Does everone know all the steps to sell an item

I was just browsing musical intstraments and saw many great pages of great instruments., but not for sale because nobody owns any to sell.
Am I wrong or is it true to sell something it must first be owned. This is confusing for sellers and buyers.
Thanks,
Karl Ylvisaker

You can add an item to the catalog without owning it. People who do that are "homesteading." They get to own the catalog page and, if anybody later puts that product on sale, and if the item eventually sells for more than $25, they will earn royalties from the sale whether they own it or not.

So, yes, there are many items in the catalog waiting for sellers to come along, add the item to their portfolio, and offer them for sale. Those sellers will actually have to have the item available for purchase.

Hi Karl
If you are interested in a particular item, you can put out a buy. Click on the buy button and follow the instructions. Then someone who has the item may see it and buy out a sell. You will get an email and then you can purchase it. This also allows you to put a price range you are willing to pay.

Hope this was of some help.
terra

"Am I wrong or is it true to sell something it must first be owned. This is confusing for sellers and buyers. "

I think he's asking the relationship between having something in the portfolio, (aka, isn't that ownership?) and then selling it. Unless it's a store item, isn't it correct that you must put something in your portfolio first (own it) before you can sell it? (NOT list/create a page and not sell it, which doesnt require the portfolio being involved.) Is that what you're asking? And am I correct to sell something in the catalog without a store, it must be in the portfolio? Dont want to steer him wrong.

Cathie
Ceramic Emporium

34326236n3463216b3q6531n56354n

If you are not putting an article in your store, you must place it in your portfolio in order to be able to sell it. However, it's not the placement in the portfolio that makes an item available for sale. It's the completing, from there, of the "Sell" order.

I'm finally starting to get this whole process. It took me a while to figure it all out, but not before reading forums for several weeks, reading whatever help text was available, discussing with friends off-line, and doing trial listings and such to see what worked and what didn't.

For those who have been around for a while (since April particularly) the basic process is probably extremely clear and these forum discussions that address potential changes and their benefits (or not) are probably less confusing because of this acquired prior knowledge.

But Boy! I'd hate to be a casual buyer or seller who just drops into the site to do either - and has to figure all this out before it can happen. Many forum threads are just full of understandably confused posters who are in the same boat, discussing opinions and pronouncements of processes that, on the surface, already appear to be conflicting with earlier site boilerplate help text.

I realize that this site is currently a Beta site and much of the forum discussion is healthy brainstorming - and that Wigix management is listening closely and taking our suggestions to heart. That's good.

But I strongly suggest that it might be time to pull together all the current changes to processes, the newer tools (like EZ Lister), the Store concept, and other operational facets and how they interact - and re-document where the current Wigix process stands.

I believe that this should be done at the corporate level and not just be promulgated within forums in the form of answers to posts and opinions of those answers. Currently, if a new seller arrives on the scene, he or she would have to read all the boilerplate - then read all the forums - and take an inordinate amount of time to just figure out what to do with portfolios, catalogs (or lack thereof), buy orders, sell orders, page owners, homesteading, category experts, item approval process, rejections, et al!

This Wigix concept is a great concept. I think it's the future in on-line selling. The Wigix management and staff are great and very responsive.
But this process needs to be presented to newcomers in the simplest of terms; both in describing what's going on in an overall sense - and in providing discrete steps, checklists, tip sheets or detailed guides to make this more of a cookbook approach for the new user.

I believe that a majority of prospective buyers and sellers will be lost beyond salvaging if they had to educate themselves in all this before they could first sell or buy something - without some simple (repeat simple) set of steps to follow - and without having to figure out - on their own - whether or not some page has to be in some portfolio or not before they can do X or Y, or have to submit something called a page to own or homestead something, etc... And these processes are in flux - but it's now all buried in forum threads.

Don't get me wrong. I fully agree with the concept and I am thankful that I am having a part in its beta development. I'm just articulating what I've had to go through to understand all this, and I've been here for a month already (and I'm still not sure about some things every time I read a forum thread).

What about a new seller who has just happened by for a couple of minutes to sell something?

George

I've been in an on again off again convo with Wigix about building up the FAQ section on the Forum. I was told a while back that they do have plans to expand the help areas in some manner. I know that is a bit vague but hopefully it is being worked on.

I have also communicated directly with Wigix about how confusing it can be for newcomers. They have assured me very recently as well that they do intend to make it easier for people new to the site to find the rules, regs, and procedures. That said, your suggestions are good ones. If you haven't done so already you ought to consider sending them directly to Wigix, rather than hope they will find them at the end of this thread. Though Wigix does look at the forum, and it's always a good idea to come at a problem from more than one way, this is primarily a place for member response.

Hi George,

I think your feedback is excellent. It is still too complicated for a new seller to figure out how to sell something on Wigix. Wigix has made a lot of progress in the last few months in terms of scripting the process better and providing features such as EZ List, but it still needs to do a better job right up front of helping users understand how to get started without them having to do a lot of reading and research because most people simply aren't going to take the time. I know the Wigix guys are aware of these issues so hopefully it will get better.

And with years of experience in the training field, I can tell you a diagram would be VERY much appreciated instead of pages of written explanation.

Cathie

All,

We are actively working on this. Stay tuned.

Best,

James

YES! Excellent suggestion pcola!!

A picture is worth a thousand words. Flow charts, yes/no logic diagrams, organization/site-oriented graphics and other tools can certainly clear up much of the current confusion. Coupled with these visual references - by providing overview tip sheets and clear step-by-step checklists for each major function (sell, buy, submit new page, CE process, EZ-Lister, Quick List, etc) it will provide not only the "what we are doing" part, but also the "How to do it" and "Why" - the two other aspects currently missing in large part IMHO.

And thanks for the subsequent responses to my recent post. It definitely shows that we're all working together. Teamwork is what it's all about.

George