Taking the plunge from ebay to our own site..

[JustinH]

Hey Folks,

For the past two years I have been doing internet sales for a friend of mine's auto salvage yard. We were asked to sell his engines on an ebayStore. The url is www.product-solutions.net.

This has worked pretty well at the current 2 cents per item per month listing fee, but ebay has since gotten greedy and will start charging 10 cents at the end of august.

We are in the works of designing our own website.

I am looking for all options to generate solid traffic, and leave ebay completely.

Things were fine on ebay, we run 6800 items, we were getting nearly 6000 hits per day doing no extra advertisement except froogle and google base.

Then ebay changed the promotion of stores, we struggled to get 1000 hits per day, now we are seeing 1600 per day but its not worth the money.

Our product is used automotive parts from a salvage yard.

I remember seeing a website a year or so ago that would submit classified ads to thousands of physical newspapers for a fee around 700 dollars. Do any of you folks know what site this was, and if it is even worth it to go this route?

My second question would be this. My goal for this site, is to get at least 10,000 hits per day. Is this an obtainable goal, or am I just dreaming?

Thanks to everyone,

Justin

[Inspector]

Yes, Meg Whitman is the teflon CEO. She continues to screw up that company but no one will take her to task on it.

Good luck with your endevor. They are very tough questions to answer because few will know the demand for your product.

[spiritualprincess]

Personally I feel there would be a great market for the junkyard business on here.
I owned 5 older model cars in my time and I would often use the secondhand parts dealer when the car would breakdown. The thing here is that most junkyards are outside of city limits so you have to travel a clip to get your part. Also you usually wait till they take it off another vehicle or (as in one establishment) you could take it off yourself and they would give you a deal.
Who wants the hassel? A website would list what they have in stock, you click to order and its that simple. You wait for your part to be shipped.

[soniqhost.com]

You can try craigslist which has classified ads you can submit to. The problem you might run into is getting traffic to your site. One way you can increase traffic is through ppc ads on google and yahoo. The other way through natural search results. Under the best options it would take a couple months to perfect your site to search results. You may want to stay on ebay while building up your site. Just a suggestion.

[bj]

There already is a pretty huge demand for your product, as Ebay has proven. You obviously also know how to deal with shipping and the other stuff since you've been doing it with ebay. Yes, if you do it right you should succeed with this, but don't expect it to happen overnight. It'll take a couple years for you to build this to a reasonably producing level.

The amount of traffic, though it's important, isn't as important as the conversion rate.

I hope Tubby chimes in on this thread, he's the expert in dealing with classic automotive stuff.

I don't know if you've ever heard of the automotive shows at the fairgrounds in Carlisle, PA, USA (it's HUGE, draws folks from 20 states or so, and is in its 33rd year.) but you might want to look into that if you haven't. It's a natural place for you to advertise. If you exhibit there I think you get a linkback.

Good luck.

[JustinH]

Excellent posts everyone,
The good advise is greatly appriciated.

BJ- there is a pretty decent demand right now for used parts. I am very familiar with the Carlisle show, we attend at least one of them per year, i never thought of a link exchange with them, great stuff.

[bj]

JustinH, if you deal with the hotrod and ratrod crowd, I might have something for you to particpate in that might benefit both of us. Drop me a line if you want to learn more. bj at kickasswebdesign dot com

Oh, and don't let it stop at Carlisle. How about advertising with Lead East or the other HUGE shows? I know there are a bunch on the west coast as well. Advertise either in their print programs or on their websites. Oh, and there's a site I know pulls good traffic (though I don't particularly care for the site) that's called HotRod Hotline.

[cz]

I looked at some of your inventory. Very pricey engines - probably fair (not my point). Is it really a huge deal to go to 10 cents an item? $680 is probably the profit from a not so expensive offering. I don't think that's way out of line. I don't know what you meant by losing traffic due to eBay store promotion. Is this something that used to be free and is not available or a feature you have to pay "more" for now? Or is it just impossible to get the same promotional help you were getting?

You should have no trouble getting a site up and building a great site around your parts. Design will be costly - since I shop at used car parts websites - and the features that are "packed" into a good auomotive supply site must be a designer's dream! (or nightmare)

You'll start off with a lot less hits than you're getting today, but should be able to build on this quickly with good SEO, directory listings and links. 6000 hits a day is "mad optimism" 10,000 well...you're at the right forum for SEO but it's going to be uphill all the way - I noticed your domain isn't listed in Google - so I'd try to work eBay (as best you can) - while developing the new site IMO. Good luck!

[wallmann]

One thing you might try is to set up a simple blog at http://www.blogger.com/home and make a few posts about what you have. Then go to Feedburner.com and enter the URL of your blog and let them generate a feed for your site and go thru all of their steps and they will show you how to announce to everyone each time you make a post (it's called pinging).

I use this method with my blog located at http://homebusinessnow.blogspot.com

[bj]

wallman, a blog is a great idea but WHY GIVE ALL THE GOOGLY GOODNESS TO BLOGSPOT???? Better to use real blogging software on your own domain.

Much more info on that in this thread.

[Bluevoodu]

Originally Posted by Inspector

Yes, Meg Whitman is the teflon CEO. She continues to screw up that company but no one will take her to task on it.

lol.... NO kidding. I used to sell on Ebay. I still do here and there, but they raised the fees so much. Even though it was a nickel here and there, it really adds up for power sellers. IE for product that I DIDN'T sell... I ended up paying at least $100 more per month... so I quit selling on there.

My site receives nearly 66,000-70,000 hits per day (over the entire site), but my trouble right now is getting sales up to a good level to start making a normal living from this.

To my other topics out there needing a response, the responses are coming shortly.

†B†V†

[Jerryb]

Generating a good traffic flow for a new website is not an easy job. I,ve had my t-shirt shop going for almost three years and have tried all types of things to advertise it and generate traffic. It has just started picking up this year, but nothing like 6000 hits a day. (I wish) If I had 6000 hits a day and the same conversion rate that I have now, I could sit back and relax.

If you could get your new site linked from an already established automotive site, it would help a great deal. Not something hidden on a link page, but a prominate link on the main page! Or, possibly pay for a slot on tv or radio!

Good luck! Because getting a new site noticed is a lot of hard work!

Oh! Just in case anyone is interested, my site can be found at:

Dene's Place!

[cz]

BJ - All,

I posted my blog dilemna in the thread BJ alluded to. http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic...65448&start=25

I would be most obliged if anyone could take a peek at my post and consider offering me some advice.

Thanks!
Chuck

[davidmg]

Keep your Ebay store.
1)Building a website with 6800 items will take a few months to build.
2) It will take a long time to build traffic over 6000 hits per day. Unless you havve deep pockets and plan on spending a fortune on PPC.
3) Keep your Ebay store even after your website takes off. You will see that there are ebay shoppers and there are internet shoppers. IE Wallmart and Neiman Marcus don't always share the same customer.

I own an Ebay Store http://stores.ebay.com/Patio-Home-and-Hearth Along with 8 websites and a retail brick-n-motar store. And they all have different customers. Sometimes we get people comming into our retail store with printed out pages of our website only to find out that our instore prices are the same or less. Some days Ebay might sell more than one of our websites or even our retail store (right now our state flower is in full bloom "orange barrels" in front of our store and it will be till October) some days are slow in the store.

I always feel that a buck is a buck and the bank has never asked me where it came from. Our store, the websites or Ebay except when I deposit several money orders per day from Ebay customers.

10 cents per item is CHEAP!!!!!! That's a full month 30 days of unlimited clicks! Try paying $1 - $2.00 per click if they buy or not!

If your concerned about the 10 cents raise the price of each item $1.20 Then your covered for the year!

Compare the cost of an Ebay store verses a webisite. Hosting fees on a website with 6800 items can run $100 - $250 a month and some take a cut of each sale! Then you have your credit card processing I use First Data 1.96% for internet sales this is good. My retail store is 1.65% (phone in orders are ran throuh the store terminals).

Ebay is very few phone calls where a website is constant phone orders (many prople don't like giving CC info online). I have 4 full time customer service people handling phone orders, October - January I have 8 - 10.

I am considering opening another store one of the Pro Stores that Ebay is promoting. This one will allow you to maintain your inventory in your store and on Ebay it could be easier for you.

If you still feel that the 10 cents per item is too much drop some of your slow sellers and promote them on your website.

Good Luck hope this sheds some light.

[rickbkis]

I would very much second the last poster. It will take six months to a year for google to even list you, if my experience is any indication.

Blogs and e-mail newsletters are good hit, too, if you provide something of real interest to a target audience.

I have to say, I think what Chris has done with his e-mail campaign for WebProWorld has been impressive and caused me to re-think mailing lists.

rickb

[ebugs]

There is some really good advice in here and I think if I could afford it I would take the combo route. Keep the ebay store, cut back on some of your items if you have to but keep the income coming in AND build your site now and start working on natural serp listings. It takes a looong time for organic search to pay off but in most cases when it kicks in you will be glad you worked your a@@ off to get there.

Its been a while back but I sold hi-po parts through an online site using nothing more than classified ads offline..ie: Hot Rod, Car Craft, etc until the organic took off. This worked well and wasnt very expensive. I moved to the NC coast and it ended up being to tough to find parts so I abandoned it but you are already on the right track just don't expect anything overnight and keep plugging

[Christian_SEO]

It's hard to make a quick recommendation on the choice of building a site or not, you will have to decide if the considerable initial investment is worth losing the ongoing fees from ebay. Your own site will have fees as well... You should probably spend an hour or two with a highly paid consultant to really take a look at all the factors.

Perhaps starting your own auto parts auction site would be an option? If others are unhappy with ebay like you seem to be, then it could be a chance to start a somewhat larger business that goes beyond just selling your parts...

I had saved some of those places that offer newspaper network classified ads. Seemed like they could be good but have not tried them so be cautious:

http://www.nationwideclassifieds.com...n2/index2.html
http://www.mnnewspapernet.org/networ...MCAN/mcan.html
http://www.mediabids.com/
http://www.newspapertest.com/

Now, along this same line I would suggest looking at on-line classifieds. Many sites are junky, but some are well-run and inexpensive. Or free. We have two sites that would be perfect for you to place ads for engines and parts. You can only have one ad to advertise your company, but if you create ads for products you can have one ad per item AND mention your company and have a link to your site. We have 11 different sites on different topics, but the two you want are:

www.racecar2000.com 400k page views/month, 25k visitors
www.auto-repair-classifieds.com 50k page views, 3k visitors

You can have up to 4 photos and 400 words to describe your items. There is no cost.

You should also look at Google Base and Oodle.com. And if you are listing your products in Froogle.com, we can take the same file you send them and create your ads for you! Yes, massive amounts of free advertising, although you may need to spend some time creating ads or preparing inventory files.

[Peopleunit]

Keep a select inventory of items on eBay and include a link to your "About Me" page in your descriptions. On your about me page you can include a comprehensive writeup about what you do and a description of what a person will find at your website, along with a link to your website.

Just don't mention any specific products or special deals for vistors who venture on over to your website, as eBay doesn't allow you to include info on specific products, etc.

This will allow you to make the best use of eBay, as it should be used, a marketing tool, as opposed to your sole selling platform.

Comparing your own website vs your eBay store, you will probably be spending a comparable amount for search engine marketing and such, but the real benefit will come about as you build your own customer base, and you'll be able to monetize the traffic going to your site in ways that just aren't possible with the likes of eBay or any of the other storrfront packages you find out there such as those offered by Yahoo, etc.

I believe there are some auto parts directories comparable to Froogle that are dedicated to used auto parts, you may want to explore getting your inventory listed with some of those networks as opposed to generic online classifieds such as Craig's List.

Look at it from the buyer's perspective. What are the search engine results when they do a search for your products? If you can include pertinent content and features on your site that go well beyond selling product, that content will boost your ranking in the search engines and the features such as forums where your visitors can participate in community discussions and perhaps create a showcase where they can display their project vehicle projects and more.

In other words, give your visitors something more than just a storefront and you'll be that much more interesting and useful to them.

[Clint1]

Originally Posted by JustinH

Hey Folks,

For the past two years I have been doing internet sales for a friend of mine's auto salvage yard. We were asked to sell his engines on an ebayStore. The url is www.