E-tailers using eBay and other online marketplaces to sell goods are often looking for new tools that will help them manage their e-businesses more efficiently, and naturally, to make more sales. Merchants who want to run their own Web shop in addition to selling on eBay should take a look at IRUN, a full-featured hosted Web site builder with easy and automated eBay auction integration.
This eBay Certified hosted solution is designed for non-technical users. You can easily develop your own site's front-end, with options to incorporate any existing logos, tagline or images you already have. With a design for your Web site in place, IRUN then seamlessly integrates your payment gateway for transactions. It also includes the tools needed to send your products straight to an eBay listing.
Building An IRUN Site
Through an online account management dashboard, you will first go in and set up your IRUN Web site. A site wizard takes you through four steps to get started.
First you choose an industry (such as photography, music, computers) then you choose one of the matching industry-themed site design templates.
Next, you set your main site links for placement within the template. For instance, some examples of main links would be your About Us, Our Services, Contact and Gallery pages. Lastly, you enter in your Web site title, upload a logo if you have one, and include a site description.
With the basics in place, you will then be able to access more administrator options in the dashboard, such as add a new page, edit the home page, customize site options and view traffic reports.
You can add store and product catalog functionality to your site through the e-commerce options in the IRUN dashboard. Here you go through a simple step-by-step process to activate a shopping cart, set refund and exchange policies, determine shipping options and calculate shipping costs. If you use PayPal, you can set that up, or you can provide your other payment gateway settings. There is also a place to set store sales and markdowns.
Welcome eBay Sellers
For those wanting to continue selling on eBay as well as on their own site, IRUN's eBay integration tools let you easily select products from your online catalog to send to an eBay auction.
All you need to do is fill out IRUN's form to include details on the type of auction, price, category, and payment options. You also provide the description and images from your product catalog, and then everything is automatically imported over.
IRUN's eBay service also lets you add and manage product inventory on your Web site and your eBay auctions from one location.
The service offers hundreds of site templates, 10 e-mail addresses, newsletter management, polls, and more for a monthly fee of $39.95 which includes all features.
IRUN charges no set-up fee and users can also update their Web site templates for free at any time.
You will need your own domain name, however, you can also register one through IRUN if you don't have it already. A 30-day demo trial is available on the IRUN Web site.
Vangie Beal is a seasoned eBay seller, frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com and managing editor of Webopedia.com.
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