Creating your own online shop?

[MathProfessor]

I've been making stealth PayPals for 3 years but I've used them primarily for managing sport betting accounts.. It seems the majority of people here use them for eBay.

I am curious, what is the reason for relying on eBay? In the long run, would you not be better off just making your own website where you can sell anything you want without issues?

[phaz0rz]

Traffic. eBay already has millions of buyers and a good reputation (kind of). Selling on your own site usually requires paying large sums of money to Google for ads, or you can list on eBay and have your listings show on Google for no extra cost.

Sellers send me business cards all the time with orders trying to get me to buy from their website but I never do. I would imagine most other buyers have the same attitude.

There's also the fact that you can't sell whatever you want on your own site because you're still at the mercy of your payment processor, or if you're taking crypto only, the legal system.

[MathProfessor]

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

Traffic. eBay already has millions of buyers and a good reputation (kind of). Selling on your own site usually requires paying large sums of money to Google for ads, or you can list on eBay and have your listings show on Google for no extra cost.

Sellers send me business cards all the time with orders trying to get me to buy from their website but I never do. I would imagine most other buyers have the same attitude.

There's also the fact that you can't sell whatever you want on your own site because you're still at the mercy of your payment processor, or if you're taking crypto only, the legal system.

Thanks for the explanation.

But what are people selling that a payment processor would object to? Aren't most people here just drop-shipping trinkets and whatnot from Chinese suppliers?

[phaz0rz]

Counterfeits, gray area items like Cannabis seeds/THC vapes/CBD weed which are technically legal but still very disliked by processors, gray market items intended for distribution in other countries, dodgy supplements and/or generic prescription meds from India, etc.

Basically the same things people here get shut down on eBay for will also get them shut down eventually on their own website. If you look through the paypal section of the board there are already tons of people here who were taking Paypal on their website, got limited, and ended up here looking for advice.

I don't think most here are dropshippers at this point. My estimate would be 10% sellers holding their own stock, 60% digital junk sellers, 30% dropshippers.

[phaz0rz]

Even somebody trying to dropship 100% legal and nonrisky items would probably run into problems with their payment processor sooner or later because they would have no control over what is being sent to their buyers, or how long it takes for those items to be shipped.

Say your dropship supplier runs out of an item you're selling 20 of per day and you don't find out until 48 hours later. Regardless of how you handle the situation it's going to make you look very bad to your payment processor. You could either refund all those orders or try to wait it out and hope you don't get tons of chargebacks.

[agent006140]

if you are using the same Paypal account to accept payment and immediately place an order for that item on Aliexpress,Paypal could suspend your account

[agent006140]

Many ebay sellers have tried to set up their own websites,or they already have one,some even set up an auction site called Gold Auction,but it just does not work.
No one can duplicate Ebay where 24/7 someone is uploading items,if you have a website,folks come and browse and wont bother to come back,as after browsing what you have ,,they know you wont be adding too many new items.
also prices are usually lower on Ebay

[Luminary]

eBay is a good platform with a lot of traffic. I like being able to have international exposure as well.

[DENDEN76]

You need a really good brand if you have your own store. It acts as a mental hack and gets customers to buy from you over Ebay at a higher price.

Facebook, Google, tiktok ads are almost infinitely scalable. Seen people do 6 figure days in sales with big budgets.

Usually you start off by dropshipping to test what works, then find a sourcing agent that you cant trust to scale. If the product has proven itself might as well buy stock for better shipping times.

Having your own store does work you just need to know what you're doing. Expect to spend 1000s on ads with no results when learning.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by Luminary

eBay is a good platform with a lot of traffic. I like being able to have international exposure as well.

It's simple and effective but also has its own risks

[SaiJin]

Originally Posted by DENDEN76

You need a really good brand if you have your own store. It acts as a mental hack and gets customers to buy from you over Ebay at a higher price.

Facebook, Google, tiktok ads are almost infinitely scalable. Seen people do 6 figure days in sales with big budgets.

Usually you start off by dropshipping to test what works, then find a sourcing agent that you cant trust to scale. If the product has proven itself might as well buy stock for better shipping times.

Having your own store does work you just need to know what you're doing. Expect to spend 1000s on ads with no results when learning.

This right here is good advice. And the reason I don't have my own .com .

[Soulofinfamy]

Originally Posted by DENDEN76

You need a really good brand if you have your own store. It acts as a mental hack and gets customers to buy from you over Ebay at a higher price.

Facebook, Google, tiktok ads are almost infinitely scalable. Seen people do 6 figure days in sales with big budgets.

Usually you start off by dropshipping to test what works, then find a sourcing agent that you cant trust to scale. If the product has proven itself might as well buy stock for better shipping times.

Having your own store does work you just need to know what you're doing. Expect to spend 1000s on ads with no results when learning.

To be fair it’s not about having a good brand it’s literally having the money to throw at advertising. If you’ve got a product people want, and you get reach out to them… you’re golden. Thing is getting that audience is going to cost some cash.

[MathProfessor]

Originally Posted by Soulofinfamy

To be fair it’s not about having a good brand it’s literally having the money to throw at advertising. If you’ve got a product people want, and you get reach out to them… you’re golden. Thing is getting that audience is going to cost some cash.

So if you tweak your ads properly, and make $110 worth of profit per $100 you spend on ads, then you have a goldmine, is it not so?

[rsot]

Originally Posted by MathProfessor

So if you tweak your ads properly, and make $110 worth of profit per $100 you spend on ads, then you have a goldmine, is it not so?

Logically as long as the $10 is worth the time and effort - and become repeatedly

[JamesNorth101]

Originally Posted by MathProfessor

I've been making stealth PayPals for 3 years but I've used them primarily for managing sport betting accounts.. It seems the majority of people here use them for eBay.

I am curious, what is the reason for relying on eBay? In the long run, would you not be better off just making your own website where you can sell anything you want without issues?

Its all about the traffic

Its much harder to build up your own website competing with millions of others

[Soulofinfamy]

Originally Posted by JamesNorth101

Its all about the traffic

Its much harder to build up your own website competing with millions of others

That depends on what you're selling though. I sell pokemon cards as part of what I flip. During the height of the pandemic people were making shopify stores and posting links in Instagram bios and running instagram promotions like crazy.

[JamesNorth101]

Originally Posted by Soulofinfamy

That depends on what you're selling though. I sell pokemon cards as part of what I flip. During the height of the pandemic people were making shopify stores and posting links in Instagram bios and running instagram promotions like crazy.

Totally agree

The more niche the item the better a stand alone website will do the job IMO

[DENDEN76]

Originally Posted by Soulofinfamy

To be fair it’s not about having a good brand it’s literally having the money to throw at advertising. If you’ve got a product people want, and you get reach out to them… you’re golden. Thing is getting that audience is going to cost some cash.

Good branding matters. How likely are you to buy from a ****ty looking store??
The better branding you have the more conversions you'll have. 2 sites can have the exact same ad budget but the store with better branding will convert more and get a better return on ad spend

[Soulofinfamy]

Originally Posted by DENDEN76

Good branding matters. How likely are you to buy from a ****ty looking store??
The better branding you have the more conversions you'll have. 2 sites can have the exact same ad budget but the store with better branding will convert more and get a better return on ad spend

Looking professional and branding aren't the same thing. I agree about having a store look more professional. It's all about getting the customer, attracting them to the offer and getting them to convert.


Looking professional, can be apart of the "brand".

A brand is an intangible marketing or business concept that helps people identify a company, product, or individual. - WIKIPEDIA

[SaiJin]

This forum is a brand I'd say and aspkin built it from scratch.

[DENDEN76]

EVERYTHING that a customer sees and interacts with is part of the brand. Packaging, the wording in descriptions, colors, employee uniforms, domain names, professional or non professional looking site...it all works together to create a perception and makes your customer feel a certain way. Its all part of branding.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by JamesNorth101

Its all about the traffic

Its much harder to build up your own website competing with millions of others

Agree here - tough to start up and direct