Selling goods through the PayPal widget

IT can be tough earning a living in France, especially when people arrive and look to sell items such as artwork, gifts or hand made jewellery via the internet.

But a new service from PayPal could work really well if run alongside a blog style website that features details of your products and may be something worth looking into.

The PayPal Storefront lets you create a very plain and simple display panel, as seen to the right, which features items you have for sale.

People can browse through the different products and with just one click are able to read a description of it, but more importantly add it to their shopping cart if they like it.

The creation of the panel is done on the PayPal website and it lets you change background colours, add a logo, edit product details all from the one page, and then provides you with a short block of code that you paste into your web page.

Artist and blogger John T. Unger, who I've worked with on a couple of small projects, helped PayPal with getting the system set up so that it is easy to use and suitable for people selling items through a small online store, he has written an in-depth article about the widget.

And it is that link between the widget and blogging that I think is key, because a blog lets you write detailed descriptions of your items and this widget lets you display them in an attractive way, while any financial transactions are carried out through PayPal on their secure servers.

There are a couple of limitations such as prices currently only being displayed in US dollars and you have to host any images yourself, but if you already have an online store then this isn't too much of a problem. And like any PayPal transaction you pay a percentage of any sale as a fee.

The final feature I really like is that the widget even lets other people display your products on their own websites, you could use it as an advert that you change from the PayPal site so it updates automatically across the other sites.

Securing sales over the internet can be a real challenge but with a clean and simple page layout featuring a detailed write up of your product and this easy to use widget, there might be a way to keep you in cheese and wine yet.

Website:
PayPal Storefront

Comments

[John T Unger]

Hey Craig,

Nice write-up, and thanks for the props!

I'm blown away with the work PayPal did on this widget… I had high hopes and actually, they've been exceeded. There's still room for improvements in the next version but I think most of the truly important features are included in the initial release.

One criticism I often hear from sellers is that PayPal's fees are "expensive" but I would disagree with that… What the web makes possibe is to sell your work at retail prices to a huge audience. When I used galleries or stores to sell my work, I was frequently paying a 50% cut to the gallery. Not only is the 3.5% cut to PayPal significantly less, but the fact that I'm selling so much more over the web has made it easy to renegotiate my deals with galleries to a much more favorable 30/70 split in my favor… And I no longer sell on consignment through galleries either. If they want the work, they buy it upfront. That's changed the game for me in a huge way! And the groundwork for that was all done with the old style PayPal buy now buttons.

I think this widget really has the potential to change the game for artists and home businesses!

[Craig McGinty]

Hi John, thanks for you comment and it's that change of balance that I think is key. As you say the reliance on "third parties" is reduced, ultimately benefiting you in a variety if ways.
All the best, Craig

[Philip Voice]

This is kind of revolutionary for small business'. I cannot think of anything simpler to set up.

It looks like John has put his thinking cap on but not only for selfish reasons but to benefit all blog owners too.

[-=MT=-]

Has anyone been able to get the storefront to work with Blogger? I am having difficulty in getting the widget to work. I've been very successful in breaking it though.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi MT

I have been able to place it in a side column of a Blogger site, please see:

http://craigmcgintyexample.blogspot.com/

I just added it as a Page Element from the Template tab, to add it to an individual page you might have to turn the rich text off as it could be placing paragraph breaks into the code.

Hope this helps.

Craig

PS - Hi Phil, here's hoping people use the widget to help promote their sales

[Philip Voice]

Hi Craig,

I have passed this onto a guy called Tony Austwick at http://www.endeavors.com with a view to using it as a possible way of monetizing blogs with their Appex technology.

As you know, I have worked with them recently on the Complete Gardens project but the paypal method that is currently being used is a bit long winded from the back end point of view.

Fingers crossed :)

All the best

Phil

[Chris Comley]

Can I put in a shout for GoogleCheckout? New boys on the piutch but they do seem to have learned a lot from Paypal's past mistakes - something which Paypal are only just getting round to as far as I can make out. And free to sellers unti February.

[Chris R]

Just to let people know there are alternatives to PayPal, which I won't use (US-based servers storing your personal details). I try to use Moneybookers.com, which is European, and based in London.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi there

Many thanks for your comments and although I agree there are plenty of other services available to take payments online, I was keen to focus on the actual widget which I don't think any other payment service currently offers.

And for other readers, here is a little about Google Checkout:
http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2007/04/google_checkout.html

And a little more about taking payments online:

http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchlife/2004/02/get_that_paymen.html

All the best
Craig

[Joshua Lance]

I like the article and the potential that this widget can have for artists to sell their work, especially multiple locations. But I'm having trouble uploading a photo, I can't do it from my Flickr site, is there an easy way to locate the photo? Otherwise I may use Cartfly, it looks similiar. Thanks.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Joshua,
It's a while since I wrote this piece now, but if I remember I hosted the image on my own site and provide the path to it when building the widget.
You might need to check the actual file location you are including.
All the best, Craig