hi,
have had similar experience recently... was doing a survey about online dollar stores, and all of a sudden i had one! i mean, i did register for it and all, but it's a lot like tennis's vstore sounds... here's a lil summary in case anyone's interested...
just filled out the info and *poof* i had a store! they fill it with stuff, BUT you *can* add your own stuff in a 'store owner special' section. it's almost all dollar stuff, w/ section also for 'gifts 10 and under'... they are like vstore.com in that they supply the merch., and you are responsible for promoting etc. you get .25 for every $1 thing you sell, and $25 if someone opens their own store via your link. you can also copy their pics and post them on ebay; and remove any items from your store you want to sell on ebay for more. (by category or indiv. item). it's like a dropshipper in that if someone purchases something from you via your ebay sales, then you go to your store and order it, and they send it (w/ an invoice w/ no prices) to your buyer. (people can also buy direct in the dollar store)...in a bad way, it is also like a dropshipper in that you never know if you're getting what you order! which was my problem. i ordered some stuff i thought seemed worth more than $1, to check it out personally... several items had a diff. image or reversed images than what was showed in the store.. so if you list it on ebay w/o having it 'in hand', it's possible your customer will not be happy! but the quality of the items was not as bad as i was expecting, and everything was in good shape.
plus, i bought 17 things and got $4.25 in my account, so basically everything i got was .75 cents! and there's flat shipping, 3.95 no matter how much you order (which is good cuz i'll prolly just order stuff i like and that sells well in bulk, anyway).
you can't customize the store (you can pick btwn several layouts, tho), and it's 30/month after the first month. i haven't had the month yet, and have yet to decide what to do. tried listing it w/ search engine but don't know how results will add up.... no one's purchased anything yet, tho it does seem some peeps have been there. have yet to check out vstore, but i'm betting they have decent stuff... anyway, that's my 2 cents!! oh, btw, can you list stuff that's in your vstore on ebay, like i mentioned? just curious!
quote:Originally posted by debkwek:quote:postal ID for shipping
I just opend a vstore.ca how do you set up postal ID for shipping?
You will need to go here:
http://www.uspsprioritymail.com/et_regcert.html
and register with USPS they will then send you a user ID and a Password in your email you provide them. The registration is on the right side about half way down the USPS web page, you will see it. If I remember correctly after I got the shipping module all set up, it still would not work. The reason being was I had to call them to make it active.
Im sorry I do not remember that number. You can ask someone in the vstore forum and they will help you when you get to where you need to call them. As a matter of fact the people in the forum will help you with anything you need...they are very knowledgeable. Remember, you are setting this store up to your exact specifications and it will take some time to get used to all the modules and options.
Alot of the actual store features are set to default which is where they should be, but you will be in control of what actually goes on and how the store functions. It took me 2 or 3 days to get everything set up so dont get to frustrated. These are real stores and many of them are quite successful. I hope yours will be too.
One thing to note' When you get the store all set up and you think its ready for business, before you go active, test the store first to make sure everything is working properly. Make your self a fake test account and try to purchase a test product and go through the whole checkout process with the fake account. If you have no problems checking out then your ready to go.
I hope this helps!, William
quote:Originally posted by tennisntrains:
Its possible that, since I didn't grow up with computers, I'm in that black space where the over 60 age group finds itself....technicially challenged.
tennis
LOL, I know what you mean. I feel that way sometimes too. There's so much stuff on the internet and on the market nowadays that I just cant seem to grasp or have no clue about. Drives me insane! I wouldnt know what to do with an IPOD if you put one in my hand, except stare at it...lol. I guess as long as it has an on/off button at least I can tinker with it, even if I havent a clue..lol
quote:Make your self a fake test account and try to purchase a test product and go through the whole checkout process with the fake account
How do i do this? if i do that wont i be paying for my own item though paypal
Hi, It will not let you purchase an Item with the same paypal account that your paying to. What I did was use my wifes paypal to buy a dummy product and then sent the amount back to her paypal.
I also wanted to mention to you that if you just want to charge a flat rate for shipping and dont want to use weight as a measure for prices. You wont need to get the usps ID. You can specify a flat rate shipping and make the price whatever you like in your shipping module.
If you have anymore problems, or questions, you would be better off to go on the vstore forums. It is very helpful and the people there would be more qualified to help you than I would. It has been over a year since I even messed with the modules in the store and my recollection of how everything works may not be as accurate as I remember it.
Fortunately, the things you have asked me so far I remember somewhat...Thats a miracle in itself...lolol. Its amazing what the brain retains...I had no idea I would even remember some of this stuff..lol
There have been alot of added features since when I first started, like the google crawling tool and other stuff. You will find all kinds of info about stuff in the vstore forums.
Hope this helps you!
I also wanted to mention to you that if you just want to charge a flat rate for shipping and dont want to use weight as a measure for prices. You wont need to get the usps ID. You can specify a flat rate shipping and make the price whatever you like in your shipping module.
If you have anymore problems, or questions, you would be better off to go on the vstore forums. It is very helpful and the people there would be more qualified to help you than I would. It has been over a year since I even messed with the modules in the store and my recollection of how everything works may not be as accurate as I remember it.
Fortunately, the things you have asked me so far I remember somewhat...Thats a miracle in itself...lolol. Its amazing what the brain retains...I had no idea I would even remember some of this stuff..lol
There have been alot of added features since when I first started, like the google crawling tool and other stuff. You will find all kinds of info about stuff in the vstore forums.
Hope this helps you!
Hi, its me, ole Tennis the confused!
I finally opened a store! Its a .ca one from ecrater and although I did have some problems, the folks there were very helpful.
Its not the best one I've ever seen, but slowly but surely I'm learning.
Have a look at it Westvatexan....you're my inspiration and mentor!
I called it "Jean's Jeans" .... those great looking kids are from our "gene" pool
http://jeansjeans.ecrater.com/
I finally opened a store! Its a .ca one from ecrater and although I did have some problems, the folks there were very helpful.
Its not the best one I've ever seen, but slowly but surely I'm learning.
Have a look at it Westvatexan....you're my inspiration and mentor!
I called it "Jean's Jeans" .... those great looking kids are from our "gene" pool
http://jeansjeans.ecrater.com/
"But in any case submit your store to as many search engines and free link exchanges as you can find and another good thing to do is join the "The Rail" community"
Hi, I have been accepted by The Rail, but I don't know how to put the required html information onto my auction site.
Can you contact me at: jeanjb@cox.net and walk me through it.....
Thank you very much,
Jean
Hi, I have been accepted by The Rail, but I don't know how to put the required html information onto my auction site.
Can you contact me at: jeanjb@cox.net and walk me through it.....
Thank you very much,
Jean
quote:Originally posted by tennisntrains:
Have a look at it Westvatexan....you're my inspiration and mentor!
I called it "Jean's Jeans" .... those great looking kids are from our "gene" pool
http://jeansjeans.ecrater.com/
Wow, Thats a great looking store! Im jealous, I thought I did ok on mine but your's is fantastic!. Excellent job!
"I have been accepted by The Rail, but I don't know how to put the required html information onto my auction site."
Hi Westvatexan....you answered this question for me last week and I saved it in my "folder" .....but it was erased when I upgraded to Windows XP. In fact, all my saved folders and emails were wiped out. My computer person didn't know that XP would do some formatting that would cause things to disappear.
Anyway, if you kept a copy, would you please resend it....I would really appreciate it.
Thank you!!
Tennie
Hi Westvatexan....you answered this question for me last week and I saved it in my "folder" .....but it was erased when I upgraded to Windows XP. In fact, all my saved folders and emails were wiped out. My computer person didn't know that XP would do some formatting that would cause things to disappear.
Anyway, if you kept a copy, would you please resend it....I would really appreciate it.
Thank you!!
Tennie