Opening Yahoo Store

• To start an online store with yahoo, go to their small business web site here. There are several options to choose from with yahoo hosting, depending on what you expect your monthly traffic and business to be, but for this example we will use the Starter package. Click on "Sign up for Starter".

• In the next step you will choose your domain name, again this is up to your preference. Type in the domain name you want and click on Search. If you already have a domain name, you can click on "Use it With Your Order".

• You then should be taken to a screen that shows the domain name is available. If the screen shows it is not available, you will have to find one that is. In this example we registered whatyouwantishere.com

• Click on continue and you will be prompted for your password. (We already had an account and it automatically logged us in, but if you don't, you will have had to create one or will be prompted to at this point). After you login, you will be asked for your credit card information. Fill that out and click continue. You will then be asked to verify the information. Also note, as stated on this page your information will be a matter of public record according to the ICANN, however you can keep this information private for an extra .75 a month, but that is up to you.

• Click Continue after verifying your information and selecting keep information private if you choose to. The next page goes over what the cost is today to setup your store and what the cost will be monthly as well as your information. Click on "Place Your Order" once you are satisfied with everything and ready to proceed. You should then see a confirmation page that shows your order went through successfully. Click on "Get Started" to continue.

• The next step is to choose whether to use their design tools or design it yourself. If you aren't knowledgeable with html and web site design, you will want to use their tools. In this example, we will do just that. Click on "I'm Ready to Start"

• You may be asked to create a security code and/or you may get an error if you are registering a new domain. If this occurs, go to your account and access your store control panel.
• The first thing you will want to do is design your site. Click on "Design Your Site"

• The next step will be to choose whether you want to use a generic template or a pre-designed template. Predesigned templates already have the color scheme picked out and are easy to use. Generic templates are good when you want to match your logo or specific colors. We will use the generic templates in this example.

• The next screen allows you to choose how your navigation will appear and the color scheme. If you will have many categories, you probably will want to choose the left column navigation. When you click on a specific color set it will allow you to preview how it will look.

• Once you have selected the layout and the colors, click on "Select Template".

• The next choice is regarding the logo or header. If you already have a logo, you will want to upload it here. If you don't, leave the default choice, which is "Use Plain Text". You can change this at a later date when you have a logo. Click on Next.

• The next page allows you to type what you want shown in the header, basically your company name or what you would like displayed across the top. It defaults to your domain name, so make sure you change it to what you would like it to be and then click on Next.

• On the next page you will enter information about your store, you and your policies. If you don't already have something in mind, you can surf the web and look at other people's sites to see what you like and don't like about their information and policies. You can always change this information, but make sure what you write is something you will stand behind; so if you write that your return policy is 7 day money back guarantee, then make sure you stand behind that!

• Once you are done entering the information, click on Finish. This will take you to the next page where you will add products. Click on "Add Products" and on the next page, click on "Start Adding Products".

• The next screen will give you the opportunity to enter the title, description and price of your item. We will show you how to use the drop-shipping method for the first example. So let's go to the drop-shipping supplier we used before Doba. In this example, we will search for a candle to sell. So let's log in and perform a search. Type in the keyword and click on Search.

• This brings up all the items that have candle in the keyword field. In this example, we are going to choose the

• Once you click on the image or "view details", it brings up the information for that item including wholesale price, shipping and drop-ship fee. We will start off by copying the title of the item to paste into our yahoo store (highlight the text, right-click and choose copy.

• Now let's switch back to the Yahoo store, and paste the title.

• Now let's go back to Doba and copy the product description.

• Then go back to your Yahoo store and paste it in the description field.

• Going back to the Doba site, if you click on the Processing tab, you will notice the processing time shows 5-7 days, you will want to also add that to your description!
• The next step is to save the picture from Doba's web site so we can upload it to the yahoo store. Right-click the picture and choose "Save Image As". Save the image to a folder that you will remember the location of.

• Go back to your yahoo store and click on the Browse button and browse to the location of the image you just saved. click the image and click Open.

• Once the filename is showing in the box, click on Upload.

• Once it is done uploading, your image should show up.

• Next is the price of the product. Let's go back to Doba and take a look at the wholesale price and the suggested list price:

• So we see that the wholesale price (which is the price we will pay Doba if someone buys the item) is $6.25. The MSRP, or the price they suggest you sell it at is $12.95. You can choose to sell it at this price, or you can go lower or higher, it's up to you (don't forget the drop-ship fee is $2 so in this case if you sell the item for MSRP, your profit would be $4.70). In this example, we will use what is listed, $12.95. So let's go back to the yahoo store and enter the price.

• You also see here you can choose to list a sale price for this item, as well as "Mark this product as Special", which will include it on the home page of your store. When you are done, click on Next.
• The next screen allows you to add options to your item. In our case, this doesn't apply, however, you would want to use this if your item came in different colors, sizes or any other choice the customer would have. This is a great feature as then you don't have to create a different entry for each choice! For this example, we are leaving the default of "I do not need to create options for this product" and clicking Next.

• The next step is which category this product should be under. You can leave the product under the default of home or create a new category. We will create a new category called "Candles, Oils & Incense". Click on the "Create Category" link.

• Type in the name of the category and the description and click on "Create Category"

• The product then defaults to the new category. Click on Next.

• The next screen lets you see the product information and review or edit the information.

• Once everything is the way you want it, click Next. On the next screen you are given the choice to add more products or Finish to add this product to the store. Click on Finish.

• Once you click on Finish, you will be taken back to the control panel and we'll look at payment methods next. Click on "Payment Methods"

• Click on "Set Up My First Payment Method"

• The next page allows you to choose how you would like to receive payment . For this chapter, we will walk through as though we already have a paypal account and that is what we will use, however, there is a tutorial in another chapter later on PayPal and setting up an account if you need to do so now. And you may also decide to use a different payment gateway. But again, for this tutorial, we will be using an existing PayPal account. So we chose, "Yes, I'm currently able to accept and process payments" and "I want to configure my store to use my current PayPal account". Click Next.

• Click on "Configure PayPal Account". Also note the requirements for using a PayPal account with Yahoo as listed.

• This will take you to your paypal login. Login and the next page will have a choice to enable API, which is what is required by Yahoo to process your payments. Click on Go listed next to API-Set-up

• The next screen requires that you confirm that you are giving Yahoo permission to process your customers purchases via your paypal account (this is how you will get paid). Click on Give Permission.

• You will now be taken to your PayPal account. Click the back button on your browser until you get back to the yahoo store page where we began adding a payment method. Refresh the web page and you should now see "1 method added" under payment methods.

• Now we'll configure the tax portion. Click on "Setup Tax Rates", and click on the same thing on the next page.

• On the next page, we will use the Tax Wizard. Usually since this as an online store, the only time you will need to charge sales tax is when someone in your state places an order (as you will need to pay state sales tax on this order).

• After you click on the "Auto Setup Wizard", you will be taken to the next screen which shows your location. Click on Next if the location is correct.

• Choose your state from the list on the next page and click Done.

• In this example, you will see on the next page it added the tax rate for anyone who lives in Texas that makes a purchase.

• You can also choose to let the customer know there may be tax added later, tell them no tax is added or have it add tax in real-time.

• Once you are done with the taxes, click on Update. Now let's input the shipping information. Click on "Setup Shipping", and do so again on the next page.

• There are many options on the shipping section, but let's start with Shipping Methods.

• The default shipping options are listed here.

• If you would like to change these options, click on Edit Methods and make any necessary changes. You will also see here there is an option for download so you can sell ebooks, audio, etc.

• Now you need to set more shipping options. Click on the Shipping Manager in the navigation links towards the top of the page.

• Click on "Shipping Rates"

• You can add special rules for different countries and states, or charge a flat rate for purchases. To add a rule, click on "Add Rule". Shipping options will vary depending on what you would like to charge for shipping.

• Choose the rule that applies to where you are shipping to. You can also restrict by state or zip code. Then click Next.

• Choose which method applies to this rule. In this example, anyone that orders from the United States will be able to choose from any of the shipping methods (Ground, Two Day or First Class). Click Next.

• Here you can choose to charge a flat rate, a percentage of the total or via a rate table. This is where it can be tricky when it comes to using drop-shippers as for example, Doba doesn't have a standard shipping rate as they use different suppliers. So this may be something you want to keep in mind when you're looking for products; you may want to find items that charge similar amounts of shipping and incorporate that here. In this example, we'll use a rate table.

• Choose Rate Table and click Next. You will see you can set the table by taxable, non-taxable, amount, weight or number of items.

• In this example we used by amount. So in this example, shipping for $0-$20 is $8, shipping for $20-$40 is $12 and so on. Click Next and then Done.

• Go back to the Shipping Manager main menu via the navigation links at the top. Click on "Shipping & Order Status".

• On the next page you will need to enter your email address as well as change the default text for order confirmation emails. The emails you enter here are what the customer will see when they get the confirmation email for their order. You also want to change the default name of your store listed (in this case the Yhst-9799.... number to the actual name of your store). Once you have entered the information, click on Update.

• Go back to the Shipping Manager and click on "Shipping & Tax Test".

• Make sure that the total listed on this page is correct. In the example below, you can see it is correct. The test order is $100, the order is shipping to MA, so there is no sales tax, and the shipping charge is $22 based on the order total.

• Return to the Shipping Manager once you have confirmed the test total is correct. You also see here that you can integrate UPS into your store so you don't have to leave the page and the customer automatically receives tracking information. We won't go through that example here, but it's another option if you will be using UPS.

• That's the basics is to opening your yahoo store as well as using drop-shipping. Continue to add products and change any options such as shipping as you go.