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Most aspiring entrepreneurs take to the Web by selling some real products (as opposed to downloadable informational products) on the Internet.
If you would like to take this tack, here are some options to get you started quickly:
eBay is known as an auction site but it also has a shopping area where people can sell fixed priced products called eBay Store. According to eBay, more than 200 million shoppers access the eBay stores.eBay Stores provides all the tools you need to build, brand, and customize your Store-with no technical knowledge required.
You have three subscription tiers to choose from:
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Basic store - Designed for starters. The subscription fee is $15.95 per month. This fee gets you basic support and 5 customizable web pages and up to 300 custom categories and a customized URL.
Featured Store - A more comprehensive solution for more advanced sellers. The subscription fee is $49.95 a month. This fee gets you basic support, 10 customizable we pages, up to 300 custom categories and a customized URL.
Anchor Store - Advanced solution for higher-volume sellers. The subscription fee is $499.95. This fee gets you 24-hour support, 15 customizable web pages, up to 300 categories, a customized URL plus more promotional tools than the first two tiers.
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Aside from these store fees, there are other charges such as the Listing and Final Values fees.
For more details on the eBay fees and the eBay Store program, click here.
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Join the Yahoo! Shopping Program
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Yahoo is consdered the leader in the online shopping area.
You also have three programs to choose from:
Starter Plan - The recommended plan if you expect your sale to be up to $12k monthly. The fee is $29.96 for the first 2 months. The usual $50 set up fee is waived. There is a transaction fee of $1.5%.
Standard Plan - The recommended plan if you expect your sale to be $12k to $80k monthly. The fee is $74.96 for the first 2 months and the usual $50 set up fee is waived. The transaction fee is 1%
Professional Plan - This plan is for you if your expected sales is above $80k monthly. The fee is $ 224.96 for the first 2 months. The usual $50 is waived. The transaction fee is .75%
The Standard and Professional Plan comes with a bundle of benefits that makes it easy for anyone to put up a store: site design, product catalog, shopping cart and check out, customer service, marketing support, product promotion, payment processing, order processing, shipping and taxes, inventory management, reports, web hosting, email, and security features.
For more information on joining the Yahoo! Shopping Program, click here.
Another alternative that you can look at is the MIVA Merchant from MIVA.
MIVA is the new name for the FindWhat.com Group. In 2004, FindWhat.com undertook an aggressive merger and acquisition strategy, bringing together numerous companies, including Espotting, Miva Corporation, B&B Advertising, MVCool and Comet Systems. They now operate under the MIVA brand name.
The MIVA Merchant Program offers three different programs:
MIVA Merchant Express - Priced at $14.95 per month, it is targeted at small businesses. It features a quick-three step process and integration payment option with MIVA, Google Checkout and Paypal.
MIVA Merchant FastTrack - Designed for more established businesses. It features a 5-step set-up process and an integrated payment and shipping calculation. It is priced at $595.
MIVA Merchant 5 - Geared for businesses with a lot of products to offer. The package, priced at $995 offers advanced catalog, customer and order management systems, unlimited products, and an integrated credit card processing and shipping calculation.
For more information on the MIVA merchant program, click here.
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