I haven't tried Bans but a couple of weeks into PHPBay Pro and I am seeing sales. What attracted me to PHPBay Pro most was the functionality with wordpress which means I can change themes and layouts at any time. A lot of the Bans stores I looked at were similar to each other. Plus PHPBay was cheaper so I can turn a profit quicker. On my current pace I should recover the cost of the script in about three more weeks.
I have recently installed a BANS script on my console games website and the functionality is great - people on forum are also very helpful. Regarding the design, it's only the same if you want it to be. If you want, you can add your own template and the guide that comes with it explains this really well.
I have seen some pretty creative designs with bans but I don't have a lot of coding skills, wordpress is just a lot easier for me. I have thought about getting Bans just so I can make a better comparison.
BANS is probably the easiest if your not dealing with blogs. But I prefer the free and cheap scripts.
A satisfied PhpBay user here. I have used wordpress a lot and Ive already learned some few tricks in optimizing it for SEO. And so if you are into wordpress, PhpBay Pro should be the last thing in your mind.
I just got phpBay and like it, but also I'm considering getting BANS. Cover the waterfront, so to speak. A couple of observations: 1. One of the things I like about phpBay is that you can set it up to mask the eBay links and images, so that there is no eBay footprint on your site. Can the same thing be done with BANS? I can't tell from the promotional materials. 2. One of the drawbacks of phpBay, if you can call it that, is the inability to set up pagination. You could list several hundred items on a page, but, I feel more than about 30 is overkill. It's obvious that with BANS you can continue the listings for several pages.
Which is search engine friendly, as per my knowledge PHPbay has individual landing page but BANS doesn’t
Ive been testing out PHPBay lite for a bit and it seems like it does almost everything? What is the major things you get when you buy the Pro version? Also tested the $5 Ebay RSS script and it also seems to cover most parts. Do you guys see any big advantage to use PHPBay Pro or BANS? I know those are really simple, but im prettty good with SEO and Wordpress so i wouldnt gain very much buying them or? BR, Johanna
Another satisfied PHPBay user here. I have several site designs and have incorporated it into my blog. I would say that if you have php experience, then PHPBay is really really flexible, and you can modify the class to suit your needs. Brew
PHP Experience? phpBay Pro Need Wordpress support? phpBay Pro (BANS 3.0 rumored to support this) Want a site up with the least amount of effort? BANS Have no experience with PHP or Wordpress? BANS Nice forum with friendly supportive users? BANS So it depends on your needs and skills more than anything. Or use both (I do), or go free and use eBay's toolkit.
Word press can easily be set up in few minutes with Fantastico. Wordpress support abounds because its powering most of the blogs nowadays. With PHPBay Pro you have more than a friendly forum for support, you have the script owner to help you all the way even if you ask something not related with PhpBay script. Your questions will be resolved within 12 hours based on my experience though what i've asked for is not about the script itself. Im just trying to sum up my experience with PhpBay here. Just get a host that supports fantastico and wordpress installation is just as easy as 123.
Now that I have both PHPBay and BANS, I'm obviously in a better position to compare the two. 1. Installation: With both, there is the installation hurdle, since with BANS you have to set up a mySQL database on your server. I know how to do this with cPanel, but it seldom seems to work seemlessly with me. After some tinkering, I was able to get BANS installed. Best to use a host with cPanel, IMO. With PHPBay, you simply upload and activate the plugin, but you have sime further steps to follow unlike some plugins. Nothing difficult, however. 2. Setup: With BANS, there was a steeper learning curve for me, since I have some solid familiarity with WordPress. With WP I already had a site up and running, so it was easier simply to plug everything into the theme. With BANS, while they will tell you it's really simple, if you want to get a better looking site than the generic template, and get the navigation right, you'll have some work to do. 3. The Biggest Differences: Speaking from my POV, the biggest difference between them is that with BANS you can't mask the eBay links and images so that you get a site that shows up as being saturated with eBay affiliate links and images. But, you can configure PHPBay to do the masking. I feel this is an important distinction, since your generic BANS site could be seen by Google as carrying a "thin affiliate site" footprint and tanked in rankings. Personally, the similar layout with the BANS template doesn't bother me, as I don't think Google pays a lot of attention to that. In BANS' defense, you can pay on a per site basis to have your links masked ($30) and they are offering additional templates for a price. I don't know if this masks images as well. Also, BANS has a forum and PHPBay does not, except there is good support, and much info about it available here at DP. Just do a search for "phpBay plugin". Lastly, with BANS, there is a little more work involved to set up each store on your site, especially if you want to add some written content to each page which certainly should be done. You should do that with your PHPBay pages, as well, but with WP, it's somewhat simpler. FYI, here are two examples I've done: PHPBay: http://www.tiresnotes.com/bridgestone-tire-sale BANS: http://www.wristwatchace.com (a work in progress with about 50 stores still to be added)
Great comparison! Many of my customers use BANS as well. I've added a forum. Planned to announce it later this week, but seems like now would be a good time: http://forums.wiredstudios.com
Potentmix, I love the look of the Tires site. Very clean looking and I like that you put articles on it as well so it's a content site too. Right now I'm using BayRSS which I think is similar to phpBay, but I may have to just try that one out too.
I don't have any experience with BANS but just wanted to add my confirmation of the fantastic personal support you get with phpBay. GTech has been exceptionally helpful when I've contacted him.
I would agree that PHPBay is best as i've used it in the past. Because I'm a programmer, I built a simple script that is similar with admin tool to set up categories and customize.. It's a really simple script that can be dropped in to any website. I've dropped this into about 10 of my other websites and have sold 10 or 15 copies of it to others. you can see an example of this script at http://www.hottestebayauctions.com If anyone would like a copy of this script I can sell you one for $10 - the regular price on my website for the script is $30. I take paypal - just pm me and i'll send you the .zip and install instructions. paypal: info@hitprofit.com I'll be glad to help you with the install/tweaks if needed.
I have experience with BANS. BANS is polished and worth $99. PHPBay is less polished and probably worth $39. I'm giving the lite version a whirl this weekend go Pro if I like what I see.
I didn't think you could use the word 'ebay' or 'ebay auctions' in your domain name if you participate in the CJ eBay affiliate program. Anyway, good work on the script. Nice.