Build A Niche Store (bans) Faq

I went ahead and bought the program and created a couple of sites. We'll see how they do. Thanks for the tips.

 

Good luck mate! Keep us updated on how things are working out for you!

 

Thanks! I've had a few people ask me how hard it was to install BANS. I've put together a quick video on the installation process at BANS Installation Video. It covers everything up to configuring the store such as:

1. Setting up your domain
2. Setting up your MySQL database
3. Gathering what you need to install (files, template, logo)
4. Copying files to the server
5. Changing permissions
6. Running the install process
7. Installation cleanup
8. Logging in and setting up your admin account

Video #2 will take it from there. Pardon the sound, I'll try to do better for part 2...

 

Just a note, thank you all for the influx of traffic to my BANS template site, designerniches.com. The free template has sold out. I'll have another one available soon.

 

Do you have a tutorial or some notes on how to do this please?

I have a new bans site due out soon and would like to ensure link integrity from day one (if that makes sense).

 

I've been thinking about doing a tutorial on this, but it involves editing several files and that alone makes it not for the squeamish. The end result is nice but if you screw up the process you end up with a dead store.

If you're handy with PHP you'd be able to make the alterations in about 30 minutes. The hard part was finding WHERE to make the mods, not the mods themselves.

 

Great tutorial! I'm definitely looking forward to #2, or maybe before #2 you could make an advanced tutorial with tips on masking, subdomains, etc...

Hope to see this!

 

cool tips man .. really helpful ..

 

Please clarify, I got a bit confused. The only eBay I got accepted as affiliate is eBay Austria. Does this mean, that if users click on my affiliate lik and then buy something on other ebay sites as com or co.uk I will receive a payment?

 

BANS 3.0 (which is currently in beta) is getting rid of all the rover links. All items will now point to a redirect something like http://www.yoururl.com/ITEM-NAME-FROM-EBAY-URL/

Also coming in 3.0 (if you're not a BANS owner, and haven't seen the email):

More countries:
eBay.com - US
eBay.co.uk - UK
eBay.ca - Canada
eBay.com.au - Australia
eBay.at - Austria
eBay.be - Belgium
eBay.fr - France
eBay.com.hk - Hong Kong
eBay.in - India
eBay.it - Italy
eBay.nl - Netherlands
eBay.com.sk - Singapore
eBay.es - Spain
eBay.ie - Sweden

Local support (as in only display items within 20 miles of X)

No longer limited to 100 items per search

Max min bid prices (Finally!)

New Store/Home Page Options:

Display content above and/or below the product listings

Choose to turn on/off store pages and/or delete them

Choose to turn on/off products on a specific store page so that you
can turn it into a content page within your store navigation

Change the number of products to display on a specific page

Display different targeted ads above/below or in the right/left
columns of a specific store page

Choose to turn on/off content pages and/or delete them
Display different targeted ads in the right/left columns of a
specific content page

2 new product layouts to provide more design flexibility between
stores

The ability to turn on/off specific product information...ie:

Turn on/off the product title
Turn on/off the product image
Turn on/off the product end time
Turn on/off the product price
Turn on/off the paypal image
Turn on/off the product bids

Many new search box layouts have been developed to provide more
template design flexibility

Turn on/off the view more items on eBay link

Choose to open the products in a new window or not

New content/store page navigation facility

New ability to edit and view a template before selecting it so that
you can work on your website design without your visitors seeing it
before you are ready to display it

 

Do people actually use niche sites for ebay links? I was just wondering why they would use sites like these instead of going straight to ebay and typing in keywords. Do the sites make any money? I've got loads of links to ebay auctions on my dog agility site but these only bring in a very small income. I'm wondering if I set up a BANS site if it would fare any better.

 

People do like the convenience of the search process done for them. Also, ebay listings associated with relevant content is a BIG way to generate sales. People who launch BANS sites without any real content are losing out on revenue. I'm guilty of that and I see those sites not earning their potential.

The only thing I promote from CJ is eBay and I make over $1,000 a month. Not all of it is BANS (I have a couple of existing sites that I've effectively added eBay listings to using phpBay Pro or eBay's free tools). While that's not a fortune by any means it is recurring revenue that I don't have to put a lot of effort into maintaining. I'll take it any day.

 

good info....

 

Is there an option to install BANS once to cover ALL countries? I put it on a subfolder at my RE site for testing and already had to install it seperately 4 times for AUS,CAN,US,UK traffic. Or did i went a more difficult way?

That site gets traffic from everywhere, thats why i am asking.

 

Unfortunately no, there isn't a way to support different nationalities without installing seperate versions of BANS. At least that's how version 2 works. Version 3 supports MANY more countries so it might handle supporting them different. Version 3 beta is due out this week so we'll see.

 

Thanks alot. I am thinking of purchasing BANS and this has helped me tremendously.

 

Do you guys think there is a negative SEO impact from using subdomains?

is chevy.carfoobar.com better or worse than www.chevy-carfoobar.com?

Thanks,
Mark

 

Hey decodethis, the site you used in the video, s2000shopper.com looks broken. Why is that?

 

It's not finished! I have to complete it by adding the categories and such, which will be in the next part of the video. I just haven't shot it yet.

 

Ok, well hurry up! I want to see the next one! hahaha, j/k. Thanks