posted on January 9, 2001 09:27:03 PM new
I would like to start a small online business and I would like to know if I link my web page on my ebay auction do I have to pay ebay a commission? Where can I find a site that has free web pages. Thanks
posted on January 9, 2001 09:49:16 PM new
First, you don't have to pay ebay a commission but I would read the rules VERY carefully about linking. Not following them has gotten more than one seller in trouble.
As to free sites...just run a search for "free websites" & you'll find plenty.
But, if you want to use a domain name (like freemarket.com), there aren't many "free" sites that give you that option since most of them make their "money" off the banner support & their name recognition.
If you want to have your own domain name (.com, .net, .org, etc), then you either have to know someone who has their own server who can give you space or usually end up paying places which give you space & will support allowing you to use a domain name.
posted on January 9, 2001 10:06:54 PM new
I agree with eventer about reading the rules very closely. You don't want to get in any sort of trouble with ebay. Having a web page to make sales is a great way to increase your overall sales volume if you do it right. If you are looking for free web space, I would highly recommend Homestead (http://www.homestead.com). They have an editor that is very easy to use so you have to know virtually nothing about HTML and you can create some very nice pages. Also, you can get your own domain name with Network Solutions and have it forwarded to your homestead address, thereby avoiding those pesky hosting fees.
posted on January 9, 2001 10:41:06 PM new
Definitely read the rules on what you can and can't do.
Just as a note, you don't have to have a paid site to have a domain. You can register a domain and use a domain alias function which will make it appear that your free site is actually under a domain name.
I happen to have a paid hosting account that provides me unlimited storage space and bandwidth. (I got in with them when they were a start-up and now they're stuck honoring the agreement. They don't do this anymore.) I divide up my space into directories and each of those are a different domain. I actually have 7 different domain names running under the same hosting account space.
Network Solutions offers domain fowarding but this doesn't mask the actual location of the site and would do much less for the people on free accounts.
I recently switched to Low Cost Domains http://www.lowcostdomains.com for the domain aliasing. They are very cheap (I think it's $24 a year for the total cost of the domain including the original registration and free domain forwarding or aliasing) That's much cheaper than Network Solutions. They even allow you to set up as many email addesses to as many existing email accounts as you want. So, you could have [email protected][email protected] etc.
With their domain aliasing, you can make your geocities or homestead web address read as... www.whatever.com
It's a nice way to make you look like you're spending a lot more than you actually are. That's an awfully cheap way for those of you who want a web presence but want to use a free provider.
posted on January 10, 2001 07:52:15 AM new
It sounds like you would like to open up a merchant account. I have one through http://www.freemerchant.com.
What I like about freemerchant is, it's easy and free. If you decide to enable your cc acceptance, that will cost you extra. I use a link from ebay to draw customers to my site.
posted on January 10, 2001 08:45:30 AM new
I know when I come to this board I will get good information. It will take awhile before I get started but I want to do it right so ebay doesn't ban me. I need my ebay money so this web page isn't that important. Just thought I would try it. Has anyone done the ebay mall?
If so how are you doing? Thanks again for all the information. Your great!!!!!!!!!!
