Kidson Talks | The E-commerce Chemist

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eBay DESIGN WARS!

January 14th, 2009 · 5 Comments

Ok, it is a dramatic title but it seems that eBay is at war with its store designers. It’s new store experience will put the wind up most.

The CSS on the Hairfreax shop from the blog series seems not too affected by the design, maybe those who have used it as a base for their own store design care to fill me in with how they are coping? (and any compliance issues?) I hope to have time to experiment with the new stores soon, but I am locked down developing a new joomla site.

I have 3 clients all with Frooition design, and I am not making judgements till I have had the pudding but this is what they have said on this issue “Phillip Molloy, President said, “We have a solution that is ready to go, easy to preview and easy to install. You will be able to install and uninstall at any time”

Deb from ASWAS has also been keeping us all informed of this issue and my main client was thankful for the info in his inbox this morning! She asks ‘Are you one of thousands of eBay sellers who paid an “eBay Store design specialist” for an eBay Store that now has to be replaced?

A good question, one that all ebayers with store design will need to ask themselves.

But I detract from the positive sides of the changes? The gallery display sure seems sweeter, and it has a Web 2.0 feel to the experience….not that the rest of us are looking towards Web 3.0 and eBay took its time to catch up!

Totally un-related but tomorrow is paper payments removal deadline for ebay listings. Its an ebay.com thing, but if you have visibilty on dotcom and you are a UK seller? I imagine it will still apply. Paper sucks anyway.

I will have lots of things to blog on this year, setting up a Channeladvisor premium store, designing it, then tendering for a better design, growing a retail arm of a sports retailer (Kooga anyone?) and doing some multi market magic….

I will be in eBay up to my ears, but its great!

Watch this space as the battle unfolds….

Edited to add: Update from the CA forums on Frooition design….

Thanks for your questions concerning the charge for the new upgrade.
As outlined in the FAQ area

Quote:
Yes, this is an upgrade not a solution to a problem. We are providing many new features as well as reworking some graphics to fit in with the new storefront layout. The pricing will depend on your current layout and levels of custom work. Contact customer services at info@frooition.com

Without repeating the above, we DO have a process in place for calculating whether there will be a charge, and what this quote would be. If you would like to find out more, please email info@frooition.com with your client reference number (if applicable), or your company name.

Opening this post up for comments if anyone needs any assistance or has any views!

Edit 2:

Ahhh…lots of emails…please see here for information on the Froo Store Upgrade FAQ’s

Truly I will get back onto this but on speaking to Frooition it is a case by case basis thing and I will report in full the cost to upgrade the stores I deal with but can not vouch for any others!

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Category Auction Management · Consultancy · E-Business · Shopping Comparison · Social Shopping · eBay

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5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Martin // Jan 15, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    I am crapping myself at the prospect. I am a Frooition customer who feels they have paid enough. I don’t own my design for the £££’s I have paid.

    Will you email me what you have paid so I can judge my costs?

    Edited to add: Yes, watch out for the update on my blog but bear in mind they will be specific to the stores I deal with. Please contact Frooition for a detailed breakdown of what you are paying for.

  • 2 Jim // Jan 16, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    Have you read this Liz? (link in my name!) It is shocking that you pay £18 a month and have to pay for a upgrade! Any news on your stores yet?

    Edited to add: Nothing yet back from Frooition to my email about the quote, but its only been 2 days. I spoke to Frooition on the phone and its early days to attach a price. For basic stores £50-£100, but stores with more customised features have to be updated by hand and will cost more in develop time.

  • 3 Liz // Feb 13, 2009 at 4:43 pm

    An upgraded froo store for those who care:

    http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Bling-Bling-Online

    Edited to add: The seller hates the upgrade and has reverted back until it is forced upon him :(

  • 4 Lydia // Feb 23, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    My ebay account manager said:

    Frooition Software is 100% compliant with eBay’s site interference
    policies however from what I can tell they are in
    violation of our JavaScript policy
    (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-javascript.html).

  • 5 Liz // Feb 27, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    Oh, they are STILL not compliant with the upgrade fee? Shesh.

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