Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello all!

My site is located at : http://www.MrTomsAlley.com.

It is an e-commerce site where I am selling antiques, collectibles and coins from the last two centuries. I currently have about 2500 items available online. I launched this site in April of 2008 and have been tweaking it ever since. My sales have been on a steady upswing, so that`s promising, but, I`m always looking for ways to improve. I have tried to create both a professional feel as well as a familiarity to the site. I`d like my customers to feel as though they are dealing with someone they can trust, not just a faceless website. I designed the entire site and do all the listing. I started with an open source shopping cart package, called Zen-Cart, some of you may be familiar with. I then tweaked and added whatever I thought I thought I needed as I went along. I haven`t received any angry emails or calls about the site yet, so I guess that`s a good thing, and have managed to cultivate a little base of "regulars". I do all of this pretty much on my own, and don`t have a real large budget for "professional" improvements, so any advice you could offer would be well received! Thanks in advance!

 

Harry 

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Mr. Tom`s Alley, LLC
Antiques, Collectibles and Coins

Thanks for the kind words. It`s a shame eBay had to change so radically. I hope you have all the success in the world, and thanks for taking time to look at my site! I`m off to check yours out now!

Harry

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Mr. Tom`s Alley, LLC
Antiques, Collectibles and Coins

Hi Kathy-

I thought that might have been you. Your order is on it`s way via USP Priority. (I upgraded the shipping). It took awhile to get my checkout integrated correctly but it seems to work well now. Kudo`s to Quickbooks Merchant Services for all the help. Hope you enjoy your order. I checked out your site, too. Very nice. I`m going to get on there later and really delve into it. I may be coming to you for some gifts! Thanks again!

Harry

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Mr. Tom`s Alley, LLC
Antiques, Collectibles and Coins

Certificates! Send certificates! 

OK, sorry, that`s an inside joke you`ll all be let in on in the near future ....

Seriously .... I like the introduction you provide, but to me the drawback is that it is a bit long, and as a result your products aren`t front and center .... so maybe consider making the intro area not as tall so that your product images show up higher on the page .... and you could shorten the intro as well ... nothing personal, but if I was a potential customer, I want to see a short, to-the-point intro, then products, and then learn about you to build trust after finding what I want .... if your current set up works, that`s fine, I`m just throwing in a suggestion ....

Other than that, you have a great variety that should interest almost anyone ... good luck with your venture ....




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M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons

Thanks, Webline, for your comments. I`ll consider shortening that up, since I do go into greater detail on another page the customer can access if he/she wants. I`m a bit spoiled because I have a 24 inch monitor and so don`t always take into consideration other screen sizes like I should. It helps to have that prod now and then. As for the certificates, I guess I`ll find that out in due time?

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Mr. Tom`s Alley, LLC
Antiques, Collectibles and Coins

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Hi Harry,
I looked at your site earlier, knowing I`d be out and about first. That gave me some time to ponder it, and for others to make comments. The first thing I thought was along the lines of Webline`s comment that it seemed "too long."

Actually, it` a bit too wide. Not the overall site and pages, that works for me, but your content area. However; as I looked at it again, I saw that no, it`s not even the content area that`s wide. It`s the amount of text in a single line.

Here`s a thought, and I was thinking the same earlier. Since you have the layout and design very nicely done, how about keeping the content area the same size, but splitting your actual content---the written text---into two columns? Like a newspaper.

That would give the eye a break while keeping the whole sentence in mind, but also keep the existing design and layout nice and clean.

Another thing would be to consider putting your "About Us," and "Contact" up in the tab bar, at the top of the page. I`ve found that when I stop to explore a site, the next main interest is to learn more about the company.

So many entrepreneurs waste everyone`s time with an "About" that makes no sense, but you`ve written something really nice. You could use more paragraph breaks, and a parenthetical note that "numismatist" is someone who collects coins and  medals. That, or the second time you use the word replace it with the definitional explanation.

Something we`ve done, building on 100% positive feedback, is that we put an eBay logo "link-button" on our home page, with a connection to the expanded feedback page on eBay. The thinking is that it`s a form of testimonials.

Why waste all that good feedback? If people see that you have that many strong and positive repsonses, it`ll build your credibility. Everybody still knows eBay at the moment, so until they go under it`s a useful boost to your reputation.

All in all, works for me... :-) Nice site.

Thanks CraigL, and everyone else. I fixed my returns page (I had it so that you had to be logged in to see it, a quick change fixed that!) and shortened up the intro a bit. I am weighing some of the other changes that were suggested and will probably wait until after the holidays to make any changes to the look of the site. As for having a link to my ebay feedback, I do have a clickable link in the About Us section, that now goes straight to the expanded feedback page, instead of to "My World" on ebay. Thanks again everyone, and keep those suggestions coming! 

Harry

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Mr. Tom`s Alley, LLC
Antiques, Collectibles and Coins