Shopping cart or not

Janekom · #1 04-28-2011, 11:52 AM

I have been advertising here for some time now under the name RV Bits http://www.rvbits.com.
RV Bits originally started as a flea market where builders could place ads for their unused parts. Slowly but surely it developed into a small business because of the parts on offer.

I am a bit old school and like to get a message from someone and like to reply in person. I do not know if it is the same in the USA where most of my sales comes from?

So the question is -
1) Should I change to a shopping cart systemor
2) stick to my current more personal but maybe more cumbersome method of getting a request from the prospect buyer?

Brantel · #2 04-28-2011, 11:56 AM

Your method you used to sell me the fairings worked fine for me...as long as you can keep up with all that work, I see no reason to change.

Some people hate PayPal though so that is something to consider. There are some other cheap ways to accept credit cards. There is even apps for the smart phones to do that these days.

I like to see what I am paying for shipping.

Mike S · #3 04-28-2011, 12:05 PM

Although I personally hate the impersonal feel of the "shopping cart" and online shopping in general, I do acknowledge that my opinion is not universal.

I do suppose that somewhere there are a few twisted folks with an opinion exactly opposite of mine

I think both methods should be available.

xavierm · #4 04-28-2011, 01:25 PM

I guess I'm the opposite. I like the shopping carts. It offers the fastest transaction possible if I know exactly what I want. I click a few times, pay you, and wait my order. No need to exchange a few emails just to order an item.

However, that being said, I like the option. When I do have to contact you to discuss options, problems, etc., I like to be able to pick up the phone.

I personally tend to skip places that I can't place an online order when I know exactly what I want.

Guy Prevost · #5 04-28-2011, 02:25 PM

I'm a shopping cart guy. I'm 40, and grew up with computers. In my opinion, having to communicate for a standard order just slows down and complicates the process. I really dislike having to worry about timezones for phone calls, or having a transaction take more than one action from me. I prefer to click once and see the item I ordered arrive at my doorstep a few days later.

I like the ability to communicate though if the transaction warrants it.

Basically letting the customer choose is always your best choice unless it adds significant expense.

DonFromTX · #6 04-28-2011, 04:29 PM

I am an old fart, but I love shopping carts and paypal! I find it hard to understand why someone would be unhappy with being able to shop, and finalize an order regardless of the time, no chance someone misunderstood what was said, simple and effective, been doing it that way for years.
To a great extent, people that "hate" paypal, hate it because it sort of requires a bank account and a credit card. I generally will pass on a seller that won't take paypal, it too often indicates he cant pass the muster. Same goes for someone buying from me.

Janekom · #7 04-29-2011, 01:04 AM

Keep it coming guys - very interesting!
Being from dark Africa I have only recently started using Paypal, but was amazed by how widely it is used.

roee · #8 04-29-2011, 05:36 AM

Jan,

I'm generally not a big fan of PayPal for several reasons, but I think in your case it does actually offer a unique advantage. The way I see it, in doing business for the first time with an online vendor there are always some inherent risks for the consumer. Those risks are small, and these days most of us buy so much stuff online that we don't give it much thought. But whether in truth or just perception, those risks seem higher, and recourse less available, when a transaction crosses international borders (that's not a slight against South Africa in particular, but just always an inherent concern with international business). So using a well known intermediary such as PayPal to handle the monetary transaction gives the consumer some assurance that at least the credit card handling is on the up and up (or is at least no worse than it is for domestic U.S. transactions).

Now all that aside, for me, I had high confidence in placing my order after we exchanged a couple of emails. Even in a technical discussion I think you can get a pretty good read on the integrity of the person on the other end. Maybe that's old school, or just common sense.

So from my perspective, your method of doing business is fine the way it is.

-Roee

Janekom · #9 05-22-2011, 11:25 PM

As a result of this poll and discussion I have now subscribed to a shopping cart. For you guys outside the USA, please use the International one.

Hopefully it makes a difference. I could not resist to keep the old one as a "local" one.

BGS · #10 05-23-2011, 07:08 AM

I like the shopping cart system. I currently own 7 website businesses and in the early days did nothing but email and paypal orders. Due to the growth I had no choice but utilize shopping carts. The amount of time it took from dealing with emails was tremendous. Have much more time to work on the business itself and now have others to prove it.

An option for you to accept other payments besides paypal would be to use Google Checkout if you do now want to utilize a credit card processing software.

Brian