These questions are asked frequently by prospective clients. If you have a question about anything, please feel free to call us at 239-481-9789, or contact us by email.
What makes the UltimateCardStore different from other stores?
That's easy. This software was created by people selling sports cards to sell sports cards.
It has do with making things easier to for the store owner to do the work, and easier for the
buyer to find what they are looking for.
How exactly can I save money?
- 1. Access to the price guides are always available, updated regularly, saving subscription fees.
- 2. When you are selling on eBay, you can schedule starting times for auction in your store, rather than paying eBay to do it.
- 3. All pictures are included in your description and hosted from your store. That means never paying picture hosting fees.
- 4. By selling more items on your site, you will save in Final Value Fees.
If you are doing enough volume, those things alone will save you more than your store costs to operate.
The most important thing as far as we are concerned though is time. You will get so much more done in less time. How much is that worth? Will you spend that time listing more, or maybe enjoying life?
Is a Fujitsu scanner required?
Absolutely not. We talk about the Fujitsu scanner since that is what we use. The system will work with images
from any scanner or digital camera. If you want something that will scan the front and back of 100 sports cards
in 5 minutes, then look into a good mid range scanner with an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). That is what will
save you the time. The Ultimate Card Store manager will process those images in bulk, saving lots of time naming
images, resizing, and adding to items.
If I use an ADF scanner, are the special card sleeves required?
We manufactured a special card sleeve for scanning and storing cards because it was economical. Without our sleeves,
you will need to use semi rigid card holders to scan through an ADF. Semi Rigid holders cost twice as much and cost more to ship.
How much do the special card sleeves cost?
By the case, 100 packs of 100 sleeves (10,000), the cost is $200, plus shipping. The case weighs 32 pounds.
You may also purchase sleeves shipped in a Flat Rate Priority Mail box. The cost is $95 delivered for 40 packages of sleeves.
What does it take to run the online store site?
It really doesn't take a whole lot of technical ability to run an UltimateCardStore online store.
The more experience that you have will alllow you to do more with your site.
Essentially, you should be familiar with how auction sites work in general, HTML source code, and be able to FTP (transfer files).
We are happy to teach you what you need to know during training.
What are the keys for success for an online store?
The big question. Obviously the whole point of running a site is to make it a profitable experience.
It's been our observation that it really comes down to 4 key points.
- 1. Strong First Impression to site visitors with Professional Graphics and Design.
- 2. Online Store software with the appropriate features, and easy to use.
- 3. Products are available to sell.
- 4. Buyers are present to purchase the items for sale.
By working with us, points 1 and 2 are certainly taken care of. Our professional design is included with the Getting Started Package, and will certainly please both you and your visitors. Our online store software is used every day across the many sites using our software. But the key points are really do you have items for the site, and people to buy them? Without items for sale and people to buy them, your site will never succeed. Talk to us about this as we have definite ideas that can help you.
Do I have to host on your servers?
Yes, it is required to host your site on our servers. The site includes
access to the online store program, but does not include source code.
That's how we can keep our prices so low. By hosting on our servers you
will receive free upgrades to the program and our watchful eyes over
your site and your data.
But I already have a website?
Thats OK, you have two options. You can move your domain to our servers,
where we can host that for you and insert the online store into your
existing site. OR, you can leave your site where it is, and use links
in your navigation to switch to the auction server. We can configure
the online store to look exactly like your original site if you wish.
People would never know they left your website.
What type of servers host the sites?
The servers vary, but all of our servers are configured with at least 2 Gig of Memory, dual Gig processors and Ultra 2 SCSI drives running Raid.
The servers are Unix, running Apache and Red Hat.
What about backups?
We highly recommend that you perform a backup of your web pages,
templates, images and so forth that are used on our servers.
We also backup changed files daily to a separate server, and
weekly perform a complete backup.
What happens if I exceed my allotted bandwidth or server space?
The biggest fear people have is that their site will be disabled if these
limits are exceeded. That is NOT the case. Your site will continue to
operate. We will review your account and contact you to discuss a plan
of action.
Do I have to link back to anything?
Your site is self contained, meaning that all of the links included in
the navigation are set by you. Ultimate Card Stores do require a disclaimer in the footer in regards to the source of the card price data.
Featured Sites
Clean Sweep Auctions has been our client since 2000. Clean Sweep runs monthly auctions of high end sportscards and memorabilia, with 4 major auctions per year. Clean sweep also uses our online store software to sell more than 25,000 items online. To make this possible, we have created a custom listing process for Clean Sweep that allows them to export their inventory from the own database, and update the inventory automatically.
Strictly Mint Vintage Sportscards is our own Online Store. Strictly Mint has an inventory of over 30,000 cards online, and posts store inventory directly to eBay and StrictlyBids. The Strictly Mint store communicates with the eBay Store and StrictlyBids, running items concurrently and updating each store as items are sold.
Bobby Poll: "I've been selling sports cards on ebay since 1998 (current ID sma360com since 2001). At the peak of my listing ability, I was able to list 500-600 cards a day (including scans) but with very little detail. More recently, I got about 200-250 done in a 8 hour period. I was truly getting burned out until Mike approached me with this exciting system. Since I've been using this system and scanner, I'm able to list 700-1000 cards a day by myself! The system and scanner will pay for themselves in the first month! If you're a part time or full time card dealer, this is a necessity for your business. You will increase productivity, profit and turnover. Plus it's fun to scan 650 images in 15 minutes!"
www.PastimeSportsCards.com
Mike Crawford: "The Ultimate card store is AWESOME....After I read all the things that UltimateCardStore did, I was ready to buy. Iwas concerned that it might be too much to learn. I talked to Mike and he helped me through my worries. I started to use UltimateCardStore and it was easy. As time by I get FASTER and FASTER it is so easy......And if I have a question Mike is just a phone call away. I have only had the UltimateCardStore about a week and I have put in over 5000 items. The best part I only spend about 3 hours a day on it. I have always wanted a sports card website and now I HAVE IT... Thanks!"
www.EvolutionSportsMarketing.com
Lisa Stellato: "WOW! What a program. We list items many times faster, it's simple to use and the website looks great! We were up and running in days listing on our own website and eBay at the same time. What a bargain! Only regret.... we didn't find this sooner!"
More Information
It's easy to find out if some or all of this system is for you. The best
thing to do is give us a call at 239-481-9789. We'll discuss how you are
doing things now, and decide if this system can really help you.
Getting Started
Once you decide to move forward, we値l get started right away.
- We値l setup your website right away, and begin to talk about how you want to use it.
- We値l discuss the design and give a professional display to your website.
- We値l teach you how to manage the store and use it the best way.
- We値l teach you how to use the spreadsheets to list your inventory.
- We値l talk about how to handle images, and how to transfer images to your website.
