Anyone tried Build A Niche Store (BANS) for eBay instead of Parking ?

[Seabass]

http://www.buildanichestore.com/

I like the concept b/c it is not dependent on Google or Yahoo for success, otherwise I would probably heap it in with all the other MFA programs out there now. This is based mainly on ebay

Has anyone tried this yet? It builds a store for eBay, plus you can add content and adsense, etc... It seems it would be a good solution on carefully chosen domains. On some domains, I can't see it working at all since they don't fit in tightly with any eBay auctions, but others are a perfect match. Many sites look good and surprisingly seem to give some real value to the surfer unlike the millions of crappy automated MFA sites.

Here are some examples I found:

http://www.turboguides.com/
http://www.usgoldcoinauctions.com/
http://www.homegrownsushi.com/

And, after doing a little research it appears many folks are making money doing this. How much? It is hard to say since the info. out there seems limited since not everyone wants to disclose their income, but a few have showed their earnings on various sites and blogs. I could see this working, but all of the working sites I have seen are based on really lame domains.

I just wonder if anyone has tried it on a great generic domain yet, or an expired domain with big traffic, and what were the results - especially compared to parking?
.

 

[Seabass]

I'm not sure why.....but they don't seem to mind direct linking.....but if you have "unengaging traffic" on a website then you are in trouble.

 

[DotWeekly]

I need a little help with some BANS code changes.

I would like to REMOVE that little eBay box that says "Right Now On eBay".

Can anybody help me with clear instructions on Where and What needs to be removed?

Secondly, I would like to EDIT the lower link that says "View more items on eBay".

As above, instructions on where and what needs to be adjusted.

Also, if anybody is a BANS master, hit me up I'd like to get some more done, but just do not have the time currently. Let me know your "charge" for setting categories, header img, some unique content etc. Feel free to PM me.

 

[yandig]

I need a little help with some BANS code changes.

I would like to REMOVE that little eBay box that says "Right Now On eBay".

Can anybody help me with clear instructions on Where and What needs to be removed?

Secondly, I would like to EDIT the lower link that says "View more items on eBay".

As above, instructions on where and what needs to be adjusted.

Also, if anybody is a BANS master, hit me up I'd like to get some more done, but just do not have the time currently. Let me know your "charge" for setting categories, header img, some unique content etc. Feel free to PM me.

Log into your BANS site. Under the Setup tab (or whichever page you want to edit), goto the right sidebar --- Section 5 (product tools) --- uncheck box #3 (It should say 'Display EBAY logo'). That gets rid of the EBAY logo.

I don't know that you can EDIT the "View more items" link, but you can remove it by unchecking box 4 (It should say 'Display View More Items Link') in the same section, and then insert your desired hyperlink as content below your EBAY items, or as an ad below your EBAY items.

Pm me if you'd like more help with this...

Also, I am using v 3.0 so your version may be different.

 

[DotWeekly]

Log into your BANS site. Under the Setup tab (or whichever page you want to edit), goto the right sidebar --- Section 5 (product tools) --- uncheck box #3 (It should say 'Display EBAY logo'). That gets rid of the EBAY logo.

I don't know that you can EDIT the "View more items" link, but you can remove it by unchecking box 4 (It should say 'Display View More Items Link') in the same section, and then insert your desired hyperlink as content below your EBAY items, or as an ad below your EBAY items.

Pm me if you'd like more help with this...

Also, I am using v 3.0 so your version may be different.

Thank you Scott! Worked like a charm.

As for the "Edit" part, I just wanted to remove the word "ebay" from the link. I just removed it totally.

 

[yandig]

Thank you Scott! Worked like a charm.

As for the "Edit" part, I just wanted to remove the word "ebay" from the link. I just removed it totally.

Welcome! Glad it worked 8^X

 

[Seabass]

Man....I'm going to start creating a few of these again. They are a good diversification away from parking..... and they can make more money if you get the right niche.

I think they are useful to the surfers as well, although there are many a developer that would beg to differ. 8^X

 

[DotWeekly]

I agree Seebass. I will be doing some more this coming up week also.

It's vital to pick a niche that makes your .com domain Exact!

My ColorWax.com does well and yesterday I added content to each page, which should help as well.

I am going to make it a goal to do 1-2 GOOD ones a week and see how it goes. Having a great Niche domain on hand always helps

AutoBelts.com is up next for me depending on the Qty of products on eBay. I'd like to keep it as simply as one could.

 

[ripley]

I'm considering trying this out. Is it still a viable alternative? I know there was significant angst here in the thread just a couple weeks ago, but as a newcomer to the idea of BANS I'm not quite sure what to make of it all.

Is anybody willing to tell me what changes I need to be aware of if I want to implement this, and also any pitfalls I should be aware of? I see people talking about removing the word ebay, and BANS text from their templates etc. but I'm not sure why, and would be very appreciative of any pointers. I have a few item-type domain names that I think might work nicely with the BANS idea and am exploring the option.

With many thanks for any replies.

ripley.

 

[Seabass]

I'm considering trying this out. Is it still a viable alternative? I know there was significant angst here in the thread just a couple weeks ago, but as a newcomer to the idea of BANS I'm not quite sure what to make of it all.

Is anybody willing to tell me what changes I need to be aware of if I want to implement this, and also any pitfalls I should be aware of? I see people talking about removing the word ebay, and BANS text from their templates etc. but I'm not sure why, and would be very appreciative of any pointers. I have a few item-type domain names that I think might work nicely with the BANS idea and am exploring the option.

With many thanks for any replies.

ripley.

Ripley, I'm not up to snuff on everything anymore b/c I have not had my nose in this for some time, but here is the eBay forum where you can read tons of relevant info. regarding what you speak of, or even ask questions. I need to start reading this too.

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=1000000047

There is also a BANS forum you can access once you have a paid membership. It's pretty good also.

 

[luffo]

I'm considering trying this out. Is it still a viable alternative? I know there was significant angst here in the thread just a couple weeks ago, but as a newcomer to the idea of BANS I'm not quite sure what to make of it all.

Is anybody willing to tell me what changes I need to be aware of if I want to implement this, and also any pitfalls I should be aware of? I see people talking about removing the word ebay, and BANS text from their templates etc. but I'm not sure why, and would be very appreciative of any pointers. I have a few item-type domain names that I think might work nicely with the BANS idea and am exploring the option.

With many thanks for any replies.

ripley.

Dear Ripley,

to make sure your site keeps/will get indexed by the search engines you should make sure there is not the "powered by build a niche store" text at the bottum of the site. However I also got a website getting many traffic from yahoo that has the footer. Also, do not add adsense to your bans-site. I have read many times people got deindexed because when adding adsense.

With a BANS business you'd probably make most of the money from recruiting new ebay-members (also known as ACRU's). That's my personal experience.

Good luck!

 

[ripley]

Hi there,

Thanks for the replies. I went ahead and purchased a license and have been messing around with it for the past couple hours. I've got it up and running basically, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the "powered by build a niche" thing on the homepage. Can you tell me what file that's located in?

Thanks!

ripley.

 

[yandig]

Hi there,

Thanks for the replies. I went ahead and purchased a license and have been messing around with it for the past couple hours. I've got it up and running basically, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the "powered by build a niche" thing on the homepage. Can you tell me what file that's located in?

Thanks!

ripley.

On your Setup tab, in the upper right hand corner should be Section 4, Affiliate Links. You uncheck the 'Powered by' box there.

 

[owntype]

Has Google started to ban BANS sites?

 

[luffo]

Has Google started to ban BANS sites?

Depends on the sites. When you have some unique content you'll probably stay indexed. Anyway I have sites that are still indexed by google but some are not.
Btw, looks like yahoo likes the bans sites more. Yahoo drives pretty much traffic to my bans-sites. For me yahoo is more important for driving traffic to my sites than google (looks like everybody is talking only about google in this thread :P )

Luffo

Hi there,

Thanks for the replies. I went ahead and purchased a license and have been messing around with it for the past couple hours. I've got it up and running basically, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to remove the "powered by build a niche" thing on the homepage. Can you tell me what file that's located in?

Thanks!

ripley.

Thats great, yes just uncheck "Display Powered By Link" in your Bans admin panel.

By the way, make sure your site has unique content (on homepage) before submitting your site to google, yahoo, msn etc.

And then you'll have to wait for a couple of weeks before your site is indexed and the search engines will drive traffic to your site.

By the way, make sure that you have subpages (when you add a category that is devided into subcategories, BANS automatically generates these pages). this is a good thing because more pages will get indexed by the search engines!

 

[buckshotdots]

I also am thinking of giving it a try this wknd. I have popped in and out of this thread for a while now and think its at least worth a try. Thanks to everyone who has added a wealth of info to this thread.

gary-

 

[InvisionTech]

Anybody earning money with this thing?

I might use it to bring up some quick sites soon.

Thanks for the info so far!

 

[DotWeekly]

Anybody earning money with this thing?

I might use it to bring up some quick sites soon.

Thanks for the info so far!

Yes, many people make money with it. I would advise to be Very picky on the domain used (Niche). Do some research for keywords AND the products on eBay.

As with any site, No Traffic ='s No Sales. So if the domain doesn't get traffic already, give it some time and be sure to have Unique Content on your site.

 

[ripley]

Well, I've got everything all set up and ready and eager to give this a shot, but I'm still waiting to be approved for the EPN..... taking forever, three days already.

ripley.

 

[ripley]

Huh. Well, I guess there goes that idea. I submitted my site for approval at EPN and they just denied it outright, no explanation. So maybe BANS is kaput.

ripley.

 

[cdboard]

you bought BANS before getting accepted by EPN ?

 

[ripley]

Sure. Didn't imagine it'd be a problem. Why else bother? Not like I'm already doing ebay affiliate sales.

ripley.

 

[Seabass]

Sure. Didn't imagine it'd be a problem. Why else bother? Not like I'm already doing ebay affiliate sales.

ripley.

You might be able to get your money back if you make a plea to the owners of BANS......it's just a couple of guys that built and run the company. They may do it, under the circumstances. They seem nice enough from what I have read about them.

You may also want to reapply and keep trying.....explain your position to eBay.
Earnings/traffic has fallen a lot at eBay.....they need you. Show your best domains to them and they might come around.

 

[DotWeekly]

I am loading up a new BANS site today..

When at the domain for the first time and after setting DB info..

It says to Remove the Install file via FTP, which I did.

Then it had a second thing, but I am unsure what to do with this?

CHMOD the /cont/cont.php file to 644

Can somebody put that in English and what needs to be done

 

[gwkg]

Then it had a second thing, but I am unsure what to do with this?

CHMOD the /cont/cont.php file to 644

Can somebody put that in English and what needs to be done

I'm not sure which ftp program you are using but generally you right click the file and there will be an option for CHMOD.

In English, you are simply changing the file permissions for the cont.php file to limit access.

If there is not an option to enter a number, only check marks, 644 is

U(ser) Read / Write
G(roup) Read
E(veryone) Read

 

[yandig]

Has anyone had any EBAY signups (ACRU's) under the new rates that began November 1? I've had one so far in November, and if my math was right it was for $28, which is more than the old rate of $25.

EBAY said that the new US program would pay out anywhere from $1 - 50, depending on their formula of how promising the new customer appeared to be. Not sure how they are calculating this, but as long as the payouts are equal or better than they used to be, I won't complain.