GoogleSpinner lol
Yet another reason why BLF is the greatest forum of all time.
Funny thing is our budget flashlights are causing quite the stir on Airsoft Society forum. They think I am some flashlight God (which I am very very far from). They are amazed at the quality of SolarForce and the brightness of an XM-L2.
screw cpf, as said above just continue to be personable and get yourself out there and it’ll happen in time, the other markets you have access to will help too, why not expand on them as bread and butter?
good luck.
graham
There loss is our gain. Seriously though I’m not surprised at all. They are obviously more concerned with making a profit that running a decent site. I went on that site years ago looking for battery advice. They seemed like tools then and this guy’s reply proves he is a twit and then some. It was one of the least professional responses I have read. If I ran a business like that I would have been broke a long time ago.
I sold on e-bay for years probably close to a decade I guess, but who is keeping track right? I made great money. Enough to support my family and pay cash for my house. I started small and built my way up as well. If you were ever into guitars and went on e-bay you probably saw my adds. I sold thousands of guitars and guitar amp packages. Unfortunately I really wouldn’t suggest e-bay anymore. Even though I was big and had amazing feedback it is no longer profitable for me. Their fees went up and the most profitable ways to list guitars went away.
This might still work for you. Take out one expensive listing that is highlighted, gallery etc but list all of your flashlights at once under that one add. Use a drop down menu so customers can pick which one of your lights to buy.
I honestly don’t know if I would waste my time though. Shipping, returns, damages, scam artists, payscam fees,etc.
Oh and another thing, if you do decide to sell on e-bay you should offer a 30 day no questions asked refund, ( state this, just ship it back for a full refund minus shipping). First of all customers have a 30 day no questions asked refund anyway no matter what you say. Some don’t know it, but the ones who do will use it to scam you if they can. Stating that they must pay for shipping and that you offer full refunds is a code that they understand. The Scam artists know that it means that you are not going to offer them a partial refunds because you don’t have to eat the cost of shipping. That is how they will try and scam you. “Give me some of my money back or I’m filing a dispute and leaving you negative.”
Set your shipping fairly high, just make sure to always ship the next day or even that day if you can and package them extremely well. You should also take a picture or even video of how you package your lights (you don’t have to do it every time). This way when you get a damage claim and you will, UPS or the post office or whoever will be more likely to pay the claim than to say you didn’t package it well enough. The problem is that people often throw away the bubble wrap or whatever and then when UPS looks at it they think you skimped on the bubble wrap.
Also call UPS right now and ask to get your own representative. It doesn’t cost a thing and it’s billed at the end of the month. They will assign you your own rep. He will work with you to get you bulk shipping rates even though you aren’t that big and if anything happens in regards to damages lost packages etc. he will be on your side. Also they will send you software, free labels and even a really cool ink-less label maker. I had them picking up every day at my doorstep and it’s free even if you don’t have anything for them that day. (I pretty much always had dozens)
I also sold many guitars each year on Amazon, you should check them out as well. I think they still have a thirty day free trial for their store rate, just remember that if you don’t sell anything to cancel it or they will charge you for the next month. I think it’s like $50. Amazon has gotten expensive as well though.
It also never hurts to have a web site. For a business your size there are plenty of free domain name sites with quick start software for next to nothing. One of the reasons to have a site and a domain name is to drive traffic to it. For instance on E-bay you can always just set your domain name to the same as your e-bay name and also set your web prices slightly lower. No e-bay seller fee and they are more likely to buy because they got a little better deal. Then of course on your web site you can have links and what not. On top of that you will find that moving ahead there will be many suppliers that ask to look at your web store. It wouldn’t hurt to get into a little bit of drop-shipping just to fill out your pages either. Just let customers know if it’s coming from China or wherever.
Well anyway, I’ll quit now before I bore you to death. Good luck and hang in there.
Some great insights on how eBay works, that was interesting reading, thanks. BTW: probably next week some guy will cut and paste your text and be selling it on eBay as a “How to Succeed” downloadable book.
i thought the same thing but didn’t say it
Sorry I deleted it. I thought it was dumb of me to point out the obvious. But yes, it probably was a bad idea to trade insults with Norm and an even worse idea to post his PM’s here if the plan was to use CPF in the future.
Norm is a cock! I commented on a new Surefire thread. Some light that was the price of a car, I can’t remember. Anyway because I didn’t think it was a sensible price, He called me a troll! Needless to say I told him what I thought of his comment and where he could stick said comment!
Marc.
hi JOE, I am from Europe and may look at things a bit different than you, perhaps a bit stiffer, but if I would try to build up a business: a) I would not let a discussion with Norm escalate like that, but stay polite, especially if you, as you mention, plan to use CFP marketplace in the future, and b) I would certainly not publish that discussion including your own mildly 'adolescent' replies on the other forum. I believe that is far from good practice and I also can not believe it is good for business (I for sure am not attracted to sellers like that).
I think you have burnt your bridges as far as CPF goes. Publishing private communications is a no-no, and you will certainly be banned over there. Mind you, with CPF, money talks, so you never know.
Norm is the only moderator I added as a buddy or whatever it is, over on the CPF and that is because he has a lot more leway and less of an attitude that many of the others. Sorry to say, I agree with him closing the thread. A dealer is someone selling lights (or items) to make a profit. If that is what Norm has to work with then, there is no alternative but for him to act as he did. I UNDERSTAND that for you, the dealer subscription fees are rediculous but, that is what they charge because they can and maybe because they have to. (I don’t know.) In summary, you’re better off not selling anything in the cpfmaketplace.
Joe, that place is neither on freedom nor democracy. It’s run like a banana republic high on coca leaves!
I just don’t understand why CPF has 2 forums if that’s correct, one to talk about lights ect…and one to sell/buy on ?
But Joe just ignore that forum intill u get on your feet little better
id suggest to keep trying to peddle here, maybe some on ebay .remember ebay has listing fees, final sale fees, and paypal fees which can add up to 15%+ of the sale value. and dont forget to factor in what the package will actually cost to ship. i have burned myself many times on shipping costs because i would just say “well, $10 should cover shipping”…
maybe try to find some easy going forums like guns, survival/prepper, outdoor (camping, hiking…). to get a good business started i wouldnt just stick to the flashaholic customer base.
though dont forget about us either 
I think you just stepped on his toe by mentioning BLF :D
Thanks for all of the advice everyone. (Especially 18sixfifty for your lengthy response)
Posting our private discussion in public was a bad idea. I just wanted to hear a little insist as to whether or not he/I crossed the line. I feel that honesty and transparency goes a long ways.
I still see that it was a bad idea but as a business person I believe you need to show sympathy towards your customers/potential customers. A simple "I'm sorry, we can't offer you special privileges because our current dealers will get upset." sort of an answer would have ended the whole conversation and I would have been on my way. I guess I have just been exposed too a lot of good people in customers support to understand why he would say the things he did.
[quote=cat eyes] see , i told you he was the chosen one.... the one to lead us into and through all the other forums.... the one to unite all the forums and rule all the forums with a flashlight the size of the sun.... all hail joe !!!!!!!! [/quote]
...One Flashlight to rule them all
And in the Darkness Blind them.
Milton Bradley had it before Google even existed. I can’t be the only one here that remembers the Simon game!
KuoH
A while back around when I joined BLF I was considering selling my own brand of top quality 18650 cells (keeppower OEM). I had an order of 20 as a trial run to see how well they might sell, and listed them on CPFM as well as here without knowing there were automatic dealer fees. Of course my thread was closed, and unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to re-list them as a one off sale without paying $75 for a month’s dealer membership, in my position that wasn’t worthwhile so I just finished selling them on BLF and gave up on the idea.
I can understand why they enforce the policy, it just seems a bit unfair that it’s so rigid. If you only have a small inventory of 1 item then it isn’t worth paying the same dealer fee as a larger company selling many different items. I did offer to pay CPF something like 10% of any sales made through the site but they wouldn’t consider that either.
I agree completely. I was going to offer 10% too since that is just about what ebay fees are currently. (Which is just insane)