Having a store online is something to consider when growing your watch trading business, but not necessary to be successful. By having your store online, your trust level increases, but on the flip side so does your fixed costs to run the business.
The great news is there’s so many options for you to create your online presence. You can build your site from scratch, leverage someone else’s marketplace, or use a third-party software, which takes care of all the requirements of having a website.
In this blog post, I will share with you the Pros and Cons of each, because there is no right or wrong approach when it comes to having your website. It’s more how you want to present yourself to others.
Here are three main options:
- Custom Website
- Third-Party Software
- Marketplace
Your Custom Watch Website
Having your website custom made the way you want to every detail is valuable, but for many people, it is overkill. If you do choose this path, you will need to get familiar with expenses. These expenses assume you will do the work yourself. If you hire a programmer to build your website, the costs are around $1,000+ for a simple site.
- Domain Name: $15 (Yearly)
- Hosting Fees: $20 (Monthly)
- Themes: $50-$100 (One time Fee)
There are many different options when it comes to a custom built site. So feel free to explore designs and get feedback from users to optimize it for their experience and what you want to use it for.
Third-Party Software Sites
You probably heard of Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, and others. These are great options to get a website up very fast, and you don’t have to be a coder. Even monkeys can do it.
When you are choosing the type of subscription you want, make sure that it’s Business & eCommerce level. The prices are around $30 per month, which is good enough to get you started.
The only issue you might have with these website setups is that if you want to customize them more, you will have to keep paying more. For a general watch store, I think it’s a great way to increase your credibility in the online space and gain trust in potential buyers as some will ask where they can find your site.
Using Watch Marketplaces
If you are using someone else’s marketplace such as eBay, Value Your Watch, and Chrono24, you don’t have to pay the same fees as if you have your own website such as hosting costs or domain names.
The advantage of using someone else’s platform is great because you can save a lot of money if you know how to maximize the use of that platform. Unfortunately, many platforms charge hefty fees to sell watches, and the risk might be considerably large from fraudulent buyers. That’s why you have to know the risks of using certain platforms.
YOU NEED PEOPLE TO SEE YOUR WATCHES!
Having an online presence is nice, but if people don’t see your watches for sale, it defeats the purpose.
The best way to get more eyes on your watches is to drive traffic to your listings. One of the most effective ways to do this is to write blog posts and share your knowledge with people while you insert your watches you are selling. This increases the traffic as well as your credibility.
The biggest challenge with a blog is it takes a lot of time, and if you don’t want to write it, you will need to hire someone to do that.
This is where the marketplaces dominate because they drive traffic to your listings without you needing a blog. For example, you might notice that eBay shows in the “shop” section on Google. And Chrono24 is keen on google search itself and Value Your Watch promotes the sellers on many other social platforms as well.
This is a FREE approach to drive traffic to your site!
To gain free traffic to your listings, you should be inserting the link back to your site to any watch posts you have. If you have an Instagram or Facebook, let people know that you have a website by inserting the link to your site.
You can also insert links on your watch listing on various forums, just keep in mind that some watch forums don’t like that.
Conclusion
Having your own website is helpful, but not necessary if you want to start selling watches online. If people can find you as a watch trader online by Googling your store name, that’s a significant step forward. When you decide to have your online presence for watch trading, choose the approach that makes the most sense for you after considering all the pros and cons.
If you need any further assistance, you can always list on Value Your Watch, or reach out to me for support. I have built watch websites in the past.