There's a lot of debate about why some people are successful with site selling and some just can't seem to get a single sale that way. I personally think that a few common errors in the way sites are handled account for a lot of the discrepancies in success levels. While no one can give you a guaranteed formula for selling from your site, you might find it helpful to experiment with just a few changes to the way you do things.

When I was asked about this, I immediately remembered a similar situation regarding my flower garden. I had one of the most beautiful flower displays in town for a good eleven months out of the year. This was in a hot and sandy area of Arizona, where most of my friends and neighbors were resorting to cactus in order to have something green in the yard! People constantly asked me my "secret" and I told them all the same thing.. lots of compost, and lots of mulch! They would then ask what type of fertilizer I used. When I told them that I didn't need to use any fertilizer because I used the compost and mulch, I was amazed at how many responded "Well, THAT won't work!!" Now, it obviously DID work.... at least for ME! And the same thing holds true in regards to how I run my site sales... it works for ME!

One of the reasons I seldom offer advice about anything to anyone, is that too many people take offense if your opinions or ideas don't mesh with what they expect you to say. Another reason is that if you do give advice, and it turns out to be less than successful for them, then it's all your fault! (Never mind the fact that, if you follow things back to the roots, they only took half your advice, or didn't really follow through long enough to be effective.) So, here goes... and I hope that enough people find this helpful without anyone ending up angry at me when they don't agree!

1. The way a site looks is important.. BUT
    A. One of the things we enjoy about certain web sites is the beautiful wallpaper and trimmings. That's the "eye candy" you get to see even before you see the beautiful dolls or outfits! And I would strongly urge you to find some decorative goodies for your site.. they can be obtained for free on a thousand different web sites dedicated to providing them for you. Please, DON'T take them from someone else's site just because you admire them! Find your own on the web, at one of those free sites, or ASK for permission to use something from a buddy's site. Think no one will notice that you copied the button or artwork from Artist X's website? WRONG! And word WILL get around, and it WILL hurt your business! It comes back to an issue of trust, and if you can't be trusted not to steal images, well... you get my drift!
    B. Use images everyone can see. Remember that there are a LOT of mac users out there, and they cannot see .BMP photos! Those are strictly for dos/windows based computers. Use .JPG or .GIF type photos. Why lose potential customers simply because you didn't convert to a file they could see?
    C. Not everyone has a speedy modem or satellite links! Don't expect the users of older computers and slow land lines to wait ten minutes for a photo to load.. they'll be off to another site that they can enjoy quickly! I realize that this is a very visual field.. and the higher resolution photos will give clearer pictures. But personally, I won't wait for a photo larger than 100kb to load, and I think lots of other buyers feel the same way. I try to keep mine down under 75kb when possible. If you want to SELL from your site, first you have to KEEP them at your site!
    D. Bells and whistles.. or music and mousies. That is a subject of hot debate, so remember this is only MY opinion. The feedback I have gotten says MOST people (mind you, I didn't say ALL), really prefer not to encounter music (which may be of a type they do not enjoy), or mouse trails of butterflies etc. when they visit doll sites. They are there to view, and potentially SHOP FOR dolls and outfits. Those extras take time to load and CAN be very distracting. In some cases, it has been known to freeze up a computer, making it necessary for the user to reboot in order to go somewhere else to shop! Which they WILL DO, if your site causes them problems! Personally, I want my customers looking at my repaints, not playing with their mouse. ;-) It's really rewarding to learn how to do all those "neat" things with html, but really.. if they don't help your sales, (and in some cases may actually hurt sales), you may want to save them for personal or family home pages.

2. Can you get THERE from HERE?
    A. I have found it very helpful to offer links on my pages that will get my customers easily to a new page, and then back to a general area they want to visit. Okay, I'll admit it.. I get lazy, or I forget, and they may have to use the "back" option on their browser more often than they should. But I do try to offer a link back to a major page on each of my individual doll pages.
    B. Links are supposed to actually work! Really! I would recommend that every time you load a new page to your site you personally go online and TRY YOUR LINKS! If they don't work you'll be able to fix them before they become embarrassing!
    C. Duh... email?? I can't believe I'm admitting this, but for over a month my site did not have my email address anywhere on it! I just flat spaced out on including it! Needless to say, it was a rather slow month for sales! So, as obvious as it may sound... make sure that potential customers can contact you easily!
    D. Wide enough for ya? Nothing is more irritating to me than to have to scroll across a page in order to see the whole thing. Scroll down, yes. Scroll across? Grrrrrr! I am a huge advocate of tables that will keep your work contained at a certain width of the screen. You can make them invisible, so they just look like you have a very organized mind! ;-) I really like being able to see it all at once, if at all possible!

3. Time to "Bite the Bullet"! Okay, this is the tough part.. the part some people will hate!
     A. Ask yourself why YOU shop on auction sites instead of buying from someone's personal site. You're probably a) looking for a BARGAIN, or b) looking for something you couldn't find elsewhere. So, my number one rule on auctions is to NOT offer them cheaper than they are on your site. As a matter of fact, I think the price should be higher, in order to cover the fees you're paying. If you get into the habit of "unloading cheap" on eBay or elsewhere, customers will learn to wait you out! I seldom put a repaint on eBay, so my customers know to come to my site for my dolls. The downside is that you will have to set a price, and then live with it. There is no chance of auction fever driving the price to the stratosphere, but that seldom happens for most of us anyway. Most of us have a fair idea of what our work is worth, so it shouldn't be too difficult to set a price you can live with. If you have that elusive killer doll that you just know will sell high, go ahead and put THAT ONE on eBay and consider it good advertising for your site, where the majority of your sales should take place.
    B. Price wobble is a killer. People have a feel for what a certain artist's work will sell for. If you are pricing (on your site or on auctions) in an area that is way above what the item is worth, it simply will not sell. On the other hand, if you are pricing something markedly lower (because you know it's not your best work) that is an equally big mistake. If it's not up to your standards, don't sell it cheaper... do it OVER! Never sell junk.. even cheap junk. And limit how frequently you have sales. I do offer my customers a break at Christmas to show my appreciation, and at the most I will do one or two other sales a year.. maybe. As a customer I would think it most irritating if I paid full price and could have gotten it cheaper by waiting for a sale.
    C. Your word should be worth more than ANY safe harbor! I always try to think like a customer. If something would irritate me, I sure wouldn't do it to them! If they received a doll and were unhappy with it, then I WANT IT BACK! I would rather absorb the loss than have some poor unwary soul out there glaring at a doll that was nothing like what they expected. Most people are honest. They aren't sitting there just hoping to be disappointed in your work. They WANT to love what they bought from you. If they're not happy, there's a good chance that they have good reason to be unhappy. If you take care of your customers the way you would like to be treated, they will come back to you again and again! Use your common sense, and if a customer has a legitimate complaint, take care of the problem rather than let it fester! (And always use insurance and tracking!)

4. Finding a customer base is not as difficult as it sounds. 
    A. I have an egroups "First To Know" list that anyone can join. There is a link for it on most of my main doll section pages. That way they can choose to go join or not. They are never asked to join or hassled if they haven't. No one likes to be pushed, and spam is spam, even if it's from someone you have purchased from in the past. That list always gets the first notification (and therefore the first chance to purchase) the new repaints. There are times when Yahoo doesn't send my mail out in the same order I do, but at least I have sent them first. :-) The groups are simple to set up, and I highly recommend them.
    B. My personal preference is to never send my customers directly to eBay. I always post to my various doll groups with photos of my dolls ON MY SITE. If the doll IS being put on eBay, there will be a link on her home page to the auction page if a customer cares to follow it. But they are always just given the option of viewing the doll without a price in sight first. This encourages visits from people who just "like to look" and really may not intend to purchase from you. BUT, I believe a happy "tire kicker" is more likely to become a customer than someone who is forced to listen to the sales pitch along with every doll. And we are looking for more customers for our sites, not for eBay.
    C. Provide a link directly to the doll or outfit you are showing. Please don't tell me to go into this page, and then take this link to go to this column, and look near the bottom. Send me directly where I want to go! If I like it, I'm sure you have a link to take me to see all the many other splendors to be found on your site when I'm through looking. This is a habit that will get people willing to go see what you're offering that might automatically delete your notice otherwise. And yes.. I'm guilty of using that delete button if you do that to me! :-) If I don't make it to your page, I won't make it to your first to know list!
    D. Many of us.. in fact MOST of us, belong to several doll groups. I really urge you to contribute to those groups frequently with tips and information.. not just the regular notice of an item for sale. Respond to questions from the group. Even if you're doing it privately and not on list, it helps people to get to know who you are and what you believe. It may be tempting to always lurk in the dark corners, but people really don't like to purchase from someone they don't feel they know and can trust.
    E. Join several doll rings! They really will help get people to your site that may never have found you otherwise!
    F. Don't limit yourself to domestic sales! International sales are SO simple to handle, and well worth the effort. International buyers expect higher shipping prices, so you won't shock them, believe me.

I hope some of this information has been helpful, or has at least given you some food for thought. Good luck with those sales from YOUR site!

Jean