Announcing the Scif Store

On the FAQ page - under Can I have a store even if I'm not in the US..

Liz: Ah ha! Thank you for finding that; I've fixed it. :)

dave

Very, very cool - I need to try this out! :)

I have a friend that makes gourmet chocolates(they are so yummy) and she wants to join DG(she loves flowers) and I told her about my store. I hope she joins soon. She just happened to mention that she would love to sell online if there were somewhere easier than Ebay!! (I told her all about DG)

I'd love to use this as an outlet to sell daylilies/daylily seeds, but what if you don't want to take Paypal?

IndaShade: Do you mean you just want to do check/money order? I think that can easily be arranged. Let me know if that's what you mean. Feel free to e-mail me directly.

dave

Can anyone buy from these stores or just DG subscribers?

Carla: Anyone can view and buy from these stores. It's completely separate from DG.

dave

Ok, now I'm going to venture into territory that I barely know anything about.

I would like to be able to sell books that I have written (one is copyrighted and one is in the final stages of revision) as PDF files. I own all rights to these books. Is this possible with the Scif Store?

I would think so...if you wrote them (and your name is the author) you would certainly have the rights/copyright. The store would be just an outlet, just as if Barnes and Noble were an outlet for your books. (I'm actually considering doing the same, but don't tell anyone!) ô¿-

(PS...I'd buy one of your books, possibly both!)

Shoe,

You want to buy one of my books? Great! One book is titled, "Simplify to Glorify", and the audience is definately women. The book that is copyrighted is on resume writing. I have another book in the works, but only about a third of the way done. It's a romance novel.

My concern wasn't whether or not I had rights to the material, but what the capability of the "store" would be. When someone purchases my book, can I send them to a direct link to download the PDF file?

My husband buys books on line and once he completes the purchase, he is sent a "one time" link to download the material. The link only works once. I think that's neat and would like to be able to do that, too, but don't know enough about it.

This message was edited Tuesday, Oct 8th 10:50 PM

OK you've peaked my interest Dave. I already have a web site/domain that I sell from and I have never tried to use DG as a place to advertise or sell my items. I like this idea and already use PayPal. Checking it out!!! Now I will never finish my web site, you've found another way for me to put it off :0/

cajunace: Just let me know if you run into any questions along the way!

Smiln: I've also seen those one-time link stores, which is handy for selling things like downloadable books (of course) and software packages and updates.

The Scif Store wasn't originally designed for that, however that is something that I may do later, as I have a few areas of my own that I think I could make use of that feature, too.

In the meantime, you can still use the Scif Store to sell your PDFs. When you get an order, you then E-mail them the PDF to the address they gave at checkout. Then, you click that the order was "shipped" and it's done. The only step missing is the automatic download (you would have to take the extra step of sending it to the verified buyer).

Does that sound like a good short-term solution? It wouldn't hurt to put it up on the store.

dave

Dave, I have used Pay Pal in the past, but only the credit card part. I have never given them any checking account information. Do I need to sign up with PayPal for the checking account info in order to deal through them? I would love to sell some woodworks on the site, if possible.
Also, I have added one piece of artwork to the store that is available. When I go into the view external it appears nicely, but when I click on Add to Cart, the shipping isn't calculated? I entered the shipping weight, am I missing something?

Dave,

Can we also have a link on our member page to our store page? I know, I'm creating more work. :) You're such a clever guy, I'm sure you can do it with your eyes closed, yes? :) Am I buttering you up enough? :)

As for the store set up and PDF files, I understand how you are suggesting I do it and that's fine. That's what I was expecting to have to do, at least initially, anyway, even if I set up my own web site.

Yes, smiln, you can link to the store from your member page. Also, I'll be setting up a special page (linked from the menu) for all the member stores.

haighr, you can accept payments by two methods: PayPal or Check/Money Order. In the Check method, the customer actually sends you the check, along with the invoice. When the check is received, you will go into your admin area, search for the orderid, and click on "Payment is received".

In the paypal method, you will need to setup a paypal userid and then put that userid in the proper field in the "Edit Store" area of your admin screen. Setting up a paypal account is very easy - just go to paypal.com and click Signup (or something similar).

Then, your customers can pay by credit card through your paypal account, which is entirely integrated into the Scif Store system.

Your word work "add to cart" didn't calculate the shipping, because that does not occur until after you proceed to the checkout. And, your store is not yet enabled for checkout (just let me know when you are ready for me to enable it) so you weren't able to get that far, yet.

Once you're enabled and the store is "Live", then the checkout options will appear and folks can go into the checkout system and see the shipping costs.

dave

dave, am thinking here. I could do a 'yard sale' type store more easily than anything. I know you said we could list one time things, but wonder what you think of this? gardening mags, cookbooks, kitchen stuff, doll making supplies, everything in very good shape, but really a mismash of everything. lmk

I might also be interested in doing the same kind of sales that tiG just asked about. I have so much really good stuff (antiques and collectibles)that I don't want to just give away at garage sales. I could surely use the storage space for my newest finds.

Thanks Dave, still not clear about Pay Pal, I have an account with them using my credit card, but I have never given them any other info regarding a checking account in my name so they could deposit any proceeds in my account. In other words, I have an account with PayPal, but it is an unverfied account since they only have credit card infor and not a checking account. I set up the credit card infor for my purposes of purchasing on e-bay, but have never tried the selling due to the request for checking information. The way I understand it is when I purchase then I go to Pay Pal and authorize payment on my credit card with pre-entered info. What I am getting at is do I need to update my account with Pay Pal to verified status if I want to use their payment method when I sell something?

This message was edited Wednesday, Oct 9th 10:33 AM

Dave, I have been working with Trish on setting up my store, and in the meantime, I have been closely watching this thread and gaining invaluable information. I too have been wondering about PayPal. Can I just go open an account at any bank and use that for PayPal purposes? This part of e-commerce has intimidated me, because I have absolutely no clue how it works. You have been so patient with all the questions, and I am sure we're all grateful to have this opportunity. I for one was very intimidated with e-bay, and find this store to be in my confort range, for one thing, we're all one big happy family, and it seems like we are all going to be helpful with each other in setting this up.

Thank you for this opportunity, and for walking us thru this.

And just one more thing Dave, does the fact that e-bay has purchased Pay Pal have any bearing on all these questions. Will there be major changes to PayPal?

Hmmm..maybe a thread/info on how PayPal works would put everyones mind at ease. Perhaps a brief summary? Anyone have experience from both sides of using paypal (buying and selling?) Or perhaps a link? As I write this maybe paypal.com would be the place to get answers to these questions. (I've only purchased thru them as well so can't speak from total experience.)

That's a lot of PayPal questions. :) I think I need to write some FAQ answers about PayPal.

I have PayPal loading up in a separate window, and I will research the answers to all these questions.

(Haighr: I think you have to be a "verified" before you can bill orders through a cart system. Verifying through PayPal is quite painless, however.)

I'll have a detailed PayPal instruction answer soon.

dave

One more thing: eBay's acquisition of PayPal won't have any impact on our use of it. The acquisition makes it more integrated with eBay, but PayPal will continue doing what PayPal does, which is process money payments.

dave

The basic nuts-n-bolts of how PayPal works should remain the same, even with eBay's aquisition of it. We no longer use credit cards, so we came up with a work-around which doesn't endanger our main checking account: we opened a second checking account, which we keep at a balance near zero (with direct deposit on our main checking, we're not charged any monthly fees). When we want to buy something online, we transfer just that item's amount into the account and use our debit card there.

It's also the account we use with PayPal, and we're verified with them. The verification process was simple - I put in the pertinent account info and PayPal deposited a tiny amount, then withdrew the same amount. After those two transactions posted at the bank, I went to their site and filled in the amounts that had been deposited and withdrawn - that showed I had signed up a valid account and that I had access to it.

Here's some info at their site: http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_help-ext and http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_help-ext&eloc=0&loc=110

I have sold and bought with Paypal with no problems at all. I get a free transfer of my balance to my checking acct in 4 days tops. there is a fee, so always figure a bit to your selling price to account for that. It's not much, but can add up if you sell a lot of things at high prices. But to be able to do it all from home is worth it to me.

Glad to get back here and read that dave is gonna summarize the PayPal questions. However, FYI, I just left paypal.com and they have short manuals you can either print out or read online with answers. I figure it would be nice to have the manuals printed out for future reference. (They seem easy even for me to understand!)

dave, if you'd prefer us not to have a 'yard sale' type store, I certainly won't be offended. Am in the process of getting it all together to list on ebay if not and it certainly won't hurt my feelings if you don't want to go this way.

I just went through PayPal with a fine toothed comb, and even tested an order through Trish's store (which is running a standard paypal account that she recently setup) and it worked perfectly.

I have written my experiences into a FAQ answer on Scif Store, so you can read it here: http://store.standardout.com/faq.php#What%20steps%20do%20I%20take%20to%20get%20set%20up%20to%20receive%20PayPal%20payments?

Haighr: You're all setup and ready to go. No need to do anything more on your part.

tiG: Yes, certainly - go right ahead! I don't care what you sell, as long as it's not illegal. Be my guest, setup that garage sale, and sell a lot of product! :)

dave

thanks dave.

Thanks Dave & Trish - I am sure we will all remember you when we make our first million!

WOW! This is really cool! I'm not a seller, but I am a great buyer (some people call me adicted to eBay! Imagine that!) I can't wait til these stores get online and going. A very exciting idea. Of course I am trying to get ready to move after 30 years of living in the same house and have LOTS of stuff to get rid of...hmmmmmmm!
Rose

Dave I have been playing in the store and just discovered I can use basic HTML in the description area. Will this be OK. I don't know if this link will work or not but here is a link to main page showing what I did with the HTML. http://store.standardout.com/s/sj/7/ This is so much fun. I love it! Thanks Dave your the greatest!

Dave on behalf of all of us not residing in the United States a big THANKYOU for letting us set up so quickly.I think we all may have fun with this! Did you say you were setting up a forum of skif stores? what about one for Skif experiences?

cajunace: Yes, I saw your store front page, and it looks VERY nice! Indeed, you are allowed to use whatever HTML you want to use (with no limits, currently). I expect that'll be a "power user" kind of thing, as in your case, and so generally I'm not expecting a lot of people to do that, but it certainly does work and you've made it look quite nice.

For those who don't know HTML, I made it easy to upload your own logo and so forth. But for folks like you, you can go bananas with HTML. :)

psilo: You're welcome. :) Regarding the forum, yes, I'll be setting up a Scif Store forum specifically for the discussion of Scif Store.

(And, it's Scif, not Skif. Skif is some sort of boat) :)


dave

sorry Dave - Scif - I stand corrected :D

:)

Dave in adding a product, what is Unit?

The next thing then that i should ask Dave is, "What does scif mean?" sorry to trouble a busy man like yourself with such trivia :)

Dave, kinda same as philo's question. When I go to www.standardout.com I do get some info about you and your business. However, unable to find anything through the search engine. Did you create SCIF yourself? Is Standard Out your consulting firm? Do we need to sign up on that site to see our stores?

This message was edited Wednesday, Oct 9th 1:04 PM