Anyone sell through a online store? What do you sell most of?

[john1]

Hey guys, Looking to create a online store and sell some standard designed banners, labels etc to maybe get alittle more sales going so people can go to the store, choose what they need and check out. Maybe even add some contour cut wall vinyls since i have some orajet 3268

My question is, To anyone who sells online what do you sell the most of? I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks!

 

[wetgravy]

Back in the day when I still did screen printing for a living while in college I had a website that had a store with custom options available. Even toyed with the idea of having a dynamic flash app on there that was a wysiwyg editor to help lay out basic design for the customers to save me time proofing. really, while my pre-made shirts sold like a fiend on acid ... the custom stuff never really sold through the shop. Most customers just used the contact form and we went from there.

 

[john1]

What im meaning to say is i'm looking to sell pre-made banner designs such as "grand opening" or "store closing". Stuff like that.

 

[iSign]

learn your craft, market your business, fill your orders...

get a part time job if you don't get enough orders...

for every 1000 sign guys I've heard of that DON'T sell widget banners off the shelf, there are... um, there is...

well, actually there aren't any sign guys I've heard that DO sell that crap...

follow your business plan... does your business plan have proven research to justify this knee jerk new direction idea? ....oh, this IS your research... sorry...

nope, I don't have an on-line store... good luck....

 

[wetgravy]

What im meaning to say is i'm looking to sell pre-made banner designs such as "grand opening" or "store closing". Stuff like that.

I wouldn't do it ... unless you're ranked in the top 50 of a google search for "grand opening banner cheap" you won't sell any. save your time and energy. take that energy and devote it to local marketing, I have postcards printed up (just like what i have attached) to give out to new businesses. I go to the strip malls they constantly throw up and while a company is setting up shop, I push it through their mail slot along with a business card and brochure. just like I stated in other posts, if I were doing things on my own and didn't rely on painting and fine art for my income I would be doing just that, going to businesses face to face in order to generate income or flyering the snot out of the area. much better than relying on a shopping cart and a finicky online shopper to buy something pre-made that they can get at wally world for 10 bucks. (they had a 5 pack of grand opening "banners" at sams club a few years back for $50 ... insane how fast they sold)

 

[Locals Find!]

What im meaning to say is i'm looking to sell pre-made banner designs such as "grand opening" or "store closing". Stuff like that.

If your looking to just toss it out there on your site and see if anyone bites. The easiest way to do that is using the paypal shopping cart or buy now buttons. Doesn't cost you anything until you actually sell something. Then its the just the standard transaction fees 2.99% + .30

Easy to setup in minutes and its free. Then if it fails miserably your only out maybe an hour or two setting it up and no out of pocket cash.

I would market the hell out of it though if your going to do it. Like Wet Gravy suggested flyers, postcards, brochures, business cards and everything else telling people you have the option available.

Just my two cents for what its worth. Good Luck.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

Agrees with above statements, there are several companies that sell banners and cheap many do it through mailer sent to lets say furniture companies or car lots 2 big ones so you would be competing against them, even if you made a better layout and design, price will win and they print them for penny's.

Here in Orlando for instance sign companies print those Coroplas signs, so many do this here that retail cost is $1.40 per sign go figure

You would be better off working on local traffic, finding a nich, attracting new customers with your website, I get one new customer a week sold because I put effort into it.

Take the tools, equipment, talent, know how's, education, start combining and looking for a market, maybe a new piece of equipment or reading a book will make it easier or new service.

Knows I have a long list that would help me and some just a few hundred dollars.

 

[OneUpTenn]

While I agree with the others about the "product" you are selling, I disagree with the fact that you shouldnt create on online store. However, you will have to find a product that is unique and specific. The broader your spectrum of products the less successful you will be on the internet. Sounds weird but its true.

You are better off to have several "item specific" websites than to have one large "I do everything website" mainly because the competition out there and the money you would have to invest in getting on search engines and stuff. Just type in the word banner on google and see what you get. Now try typing in "kermit the frog" banners. I know thats silly but do you see what I am saying?

Find something unique and go for it. I wish you luck in finding that something as we have all tried to find that something but get too bogged down in the daily duties of well running a business.

Maybe you will find that is not even sign related.....hmmm?

 

[jiarby]

I am working on a couple niche-product ecommerce sites... it is a good way to expand your market outside your geographic area.

Gas is back over $3... more and more poeple are just going to buy online.

 

[Fanaticus]

I have an online store and sell in a couple other venues online. There's only a couple banners I sell, for a niche market, and over the last couple years have only sold a handful of that banners... but I charge a lot for them too.

We sell windows films mostly, automotive, residential, commercial... tint, UV protection, Privacy films, Anti-glare films, anti-graffitti films...etc.etc.

We do pretty well and things are growing, but it's been pretty intense keeping up with the technology and keeping the layouts and graphics up-to-date and not looking like they're from the stone age.

Unless you do you own webdesign, programming, and trouble shooting... it can be very expensive to actually operate a webstore if you want it to be dynamic and easy to be on / shop on.

Also, be prepared for a total disappointment in humanity when , what will seem like, a large portion of people try to lie to you and scam you in order to get free product.

When we first started we didn't put delivery confirmation on anything. Seemed about 20% of them "never arrived". Now we put del. con. on everything and we hardly ever have non-deliveries anymore and the complaints we do get for them are usually stolen or misplaced mail issues.

And, as another above me said.... getting placed on google is difficult. It's not that hard to get into the top 100.... but you really need to be in the top 10, and preferably in the top 5 to really get any good traffic. Otherwise, it's very expensive to advertise online. And can be very competitive. Read some books on SEO techniques, and use only WHITE HAT....

Just look at people selling corplast signs online.... $1.50! Sure, shipping and a holder are extra... but still. I can't compete with that.

Anyway....

I say give it a shot if you want. Getting quality traffic with no or low cost to you is the hard part. At the very least you can incorporate your website into your local advertising and maybe make sales with never even talking to the customer.

Every business should have a website and incorporate it into their advertising, even if just to tell somebody who they are and what they can do.

 

[shadi75]

corplast for 1.50 i got a better one for you

$1.50 for 12" by 14" printed canvas shipped from very far away hong kong for 12.99 economy shipping, i m sure shipping from there costs him much less then 12.99, so he is making money.

but how can any one here compete with that. I m not sure about the quality but still lots of people are buying.

This was one example of one guy selling on ebay.

I agree with what others said build a website for your local area, if you cant do it hire someone to do it for you.

when i m looking for something i get on Google and i look for it, do that and see where do you show up on the search for your area .

for example if your in Dallas

Google Dallas banners , or Dallas sign making.

here in canada if your business is in the phone book then it will show up in the local search online, not sure about the USA.

but when i search for a something and different results come up i always click on the ones with website links and see what they have and if they have prices that's even better lure them in with the cheap promo stuff hehe.

 

[Fanaticus]

one of the things we do on our website is upgrades.

The low price is for a standard quality....
a middle price for the next level quality....
and a higher price for the top quality....

Then, we offer different cut methods....

The standard cut is included in the original cost, but leaves work to be done by the end user before the product can be used....

Then, a different cut that we charge more for that is leaves the product ready to form and use right out of the box.

Upgrades can turn a $27 sale into $60.....

Then, we offer companion items.... which can add another $20 to the sale.

THEN, we offer Video Training.... which adds a few more bucks to the sale.

Pretty soon a $20 sale turns into $85 or more.

It all depends on what the customer is willing to pay for and the quality they desire.

People LOVE upgrades.


Could be something to maybe incorporate into basic vinyl signs or store front windows.... a maintainence plan? Charge a bi-monthly fee just to come clean the sign / vinyl or make any small repairs that may be necessary at the time.... Even though the service really probably isn't needed, it might make customers feel secure in the quality you stand for and the level of service you offer. Just an idea.

 

[speedmedia]

Calvin peeing on #3 and Get Er Dun are by far our best sellers...


Thanks,
Kurt







Sorry couldn't resist!

 

[Edserv]

Take it for what it's worth.... I spent the first six-months we started (2008) ranking in Google for "vinyl banners" (Lets Go Banners dot com) We got as high as number 3, and (I think) are now number 10 or 11. This was a CRAZY competitive term to rank for, and when we hit the first page, I expected to see a lot of online orders. But it didn't happen. First, banners and signs etc, became incredibly price-competitive, and second, our conversion rates for sales just weren't there. We stopped trying to optimize internationally for "broad-based" terms and now spend almost all our time optimizing for local and regional "niche" terms such as "custom wall murals for shopping centers" and "trade show display banners" and "marketing banners." It's getting us much better lead generation and we do still convert a profitable sales revenue number to way more than pay for the site and the leads that come in everyday.
By the way, we get over 80% of our new sales clients from our primary and secondary websites, although most of these come in through Live Chat and our Toll-Free number.
Also, we use 1automationwiz.com and websitealive.com for our cart and live chat!
Good luck!
Chris