ecwid. I'm one of them.

Yeah. Whatever.