Downsizer shop ideas?

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Downsizer shop ideas?
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Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 9:29 pm Post subject:

This might be slightly off topic here but it relates to the commetns about the trading post. I think this site is great - I am on it far too much but when I come on I almost invariably go straight to the forum. It is things said in here that make me jump to a different part of the site to have a look. So for the first time (despite my addiction

) I read the trading area - not attached to the forum and noticed the first sentence about this being the reason the site was set up.

I do not have a product to add to the site (as yet but it is very inspiring) and also we are a bit short of cash at the moment so would try to avoid these areas. I'm saying that it didn't jump out at me - could this be why there hasn't been a bigger take up of it?

I have minimal IT skills so I probably view this site in a different way to a lot of you. On the other hand I suppose anyone wanting to trade here would have more understanding of ecommerce - don't know - just throwing some ideas around.

RoryD

Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 692
Location: West Yorkshire

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 9:34 pm Post subject:

Lots of good ideas. Its late and I'm going to bed, but will contribute more in the morning.

One useful thing would be to get an idea of just who is able/ interested in selling what. Whats the best way of doing this? Emailing
to [email protected] as per Treac's post? . I've been meaning to do it for ages and never got round to it. Our plans for a downsizer hypermarket might be a little different if we found that we are just selling jam, pigs and free range eggs.

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 9:35 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

[quote='jema']I don't think anyone "running" downsizer is looking for compensation

Jema, there must be a glitch, isn't that sentence supposed to finish with 'apart from load of members volunteering to supply some really cracking articles'

Apart from that I agree with your sentiments J.[/quote]

You have got one coming about growing onions shortly but it won't be worth posting until the beginning of the new season i guess.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 9:57 pm Post subject:

So are we now leaning towards a 'Downsizer' trading area, almost like using 'Downsizer' as a brand, as a pool to draw potential customers in to a single online store selling multiple products put out by our members?

We continue to vet selling here as we do anyway (questioning people about what they sell, endorsing ethical products), with the pooled resource 'shop' being external to Downsizer, using a site like Ebay to create 'Shop Downsizer'?

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28245
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 10:02 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

with the pooled resource 'shop' being external to Downsizer, using a site like Ebay to create 'Shop Downsizer'?

probably not. If we do a downsizer shop we clearly should do it ourselves. There may be benefits in individual members going ebay, as a group it would I think be a bad idea.

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 10:07 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

We continue to vet selling here as we do anyway (questioning people about what they sell, endorsing ethical products), with the pooled resource 'shop' being external to Downsizer, using a site like Ebay to create 'Shop Downsizer'?

but part of the charm of the site is the sense (without real proof I know) that those using this site share some moral, ethical thing... Attaching it to ebay - wouldn't it lose some of that?

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 10:21 pm Post subject:

ruby wrote:

cab wrote:

but part of the charm of the site is the sense (without real proof I know) that those using this site share some moral, ethical thing... Attaching it to ebay - wouldn't it lose some of that?

Possibly, but e-bay is used as a vehicle by a lot of organisations, I think that most people would probably think of it as the facilitator of the transaction and nothing more.

E-bay is pretty inoffensive though, ethically speaking...isn't it??

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 10:28 pm Post subject:
Maybe, eventually, there could be a downsizer shop. In the intervening time, I'm not sure I can see anything wrong with the pooled 'ebay resource' or some such thing. Just an idle thought at the moment, though. Jema, why is there an advantage to doing such a thing ourselves rather than using a pre-existing facilitator (as Jonnyboy called it)?

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 10:36 pm Post subject:

Jonnyboy wrote:

Yes - you are probably right - although I saw it more as a large commercial enterprise - very useful though - and I use it both ways at times. So would use a downsizer part of it if necessary.

This most people though - an awful lot of users of this site seem very computer literate - is this the most people? Don't mean to be offensive at all by the way - just starting to feel on the edge of this discussion if you know what i mean. (Probably just me - I am not known for my logical mind

)

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 10:41 pm Post subject:

Quote:

This most people though - an awful lot of users of this site seem very computer literate - is this the most people? Don't mean to be offensive at all by the way - just starting to feel on the edge of this discussion if you know what i mean.

Ruby, we have some very computer literate people on here. Downsizer wouldn't exist without them. But most of us are just like you when it comes to technical IT knowledge.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28245
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 05 11:10 pm Post subject:

cab wrote:

Jema, why is there an advantage to doing such a thing ourselves rather than using a pre-existing facilitator (as Jonnyboy called it)?

because we have the skills to make it happen here, we would lose identity by it happening elsewhere. We would also lose control of the evolution of it. We would also have to accept the charging structure of an ebay small shop, when surely as a "combine" we could get a better deal.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 05 7:19 am Post subject:

What about a downsizer shop window, rather than a shop, where members advertise their ways in a cohesive way (perhaps a sort of standard mini-site?) which could include links to their own sites (like rob rs) if they liked, but the ordering was done by email, directly with the person concerned (or even in a DS shopping cart, which then alerts the seller - I don't know if that's even possible!)

this would make downsizer a not for profit co-operative shop window, rather than actually trading anything, and avoids the tax issue.

I think there would have to be a level of uniformity, otherwise it would just be a collection of adverts, but a shop window would be a step beyond trading post, while not going as far as a 'brand'

The only other concern is that, even though these things have to start somewhere, they do look a bit sad if there is very little in there, so we;d need to do some kicking up the backside (perhaps rob r could do an article about selling through downsizer, or we could make it part of campaigns?)

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28245
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 05 7:35 am Post subject:

I can see a number of virtues to the shop window idea. It does remove that need for the system to be really on the ball as regards updates, as well as what you say about ditching all actual responsibilty legally and tax wise

Making such a thing work is only down to writing the tech, and could be done by hacking an existing open source shopping cart.

As you say though empty would look bad, and this is the major stumbling block with any varient of the idea. So far we have a woeful lack of traders even using the basic free advertising. So we are getting well ahead of ourselves in planning the next stage of activity.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 05 8:11 am Post subject:

jema wrote:

So far we have a woeful lack of traders even using the basic free advertising. So we are getting well ahead of ourselves in planning the next stage of activity.

Having only just read through this whole thread, I think this is where I stand at the moment. Lets get the traders advertising their wares 1st. If that builds up to such a level that a shop or shop window becomes a necessity due to sheer size then we'll look at that then. My limited view is that it could be a complete nightmare of regulations - who would be responsible for things like Trading Standards, Food and Hygiene regs? As a third party could we be liable for these sorts of things if anything went wrong? What are the insurance liabilities?

ken69

Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 316
Location: Norfolk

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 05 8:19 am Post subject:
The strongest element on this site is the forum with it's free tips and hints. As a potential customer, what would I be expected to BUY? Surely downsizing and self sufficiency means spending less. whether in shops or the internet. And spending local reduces environment impact.Or have I got it all wrong.!!

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