An Online Store That Sells Similar Items

This can be a great choice if you sell handmade items or have a specific niche. For example if you sell arts or crafts - the web site Artsefest allows you to list your handmade items with a package starting at $14 a month. The benefit of this kind of online store is that they host your site for you, submit it to search engines, offer secure payment options (without an extra charge as you would with your own domain), usually your own email address linked to the site, unlimited products allowed and a customer base driven to their site by their advertising dollars, not yours! The downside to this choice is that your web address will be a combination of their site name and a name you choose. For example with Artsefest, your web site would be http://www.widgets.artsefest.com/. This is a little harder for people to remember than widgets.com, but that may not be an issue, it's really a personal choice. Another downside to this type of site is that they do put restrictions on certain things, for example, limiting the number of categories you can be listed in. Which is okay if you sell only one type of item, however if you want to sell jewelry, signs, artwork and candles, you may have to get creative in how you categorize your items because of restrictions. You may also be limited in adding on extras or changing the design of your page, such as adding the ability to purchase and use gift certificates, or adding a way to send out a monthly newsletter. Let's walk through the steps of listing your products on a site called Etsy:

Etsy is a site that features handmade items and allows you to set up your own store for free. There is a .20 fee for each listing, which is similar to something like eBay, however with Etsy, the product stays there for 4 months, it's not an auction style listing. The other fee they charge is 3.5% of what your item sells for. So let's get started!

• On their How Selling Works page, we'll click on "Sign Up to Sell" button

• And then click on "Sign Up Now"

• Now enter your information and note the circled portion where it explains your site name on Etsy will be http://yourname.etsy.com, and cannot be changed. When you are done, click Submit.

• You will receive an activation email which you will need to reply to. Once you have replied, click the login link in the upper right-hand corner.
• Once you are logged in, click on "Sell" in the navigation bar at the top

• Now click on "List an item now"

• Now you will need to fill in your contact information and click Next.

• Next you will need to fill in credit card information so that Etsy can bill you the fees and click on Validate Card.
• Click on the "List an item now" button

• Next, enter which payment types you will accept and if you choose check or money order, enter the mailing information; then click on Save. Your payment information has been saved (this will apply to all of your items, you won't need to choose the payment method for each item).

• Before you add items, you will want to explore the other options as well as the appearance of your store. So we'll start by clicking on the sections link.

• Here you can create categories, which will be helpful if you sell more than one item, or if you are listing many items, and you want to categorize by color, type, etc.

• In your store on Etsy, all items will be listed under "All Items" always. So if you create a category, your item will be listed in that specific category as well as the "All Items" category; This category cannot be deleted. Also if you note the text at the top, the maximum amount of categories you can create is 10. In this example, we will create a category called Necklaces. So we typed in Necklaces and clicked on the Submit button. As you see below, there is now a category for Necklaces.

• Now we'll change the appearance of our store. Click on the Appearance link.

• Here you can list things such as the title of your store, a banner image, shop announcement and an announcement to buyers. Fill in your information and click on Save.

• To take a look at how your store will look, click on "View Shop"

• This will open up your store as others will see it. Make any changes you need to by clicking the back button and updating the information. Below is an example of a store.

• Once you are happy with your store's appearance, let's add to your profile so that people get an idea of who they're purchasing from.

• Here you can add either your picture or your business logo, as well as any information you would like such as the city where you are located, a bio and favorite materials.

• Add your information if you'd like and save it. Now let's move on to adding an item! Click on the "Add new item" link.

• Add the Title, Description and Materials used and click Next.

• On the next page you will choose a top-level category for your listing to appear in searches. In this example, we chose jewelry. It then pops up another box to add a tag. Necklace was added as a tag, and you can also manually type a word into the "Add a tag" box and click Add. When you are done, click on Next.

• Next, enter:
  • The price for your item (this is up to you)
  • The quantity available. If it's something you have more than one of or you can create an identical item of, enter the quantity here.
  • You can create a shipping profile if you will use the same options each time by clicking on Load.
  • Choose the shipping from and to location
  • Choose the price for shipping
  • If you would like to offer a shipping discount for multiple items purchased, enter the additional amount here. For example if they purchase this necklace for $35 and you want to charge $8 shipping for the necklace. However, they also purchase another necklace, and since you can ship them together, the cost will be lower. You can then add for example $2 for each additional item. This is up to you and is not required, although it is an incentive for them to buy more than one item from your store!

• Next you will upload pictures of your item. Click on the Browse button and click on the picture you would like to include. Then click on Upload (the upload may take a minute depending on your connection and how large the picture is) . Once you see the pictures there, click on Next.

• Once you click upload, you should see the picture in the thumbnail box. Repeat for all the pictures you want to add.

• If you're happy with the appearance of your listing, click on Finish.

• You should now see your item listed on the next page

• To see what your store will look like to others, click next to "Want to see your public shop"

• Your item is now listed for sale in your online store in etsy!