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| SkullandBonesSkateboards.com Forum Index » BUSINESS, SHOPS & RETAILERS » Going online with sales? |
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| EuroSVT |
 Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 11:57 am |
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Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Posts: 526
Location: Chattanooga, TN
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I wanted to get some ideas and such from those of you that have done this already so I can get a clearer picture of what it really takes. We have two shops in the area and are looking to expand into the online market and soon.
What programs are working out for you for online sales, did you pay someone $10K to get it up and running or are there existing blueprints that can be used to adjust stock and inventory and such that are easy to use?
I have a ton of questions and as of now we are going to have our first meeting to try and get an idea of what we want to offer as far as our online shop goes. We already have the website to use, just need to create the package to sell. The owner wants to tie into a drop ship distro system like Eastern which seems like the way to go but I dunno, I'm sure many of you have already taken on a project like this and have some good tips for us to ponder.
In any case thanks for reading and thank you in advance for any advice!
~Charles
* Appologies to all my S&B bro's for having been MIA for so long. After getting back from Iraq and out of the army I have been super tied up with life you know. Now I'm diving head first into the skate biz and happy to be working for some wonderful people in a killer shop. Look to see me back on S&B more often |
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| slob-air |
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 1:53 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 27 Oct 2001
Posts: 63458
Location: S&B HQ
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Welcome back.
Many distributors won't supply you unless you have a brick and morter shop.
I don't do sell programs, so...
Built the site and architectures myself. Unfortunately Paypal reliant.
You can be swamped one day and dead for weeks�winter sucks.
Drop shipping sucks. Distros that do that suck. And it causes a lot of stress because you have very little to do with it.
Many distros just suck in general. So do many of the OEM suppliers.
Run!
Invest in marijuana, it sells much better, has better margins and customers come back every week.  |
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| EuroSVT |
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 2:46 pm |
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Joined: 28 Jul 2007
Posts: 526
Location: Chattanooga, TN
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Ha-ha, too much of *that* floating around already 
Thanks Slob for the tips and giving me something to work over. I'm cracking into the shop webpage tonight to see just how much I can do with it. |
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| slob-air |
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 4:07 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 27 Oct 2001
Posts: 63458
Location: S&B HQ
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Oh, and then there's the many e-mails from college boys who can't do math, monetary conversions, calculations or read that shipping is included in the price of the item and berate you for it and tell you how all the other online skateshops kick your ass for pricing.
In that case, I systematically break down all my costs, then add them all up for them and show them that they're actually paying less through me (in many cases) and saving money... and then tell them "THEY"RE TOO FUCKING STUPID TO OWN A SKATEBOARD SO FUCK OFF!"
Oh and suppliers, yes, gotta love them... NOT!
I run a distribution company as well its retail arm, and I have never pulled the kind of crap they do. First come, first served, unless pre-ordered, I provide a catalog and order form so my customers don't have to read my mind and communicate telepathically, I warranty stuff immediately and I deal with the brands.
I also provide clinics for my clients customers to teach them about stuff and get them stoked on product lines so the stores sell more.
I know of no other distributor that does this (at least none that I deal with). |
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| brianzig |
| Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:47 pm |
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Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Posts: 342
Location: South Carolina
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slob-air wrote: "THEY"RE TOO FUCKING STUPID TO OWN A SKATEBOARD SO FUCK OFF!"
I really hope this doesn't come off as bad as it sounds, but you may find that even though we are all a bunch of forum bro's, you'll have a lot that don't want to help someone to become the competition. Myself included. Online is cutthroat.
That being said, you're best option if just now getting started is to see what's already being done and do something else. There are a lot of sites out there already established with bigger ad budgets, staff, inventory, and wallets. If you are just now getting into the game, you will have some major catching up to do. And that kind of catching up will cost money. Unless....you have some skills in web design, photoshop, SEO, ect and can do a lot of the work yourself. Personally, I put my Computer Science degree to work for me. Even then, there are always new things that I learn about on a daily basis and try to incorporate those skills into my sites. Any way you look at it, to do it right will take a lot of hours and or money. If you try to go cheap it will look it, if you spend a lot of money, you may not get a return on it. Like any business, do your research. You have to look at it as a completely separate business model. You also need to look at how your existing site is designed. That will dictate part of how you incorporate or whether you will have to go with a complete site redesign or even a separate site all together. Then there are shopping carts to research, who's going to do fulfillment ( I agree with Slob, you can't rely on dropshipping. At least not fully.), and please tell me you guys already have some experience with online sales via eBay or such. How are you going to process payments? Who is going to handle the emails, site maintenance, security, updates, ect. Will you need to upgrade your existing server host? Where will you get your SSL? Are your suppliers cool with you selling their stuff online? You better ask, because some definitely are not. These are just a small part of the overall picture.
So think about it and what you want to do. Just remember all these shops that are opening up their online stores on a daily basis. What makes yours different? Who are you trying to reach? What are your goals and how do you accomplish them? And really prepare yourself for the fact that just because you "build it, they will come", doesn't apply to online sales. |
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