siebler_custom_baits Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 What ever happened to the token store and creativetackle.com? It came up in the group nightly BS session tonight. Just wondering even though im sure a lot of members will read this and be like Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 im sure a lot of members will read this and be like Probably so, since youre "old school" The Token system was a system we put in place when the site first started to encourage participation...... make a valid post or reply & earn a token. Tokens could be redeemed in the token shop for promotional items or services. We disabled the token system once we found more than a few members intentionally abusing the system. We will likely use the token system again, We'll be doing a site restructuring soon to fix existing issues & add more content to the site outside of the forum. This will require TU to go under the knife for a couple days (unavailable). We'll make an annnouncement & email all members prior. Creativetackle.com was a classifieds marketplace, users could post tackle for sell, or an angler could post a request to have something custom made for them. The software worked good thru beta testing but was very limited, so users declined to use it & we shut it down. Im looking for new replacement programs & have been for awhile. Theres one in particular Ive been researching & heard good things about, its basically a mall setup so each member could have thier very own store. but its gonna take $600 to get liscensed. If you're interested in using TU as a place to hawk youre stuff, use the poll above & if theres enough interest I'll push harder to get the software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 I believe that using TU as an avenue to sell your lures would be an excellent idea. There are allot of folks that visit this site every day. The only thing that I do not understand is where the money comes from for this software. I am not the business guru. I mean.... how does the site make the money to buy this stuff. I am not trying to be nosey here.... but I don't want Red digging into his own pockets for the money to pay for it. Running this site can't be cheap. I would love to see this site grow. The amount of people that have already benefitted from it is tremendous. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPala Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Well for one source of "income" for the TU site there's this "Paypal Donate" we can click on at the right hand corner & do our little bit to contribute towards the running of this site. Or maybe we can all donate a lure each to be sold off toward the upgrading of the site. With the present membership of 1833 if only 30% donated we can still offset that license purchase easy. (I'm working on each lure's worth at a buck each, I'm sure the lures TU members produce are worth much more than that). Well at least those who vote to have a store in TU can donate one or two. OR maybe we restart the Battle of Baits (BOB), all lures submitted will be auctione off toward the benefit of this site we all so treasure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Those are some good ideas LaPala. I would gladly donate baits to the cause. What about it Red? If I send you some baits, would you auction them off on the site for the cause? Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted March 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Before i read LPs response i was gonna tell you jerry that i would be happy to donate a big box of lures( a larger propack) that you could put on ebay (ebay i think will raise more than TU actions) and im sure that some others especially the ones in our little group/family(caugh caugh mark, dwain, tally, mojo... caugh caugh) would also like to make a pack. The huge lot could be sold as 1 lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted March 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 i was just browsing and saw a few of the WTB type posts, i think that we need creative tackle for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellure Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Thanks for the heads up on the Donate Paypal, have never noticed that little box til you mentioned it. I agree with Skeeter, sites are not free especially message boards, the folks that use it and read it, myself included, should be willing to pony up some green to keep it running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIGMAKER Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 I'd donate some lures for the cause. Let us know where to send them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Yep - I too believe Ebay is the way to go. I'm sure many of us could get together and have a TU auction. In fact, I'd be happy to sell the goodies on my account and give all proceeds to the site, assuming a TU member is not the winner. Hope I'm not out of line here, but if this works for Jerry, would we have others willing to donate? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Hey, thanks for the generous thoughts fellas, actually the donation box here at TU is for the upcoming meet-n-greets in TN & MO, I'm sending TU swag (shirts/stickers/etc.) but funds will definately help the hosts make the events even better. We're still shooting for an annual convention around Okeechobee too. I actually scouted a perfect venue this weekend & looks great...but more on that later..... As for the member stores, We'll have to charge some sort of fee to members owning a store. We could do what we did for our webhosting clients by offering an advanced membership at a signifigant discount off the normal price. For example: A storefront would run, say, $10.00 a month..... if a member paid an advance of $20.00 he would have the first 4 months paid at a 50% discount, (= $5.00 a mo.) all new customers would have to pay the normal $10.00 a month. $100 would get 20 months..... & so on. Thats just an example, the prices could be slightly more or less, havnt crunched the numbers yet. We did this with our webhosting a couple years ago & a few of our members jumped on it & still enjoy great deals on thier hosting, eg; www.woodsaclures.com www.bettencourtbaits.com www.bobstackleshack.com www.persuaderlures.com www.bstackle.net & about a dozen others, the server stays full & we keep a waiting list now. That might be a good way to earn the software, What I can tell you about the software is [+] that it performs & functions much better than OSCommerce, [+] has a multi-vendor architecture that lets customers buy from different vendors at once while preserving your personal shipping methods, eg; one guy uses USPS weight based, another uses UPS flat rate, [+] the customer uses one shopping cart. [+] customers can also browse by individual stores, or search the entire mall. [+] Each vendor can customize thier own stores behavior. [+] Affiliate system & vendors can link thier shop to thier websites (for those of you who dont have carts or live, weight-based shipping rate capability) I almost have enough to get the software but I found a new supplier for our lure bodies & was gonna use the funds to re-stock & re-open the supply shop I need to clone myself....... & my wallet Oh, good mention on "Battle Of the Baits", that has been overhauled & is working very nice. I have the award ribbons & yeah, auctioning off the entry baits is a must, the baits from Larry's contest brought a pretty penny from collectors, the maker would keep the cash, of course. All I need is a fresh list of challenges to use, if anyone wants to submit one, PM or email me. Same if you want to do an advanced purchase for a slot in the mall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted April 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Jerry what happened to the big thing of jigs from last wire baist swap? And when can we have another swap(Jimwhere be you???) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted April 2, 2005 Report Share Posted April 2, 2005 Jerry what happened to the big thing of jigs from last wire baist swap? And when can we have another swap(Jimwhere be you???) Jim (Celticav) has been on a respite, taking care of some personal business. He has the donations from the jig swap. We can do some swaps, stay tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overkill Posted April 2, 2005 Report Share Posted April 2, 2005 I would possibly be interested in this storefront, but I would like to know more about it. I am not very software savvy. How accessible would our products be to people searching the internet? Could they find it? If they were searching for a product I had and they found it in a search, would it take them directly to my products, or would they have to search through everything available? Could I have a web address point directly to my products, like www.overkillbaits.com ? Is there an example of this storefront already being used on the internet that I can check out? This being said, I would love a place to have my baits up for sale without having to build ( or pay for) a whole website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted April 2, 2005 Report Share Posted April 2, 2005 Theres a full demo, its X-Cart Pro http://www.x-cart.com/multi_vendor_demo.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojo Posted April 2, 2005 Report Share Posted April 2, 2005 I, for one, will buy a storefront. I'll buy at least a year up front. I'll prepurchase if it will help get the software sooner. My suggestion is to buy the software first. Any monies earned on store fronts (and I'm sure you'll have quite a few) could go toward restocking the supply shop. The fishing forums I frequent would have announcements on the "mall" when it went up. Between all the members with store fronts and the different fishing forums that we all go to I'm sure that it would take off really quick, with plenty of free advertising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emptycooler Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 i agree with skeeter and would be happy to donate some baits to the cause. let me know where to send them. chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasbass1 Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Red, Can you give us newbies some additional insight to the tackle shop. I am no where near as good as most, but I would be interested in donating something to help the site out. It is great and I have learned a lot from you and the guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WidowMaker Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 As for the member stores, We'll have to charge some sort of fee to members owning a store. We could do what we did for our webhosting clients by offering an advanced membership at a signifigant discount off the normal price. For example: A storefront would run, say, $10.00 a month..... if a member paid an advance of $20.00 he would have the first 4 months paid at a 50% discount, (= $5.00 a mo.) all new customers would have to pay the normal $10.00 a month. $100 would get 20 months..... & so on. Thats just an example, the prices could be slightly more or less, havnt crunched the numbers yet. This sounds like an excellent deal to me.....any information on the stores yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 After researching the x-cart software awhile back, I found that the software doesnt function like a mall at all, more like a joint catalog, where there is one store like BPS.com for example, and each vendor would control thier own stock, listing & fulfillment/shipping. All products from all builders are pulled under one store. That wasnt what I had in mind, but lets hear what you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KcDano Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 With site traffic I suspect you have here I really can't understand why tackle stores couldn't fly and generate revenue as well. I am all for a venue geared to market custom built tackle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WidowMaker Posted December 8, 2005 Report Share Posted December 8, 2005 I seriously need to set up some type of online store to sell through. I dont know anything about php so its going to be quite a while before i can use something like oscommerce. Would it be possible to set up the X-CART to operate as a type of online mall. Could the participating stores or departments be listed under one central home page mall directory? In the event we get something going we could set apart a section of the forums to brain storm a marketing strategy for the home page mall directory. Maybe eventually work on the possibility of having primary banner adds for a tackleunderground mall website placed on major discussion boards such as bassboatcentral.com? Could it also be possible to have tackleunderground representatives present at some of the regional boat shows? This administrator of this site has done an excellent job in providing a first class website so we can come in and discuss our ideas and help each other out. I think the addition of some type of on-line mall would help advance this site to its next level of excellence. But if we dont put our heads together and actively pusue it then it wont happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redg8r Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 I seriously need to set up some type of online store to sell through. I dont know anything about php so its going to be quite a while before i can use something like oscommerce. Thats one issue, the learning curve on these larger carts is considerable. I have a few clients who use em & even after a couple years I still have to periodically update thier inventory/listings because they havnt quite got the hang of it. If we were to setup a cart for each vendor, we'd also have to set aside time for support on using it, since most of these carts have alot of options & configurations, it takes some work to setup for each owner, so we'd have to make sure we had enough guys on call to help when needed. Would it be possible to set up the X-CART to operate as a type of online mall. Could the participating stores or departments be listed under one central home page mall directory? Ive seen a couple programs that operate that way, Xcart was one of them. In the event we get something going we could set apart a section of the forums to brain storm a marketing strategy for the home page mall directory. Sure, & most have an affiliate program built in to encourage everyone to promote for extra $$. This administrator of this site has done an excellent job in providing a first class website so we can come in and discuss our ideas and help each other out. I think the addition of some type of on-line mall would help advance this site to its next level of excellence. But if we dont put our heads together and actively pusue it then it wont happen. Thanks, I wish I could do alot more & youre right, the site could use a reliable outlet for those needing some income from thier works, If I was to really crunch the stats, we'd probably find a good chunk of first time visitors stop in actually intending on buying tackle, rather than to get info on how to make it themselves. For the moment, Ive updated the auction platform here on TU, you can list items for sell there, use an optional fixed price (Buy it now, eg;eBay), build your own store, etc; Basic listings are still free. I put a few items in just to keep it populated: http://www.tackleunderground.com/board/auction.php Later this week I'll, feature it on the homepage & pass out a few incentives for everyone to buy or sell, until we can decide on how we want to do the mall/shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPala Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Cool one Red. Love to see the store/auction up again. Got some stuff from BigSplash last time and it sure was the best online experience I've had. Dealing with someone in Tu whom we have communicated before sure beats doing buisness with non-faces in eBay. You've got PM too Red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Jerry and I talked about this exact process a couple years back and I have always thought TU should feature baits for sale. It seems to me that the site supporting the store fronts would be paid in some form rather than rely upon "donations". Just like any other store front whether it be a newspaper, the radio, or ebay, you pay those that are listing your items. This could be a monthly/yearly fee to have a certain storefront size and/or a percentage of all sales fee that would go to TU. I would think Jerry would have to charge some kind of baseline fee for having a storefront and then decide if a percentage of sales is appropriate. Keep in mind too that you may see merchants interested in having a store front in this forum that have no interest whatsoever in lure building. Some kind of "boundaries" will need to be set up prior to this process....for example can I sell camping gear, my guide service, car parts? Jed V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
