posted on July 27, 2006 03:16:31 PM new
Hi Everyone,
With the Ebay fee hike, I think several of us are looking at our Vendio Stores or thinking about opening one as another serious venue to sell our products.
Another seller and I thought it would be nice to have a thread dedicated to discussing tips and strategies.
Please see the thread "Turning off Ebay auctions" to see what has been discussed already and post here with any ideas of your own.
I know I would really like to see my Vendio store work as I'm sure you all would too.
And who knows maybe this will light a fire under Vendio to improve the store platform.
posted on July 31, 2006 03:37:13 PM new
As mentioned in the earlier post, I put a coupon about the vendio site in the buyers envelope. I also have been printing out a list of my Vendio items that are similar to the ones the customer bought on ebay.
Today, I had a customer who had purchased an eBay item last week, come into the store and buy two more Geraldine Fararr items. Then he came back later in the day and bought some Victor records ads. Very happy with the total sales for this customer.
So, it is working. Just keep at it. They will come.
Beth
www.vintageads4u.com
[ edited by vintageads4u on Jul 31, 2006 03:38 PM ]
posted on August 1, 2006 12:49:13 AM new
Can you post big banner of your own Vendio Store on ebay listing?? Currently, I have it only on the Vendio Gallery-- lottery Machine. Thanks for your answer.
To answer your question, DigitalPearlBiz, the link to your Store in your Gallery is configured to meet eBay requirements (they have specific requirements governing promotional links in listings) - we would NOT recommend posting any additional links or resizing the existing link to your Vendio Store as doing so could cause your listings to violate eBay's regulations (and they may end your listings early).
You can promote your items more effectively off eBay by using Inventory Publisher, and signing up for a Shopzilla account. Also, your items will be cross-promoted during checkout if you are using Vendio Checkout.
I only use Vendio for image hosting and my store. My Vendio store has nothing to do with my Ebay listings and store. I use to have SMME but switch to SMIE when Inventory Publisher was rolled out.
Is there someplace that I can set-up cross promotions for my Vendio Store customers when they check-out? I haven't been able to find it. Thanks in advance.
posted on August 6, 2006 06:32:22 AM new
Hi Diana,
Can you provide the code for the Vendio Store link box that is now under Additional Information.
I used to have the gallery code in my custom text box so that it would display right under my description.
I would like to do the same with the Vendio Stores box which links to the Ebay page.
I can then uncheck display in all my listings box so that it isn't duplicated.
Gottaluve: Unfortunately, if you are not using Vendio's Gallery or Vendio to list, it is not possible to automatically include a link to your Vendio Store in your eBay listings.
Gerri: I do see that you have the box checked "Promote and increase traffic to my Store. Include a Store banner in all of my auctions." If you have the Vendio Gallery, then this link appears as part of the Gallery. If you do not have the Vendio Gallery, then a button will be included in your listings. For your new listings that are listed through Vendio, there will now automatically appear a link to your Vendio Store.
posted on August 6, 2006 11:42:39 AM new
Hi Nathan,
Thank you for your reply, but that is not what I asked. I apologize if I wasn't clear.
I am talking about when I have a Vendio store customer, forget Ebay which has nothing to do with this. When this customer makes a purchase and goes through the Vendio Store check-out process can I set up cross promotions for them to see? I use SMIE to add inventory to my Vendio Store.
posted on August 6, 2006 11:55:30 AM new
Hi Nathan,
Yes, the little link button/banner is currently under Additional Information. I see it there.
But, what I would like to do is move the button up into my listings so that it is MORE VISIBLE.
I would like the code for the banner so I can paste it into my custom text box. Then I can add some wording above it such as Click Here To View All My Listings.
I don't think it will be very effective where Vendio places it now.
posted on August 6, 2006 11:58:52 AM new
Hi Sharon,
I don't know if SMIE is the same, but in Merchandising when you create a new listing at the bottom of page there is a button you can click to ADD ITEMS for cross promotion.
It is located next to the area where you input the price, quantity and select store category.
You can select up to four and also add either percentage off discounts or a flat discount such as $1.00 off.
posted on August 6, 2006 12:56:56 PM new
Hi Gerri,
You know, I think I remember that now when I was using SMME. I switched to the Inventory edition solely because of the roll out of Inventory Publisher.
However, I am not going to open a Shopzillia account, so it might be a better move for me to move back to SMME.
Thanks I appreciate you help.
Exactly what type of cross-promotion are you trying to add? Gerri is correct if you are trying to cross-promote different items that are all within your Vendio Store. In Sales Manager Inventory Edition you can do this be selecting the inventory item and clicking "Edit". Then go to the "Payment & Shipping" tab and click on the pencil icon below "Postsale & Checkout". Then scroll down to the "Promote More Items" section.
If you are trying to cross-promote with something that is not in your Vendio Store, there would not be a way to add this to the actual checkout process. But you could add a link to the item descriptions, or to your post-sale messages.
Gerri,
I think I understand now. Sorry about the confusion. You should be able to put the html code for this button in a different part of the listing. You can take the code from an existing listing. Note that the code is specific to your account. I have included a copy below for your reference.
posted on August 7, 2006 06:19:29 PM new
Diana: Are you asserting that links to our VD store that show only the ebay listings are no longer allowed on our ebay listings? It takes the user to the same page that the VD logo button does.
In lieu of the VD button I use a "click here to search my ebay listings" . It was approved by eBay over a year and a half ago. Further, I have the response that VD made back then saying it should be legal.
Has something changed??? Thanks for any input.
Beth
www.vintageads4u.com
Edited to say: Shopzilla has not received good reviews from VD users on the boards, yet. If anyone does have a good response from using them then let me know. From what I read, they are too expensive. Comments?
[ edited by vintageads4u on Aug 7, 2006 06:21 PM ]
posted on August 9, 2006 09:51:43 AM new
Hello Beth,
If eBay approved your link, you should be fine. You can only have *one* link or banner to each different service in your listing, so if you had a banner AND a link you would be in violation. But as long as your link meets the 2-click and size requirements, there should be no problem. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
posted on August 20, 2006 08:59:22 AM new
Thanks for bringing this linking issue up. Beth I looked at your link on one of your listings and thought great, I'll just do that. I made a graphic with text and put it into my "custom text box" which shows up right under the description. I was happy with it, but then I came back and read Diana's reply. I knew about the 2 click rule but not about a size requirement.
Well, needless to say, the size they (ebay) allow for a banner is tiny. So I redid the thing and just named it the same as the previous, larger one and uploaded it and it replaced the larger one just fine. The last thing I need right now is to have my listings cancelled by ebay because my banner was too large.
Which brings me to my question..when I looked up the size requirement, for text it says no more than 10 words and no larger font size than 3. I know there are different ways to size fonts, but what is 3? My font size doesn't even start till 8.
I'm not sure if plain text would be more visible than my little banner, but the other thing I am wondering about is..in order to get customers to click on that banner to view my listings, should I remove my ebay store categories from next to my template?
Has anyone tried it both ways to see what works best?
I did have a couple of Vendio Store purchases but from customers I sent there directly. Of course I like only paying 1% for those sales, plus with Vendio Store listings I save the additional 6 cent listing fee, which with ebay's raise translates into 11-16 cents per ebay store listing charged per month, which does make a big difference from just paying 2 cents before I transferred to Vendio.
Right now I've signed up for an e-commerce package with PSU and plan on getting my own site going and if I could get enough of my multiple item and repeat buyers to click on the Vendio link, I am hoping to completely do away with the ebay store.
Also, I am giving serious consideration to using the PP redirect thereby "forcing" my buyers to check out through Vendio. I've been hesitant to do that because I used to use Marketworks and my customers hated that check-out and all it's problems, but so far my buyers checking out through Vendio have had no complaints (but right now it is optional for them)
Any input is appreciated. Just like everone else, I am trying to figure out what will and won't work and still stay in business,at least until the next fee hike, when hopefully my website will be pulling it's own weight.
