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Author Topic: selling on Shopify  (Read 27066 times)

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« on: March 31, 2022, 02:32 »
+2
In my blog I begin a series of articles about selling on Shopify and the differences between hosting a personal stock images website on WordPress and using the Shopify platform.
The first one is an introduction to the argument
https://luisafumi-digitalart.com/blog/2022/03/30/shopify-first-look-from-inside-with-a-big-thank-you-to-jacob-lund/



Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2022, 13:47 »
+1
Sounds good and I'm looking forward to how this goes. I started a WP site, couldn't even get the gallery to show. And then there are people who said, you have to re-write the code to make the Marketplace work. I still have a site which is nothing but the front page... the gallery is invisible.  :-\ Somehow I missed how to get it to populate onto the website.

My experience with WP and Symbiostock was that WP would update and the site would crash and Leo or someone else would have to rewrite some of the code. That happened a number of times. I'm just skeptical of how well WP functions as a business site?

So maybe this will work out? I know it will be better for me, except the costs. So please document that part as well?

Part one questions. Jacob says the SEO is easy and works well, and he gets visitors. That's very positive.

Why? "To make life easier he developed a dedicated app to bulk-upload images stripping the keywords and the other metadata to fill and optimize the pages." Why do I want to strip the data, or do you mean extract the data for entry to the Shopify pages? Dedicated app? Where can I get it if I need to do that?  8)


Milleflore

« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2022, 19:02 »
+1
Sounds good and I'm looking forward to how this goes. I started a WP site, couldn't even get the gallery to show. And then there are people who said, you have to re-write the code to make the Marketplace work. I still have a site which is nothing but the front page... the gallery is invisible.  :-\ Somehow I missed how to get it to populate onto the website.

My experience with WP and Symbiostock was that WP would update and the site would crash and Leo or someone else would have to rewrite some of the code. That happened a number of times. I'm just skeptical of how well WP functions as a business site?

So maybe this will work out? I know it will be better for me, except the costs. So please document that part as well?

Part one questions. Jacob says the SEO is easy and works well, and he gets visitors. That's very positive.

Why? "To make life easier he developed a dedicated app to bulk-upload images stripping the keywords and the other metadata to fill and optimize the pages." Why do I want to strip the data, or do you mean extract the data for entry to the Shopify pages? Dedicated app? Where can I get it if I need to do that?  8)

As you know Pete, I set up a Shopify store some months ago for my husband's collectibles that he used to sell on eBay. And he loves it. It has a wealth of features, lots of historical and analytical data, really good shipping features, ability to send out monthly newsletters, and lots more. Plus it looks good and very professional, which a few of his close contacts/buyers have commented on.

On the downside it costs him $40 AUD a month, but he compares that to the fees that he used to pay on eBay - and having a shopify store is much more profitable. He gets a lot of traffic without any effort on his part - but he does have some very sort-after items, and several return buyers.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2022, 19:05 by Annie »

« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2022, 00:37 »
0
Sounds good and I'm looking forward to how this goes. I started a WP site, couldn't even get the gallery to show. And then there are people who said, you have to re-write the code to make the Marketplace work. I still have a site which is nothing but the front page... the gallery is invisible.  :-\ Somehow I missed how to get it to populate onto the website.

My experience with WP and Symbiostock was that WP would update and the site would crash and Leo or someone else would have to rewrite some of the code. That happened a number of times. I'm just skeptical of how well WP functions as a business site?

So maybe this will work out? I know it will be better for me, except the costs. So please document that part as well?

Part one questions. Jacob says the SEO is easy and works well, and he gets visitors. That's very positive.

Why? "To make life easier he developed a dedicated app to bulk-upload images stripping the keywords and the other metadata to fill and optimize the pages." Why do I want to strip the data, or do you mean extract the data for entry to the Shopify pages? Dedicated app? Where can I get it if I need to do that?  8)

As you know Pete, I set up a Shopify store some months ago for my husband's collectibles that he used to sell on eBay. And he loves it. It has a wealth of features, lots of historical and analytical data, really good shipping features, ability to send out monthly newsletters, and lots more. Plus it looks good and very professional, which a few of his close contacts/buyers have commented on.

On the downside it costs him $40 AUD a month, but he compares that to the fees that he used to pay on eBay - and having a shopify store is much more profitable. He gets a lot of traffic without any effort on his part - but he does have some very sort-after items, and several return buyers.
Hey Pete, happy to hear you again!
Sorry, I mean extract keywords in order to fill your product pages for the SEO optimization.

As Annie says at Shopify you pay a monthly fee, but the basic plan give you all you need to sell and you don't have to pay a hosting for your website.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2022, 08:40 »
0
Interesting reading. Yes if I thought I could recover the $29 a month for basic USA, I'd jump in. Not sure I can do that with just photos? As for collectibles, I have very little high end, just things that I like that are fun.

With any volume at all, I can see why $29 a month would be less than the 15% that eBay takes.

Paulie Walnuts wrote about trying this maybe that was last year. Maybe he'll pass through the forum and add some more.

Right now, I'm just watching and evaluating. Sure would be nice to have a "self hosted" store. I'd still like to read some more about digital asset fulfillment? Is it automated or manual? If someone pays for an image, do I have to manually approve, or does Shopify handle that? In the Summer I'm sometimes unavailable for a day or two or might miss an order. I don't think that would be good business to be unresponsive.

Milleflore

« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2022, 16:03 »
+1
Interesting reading. Yes if I thought I could recover the $29 a month for basic USA, I'd jump in. Not sure I can do that with just photos? As for collectibles, I have very little high end, just things that I like that are fun.

With any volume at all, I can see why $29 a month would be less than the 15% that eBay takes.

Paulie Walnuts wrote about trying this maybe that was last year. Maybe he'll pass through the forum and add some more.

Right now, I'm just watching and evaluating. Sure would be nice to have a "self hosted" store. I'd still like to read some more about digital asset fulfillment? Is it automated or manual? If someone pays for an image, do I have to manually approve, or does Shopify handle that? In the Summer I'm sometimes unavailable for a day or two or might miss an order. I don't think that would be good business to be unresponsive.

After I set Shopify up for Nick, I wanted one for my digital downloads but didn't get around to it. It works really well for his physical products, but after I posted above, he reminded me that a friend introduced him to some Facebook groups where he posted links to his Shopify store, and that drives a lot of traffic to his shop. I forgot about that.

So it looks like you may still need to do some of your own marketing in social media or similar. Getting people to sign up for the monthly newsletter, and sending those out regularly with new listing updates, helps too. Also, I used to drive a lot of visitors to my current website by writing related blogs and posting them to social media. In fact I've noticed that since I stopped doing that, my current website's views have dropped by nearly 1/2.

But Shopify's basic monthly account definitely has all the features you need, and the rest is up to the individual.

And yes, I am interested in how the digital downloads side of things work in Shopify as well.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2022, 16:23 by Annie »

« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2022, 06:13 »
+1
Yes, Shopify is principally designed for selling material goods, but the essential to sell digital with automatic download after checkout is there and free. I verified also the possibility to have different range of prices for different kind of licenses (web, print, merchandise). Today I sent a message to the Shopify people to clarify some last points. Usually they answer quick.

Interesting reading. Yes if I thought I could recover the $29 a month for basic USA, I'd jump in. Not sure I can do that with just photos? As for collectibles, I have very little high end, just things that I like that are fun.

With any volume at all, I can see why $29 a month would be less than the 15% that eBay takes.

Paulie Walnuts wrote about trying this maybe that was last year. Maybe he'll pass through the forum and add some more.

Right now, I'm just watching and evaluating. Sure would be nice to have a "self hosted" store. I'd still like to read some more about digital asset fulfillment? Is it automated or manual? If someone pays for an image, do I have to manually approve, or does Shopify handle that? In the Summer I'm sometimes unavailable for a day or two or might miss an order. I don't think that would be good business to be unresponsive.


After I set Shopify up for Nick, I wanted one for my digital downloads but didn't get around to it. It works really well for his physical products, but after I posted above, he reminded me that a friend introduced him to some Facebook groups where he posted links to his Shopify store, and that drives a lot of traffic to his shop. I forgot about that.

So it looks like you may still need to do some of your own marketing in social media or similar. Getting people to sign up for the monthly newsletter, and sending those out regularly with new listing updates, helps too. Also, I used to drive a lot of visitors to my current website by writing related blogs and posting them to social media. In fact I've noticed that since I stopped doing that, my current website's views have dropped by nearly 1/2.

But Shopify's basic monthly account definitely has all the features you need, and the rest is up to the individual.

And yes, I am interested in how the digital downloads side of things work in Shopify as well.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2022, 09:36 »
+1
Yes, Shopify is principally designed for selling material goods, but the essential to sell digital with automatic download after checkout is there and free. I verified also the possibility to have different range of prices for different kind of licenses (web, print, merchandise). Today I sent a message to the Shopify people to clarify some last points. Usually they answer quick.

Nice and I'm looking forward to future articles.


After I set Shopify up for Nick, I wanted one for my digital downloads but didn't get around to it. It works really well for his physical products, but after I posted above, he reminded me that a friend introduced him to some Facebook groups where he posted links to his Shopify store, and that drives a lot of traffic to his shop. I forgot about that.

So it looks like you may still need to do some of your own marketing in social media or similar. Getting people to sign up for the monthly newsletter, and sending those out regularly with new listing updates, helps too. Also, I used to drive a lot of visitors to my current website by writing related blogs and posting them to social media. In fact I've noticed that since I stopped doing that, my current website's views have dropped by nearly 1/2.

But Shopify's basic monthly account definitely has all the features you need, and the rest is up to the individual.

And yes, I am interested in how the digital downloads side of things work in Shopify as well.

Posting updates also helps your page rank, which will bring more visitors. I have a few Cobweb Sites, that I haven't updated in years. Some even have broken links. When the search engines check pages, new data and changes will move us up. Old stale sites will get checked less often and soon drop down and down.

I'm sure that posts and reminders will bring people back, especially for interesting topics. People just discovering and finding the site, is more reliant on search position.

That also relates to Shopify which is always active. I think most of us has searched for something and we see Etsy and eBay or Amazon on the results bar on top. Vintage map shows, Kohls, Wayfair, Allposters, and others. I'd like it if Shopify was appearing.

« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2022, 05:05 »
+3
Here my second post about the differences between Shopify and WordPress with the aim of selling images by yourself.
https://luisafumi-digitalart.com/blog/2022/04/07/wordpress-versus-shopify/
Honest, maybe brutally honest citing Alex Rotenberg  :D

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #9 on: April 09, 2022, 13:23 »
0
Here my second post about the differences between Shopify and WordPress with the aim of selling images by yourself.
https://luisafumi-digitalart.com/blog/2022/04/07/wordpress-versus-shopify/
Honest, maybe brutally honest citing Alex Rotenberg  :D

Bulk Uploading? You mean I'd have to enter each image, one by one?

Can I embed Shopify items into my own web pages, or just links?

OK waiting for next week, good reading. Thank You



« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2022, 02:49 »
+1
 :D :D :D Nice pic uncle Pete! appreciated.
it seems that with Shopify you can reach a high ranking without marketing. I hate marketing, you know and I am curious enough to give a try. How? I'll write some ideas in my new post.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2022, 11:12 »
0
:D :D :D Nice pic uncle Pete! appreciated.
it seems that with Shopify you can reach a high ranking without marketing. I hate marketing, you know and I am curious enough to give a try. How? I'll write some ideas in my new post.

Can I embed my Shop in my websites?

What about uploading. Say I have 5,000 images to start with. No bulk upload or is there a pay app to do this and populate the data?

« Reply #12 on: April 11, 2022, 01:43 »
+2
:D :D :D Nice pic uncle Pete! appreciated.
it seems that with Shopify you can reach a high ranking without marketing. I hate marketing, you know and I am curious enough to give a try. How? I'll write some ideas in my new post.

Can I embed my Shop in my websites?

What about uploading. Say I have 5,000 images to start with. No bulk upload or is there a pay app to do this and populate the data?
I think could be possible, I have to dig a little more to investigate.
Bulk upload: Jacob Lund will launch his app this year.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #13 on: April 11, 2022, 10:29 »
+1
:D :D :D Nice pic uncle Pete! appreciated.
it seems that with Shopify you can reach a high ranking without marketing. I hate marketing, you know and I am curious enough to give a try. How? I'll write some ideas in my new post.

Can I embed my Shop in my websites?

What about uploading. Say I have 5,000 images to start with. No bulk upload or is there a pay app to do this and populate the data?
I think could be possible, I have to dig a little more to investigate.
Bulk upload: Jacob Lund will launch his app this year.

I never move too fast anyway, so waiting for Jacob, I hope his price is reasonable and worth the time and complex entry effort.

The other part I did some searching. This is not comprehensive, just an example, from Shopify forum: (bold is mine)

1) You can create products in Shopify and use the Shopify Buy Button to add your products to your current website. For each product or collection, you create a buy button with, a code will be generated that you add to the theme of your website in the area that you would like your products to appear.

When a customer visits your website and sees your products, they can add products to a cart directly on your website. When they're ready to pay for their order, they'll be brought to your Shopify checkout. The customers' order information will appear in your Shopify admin under Orders.

The Shopify Lite Plan is a good option if you're wanting to use the buy button on your already existing website and manage your store information in the Shopify admin. Since the plan doesn't come with a website (because you already have one) it's $9 USD/month.

2) The second option is to create a separate website for your online store with Shopify. Next, create a spot on your website that says something like Store or Shop that links to your Shopify store where you sell your dropshipping items.

So that answers my basic question and yes I could create Buy Buttons using Shopify which will take them to checkout on Shopify. I don't understand a cart on my site and then switching someone to the checkoput, but that's not the question. Just if we could sell from our own websites... yes!

« Reply #14 on: April 12, 2022, 02:50 »
+1
:D :D :D Nice pic uncle Pete! appreciated.
it seems that with Shopify you can reach a high ranking without marketing. I hate marketing, you know and I am curious enough to give a try. How? I'll write some ideas in my new post.

Can I embed my Shop in my websites?

What about uploading. Say I have 5,000 images to start with. No bulk upload or is there a pay app to do this and populate the data?
I think could be possible, I have to dig a little more to investigate.
Bulk upload: Jacob Lund will launch his app this year.

I never move too fast anyway, so waiting for Jacob, I hope his price is reasonable and worth the time and complex entry effort.

The other part I did some searching. This is not comprehensive, just an example, from Shopify forum: (bold is mine)

1) You can create products in Shopify and use the Shopify Buy Button to add your products to your current website. For each product or collection, you create a buy button with, a code will be generated that you add to the theme of your website in the area that you would like your products to appear.

When a customer visits your website and sees your products, they can add products to a cart directly on your website. When they're ready to pay for their order, they'll be brought to your Shopify checkout. The customers' order information will appear in your Shopify admin under Orders.

The Shopify Lite Plan is a good option if you're wanting to use the buy button on your already existing website and manage your store information in the Shopify admin. Since the plan doesn't come with a website (because you already have one) it's $9 USD/month.

2) The second option is to create a separate website for your online store with Shopify. Next, create a spot on your website that says something like Store or Shop that links to your Shopify store where you sell your dropshipping items.

So that answers my basic question and yes I could create Buy Buttons using Shopify which will take them to checkout on Shopify. I don't understand a cart on my site and then switching someone to the checkoput, but that's not the question. Just if we could sell from our own websites... yes!
Hi Pete,
I have heard of the Shopify Lite Plan, but I don' t know if it works for images to download automatically after the checkout. Sure it works for physical goods.

« Reply #15 on: April 21, 2022, 12:26 »
+1

« Reply #16 on: April 21, 2022, 13:57 »
0
Pixify looks like a great solution
« Last Edit: April 21, 2022, 14:05 by cascoly »

« Reply #17 on: April 21, 2022, 14:27 »
0
Pixify looks like a great solution
Yes, I think so

Milleflore

« Reply #18 on: April 21, 2022, 15:39 »
0
Here my last post about Shopify and selling images
https://luisafumi-digitalart.com/blog/2022/04/21/stock-images-on-shopify-how-to-sell-them-some-ideas/
Enjoy  :D

Hi Luisa,

Re your blog:

but lacks the means to automatically upload images in bulk, even by using the apps they recommend.

So, are you saying that we cannot use something like this to bulk upload?

https://apps.shopify.com/bulk-images-upload

Is there a  reason why?


ETA: Its ok. I think I found your previous reference to it:

"At Shopify the same additional functions are performed by apps: they are neither transparent nor open-source and most of them store your data somewhere , irrelevant perhaps as long as its about physical goods, but if youre selling digital goods those uploaded files are your wealth.
Mores the pity that in such a way you cant import/export in bulk your products to/from your shop no backups, no certainty that they get really deleted if you decide to withdraw them.
Those apps come at a monthly fee and are generally quite expensive when compared to the corresponding WP plugins without offering more (sometime actually they offer less) and the choice is very limited. Only very few of them are free or offer a free plan."
« Last Edit: April 21, 2022, 15:59 by Annie »

« Reply #19 on: April 21, 2022, 16:19 »
0
Here my last post about Shopify and selling images
https://luisafumi-digitalart.com/blog/2022/04/21/stock-images-on-shopify-how-to-sell-them-some-ideas/
Enjoy  :D

Hi Luisa,

Re your blog:

but lacks the means to automatically upload images in bulk, even by using the apps they recommend.

So, are you saying that we cannot use something like this to bulk upload?

https://apps.shopify.com/bulk-images-upload

Is there a  reason why?


ETA: Its ok. I think I found your previous reference to it:

"At Shopify the same additional functions are performed by apps: they are neither transparent nor open-source and most of them store your data somewhere , irrelevant perhaps as long as its about physical goods, but if youre selling digital goods those uploaded files are your wealth.
Mores the pity that in such a way you cant import/export in bulk your products to/from your shop no backups, no certainty that they get really deleted if you decide to withdraw them.
Those apps come at a monthly fee and are generally quite expensive when compared to the corresponding WP plugins without offering more (sometime actually they offer less) and the choice is very limited. Only very few of them are free or offer a free plan."

Yes indeed, I wouldn't recommend to use most of them

Milleflore

« Reply #20 on: June 29, 2022, 15:50 »
0
Interesting reading. Yes if I thought I could recover the $29 a month for basic USA, I'd jump in. Not sure I can do that with just photos? As for collectibles, I have very little high end, just things that I like that are fun.

With any volume at all, I can see why $29 a month would be less than the 15% that eBay takes.

Paulie Walnuts wrote about trying this maybe that was last year. Maybe he'll pass through the forum and add some more.

Right now, I'm just watching and evaluating. Sure would be nice to have a "self hosted" store. I'd still like to read some more about digital asset fulfillment? Is it automated or manual? If someone pays for an image, do I have to manually approve, or does Shopify handle that? In the Summer I'm sometimes unavailable for a day or two or might miss an order. I don't think that would be good business to be unresponsive.

Pete, I just wanted to give you more feedback on my husband's Shopify store: yesterday he looked at his stats there and he is now in the top 18% of sellers. Yes, he has a good product with high prices, but he hasn't done anything with his shop for months now. No new listings, no promoting on social media groups, no monthly newsletter, nothing (he's been too busy with his work), and his traffic and sales are going up. Just new buyers out of nowhere. So that is a good indication of how well their search performs, I guess.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2022, 16:03 by Annie »

« Reply #21 on: June 30, 2022, 03:10 »
+4
Interesting reading. Yes if I thought I could recover the $29 a month for basic USA, I'd jump in. Not sure I can do that with just photos? As for collectibles, I have very little high end, just things that I like that are fun.

With any volume at all, I can see why $29 a month would be less than the 15% that eBay takes.

Paulie Walnuts wrote about trying this maybe that was last year. Maybe he'll pass through the forum and add some more.

Right now, I'm just watching and evaluating. Sure would be nice to have a "self hosted" store. I'd still like to read some more about digital asset fulfillment? Is it automated or manual? If someone pays for an image, do I have to manually approve, or does Shopify handle that? In the Summer I'm sometimes unavailable for a day or two or might miss an order. I don't think that would be good business to be unresponsive.

Pete, I just wanted to give you more feedback on my husband's Shopify store: yesterday he looked at his stats there and he is now in the top 18% of sellers. Yes, he has a good product with high prices, but he hasn't done anything with his shop for months now. No new listings, no promoting on social media groups, no monthly newsletter, nothing (he's been too busy with his work), and his traffic and sales are going up. Just new buyers out of nowhere. So that is a good indication of how well their search performs, I guess.
That is very interesting, thanks for sharing :D
I just opened (yesterday!) a stock image shop on Shopify with Pixify beta and it is incredible easy to manage!
More to come, I'm writing a post about.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #22 on: June 30, 2022, 13:22 »
+2
I'm in process of setting up Shopify to sell prints through an automated print on demand app like Printful or Printify. Currently working through some obstacles.


« Reply #24 on: July 07, 2022, 00:44 »
+1
Following with interest.

I never developed a store with photodeck, maybe shopify is an interesting add on.

I need a place that automatically handles all the International VAT issues and tax requirements for Germany.

If prices on most agencies keep dropping then having our own stores, or at least one store about a specialized subject we love, is a good add on.

What is the advantage over having a shop at photoshelter?
« Last Edit: July 07, 2022, 01:31 by cobalt »


 

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