Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ecommerce and business

Taking on the juggernaut that is Ebay?

pakoothefakoo — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:25:14 -0800

Taking on the juggernaut that is Ebay? I'm very well aware that there are numerous of failed Ebay/CL clones out there, but I have an idea for some kind of online marketplace that is a mix between Ebay and Craigslist using some kind of automated arbitrage system (I won't go into details, as it is not pertinent to my question).

Ebay and Craigslist are outliers, they both filled the need while there were no other alternatives and became a beast surviving on its own inertia. Other than technology costs, the barrier to entry in this business is quite high because people are loath to switch and it's difficult when you don't have any buyers or sellers using your system.

So my question is it possible to form a similar, successful business and reach critical mass in this day and age? If so, how do I convince people to use it when I have no critical mass?

I do believe that my vision is nifty, but I am aware of incredible challenges of getting people to use my system, is it worth trying?

ass gas or grass?

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:53:01 -0800

What are some examples of Medium-High Traffic websites that have successfully started to make money and how did they do it? It's been 5 years since This Question and many things have happened on the web. I help to run a pretty high traffic (~150k visitors a month) site in a specific demographic. I have some ideas about how to make money off of it without driving away our users, but some examples of others that went from labor of love to money-making without a lot of fuss or being sold would be helpful, but I can only think of giant ones, or Metafilter, obviously. Unique details would help a lot.

Thanks!

What should I sell online?

Elminster24 — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:02:05 -0800

Help me find something to sell online. My current site was de-indexed and while I'm working on getting that back in the rankings I'm looking for something else to sell and would like to experiment with sourcing a product myself versus going the affiliate route. I've dabbled in affiliate marketing and had a halfway successful eBay Partner Network based site that was bringing in about $400-$600/mo on average and growing. Unfortunately Google de-indexed it for reasons I'm still uncertain of. I'm working on relaunching the site with new content and hopefully that will help but this has made me realize I can't put all my eggs in one basket.

This is where you guys come in. I'm trying to think of unique product ideas to sell online. I know how to get a site designed and rather than a site that sells MANY products, I'm looking for a site that can sell just one or two specific ones. I'd love to be able to source my own products to make them unique but I really have no clue where to even begin with that. Aside from shady dropshipping scammers, can you guys recommend some good resources for determining how to source a product (preferably within the US), find suppliers, etc.?

Also, any suggestions on where I can get inspiration for a product to sell in my store would be appreciated.

I'm not looking for THE idea...just some resources to gain inspiration. Are there any matchmaking sites for people who want to sell their products online and are looking for partners (NOT affiliates)?

I have an idea for a unique information product but it is based on World of Warcraft and I don't have much hardcore knowledge of the details of that game so I don't know how to go about finding a writer for that sort of thing...

Working with an Independent (Clothing) Sales Rep vs. Cold Calling shops

braveterry — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:41:12 -0800

My wife has designed and produced several items of clothing for girls which are available online. She's interested in getting her items placed and sold through specialty shops and boutiques. She is trying to determine the best way to go about this without breaking the bank. (For example, the expense of a booth at a trade show is outside of our budget). She's thinking about working with an independent sales representative and/or cold calling shops directly.

What are the pros and cons of using an independent sales rep vs. DIY? She's especially interested in any financial considerations of either approach.

Any advice on how to find an independent sales rep?

Any tips on cold calling on a shop owners?

Can you recommend any resources that may be helpful to her (for example, she's heard of a line sheet but needs to understand how to prepare one and how to use it effectively; is the line sheet for the sales rep to use or for the shop owner)?

How to buy something from my customers through my simple e-commerce site?

rckites — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:38:56 -0800

I'm working on a website/business model that requires me to not only sell my products, but to also buy certain items from customers. I need to know if I can do this with my current CMS (Shopify.com) or any other CMSes out there Shopify has a really simple interface, and I like the way the storefront looks. However, it is really designed for selling items (their business model relies on a percentage of your sales, after all), and I don't know how to go about adding a page for buying rather than selling.

I have a very limited understanding of scripting, and I know shopify uses ruby/rails, but I'd like to know if it is at all feasible to do something like this. Would I have to use a different CMS? Would I have to create something from scratch?

Storage and Shipping in the same place?

theholotrope — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:25:30 -0800

How to get storage and shipping in one place for business? I plan on importing products into the US and selling them on ebay and maybe through Amazon. I need a service that stores my products and that I can also email a shipping address to them, If I sold something, and they can ship it for me as well. The idea would be that I send the container to a distribution center somewhere in the country and ship from there. I don't need to live anywhere near this distribution center, by the way.

Amazon does this with their Fulfillment program and looks like a good bet but I want to have options. They also force you to get your own webstore on Amazon for 40 bucks a month. But Im guessing this will be good for sales so its not a big problem. Oh, and I think they don't ship worldwide yet. Haven't checked into this recently.

Anybody know of a good service that does this?

eCommerce Locations

rougy — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:37:26 -0800

Best Country for eCommerce HQ I'm trying to set up an eCommerce biz here in New Mexico, and we have a 5% gross receipts tax. I was wondering if anybody else out there might be running an e-biz and if they had any suggestions for the best way to set things up.

Online Invoice Payments?

letterneversent — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 08:59:40 -0800

Online payments: I need a way to invoice and have clients pay invoices online. Not with Paypal because that requires too many hoops for the client. Preferably with something that will allow payments via a credit card using Authorize.net or Paypal Web Payments Pro. I currently invoice using Microsoft Money and print the invoice to PDF and email. I need a way to collect invoice payments online using a credit card or bank draft.

Yahoo Store comments

Ostara — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 06:27:43 -0800

Does anyone have any experience running or building a Yahoo! Store? How long do they take to set up? Can you enter in orders that are taken offline? Other comments welcome.

Taxation and Reporting for eCommerce

lilboo — Thu, 12 Aug 2004 08:31:41 -0800

Ecommerce filter: Here at work we are attempting to understand/define the default business rules for taxation calculations within an ecommerce app. Specifically we are all tied up in knots over the application of rates, reporting issues, etc. Is there an industry standard for handling this aspect of a transaction? Who defines the standards, and how can I find out more about it?

Help with small business tech resources

skallas — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 21:42:28 -0800

Can someone recommend a book or a resource for the small business owner, especially in regards to tech/eCommerce? Not a tech book, but something that can clue me in to 'businessy' stuff like advertising, accounting, employee issues, etc? There's *a lot* of stuff at amazon and at my library. A few recommendations would really be appreciated.