EXTRA, EXTRA, Read all about it!

After you read this click on the Home tab.

First you'll find that you might have e-mail from another DGer.

Have you clicked that "Extra" tab there lately?

Click the Extra tab next.

You will find all sorts of goodies;
Member's birthdays,
Two different daily Newsletters,
Archives of old newsletters,
Contest results and rules,
Co-op, and trading rules.

There are also DG member stores. Some are still under construction, but some are open.
Check those out, these sales help some of our members make ends meet.

Dave's Garden is a wonderful never ending source of information, delight and love.

Check "Extras" and other nooks and cranies here, you just cant imagine how much there is to learn. Sidney

Excelllent post Sidney.....that needs to be pinned somewhere prominant.

How do you do that? Old Horse's (ME) have hard time learning new tricks. this Extra tab has all sorts of surprises.

I tried to check out the DG Member Stores, but I was greatly disappointed since the first 5 I selected evidently were no longer in business, I will assume since there were "no products". Perhaps a purging/clean-up via last activity date is in order. Good concept!!

I guess I need to check mine, since I can only make biscotti in the cooler months when it's drier.

Actually, I can "make them" anytime, but they get soggy in the summer months.

Well I just reviewed all 72 stores. There are 72 today and only 15 or so last week. Out of 72, only about 10 had no items available. There are some very good one and some sparse ones. Click view all products, to find out what their inventory is.

sugar, I guess I really need to add to my store!

I made a lot of different jellies/jams this fall, and a bunch especially for diabetics (low or NO sugar) and need to get them added. All are gourmet quality but the Peach Melba stands out!

I sold a lot ofmy stock at the KYRU and so don't know my current inventory since I'm still in the process of moving and haven't even thought about it. BUT Christmas is coming!

This message was edited Nov 10, 2004 10:34 AM

I checked out the info on maintaining a store there a week or so ago and I recommend that anyone considering opening a store do that first. Their checkout system determines shipping cost by total weight so you have to be able to provide the shipping weight of each item when you list it and it is restricted to USPS delivery only. It also will remove an item from your inventory if someone adds it to their shopping cart but then does not complete checkout.

I have a problem with those things since most of what I sell is is of a weight where USPS rates are way more expensive than FedEx Ground and if a person is buying multiple items they may or may not be able to be shipped in a single package so the combined shipping weight and cost of multiple items can be way off.

The other issue is that if you sell mostly one of a kind items (which I do), having it removed from you inventory permanantly anytime somebody puts it in their cart to consider purchase but changes their mind and just abandons their cart (which happens a lot) means you would have to go through listing that item again as new inventory any time that happens. I emailed through the "contact us" form several days ago to ask if there were any alternatives possible for these issues but I have had no response.

Also, understand that they do not in anyway market your store for you so it is up to you to drive your own traffic to your storefront. I suspect this may be the reason many stores have simply been abandoned or are not making any sales. Other than through the link here at DG, or self promotion by the store owner, there is no way for potential customers to get to the stores.

Since there is no charge except when an item is actually sold, it is a no risk proposition for anyone (and not just DG subscribers) to set up a store just to try it out and then abandon it (just like the shopping cart) if it does not perform as they expect it to. It is a nice set up as long as the shipping and checkout process works for what you intend to sell. I am just adding my 2 cents worth from the perspective of my store front needs and pointing out that at this time at least, store owners will not get any significant number of sales from the general public without doing their own marketing, which typically tends to be the most costly and time consuming aspect of store ownership.


oooops....sorry....meant to include this link:

http://www.scifstore.com/module/faq/

This message was edited Nov 10, 2004 10:03 AM

Darius, Those are beautiful.
Pville,
You are such a helpful friend. Seems you answer half my questions as they come to me. Thanks

: )

Thanks, Sydney! I found the seedpackets I will use.

PvillePlanter

You can bypass the postage options, I have to because USPS hasn't managed to make it this side of the Atlantic yet.

You don't need to create a new inventory every time someone dumps their cart. You simply make it available again which is a just a couple of clicks, in fact none of your items disappear even when they have sold, you can keep using that feature to relist as often as you need to.

Edited to add

I didn't fully explain the postage, you devise a set fee per price i.e. you can set it so that all items to $10 have a postage price of $2 and so on

This message was edited Nov 10, 2004 1:08 PM

That's cause I'm psycho....I mean psychic Sidney ;-)

Thanks for the clarifications Baa....those are exactly what I had sent an email about. Can you set an S&H fixed price per item (rather than price) and then be able to adjust it if a customer purchases multiple items that can be packed together? I sell some heavy items that are not that costly price wise and conversely some lightweight items (e.g. jewelry and marbles) that can be very costly price wise but much lower cost shipping wise, so that option wouldn't work very well for me either. Is the shipping based on price per item or per order? In other words in your example would a purchase of one item for $10 have a $2 shipping fee and a purchase of 2 items for $5 each have a shipping fee of $2 or $4? If you bypass the postage options altogether do you just build it into your item price and advertise as shipping included in the item price? That might work for me.

I've found lots of answers to questions along these lines (and others) in the Scif Forums.

It's also the fastest place to ask question and get a fast response. Check it out:

http://www.scifstore.com/module/forums/f/scifstore/

Thanks Horseshoe. Is there any way for somebody to know that forum exists or to get to it other than from your direct link?

Yes...there is a link also on the page you linked to above on your post above.

You can include shipping in your price and in the inventory, list the weight as 0. However, as far as I'm aware, you can't specify shipping via the feature per item you can only do it by price, so for multiple items, it depends on what shipping you have specified for that total price bracket rather than individual shipping per item. You can set special prices, such as buy 1 get one free which if you know two items tend to be bought together you can then offset the shipping costs that way but if you don't have regular stock, all of this is a bit tricker.

Items such a jewellery which are low weight, higher item price often cost a fair deal of shipping anyway if you send by insured which at least in the UK is pretty much the expected and preferred option.

Shoe, long time no read :) yes the forum is great for answers, can people without a store see it?

I'm still not seeing it Horseshoe even looking for it. I highlighted every link I could fine on the page I posted and none of them were to the link you posted. Is the possible that link only shows up for those that have alredy created a store front?

Thanks much Baa....very helpful. I can now reconsider it in light of your information.

Howdy Baa...nice to see ya!

By the way, Pville...you're not going crazy (or blind)! Thanks to Baa's question above, and yours, I went to the above link, logged out, and NO...it appears you cannot get to the Scif Discussion forums unless you join/log in. Sorry 'bout dat.

Well, thanks sugar for bringing all this to light! I am hoping the DG member stores soon get a tab at the top. Or maybe it could be an "Extras" tab.
Pville, I read that before I started, and still have had many questions alon gthe way. Thank you and Shoe and Baa, I should get my shipping figured out now, hopefully before someone tries to checkout. I am also going to suggest in the scif forum that a customer has the option to delete an order. I did an admin order to see how the process went. Then it said if I continued with the order, even though admin doesn't pay, I would owe the fees for the fake sale. So now that item is out of my inventory. And I know people start an order and nefver come back for it, or want to cancel and start over.
Thanks again!
Tamara