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View Full Version : Please review Harley Store, Raw Hog.com



Harold Mansfield
08-24-2008, 04:57 PM
Been getting a little to involved with BANS stores. I threw this one together this week end, and I am interested in a few reviews and constructive criticisms.

Harley Davidson Motorcycles and Collectibles (http://www.rawhog.com)

vangogh
08-25-2008, 11:42 AM
I think the darker color scheme fits nicely with the subject.

One thing I notice right away is the main content stays centered while the header image is aligned to the left edge. Works fine when my browser is set to 1024px, but since it's usually opened wider that led to the two areas not being aligned.

The main content areas seems a little busy. I think it's mostly because the titles being pulled from eBay are so long. It might be better to go with 2 columns instead of 3 to give the eBay auction titles more room.

billbenson
08-25-2008, 12:16 PM
Whats BANS stores? Is that an ebay thing?

vangogh
08-25-2008, 04:09 PM
BANS = Build a niche store

It's software to let you set up a store quickly I think by pulling in eBay listings and other related kinds of things. I'm not sure how it all works, but I think that's the general idea.

billbenson
08-25-2008, 07:16 PM
Interesting. Egorg, how do you make money at this if they aren't your ebay ads?

vangogh
08-25-2008, 07:22 PM
Bill if you're an eBay affiliate you get a cut of if the sale if the person you refer buys something or wins the auction. Basic affiliate stuff.

You used to have to go through Commission Junction I think to become an eBay affiliate, but I think that may have changed. I'm not 100% sure about any of what I just said, but I'm pretty sure. eborg can probably fill in the details.

Harold Mansfield
08-25-2008, 10:35 PM
Bill if you're an eBay affiliate you get a cut of if the sale if the person you refer buys something or wins the auction. Basic affiliate stuff.

You used to have to go through Commission Junction I think to become an eBay affiliate, but I think that may have changed. I'm not 100% sure about any of what I just said, but I'm pretty sure. eborg can probably fill in the details.

That's pretty much the idea, but Ebay runs their own affiliate program now, and they now pay just if someone registers, without even bidding, or buying anything. (Nice)

You can build a niche store through ebay on just about anything. I have 3 (bottom 3 in my sig) and working on 3 more (matching themes). It's very addicting, sometimes i find myself starting a new store before I have finished the one before it....and you can get extremely specific as you can see on the Rare Coins and Currency Auction Store.

The BANS software runs around $89, but it is unlimited use, build as many sites as you want.
You can find free, or buy custom templates if you don't like the ones that they provide, but basically a little CSS modifications can give you any color or theme that you want.

Add some content to draw some SERPs and it auto updates with new listings everyday.

What I like about Ebay stores the most is they don't stop you from combining programs. you can have just about any affiliate program on your BANS store that you wish, what ever it takes to completely cover the niche Amazon, Clickbank, Adsense, Commission Junction, Linkshare..I have at least 3 different programs on all stores.

billbenson
08-26-2008, 12:29 AM
Interesting Eborg. How much does ebay pay per signup? This sounds like something that could get saturated quickly unless you can do better than the masses with some good SEO.

Harold Mansfield
08-26-2008, 01:02 AM
Interesting Eborg. How much does ebay pay per signup? This sounds like something that could get saturated quickly unless you can do better than the masses with some good SEO.

I need to look it up to be sure. (want to say $25, but that doesn't sound right) But it has to be new sign ups, not just existing users going through your site. Cookies last 7 days (average auction time,or less), and are continuous even if they continue to bid without having gone through your site.

I am still learning Ebay, so everyday, I figure out something new. From what I see so far, I will probably be converting my Amazon stores to Ebay.

vangogh
08-26-2008, 01:03 AM
I didn't realize the eBay affiliate program pays on registration. Do you get more for a successful bid or is the payout just for the registration?

Bill you can probably code what the program does using the eBay API if you'd rather. i don't think it's anything too difficult.

Harold Mansfield
08-26-2008, 01:09 AM
No the money is really in converting a sale, (hence I am selling items that cost $1000's :)), sign ups are just little bonuses, of course being able to add other programs on the same site helps (adsense as a fall back).

Ebay pays 50% of the fees they collect on a sale, (and the fees have gone up ! ) , the more you sell the higher your commission scale.

$0.00 - $99.99 50.00%
$100.00 - $4,999.99 55.00%
$5,000.00 - $199,999.99 60.00%
$200,000.00 - $699,999.99 65.00%
$700,000.00 - $2,999,999.99 70.00%
$3,000,000.00+ 75.00%

billbenson
08-26-2008, 02:58 AM
I didn't realize the eBay affiliate program pays on registration. Do you get more for a successful bid or is the payout just for the registration?

Bill you can probably code what the program does using the eBay API if you'd rather. i don't think it's anything too difficult.

VG knowing ebay (kind of - by reputation) if a program they support is altered, I bet they don't like that. Particularly if like G someone reports you. I'm just guessing as I know nothing about it.

I did notice on eborgs site that there were no heading tags. Does the software allow for SEO optimization and modification?

Eborg, thats not a site criticism, just an observation. Just curious because I have no clue how this works.

On edit, Eborg, I posted before seeing your last post - gotta remember that refresh thing. It's interesting.

vangogh
08-26-2008, 03:39 AM
Just thought I'd mention it since I know you like to do custom programming. I suppose for $89 the money is a better value than the time involved in creating custom code and I also imagine you can custom the program if you want.

eborg that's a good split by eBay. I take it these sites are easy and painless to create.

Harold Mansfield
08-26-2008, 07:07 AM
They are very easy to create, and they are very SEO friendly. You can change and alter tags, per page, and sub pages, add your own pages, and CSS .

Here is a link to the BANS store site. Build A Niche Store – Succeed As An eBay Affiliate (http://www.buildanichestore.com)

edited: Interesting, that is not what I typed. But that is the link.

vangogh
08-26-2008, 12:18 PM
The forum should automatically grab the page title if you just type a URL. It's a nice feature I think.

Harold Mansfield
08-26-2008, 08:28 PM
Just thought I'd mention it since I know you like to do custom programming. I suppose for $89 the money is a better value than the time involved in creating custom code and I also imagine you can custom the program if you want.

eborg that's a good split by eBay. I take it these sites are easy and painless to create.

Ebay is also very Developer friendly. They have come a long way since they took over their own affiliate program.

http://developer.ebay.com/

Harold Mansfield
08-28-2008, 06:25 PM
I think the darker color scheme fits nicely with the subject.

One thing I notice right away is the main content stays centered while the header image is aligned to the left edge. Works fine when my browser is set to 1024px, but since it's usually opened wider that led to the two areas not being aligned.

The main content areas seems a little busy. I think it's mostly because the titles being pulled from eBay are so long. It might be better to go with 2 columns instead of 3 to give the eBay auction titles more room.

I did change the layout of the products page, and it does fit in a lot better, thanks. :)
I also added a little more content as I am attempting to leave no stone unturned for every, and anything that is Harley Davidson.

vangogh
08-28-2008, 06:33 PM
Two columns is a little easier to view than three. There's still a lot on the page, but it should be more digestible now.

billbenson
08-28-2008, 07:39 PM
Eborg, how are you planning to get traffic to the site?

Interested to see your success on this.

Bill

Harold Mansfield
08-29-2008, 12:01 AM
Eborg, how are you planning to get traffic to the site?

Interested to see your success on this.

Bill

Same old, same old. Articles. Links from other stores, and websites. I have a few friends that ride Harley's and belong to forums, so a few sig links, You Tube, and cleaning up the SEO.
When that is all in place, I will probably throw a few bucks into Adwords.

I don't need tons of traffic, just a steady flow of targeted visitors.