Tips on Promoting, Shipping and Driving Traffic to your okay Store.
PRICING ITEMS:
How much profit you want to make is entirely up to you. Depending on what you sell, if your items are priced too low you'll be working for peanuts, price it too high and you won't be selling any.
You need to factor in all the individual line item costs before you set your retail price.okay takes a percentage of the final sale price (final value fee). If you use Paypal to accept payments electronicallythey'll take a percentage as well, plus a small transaction fee. okay does not include shipping costs when they calculate their final value fee while Paypal does .
Other okay fees include auction, buy it now, store inventory and those for additional pictures as well as any optional listing features.
However, you can save on the okay insertion fees by pricing items just at or under the break range. For instance, if you want to sell an item for $50.00 then price it at$49.99 (instead of $50.00) and you'll save 50% on the insertion fee. (okay Basic Fees)
You must also consider the cost of your shipping material. At the Laundry Bag Store Online we know the exact weight of each item down to the printed invoice. By knowing the exact weight of each item including the shipping material, you can tell if a buyer is being truthful if they claim that an item was not included with their order since the shipping weight is printed on the postal receipt.
Some sellers set up their listing to use the shipping calculators while others use the flat rate option. It may boil down to a matter of choice, but on some items one be better to use than the other and sometimes the calculator is unavailable which can result in a lost sale.
If you use okay's Turbo Lister, you can easily make a duplicate copy of a listing, one with flat rate shipping andthe other with the calculator. Experiment with each to see which give you the best results.Stores with a large volume of products should use the calculator.
Keep in mind that savvy buyers know if they are being overcharged for shipping. Don't risk losing a repeat customer by overcharging for shipping. A small handling charge is an acceptable industry standard.
GUARANTEE:
Just what is your guarantee? Your guarantee and any store policies should be clear and well defined. Wishy-washy policies are sure to confuse your buyers. Work with your buyers. Consider bending the rules for a valued customer or a large order if it will mean future business.
FEEDBACK:
Open any business and you automatically have a reputation. It is within your power to create a good reputation or a bad one. For okay sellers and buyers your feedback page is your reputation and is one of the most widely viewed pages.
Trying to keep a 100% positive feedback is the ultimate goal. However, there are some things that may be beyond your control, for instance, a buyer may have had a bad day and decided to take their frustration out on you.
Still certain buyers may have their email accounts set up to block spam, AOL and hotmail accounts are notorious for this. Avoid including any links, pictures, attachments and/or HTML code in any emails sent to these accounts.
If you need to contact a buyer with an AOL or hotmail email address, first send a basic text only email to let them know you are contacting them and then follow it up with an email that contains HTML.
Lapse a store policy if it could mean the difference between getting positive feedback and negative feedback.
If an item is out of stock, email the buyer as soon as possible. Include an estimated shipping date.
SHIPPING:
Some sellers use UPS while others use the USPS. The Laundry Bag Store Online uses the USPS so these tips are based on shipping with the USPS. Some of the information you may already be aware of.The USPS offers several types of free shipping boxes, mailers and envelopes. However, some of these can add extra weight and thus add extra cost to your shipping. Aside from using postal rate calculators you can printor ask your local post office for Notice 123, rate fold. The notice includes all the current postal rates. You can print Notice 123 in PDF format by visiting http://pe.usps.gov.(do not include the www.)
You will also need a Postal Service Zone Chart,which is not included in Notice 123 but is available at: postcalc.usps.gov/zonecharts/ (do not include the www.)
13.1 oz. is where First Class postal rates ends and Priority Mail or Parcel Post rates begin up to 70 lbs. The cost of shipping most items Priority Mail vs. Parcel Post is small and can be the difference between getting positive feedback or negative feedback, a satisfied customer or a dissatisfied customer.
Depending on the weight and size, some items may be best shipped via Parcel Post instead of Priority Mail. The saving amount between Priority Mail and Parcel Post increases significantly as the weight increases and you can pass this saving on to your buyer.
Shipping Parcel Post takes a few days longer so make sure your buyer is willing to accept the delay. However, keep in mind that there are specific guidelines when shipping packages via Parcel Post. Notice 123 and the USPS web site list all the required criteria.
Another shipping option offered by the USPS is Priority Mail Flat Rate. You can ship to any US destination regardless of weight for a specific cost. The post office offers free flat rate boxes in two sizes as well as a flat rate mailer.
If you buy your own shipping boxes the size of the box may exceed the USPS shipping limits and you may have to pay additional shipping. The gebined length and girth of a piece (the length of its longest side plus the distance around its thickest part) may not exceed 108 inches.
However, to be safe in most cases the gebined length and girth should not exceed 84 inches. The formula is simple. It is 2x the height + 2x the width + the length. For example, a box measuring 24" L x 12" H x 16" W is 80 inches. (24H+32W+24L)
Self adhesive poly bags gee in various sizes and are extremely durable. These may provide an inexpensive way of shipping certain items and may even save your some money on shipping if you are including it in the sale price.
SHIPPING LABELS:
Shipping labels gee in varioussizes. What size and type to usedepends on what you ship and how you ship it. We use a4" x 5" self-adhesive label 4 to a sheet. You can use a label software program or download a free Avery template for use in Microsoft Word.
Make it as easy as possible for the shipping gepany to get your items to their destination. A poorly prepared label can cause an overwhelming array of problems, an unhappy customer which may result in negative feedback.
Aside from a return address in the top left corner, your shipping label should contain the phrase "SHIP TO:" in all capitals and the first letter of each word of the destination addresscapitalized. Many times a customer will type their shipping address in all lowercase letters. However, always double check when editing any shipping information. We gepare theshipping address on the okay invoice to the shipping address on the PayPal invoice. Also some customers add notes or special instructions to either the okay or PayPal invoice.
While in your PayPal account it is wise to verify thepayment amount and doublecheck any purchases.Once in awhile an email gets lost, especially if you are fowarding emails toa free email account.
If you print your own shipping labels on an ink jet printer, tape over the entire label covering the ship to and return address. The ink will run if it gees in contact with anywater making the label illegible.
INSURANCE AND CONFIRMATION:
Depending on the retail cost of your products, insuring shipments is always a wise choice. If you ship via UPS then your packages up to $100 in value are insured for free. USPS insurance is extra. For USPS online and APC you can insure packages up to $500, over $500 requires a trip to the post office.
The USPS refers to tracking as delivery confirmation. There is standard confirmation and signature confirmation. You should use signature confirmation for shipping expensive purchases and standard for the others. Insured shipments over $50.00 require a signature anyway so signature confirmation may be redundant. When you do ship with confirmation or insurance the counter person will give you a green receipt for confirmation and a blue receipt for insurance. On each is a section to write the name of the buyer. The delivery confirmationand insurance numbers are also printed on your postal receipt along with the destination zipcode and shipping weight.
APC MACHINES:
In the lobby of certain post offices is an automatic postal machine. These can speed up shipping significantly. The machine is easy to use and walks you through the shipping process. However the system and the current version of the software have a few drawbacks. Sometimes the package drum is full. Make sure you can open the drum before you start shipping. Don't ship any fragile items or they could get damaged when other packages are inserted on top of them.
*The machine is capable of both confirmation and insurance. You can ship a flat rate mailer and a flat rate box. You canbuy first class postage stamps but the minimum number that can be purchased is 3.You can't ship to an APO or out of the USA.
(*Nov. 2006 new software has been released to include these features, check with your local post office or review the APC machine to see if it includes the most recent software updates.)
It can print two sizes of labels, a large and a small. If you plan on using the large label make sure you leave enough room on your package for it. Use this label if you plan on adding insurance or confirmation. Keep in mind that it does not print address labels, just postage labels. Since you have to type in the destination zip code make sure you double check it before printing the label, after printinggepare the destination information on your APC label with your destination address information.
You can pay with a debit or credit card but not cash. When you use a debit card it requires you to make separate payments for each package, thus separate receipts. Credit card transactions are printed on one receipt. When you add confirmation to a package the tracking number is printed on the receipt as well as destination zip code.
okay TOOLS:
Thee are many free and fee based seller tools available from okay. Some of the more gemon ones include Selling Manager, Turbo Lister, Andale Counters, Picture Manager and Sales Reports Plus.
However, another great tool is Omniture's Site Catalyst. It provides detailed reports on your site's traffic. Some of the stats include: the most often viewed pages and listing, the web sites and search term keywords that generated the most visitors and the path reports will show you exactly how they navigated to and through your store.
PROMOTING YOUR STORE:
There are several things you can do to promote your site. However, your site must be pleasing in design. You store listings should be consistent. Choose the same font size, and colors for each listing. Avoid the cute graphics and the rainbow text. This is one of the benefits of using Turbo Lister.
Utilize your storefront's real estate to offer sale items, special offers, your guarantee, and even shipping information. Put items in both auctions and buy it now. Use the subtitle to mention your store or key features about your product. Add a link in your listings to your store or other products. By reviewing the stats recorded by Omniture's Site Catalyst, you'll know exactly which items and pages are generating results.That being said, getting a steady flow of visitors to your store is really the hard part. If you sell a hot item you'll get plenty of traffic but also have fierce gepetition and if you sell a niche market item you'll have to go out and get your traffic.
You may have read our guide on RSS FEEDS, if not you should check it out. RSS feeds provide an easy way of getting your products listed throughout the Internet.
Another way of getting traffic is to list your store in ListMyStore. It is free to join and is exclusively for okay stores. A sponsored listing is very inexpensive. Google it.
Advertising your site with Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsored Search are two possibilities.
A link directory is certainly a popular way of generating traffic but usually requires a reciprocal link so your options may be limited. However, search with Google or Yahoo for a free links directory.
Be sure to test your link before you submit it and write your stores description ahead of time. Link directories allow only a certain number of characters in the description so make sure you get your best pitch up front.
If you have a non-okay site like we do you can use that to drive traffic to your store. Did you know that okay will give you a store referral credit off the final value fee if someone buys your item through a link outside of okay? Search on "store referral credit" in okay help for more information on how to set this up.
Join some forums outside of okay. You won't be able to spam your store but you can set up your signature with your store's link.
Create landing pages. There are tons of free web hosts that you can use. If you don't know HTML you can use one of the free web host's templates. It would be advantageous to learn both basic HTML and then Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in that order. Pick up a book on both at the local library.
The areas you should know something about are the HTML Meta tags for title, description and search terms (keywords). If you can learn how to code HTML tables and the anchor and image tags you'll be able to modify your store's home page and listings at will.If you sell different products you could make a landing page for each and even add a link exchange directory.
Press releases are great way to promote your Store. However, it can't be an advertisement but should be a newsworthy story. The Laundry Bag Store Online sends out press releases on an ongoing basis and these show up in the Search Engines rather quickly as well in RSS feeds.
If you have a verified PayPal account list your store in PayPal shops and then submit an application to have your store considered for a PayPal "featured shop".
Driving traffic to your store is an ongoing effort. Use the Omniture traffic stats to monitor exactly where traffic is geing from. Experiment with different ads, offers and descriptions to increase sales.As you can see there are many aspects of operating an online store. If you do your homework you'll have success.
Visit our About Mepagefor additionalinformation and our other okay guides.
Good Luck and Best Wishes,
Laundry Bag Store Online
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