# Just a question.....O/T



## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hi guys!

I don't mean to get off topic again, but I have been observing the BB Boards and notice that most of you here prefer the other hobby store owners and thread starters, like Mobeous, Monarch, Mega Hobby, etc. Heck! Sometimes I even think Lapco would get a sale before I would! 

Anyway, that's fine by me, but I am wondering why my Monster Hobbies web page is getting a cold review. 

I'm still in the earily "web construction" stages, and I don't know a lot about HTML programming and so on, but I am wondering if you nice people would help me in pointing out where I am going wrong with my web site.

Here are some ideas I have on why it's not working out, but could you please add some of your own too? Any input and any changes I can make to it would be all the better!

Some problems : 

Web Layout - Does it look good to buy from or too Cheesy / basic to trust?
Pricing - How does a customer buy? (Pay Pal, Visa, Mastercard, Ammex???)
Pictures - Are they too big - Interfere with download time?
Promotional Items - What does this site have to offer that others don't?
Items - Not descriptive enough? - Not enough inventory?
Trust issues? - Do you feel like you can trust your payments to us?

Now, I've been in business in my "Brick and Mortar" store for 3 years and I've sold a lot of items, even mailed things out. I do have a trust with those customers, but it seems like the internet world isn't the same. 

Also, since I signed up here on Hobby Talk, I've made friends with a lot of you good people over the years, and I have shared a lot of my builds as well as pictures of my store from my older Fotki account. Everyone seemed to enjoy those days and they have asked me to get a web site up and running.

Finally I do have one, and when I posted the link, the reaction was basically dead.

So, I am asking you nice people to help me out and give some suggestions on ways to improve my web site.

Can you please HELP ME?????

Your Friend,

Mad Cap Romanian

Trevor Ursulescu
Monster Hobbies

www.freewebs.com/monsterhobbies


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

Gee, I dunno!

I just looked at your site and I'd be perfectly happy to buy stuff from you. 

Will you be stocking the new Moebius stuff? I'm really interested in their kits and purchasing from a Canadian vendor would avoid import duties and some of the other charges that I have to pay if I buy from a US vendor.

And you don't have a lot of the type of kits that I like listed on your site (sci fi, monsters - you know, the "Aurora" type models!!) If you have them in the shop, list them on-line!

Cheers!
Huzz


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## Jimmy B (Apr 19, 2000)

Show me a J & H, Nosferatu or any other new Styrene aurora-like figure
And I'll show you a sale


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## beck (Oct 22, 2003)

hey Trevor , just got around to checking the site out ( been hectic here lately ) . 
i like it . cool layout and lotsa colorful stuff . and you've got some stuff on there i haven't seen before like the Tiki stuff .really cool ! 
anyway , just hang in there. i'm sure with a little time traffic will pick up . 
hb


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Site seems fine to me, tho a Shopping Cart system would help to speed things up for both you and your customers. It would also make it look a bit more professional, as well as secure online purchases would likely attract a few more kits. 

Unfortunately, you don't have anything that interests me or of which I don't already have multiples.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

ThanX for the tips so far! I REALLY appreciate them!

To answer some questions, 

YES, I will be dealing with Monarch and Mobeous as well as another company called Bizzargoyls which are little "paint them yourself" resin monster toys. So far, it's in the works, but nothing's been set in stone yet. Try not to worry though, I'm just as anxious to get new merchandise as you guys are.

As far as the "Shopping Cart" goes, it will be comming too. I'll have to open a new bank account and link Paypal to it. In the meantime, I am thinking of just going with Money Orders, which are a little more time consuming, more fussy....but they are accepted on both sides of the boarder. I just need to go to Western Union to cash them in.

My friend showed me a way to link Thumbnail photos to larger photos from my older Fotki web site. That will allow me to post more on my Freewebs page and not take up the limited Freewebs bandwidth. 

In other words, when you click to see the larger picture on the Freewebs page, it will automatically go to the picture on the Fotki site where I have unlimited bandwith.

I'm also going to change the home page so that it will have a bunch of Thumbnails there and then if you want Model Trains, you just click on the thumbnail and it takes you to the train page.

Anyway, keep posting and let me know how to best serve you.

Talk to you soon!

Trevor


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## Ravenauthor (Jan 24, 2004)

Since you are asking, I hope you want honest answers. Here's my impressions of the website.

1) it's one of those "free" websites, where you are going to get annoying ads that won't have anything to do with your business, like the Adidas one that I'm looking at now. It isn't that much to buy your own domain name and have space hosted some where. If you are serious about putting your store online, this would be a help

2) When I look at your monster kits page, I have an annoying cusrsor trail following my mouse.

3) I can't find any information anywhere about shipping costs

4) As mentioned above, no easy way to actually order anything from you. You list the models and prices, then what? We call or email you with our order? I have bought models online, but at those places I can click a "Buy" button, get sent to PayPal, boom I'm done and just need to wait for my model to arrive.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok...good advice Ravenauthor. This REALLY helps me to "work out the bugs" as it were!

I will remove the cursor trail. It was fun at the time, but I realize that it could be a slow death for a dial-up customer. This computer I have at work has "Super High Speed" so a large photo page like my web site usually uploads in seconds, whereas a dial up guy could be waiting hours. I tend to forget that when I can load a 2000 megapixel image in 3 seconds, know what I mean? 

As for the Freewebs ads, I can upgrade to a "Premium Member" and that would eliminate all of that. I just need to get my CC in order first.

As for PayPal...it's comming. Right now I'm going to use money orders until I can make arrangements at the bank for a new account which I will link to PayPal. then I can have all the cool buttons and be on the same page as the rest of the guys.

Shipping costs will vary on ammounts of items, weight, and so on. I'll probably be shipping Canada Post, and I'll figure out the cost when someone orders. There's probably a better way to do it on the site though. I think I'll need to aquire a rate card from Canada Post and list it somewhere.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

In the meantime, I've made some simple changes starting here : 

http://www.freewebs.com/monsterhobbies/electricfrankensteinposter.htm

Give it a try and let me know if you like how I redesigned the page layout. 
(Click on buttons and stuff!)


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## Steven Coffey (Jan 5, 2005)

MadCap, I am saving money for wonderfest. After wonderfest I will buy something! It is just going to cost me a fortune to drive from Austin Texas to Louisville Kentucky! So I am just not buying anything right now.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

DON'T WORRY ABOUT BUYING RIGHT NOW!

The idea behind this thread isn't whether or not someone has to buy something from me, but how I can make my site LOOK better so someone will EVENTUALLY buy something. (A future date, like 2 months from now.)

Sorry for the confusion there friends.

The main question is : How do I make my web page more "User Friendly"?

The Answers......we are all working on. ThanX for all the help so far and let me know other ways to improve. That's all I'm asking! :wave: 

Anyway, I've been spending a good day rebuilding my web page and there's still a lot to do.

Took Ravenauthor's advice and added a page with some instructions on how to order from us until we establish a PayPal account. I also have some "Directional Buttons" to make navigation easier. My "Buy item" buttons are at the bottom of the page and link to the above mentioned "How To" page. (Note, these exist in the EF poster page and Monster Kits page - will do more in the morning.) I think it's comming together better.

Have a look and post more opinions in this thread. Be unmerciful, if you want! I NEED TOUGH LOVE! (Note - this doesn't mean closing this thread!  )

Web site : www.freewebs.com/monsterhobbies


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## wrk-N-prgrss (Mar 31, 2007)

maybe it would help if you put the scaling of the kit near where the price is...that would help me out a lot...i saw several models that i would love to get a hold of on your site...but gotta save my pennies so i can get rollin on that dio im workin on...after ive go that taken care of...i dont see any reason why i wouldnt buy off of your site...


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## A Taylor (Jan 1, 1970)

Honestly?
Ditch the free website and put some money into a professional, cart driven e-commerce site. You have too many competitors online to be anything less than professionally presented and easy to use.
Also (and please remember you asked for opinions) about 80 percent of your posts here seem to have little purpose other than promoting your business. I understand you want to attract customers, but in my opinion it does the opposite - it makes you seem like an outsider trying to break in with the community for the sole purpose of selling to us. Put a link to your website in your signature and only post if you have something informative, interesting, funny, or on-topic to contribute.
Works for me. Good luck with your store!
AT


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

i hope the follow doesnt seem harsh: im going to try to give it to you streight up, please know its meant to be constructive.

a taylor is 100% correct. you need to get a real website, forget the freebie.
there are billions of websites out there, from multi million dollar businesses to little suzies tribute to her pet cat fluffy, and yours seems closer to the latter than the former. the original version of your website seemed dedicated to showing off your shop, rather than getting sales. thats improved, but still has a long way to go. your front page is a great example of what not to do: we dont care about your wall mural, we dont care about your radio ad, we dont care how cool you and your s.o. are, we care about the stuff we want to buy.... but instead right off the bat, you show us the former, not the latter.

saying "the shopping carts coming, paypals coming" is fine, but you dont have them yet, so what do you expect? btw, paypals great for ebay sales but for a commercial site you need to be able to take cards directly. people expect to use paypal on ebay, but on commercial sites, they hate it, big time hate it. it really seems to me that you put this site live before it was ready. (believe me, im putting together a new website for my business, which is tied to a very successful ebay business...20000 sales in the past 5 years... its been months and it still isnt live yet, and wont be for at least another month, minimum. 

also, you need to show us something we cant get from other places, and specialize in a single thing. one major problem is the "eclectic" nature of your stock. goth makeup has little to do with model cars has little to do with tiki decor. the impression that this gives to the average person is that you couldnt find enough "on topic" stuff to fill up the entire store, and so youre selling anything you can get your mitts on that you think you'll be able to make a buck from. while all of these things might be stuff you sincerely love, its too far flung from each other to target a single audience. (i'll use my business as an example of what i just mentioned. i sell halloween and genre movie merchandise. the goth makeup you sell is a heck of a lot closer to my home field than to yours, but i wouldnt touch it, because its still to far away from the rest of it.) people get it into their heads that they go to the X store to buy X products, and while product Y might be tangentially related, it wont work for them, simply because people dont go to the X store to buy a Y. (relatedly, what works in a brick and mortar may not work on a website, and vice versa.)

you know all of the above combined gives the impression that your business is really rinky-dink, and really not ready to be in business. its been shown time and time again that an understocked store actually turns people away from buying from it and is a recipe for failure, and your site gives a very similar impression. 

you seem to be expecting the world to beat a path to your door... well, it aint gonna happen, at least not yet, even if you do build the better mousetrap, which you havent. .. and even after you get those things you need, youre going to have to do a lot of work to being traffic to your site. just hanging it out there isnt enough. you need to optimize your visibility to the g.p., not just we few die-hards. (and as much as we die hards love you personally, we are still going to actually buy from websites that we are familiar with, are slicker, and easier to use. ) 

my sincere advice to you is: 
1. decide on a specialty and go for that. do your homework and find more hobby suppliers/wholesalers and garage kit manufacturers, and get accounts with them. (in the case of the latter, find out who will drop ship for you.) get on topic things we cant find elsewhere. ditch the rest of the stuff on ebay, and use the $ to buy on topic stock. (i know you want to support your buddies with their band, make a seperate page that you link to to do that... its hurting your business.)
2. spend the $ for your own url (like at yahoo small business). you can get your domain and hosting cheap... lose the freebie. 
3. find ways to take credit cards without a huge deposit or monthly fee and let customers use their card directly with a minimum of hassle (and with a minimum of the machinations of doing so kept hidden). 
4. do your homework to build the page and show us what we want to see, which is the products you are selling. you might be cool and wonderful, but we dont care about that. 

finally let me say that "i cant afford that, at least not yet" is NOT a viable excuse for not doing any of those things. if you cannot afford them, then you cannot afford to operate this business any more than if you couldnt afford your business license or rent on your retail space.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Good critiques above. Take them to heart: great advice!

If I were you, I'd go for a niche market (which is what you're talking to here). If you can get some talent to help you produce and market a few resin kits of unusual but desired subjects, that will get more people coming to you in search of something special. Once they find that something special, they may also buy other (RELATED) stuff that they could get elsewhere but, while they're at it, they buy it from YOU.

You need to find your cheese, not just expect it to come to you. Make things happen! Don't go begging!


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## Dave Hussey (Nov 20, 1998)

As a guy buying kits, yes, a fancy web site with paypal and a check out feature is impressive and convenient , no doubt.

But, at the end of the day, I want to find (1) a good selection of kits that appeal to me and (2) good competitive prices for them, including the shipping component.

So, if the fancy web site stuff will take some time, you could as an alternative or interim solution, get yourself an 800 toll-free number to post on your site that works for all North America for folks to call you and place orders.

Cheers,
Huzz


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## Arronax (Apr 6, 1999)

On the niche market thing. What the Pefessor said is true but you seem to have two businesses here - online and the shop. 

I would really go for the niche business online while still accomodating local business out of your shop. People in your neighborhood (hopefully) want to buy trains, cars, tank, airplanes and modeling supplies and you need to accomodate them as best you can. You can even put it up on your website just not covering the front page.

You need to target specific customers online and offer them things they can't get in local hobby stores at competitive prices. There are quite a few sci-fi/monster online distributors out there that you'll being going head to head with.

I'm glad that you are asking for input and listening to suggestions. Good luck!

Jim


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

*Probably noted already...*

I just looked at the site for the first time.

I'm just an $8.00 dollar an hour stooge who can only afford
low dial-up internet for a cheap Dell laptop.

The site takes too long to load. I found what looks like a piece
of music trying to load. That slows things down. 

When I click on "Star Trek models" the merchandise for sale is
only listed as a price. What kits are they? It took ten minutes 
for the pictures to load to find out.
Try listing the products as text, with a link to a picture that can
be seen separately, in a new window.
Or thumbnails next to the text.

Crop the photos better, also.

Hope this helps!


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## nx-o1troubles (Jul 20, 2006)

Although it may be awhile before I can afford a model, I must say that I am mostly interested in Star Trek and Star Wars models too. I like cars, but only if they are modern, like an 05 corvette or something like that. Planes are okay too. But I was noticing that none of your models have any descriptions. All I see is a picture, and then a price. I need a paragraph of a few sentences or so for each product that gives a few details about the model. And then at least give the specs too, like scale, skill level, size, etc. Without this information, I have no reason to buy. I wont know what I am buying!

Also, while some of your star wars models were kind of cool, I was hoping to see some star trek and star wars models that were bigger. Like enterprises and stuff. The kits are small, or are easy, or I already have. I would like to see more variety, and bigger things such as Enterprise A-E and various versions such as excelsior, romulan warbirds, whatever you can think of. Perhaps a millineum falcon. Sure, they will cost you more but you will get more buys. It would be nice too if the prices you give for those products would be fairly cheap in comparison to other stores, if possible. However I understand that for a business that might be difficult. And while you need to make a profit, some of the prices were a bit high. Like the enterprise which was 15 bucks, I bought once for like 10 bucks.

anyway those are my thoughts.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok, well have a look at this other link. 

http://alberta.buysell.com/monster_hobbies.html#

It's the beginings of a web site I'm making with the local buy and sell newspaper.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

By the way, thanX for the comments. 

Maybe you guys are right, the Freewebs way isn't the best. I'm rather limited with what's going on there. 

For example, my logo should be prevalent. It should be somewhere on the top of the page, at least. But because Freewebs is what it is, I can't change the Japanamie drawing into one of my own MH drawings.

Specializing on the net is a difficult decision. Our brick and mortar store is 1800SQ Feet in size and has 20 different departments. They're not all related to one another, and the reason is that we are the only Hobby Shop between Calgary and Lethbridge, @ 200 miles appart. So I have a clientel coverage of the Foothills that spans a Diameter of @400 miles, if you include all the surrounding areas. I find it best that I cater to everyone, like a Department store of Hobbies, if you will.

Coming to the net, I want to provide the same service. There MIGHT be a way to do this on the net, but I think that the Freewebs can't handle my "VISION". 

any suggestions?


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Make a completely separate website for your model department.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

And link them all together on the main page?


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

MadCap Romanian said:


> And link them all together on the main page?


Nope. There's no need to in any way link them except perhaps as part of your "About Us" section which provides background and address info.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Well, the other thing is that we are not just a model kit store. We are really a "collectibles" store. Therefore, we stock all the hard to find items, the common items and the collectible, hard to find items.

What I've shown everyone so far on the Freewebs page is only a basic touch of what's REALLY in the Brick and Mortar store. It would take me a long time to photograph and upload all the 4000+ items I have in stock.

To put it simply, here's what we have : Monster kits, Sci-Fi kits, Model Cars, Model Trains, Model Aircraft, Model Ships, Stickers, Tiki Mugs, Punk Rock items, Clothing, Puzzles, Women's Crafts, Games, Die Cast Cars, Magazines, DVD's, Pirate Items, and Halloween/Costume Items.

Keep in mind that the above 17 descriptions will have a possible 5-10 sub catagories underneath them. For example, in GAMES, I have card games, board games, figure based games, role playing games, and traditional games. 

When you split into card games, I have Magic : The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Horrific, The Nightmare Before Christmas, FullMetal Alchemist, Spycraft, World of Warcraft, Call of Chutulu, .... AND MORE! So right there, one department is already at 8 subheadings.


It's not hard to display this in the 1800 SQ FT store behind showcases and whatnot, but how to show that on the web is another thing. 

Mainly, I don't want to specialize in one department online. I'm trying to display my entire shop and at the same time, make it easy for people to "walk" through it. From looking at my sales throughout the last 3 years, I find that there are certian shopping trends. At X-mas, people primarily buy trains. In the summer, they look for games, in the fall, it's Halloween / Horror items, in the late summer, it's model cars and hot rod stickers. Birthdays are year round and most people want Pirate stuff for parties. Online, I want to provide my customers with the same options and not limit myself to being "Oh, monster Hobbies. Isn't that the Train store?" OR "Isn't that the Sticker Shop?" or whatever.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

MadCap Romanian said:


> Isn't that the Train store?" OR "Isn't that the Sticker Shop?" or whatever.


NOTHING is stopping you from coming up with another website that has everything. We're just saying that, if you want to appeal to us, you'd better have one devoted website that doesn't make you look like a jack of all trades.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

MadCap Romanian said:


> Well, the other thing is that we are not just a model kit store. We are really a "collectibles" store. Therefore, we stock all the hard to find items, the common items and the collectible, hard to find items.
> 
> What I've shown everyone so far on the Freewebs page is only a basic touch of what's REALLY in the Brick and Mortar store. It would take me a long time to photograph and upload all the 4000+ items I have in stock.
> 
> ...


well as i said earlier, what works on a brick and mortar basis may not work on the net. you may WANT to feature your entire store online right off the bat. you might WANT to continue doing things just as you have online as well. the trouble is that isnt working... youre asking us why it isnt working, and were telling you. you know your real-space clientèle and their shopping practices, and you think that because of that you can just turn around and do the same thing on the web, and that it should work. it doenst matter what you want or dont want to do. it doesnt matter how grandiose your vision is, if your website doesnt conform to the consumers expectations and the way they like to shop ON THE WEB, youre still not going to make any sales. 

forgive me, but i really think you are too much in love with your website and the things in it to really see how chintzy it looks to outside eyes. honestly doing little cosmetic changes like the logo arent going to help at all if the foundation is still shakey. going over to your own domain and away from the freebie web isnt a "maybe" if youre going to make this thing fly. neither is specialization. neither is taking plastic directly. these are things you MUST do, period. (you may have to do them step at a time, but they must be done a.s.a.p.) "jack of all trades" might be working for you in your brick and mortar, but its not going to work here on the web. you have to let the buying habits of the ONLINE shoppers shape your practices, it doesnt work the other way around. you can protest "but I want to do it MY WAY" as much as you want, but if it doesnt match the way the buyers shop, its doomed. 

i would advise contacting someone like prostores that can set you up with your own readymade commercial website where all you need to do is drop in the products, product catagories, and logos, and youre set to go. sure it wont look as cool you would like to start with, but that can easily dress it up as you go along. in the meantime you'll have a website with its own url, shopping cart, email addresses, and the ability to take all forms of payment right off the bat.... and its a lot less expensive than you might think.

(by the way the webpage you have in conjunction with the newspaper isnt any better then the freeweb one. the cartoon frankenstein is cute, but it tells us nothing about your business and merchandise.) 

again forgive my bluntness. its well intentioned.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

So WHAT do you want me to tell you about my business and merchandise? 

Should I make my page look like this one? 

http://www.megahobby.com/ - A picture list down the center of the page with text on either side?

Or like this one ? 

http://monarchmodels.net/ - A big card with some buttons?

Or this one? 

http://www.moebiusmodels.com/index.html - A very little ammount of product?

Or this one? 

http://www.deadmentellnotales.com/ - Lots of music and "Drop Down" menues to take you elsewhere?

Or this one?

http://www.tikifarm.com/ - Pictures and side bars.

Or this one? 

http://www.electricfrankenstein.com/index.html - Big front page leading to other pages?

These are some of the pages I'm looking at and "Benchmarking" as I'm desiging my own. To me, they look much the same as what I'm trying to accomplish. (Keep in mind that I'm still working on my page.)

I know these above sites do well as they have been in business for years.


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## beck (Oct 22, 2003)

Mega hobby is a good site as is cultTVman's hobbyshop . these would be good places to get some ideas from . 
wishing ya much success my friend ! 
hb


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Made some changes to the freewebs account. Going home now to wife and dinner! CU in the morning.

www.freewebs.com/monsterhobbies

Tell me if the improvements are any better, esp the sci-fi page.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

MadCap Romanian said:


> So WHAT do you want me to tell you about my business and merchandise?


simple: what you carry, done in such a way that we want to buy it from you. just dont get too "creative" with the latter or youll work against yourself (as i think at least one of these companies has.)
of the ones you listed, id say tiki farms is the best of the lot. a nice balance of showing of a sampling of the stuff with the inherant "fun" of the whole tiki thing. mega hobbies site is great but a little.. ok a lot... dry. electric frankenstein is great too, but promoting a band is very different than retailing products so its about irrelevant to our discussion here.

yes the site has improved, but youve really got to get a proper shopping cart and payment method, and ditch the free site. cosmetic changes are helpful, but they are the real meat and potatoes of e-retailing. (beyond its limitations that you are on a free site hurts you.).


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes, I agree with the freewebs limitations. I am thinking that I might use the free one temporarily because I already have it listed on a few other web sites. 

If I build the free one as a "Practice" web page until I get the results back from my paid newspaper web page, then I can design the paid one with all that I've learned from the Free one and improve the paid one because it doesn't have the limitations.

Incidently, yesterday I recieved a surprise visit from a woman representing UPS. She had software for shipping with all the rates and so on. I just need to set up an account with her and then I am able to download all the UPS stuff into our store computer and uplink it to the web page.

I wasn't expecting that to happen.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Oh, I think the shopping cart stuff comes when I link up with PayPal.

I won't be able to open a new bank account until Monday anyway.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Incidently, I could do Visa and Mastercard because we have that technology in the Brick and Mortar store. (It's the same machine used for interact transactions.) 

However, people would have to give me their numbers over the phone or something. I'm not 100% sure how that works, as I have never keyed in a CC before, but I phone in my number when I order from some of my US wholesalers. Therefore, it HAS to work, right? I should ask my wife. She's more knowlegeable in those matters.

So to recap, Our Brick and Mortar store has the technology to process Interact, Visa and Mastercard, as well as UPS shipping software (comming next week).

Now how do I show this on my web page? And do I REALLY need to hook up with PayPal if I take over the phone CC #'s?


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## nx-o1troubles (Jul 20, 2006)

Well, for one, I have high speed, yet it is taking quite a bit of time to load. Instead of showing a bunch of pictures, just have a list with the picture next to it. With all of the pictures and links on one page it is taking forever to load. The other problem is that you go to a completely different site to view the products. This also cause loading isssues. It is annoying for someone who is trying to figure out what model they want next, and then have to wait for the site to switch and load every time. The descriptions that you do give are very brief, and dont really satisfy the customer. I would reccomend going to Federation Models to see how they set up there stuff and get some ideas on describing them (just dont copy it.) Also, some of your models do not have prices listed, and those that do are overpriced. I realize that this is retail for you, and you need to make a profit, but $70.00 for an NX-01 is way too much. I paid 60 for mine, when I could have gotten it for about 50. Its nice that you have added some more star wars models, but the trek section is seriously lacking.

Also noted some misspellings on some of the descriptions you gave, (as brief as they were.) This is unproffesional.

I can not stress more the need for you to describe your products. You never see anyone just sitting on the street, trying to sale like hot dogs or whatever, and they never tell you what they are selling. This seriously needs to be taken care of.

And I just now realized that the $70.00 was Canadian, so forgive me, but you need to give US prices as there will likely be more buyers from here. Other wise, I just look at it and see $70 and say forget it. Convert that to US dollars.

Thats my opinion, as blunt as it may seem.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

So it worked better before when I had both prices listed, CDN and US?

Spelling mistakes are going to be a problem as there is no spell checker on the fotki website. I'll have to go back and look it over and fix them manually with a dictionary. for larger descriptions, I will look at the web site you mentioned and expand on what I have. But how do you describe items that most people know, like the Millenium Falcon?

As for the site changes, I can't do much about that. Freewebs is a limited site, but Fotki is not. I could never put the ammount of photos on Freewebs as I do on Fotki. Therefore, it is easier to send a customer to the larger capacity site.

What I can do is remake my thumbnails into Bitmap files from their present Jpeg format. That might cut download times in half.

The other thing would be to have the Freewebs "Home Page" icons automatically drop to the fotki website and totally forego the Freewebs hosting alltogether, except to showcase the Brick and Mortar store, Contact us, and the other simple functions like that.

I just hope that the other website hosted by the newspaper works faster and is more convienent than the current Free one.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Other than that, dump all your "cookies", hook up to a better High Speed Connection and get a faster computer! - Joke!


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## nx-o1troubles (Jul 20, 2006)

MadCap Romanian said:


> So it worked better before when I had both prices listed, CDN and US?
> 
> Spelling mistakes are going to be a problem as there is no spell checker on the fotki website. I'll have to go back and look it over and fix them manually with a dictionary. for larger descriptions, I will look at the web site you mentioned and expand on what I have. But how do you describe items that most people know, like the Millenium Falcon?
> 
> ...



Well, If I am ever going to buy from you in the future, I'll be paying in US dollars, so post both.  

As far as the site switching thing, I am starting to agree that it may be best to just buy a domain name. I didnt see the issue at first, but the waitng for the site to switch will bug customers, so maybe you should find a site that has no "limits" as you say.

The spelling thing is basically this: if things are misspelled, then they may not trust your site or think that you didnt put much effort into it.

When I mean "describe" I mean describe the kit itself. For example, the Falcon you mentioned: tell me how many pieces, how big it is when completed. If you want to say something about the actual Falcon, fine. But give me kit details. Resin or Styrene? Any interesting features about it? Is it greatly detailed? You simply need to excite people to buy it. I would like a falcon or a star destroyer someday, but I want to know how big it is, how many pieces, detail, whatever. Thats what helps me choose.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok, I see what you mean. It's hard to remeber all that stuff when you're looking at a wall of inventory.

Some of the info isn't on the box anymore, but I will look for it.

I think the newspaper site will be much different than this one.

I agree with the spelling mistakes. If there's too many, it will look like a "Made in Russia" website. I don't think I want that


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

You may put all your text into a word processor in order to do a spell check before posting it to the site.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

MadCap Romanian said:


> Incidently, I could do Visa and Mastercard because we have that technology in the Brick and Mortar store. (It's the same machine used for interact transactions.)
> 
> However, people would have to give me their numbers over the phone or something. I'm not 100% sure how that works, as I have never keyed in a CC before, but I phone in my number when I order from some of my US wholesalers. Therefore, it HAS to work, right? I should ask my wife. She's more knowlegeable in those matters.
> 
> ...


ask your cc service company if they provide the software for the ability to take the numbers online. i'd bet that they do. however i wouldnt put that technology on a free web host on a bet (particularly because you'll need a secure page to do it). 

if you are able to take cc's do you need paypal? well no, but id still offer it.

again i'd like to reccomend hosts like prostores that will register your domain for you and provide you with readymade templates, shopping cart, the ability to take cc's, email accounts and more all for one low price. i think it's your easiest fastest cheapest and best solution. you can then go in and dress it up later. 

one thing i didnt point out about all the sites you brought up earlier: they all specialize in one sort of product, and like the electric frankenstien site, the 2 figure kit companies you mentioned dont really count because they are manufacturers rather than retailers, so its apples and oranges. the point is that the eclectic nature of what you sell, while it might be fine for the retail store, is giving potential buyers a bad impression of your company on the web. 

one thing about describing kits like the falcon, its okay to discuss and promote the falcon itself, but keep it breif. you dont need to sell them on star wars, just the kit. (ive seen many ebay listings where you'd swear the seller was advertising the movie that the merchandise was based upon, as opposed to the item itself.)


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## nx-o1troubles (Jul 20, 2006)

razorwyre1 said:


> one thing about describing kits like the falcon, its okay to discuss and promote the falcon itself, but keep it breif. you dont need to sell them on star wars, just the kit. (ive seen many<a href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-1751-2978-71/1?AID=5463217&PID=1606754&mpre=http%3A//www.ebay.com"> eBay!</a> listings where you'd swear the seller was advertising the movie that the merchandise was based upon, as opposed to the item itself.)


This is EXACTLY what I meant. I know what the Falcon is, if I clicked on it, that means I am interested. I just need to know about the kit itself. You can open the box itself and tell me about it, or go to other sites, like the ones you may have bought them from and see what they have to say.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Wow! All this advice is great, but so overwhelming.  Anyway, I have a lot to think about and a lot to do. 

I just finished taking pictures of my model Aircraft and now the digi cam is listing 193 pictures. 

The site the newspaper is offering will have all the templates, domain name and so on. As well as their own web services, they will also print my regular ad in each of their weekly publications. The Bargain Finder newspaper is one of the most widely circulated papers in Canada.

As for the Star Trek and Star Wars kits, I am very limited in what I have, mainly because AMT / Polar Lights have stopped producing them.

As for the "Huge Selection", if you look at a lot of the other hobby shops online, they will list a numerous ammount of products that their store is carrying. 

Take Mega hobby for instance. On the same page that you see model cars, they also have model aircraft, model boats, and pirate skulls. It's all on one page, right in your face. 

At least my page has them itemized and under picture buttons which link to their respected departments on my Fotki site.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

> go to other sites, like the ones you may have bought them from


I don't buy off web sites or Ebay to get my inventory. I collect it from my various wholesalers in Calgary or the US, depending on the item. It's cheaper for me.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Made a final addition before I go back to this on Monday. I linked all the home page buttons to the fotki web site.

New descriptions will come on Monday.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

MadCap Romanian said:


> The site the newspaper is offering will have all the templates, domain name and so on. As well as their own web services, they will also print my regular ad in each of their weekly publications. The Bargain Finder newspaper is one of the most widely circulated papers in Canada.


well they might be the way to go. i havent heard of them, but that means nothing. im developing my site with prostores, which is owned and operated by e-bay. (it was started as a way to give their power sellers their own website with a minimum of fuss and bother.) my brother and i looked at a LOT of web hosts, shopping cart systems, credit card acceptance companies, etc etc, and determined that prostores was the best for us. white might work for us might not work for you, but i recommend it because it provides everything you need right away. 



MadCap Romanian said:


> As for the "Huge Selection", if you look at a lot of the other hobby shops online, they will list a numerous amount of products that their store is carrying.
> 
> Take Mega hobby for instance. On the same page that you see model cars, they also have model aircraft, model boats, and pirate skulls. It's all on one page, right in your face.
> 
> At least my page has them itemized and under picture buttons which link to their respected departments on my Fotki site.


well look at the tiki site you linked to. they have a small sample of each sort of item on the front page, with a more comprehensive list along the side. mega hobby does the same sort of thing, but in a less aesthetically appealing way. however, im going to bet that this sort of presentation appeals to the mindset of mega hobby's main clientèle where something flashier might actually turn their buyers off. it takes a long time to get into the heads of your main WEB buyers, and its not at all the same as that of your real-space customers, and that will determine what your site looks like and how its categorized.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

So, in other words, it's a learning process with some ideas getting eliminated in favor of others.

The Bargian Finder is called different things in different provences across Canada, but it is owned by the same company, and their web sites all link to the main one. I know that when I lived in B.C., it was called The Buy and Sell. Actually, the Buy and Sell had links to world newspapers as well because when I use to write to Pen Pals in Europe, Japan, and Russia, they all had their ads listed with the Buy and Sell. But that was back in the 1990's.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

MadCap Romanian said:


> So, in other words, it's a learning process with some ideas getting eliminated in favor of others.


well yes and no. most retail websites work the same way. there are patterns that are proven winners. after that its a matter of aesthetics, and that varies wildly depending on the audience. you look at others that you know are successful in a similar vein, find the similarities, design yours based on that... then start modifying based on what works and throw out what doesnt. again compare megahobbies to tikifarm. they look very different superficially.. but in reality they are very very similar in layout and function. they only look different because of the mindset and attitude of their respective buyers. 

as an aside, one thing about e-bay, its a great way to refine your descriptions of the items you are selling. the potential buyers will ask you questions about the items, and you'll know to add that info to your description, some of which will apply to all of the items of that kind. (much of which will be things you just assume people already know about that kind of item.)


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

True.

I've been thinking that I will make the Monster Hobbies web site pertain to monsters and monster related items. After all, I have sent a business card style ad to the Rue-morgue magazine and the readers of Rue-morgue will probably be the first to look at the web site. That ad will be printed in June. Therefore, it should really pertain to them first, as that audience will probably be the first people to look at it.

So what I should give that audience is my monster kits, monster stickers, monster games, monster figures, costumes, masks and make-up, Electric Frankenstein CD's, Posters and T-shirts, and monster related Tiki Mugs, like the Sam's Shrunken Head and the Skull Mug. then everything should fit the "Monster Hobbies" theme and possibly list the other items on a seporate page that will include a tour of the Brick and Mortar store. Maybe offer them an option to send $5.00 for a full store catalogue?

That way it would be more targeted and I wouldn't have to spend heaps of time uploading pictures and so on.

What do you think of that plan?


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

I like it much better than having the site be a catch-all for everything. and dont be afraid to drop any of the catagories if you think they are holding you back. 

two cautions about the "send for catalog" idea: make it free, not for $ (even if you have to put it on a disc rather than have in on paper). the other thing is make it perfectly totally glaringly clear that the catalog is for your NON-MONSTER items and that ALL your monster stuff is on the site. otherwise you'll have people saying "hmm i want to buy this mask, but i think i'll hold off till i see the catalog and see what else theyve got." ansd then they'll forget to send for the catalog, and then theyll forget about the mask and then youve lost the sale. remember that youre really selling impulse buying items, and youve got to grab your customer the moment they get turned on by the item itself.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Yeah. It sure seems like a challenge, all this internet advertising! 

I hope I can make the Newspaper web site look convincing enough to carry out my new idea.

Incidently, I'm waiting for their artwork to come back with the new modifications.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

The artwork came back and all they could do was change blue to green. So it looks like I will have to talk to them and work in parameters.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

i'd look into some standard commercial website templates, and see if they can upload them. if so then you can make your site into whatever you like. 

i keep pointing at the tiki and megahobby sites because they really impress me and i think they are good guides for you to follow. their respective templates must be very similar... the differences are more cosmetic, the nuts and bolts seem to be very much the same. 

if you can upload a temlate like theirs, youre in like flynn. all you have to do then is work up your graphics.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Totally. I should ask Holden what he did. i think the Tiki Farm one is a better presentation.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Incidently, have a look at my My Space page and tell me if the look has improved.

http://www.myspace.com/monsterhobbies

If it's any better, then I might do that as a web page.....only with product.


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## fjimi (Sep 29, 2004)

You need to pay razorwyre some cash - he is absolutely correct in every post. I won't buy from a "business" on a free web hosting, especially with typos. 

Your approach needs polish, ya know?


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok, the spelling mistakes are fixed on the "Monster Kits and Figures" page.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

You thought my spelling and grammar mistakes were bad....you should check out some of the text coming from the manufacturer! - LOL!

I'm running them through my spell checker and they're failing as well!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Monster Games spelling mistakes are corrected! .... yes..it's 5 am and I have nothing better to do!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Monster Books...done!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok, fixed up spelling mistakes on the home page and in the Contact Us page.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

ok as to your myspace page, its very nice and has given my a kick in the tush to tweak my own, however it isnt and shouldnt be a model for your website (except maybe cosmetically, fonts colors graphics etc). the two are very much apples and oranges....... and thinking that they are is a major problem. 

you notice how fjimi put business in quotations in his post... he wasnt just being a wiseguy. thats how people look at free websites of all kinds. moreover thats how people look at the people that use them. to the public, these arent businesses, these are wanna-bes. now maybe this bargain finder deal is different, but with the limitations you mentioned i have my doubts. this goes back to something i brought up earlier in the thread. here's the bottom line: you cannot do this on the cheap, and it make it work. things look a lot nicer than they did when we started and are easier to use, but thats still not going to get people to buy from you. you can fix the spelling and catagories and fix eveything on that site all day long, and all you are doing is wasting your time and honing your typing skills. let me repeat that rephrased: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you do to your free sites is going to entice people to use them to purchase from you. we have discussed a great many things that you can do, templates and layouts and catagories, but it only counts when its applied to a real stand alone website. and i think you'll discover that building the pages on the stand alone site is going to be so different than the plug-in features of these free sites that youve been just frittering away your time by trying to make the free site better. 

my friend, there seems to be a basic premise that hasnt quite sunk in yet. instead of playing with your free sites, myspace page, etc etc, you need to spend a little $, buy a domain, get a host, get shopping cart and c.c. services, upload your graphics, lay your hands on a good web page building program and start creating pages. if you have to do the last part first and build pages for an as-yet non-existent site, thats ok too, but ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that you do with your free sites and pages is nothing but a waste of your time.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Ok. I bought a real domain name. 

www.monster-hobbies.ca

It's Canadian. It's real. I just need someone to host and build it for me. 

Maybe what I'll do is put a paragraph on the Freewebs site saying "We've moved!" and a button linking to my new domain which should say "Comming soon!"

Then anyone looking at the Freewebs site in the next 2 months until the Rue-morgue magazine comes out will not have to see a "el Cheep-o" web site.

Is that a good idea until I can get it going?


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Oh, the web site should be up and running in the next 24 Hours. It's 12:30 on Thursday the 26th of April in Ontario where I registered the site right now.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

yes thats an excellent start. as to hosts, before diving in with anyone, check out some of the hosts that supply the other services you need......


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## fjimi (Sep 29, 2004)

There now, that wasn't so hard. That's a great First step in the right direction. (thumbs up)

Look forward to seeing the content focus on the domain name


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Yeah, and it only cost me $12 CDN. 

Right now I'm asking that web site if they can do all those specific things for me, like hosting and designing. If their software doesn't support it, then I have to look elsewhere. I hope I don't have to look too far though.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Razor, thanX for the PM. Your site looks good. It's Ebay hosted? maybe I can do something the same.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

the site i directed you to isnt e-bay hosted... its just an entrance to the e-bay store, and is hosted by earthlink, although it could be hosted by anybody really..... the individual items are e-bay listings
the new stand alone site i am working on is hosted by e-bay prostores. the main difference (beyond the aesthetic) is that buyers will not need to sign up on e-bay to purchase from the stand alone version.

you could do exactly what we did with that site as long as you sell the items on ebay, preferably through your ebay store (which are easy to start).


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## fjimi (Sep 29, 2004)

Razor, I don't think he's ready for the estore/links. You're kickin it with skill but I don't think he can handle the monitoring/maintenance, pics, desc's, T&C's etc. 

I think with hosting, templates and him posting in the different forums MCR will do ok with a lil polish.

The Madcap Laughs


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

please dont confuse anything i have said with skill. people start talking web tech and wysiwyg and that sort of thing and my eyes glaze over.. i really havent a clue... what i do have is 5 years of being a full time power seller on e-bay, 1 year trying to make the hop to the web, 6 years running a seasonal retail business, and several years studying marketing and advertising. everything ive said is really just common sense backed up with a little study and experience. 

this is why i keep harping on the "plug and play" commercial host. using that sort of host means that all the retailer needs to do is concentrate on the aesthetics and writing the descriptions of the items. even that isnt as easy or as simple as it seems, which is why ive had such an uphill battle getting my own site going. 

even with all of my experience, theres a final hurdle that is very tough: getting into that first page of links on the major search engines. this is why we went with ebay in the fist place. 5 years ago we were in the same place that madcap is now, except without the retail store, and we were all fired up to do a website and watch the $ roll in.... and then our business adviser said "how are you going to get people to your webstore?"... to which we replied..."ummmm search engines?".... and after that there was a loooooooong silence. our adviser then explained that the web is so huge that its almost impossible for people to find you if they dont know to look for you specifically, but people know where ebay is (and we had already been dabbling in that), and they come to it with cash in hand ready to spend it. we looked into ebay stores and decided that was the way to go for us at that time... and it worked... for us.... with a lot of work. can it work for everybody, maybe, maybe not.

anyway during those years we have put in a lot of study on why certain web business work and others dont, in order to try to apply it to what we are doing, and thats where most of the so-called knowledge that ive been shooting off my mouth with in this thread comes from. i am by no means a web expert or a marketing guru. i just rely on those real experts and gurus and listen to them and have been passing on that here... with a healthy bit of common sense.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Well, I, for one, appreciate the help!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

> Razor, I don't think he's ready for the estore/links. You're kickin it with skill but I don't think he can handle the monitoring/maintenance, pics, desc's, T&C's etc.


I don't see why not. Afterall, I've been the one who loaded everything onto the Freewebs and fotki sites, typed in all the text, looked at the web site 3-10 times a day, designed the freewebs site, and more. 

It's just that the limitations and overall apperance of Freewebs isn't a good place to run a business like mine. I need something with far greater storage capacity and options to help the shopper.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

The newspaper just contacted and updated my microwebsite.

Here's the link:

Tell me what you think.

http://alberta.buysell.com/monster_hobbies.html


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## fjimi (Sep 29, 2004)

I see about 30 models under the products link but you can't click on the thumbnails at the bottom.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

On the bottom of the home page? Is that what you mean?

Don't worry about that for just a second. IS this a better "Look" and "Feel" to what the web page should be?


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Just out of curiosity.....do you think I should pick up a book on HTML?

I am looking at the "View Source" button on my "Right Click" mouse button and I notice that most pages have a striking simularity in their HTML codes. 

Maybe if I understood the "Flow" of HTML, I could design a page myself.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

HEY! Look what I found : http://www.web-source.net/html_tips.htm

Tells you stuff on HTML and web design.


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## fjimi (Sep 29, 2004)

sorry, I wasn't clear. Yes on the bottom of the home page. The page definitely is looking better. 

I wouldn't buy a book just yet. All of the general coding info is free on the web like the site you found. 

And I'm having second thoughts on the e place storefront after reading RW's recent responses. You definitely might want to poke around there and view some shops.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Yeah, totally! If I had a printer in the store, I'd be printing page after page!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Actually, I might look at the book and see if they show you a web page they are creating. 

I have to get a book on THE MUNSTERS from Chapters that I found the other night but couldn't afford!


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

Hmmm....I'm messing around with some of these HTML codes and placing them in pages on the Freewebs site to see if they will work or not. ...... so far everything is working! (evil laugh)


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

I decided to make the Freewebs site just a "Public Awareness" site and remove any way to sell items. 

It might be better to keep it that way until my new site is up and running. Then people can see what the store looks like, read the history, sign the guestbook and simply "Learn" that we are out there.

I can also experiment with HTML in one of the Freewebs windows and see how things would look on the web BEFORE I place them into the new web site.

Anyway, take a look and let me know if you think this is a better "Temporary fix"! 

www.freewebs.com/monsterhobbies

The new site will be www.monster-hobbies.ca but if you click there now, you'll get the "Comming Soon" page.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

is there a legal reason you couldnt have gotten the .com? must you use the .ca because youre in canada? and why the hyphen?

the new info site is ok... considering its just a placeholder.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

There's no legal reason why I couldn't use .com. However, a web site like www.monsterhobbies.com is allready taken by someone. In fact, mostly ALL of the .com variations of Monster Hobbies is taken. Even www.monsterhobbies.ca is taken by someone. I didn't want to pay someone for the domain name, so I had to be inventive, try some different ideas, and use a hyphen between the words Monster and Hobbies. That wasn't taken by any one.

Being Canadian anyway, I thought it might be better to use .ca to identify my store as being Canadian.

Besides, when I post links to my new web page and when I change the Rue-Morgue ad for July, people will simply click on my link or type in the www.monster-hobbies.ca into their browser.

At least it isn't as long as www.freewebs.com/monsterhobbies or as long as the Buy and Sell page link.


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## MadCap Romanian (Oct 29, 2005)

I'm trying some HTML programming. I just need to type in the codes into Notepad, save the Notepad document as an HTML document and then open the document into Windows Internet Explorer.

It doesn't upload to my web server, but it allows me to see what I'm doing. 

When I'm ready to upload, I can do it using other software.

All this stuff I'm learning from the book HTML 4 for Dummies.


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