other websites vs own website

[jumba]

have any of you guys thought about going completely solo and having your own website with cart and checkout/merchant account to sell your items? im thinking about it, coding and all that not a problem for me. main issue would be marketing. i guess you cant expect miracles overnight and for everybody to know your site right away but am seriously thinking about doing it since ebay are becoming to dogmatic. what are your thoughts? anyone been successful down this avenue?

[GrannyT]

I should think we all have at some stage and I'm sure many have gone down that route with varying degrees of success - I think it's all about the amount of work and investment you have to make to get the return that you want

[jumba]

well i know it takes ALOT of effort :/ and constant maintenance. I had a membership site i made years ago and it took me 2 years to design/code/get members and by then it was very slow at taking off. seems some things just take off and others don't and no way to test what will or won't without investing!

[GrannyT]

Ever was it thus

[cool customer]

I have my own website (3 now actually) which i made when i was on eb before i got banned. I used to send out a flyer with every eb order and they soon came to the website for a cheaper deal (no eb fees). what i sell is quite niche but from the 75 odd unique visits it gets a day, around 5-10% buy something and in bigger quantities than on eb. email marketing is deffo worth the effort and linked with a facebook fan page it can quickly escalate if people like what you do and you go out of your way to help them out!

[jeffweico]

I have had success with my website, but it did not come overnight.

It is a little over 3 years old. In the beginning, if I had one sale a month, that was good. But I include a coupon or other advert with every eBay and Amazon order. I have also tried to increase my organic search engine traffic.

Over time, this has paid off. I probably average 4-5 sales per day, although that can vary - it has been both much higher and much lower at times.

If you are in this for the long haul - that is, if you plan to still be selling online 2-3 years from now, you should probably have your own site. I recommend a ready-made one that you can put finishing touches on, like Miva Merchant. Watch your costs, because in the beginning, you won't be making money. But it can pay off over time.