Please critique my on-line bookstore!

[on-ramp]

This is definitely off-topic.

I was fired from my job a few months ago and since started an on-line bookstore in hopes of earning a side income.
it's at www.veryfinebooks.com


Can you please give me some positive (or negative) feedback on this e-commerce site.

The shopping cart functionality isn't set up yet with a merchant provider.

Other than that, what areas can be improved, etc?

Any help much appreciated, just started learning Frontpage and pretty much going at it alone.

Best Regards,

[RickM]

Only have a few minutes, so.....


The store looks very nice...and efficient.

Is it a Yahoo store? If so they will require you to have a published privacy policy. I'd do the minimum they request and more. Let potential customers know that you won't sell, rent, lease, share ot otherwise release their CC # or any other Personally Identifiable Information (PII). You may want to also put customers at ease by telling them that records will be destroyed in a timely matter via shredding or other means. (If indeed this is your practice) You can publish your privacy protection content behind a left column button.

I'd also invest in an 800 # or post your local # on the front page. It will legitimize your business to some degree. I'd cahnge the Email button to "Contact us" with different ways to reach you.

Best of luck

[techweenie]

I'd like to see the 'thumbnail' images at least as large as the descriptions.

Other than that, it's nice and lean and tidy and doesn't need to be made more fancy, IMHO.

[Danskman]

Looks good!

You might consider a small "studio lighting" setup. It would make your pics much more professional looking. I saw a lighting and backdrop kit at Ritz recently for $99. Perfect for book size items. Setting the books on a sofa looks a little "ebayish".

"Muhammid Ali" is spelled wrong.

Good luck to you!

[ronin]

spelling, spelling, spelling. not paying attention to that is a surefire way to lose credibility. have others check your work in case you missed any errors. nice job so far

good luck!!

[on-ramp]

thanks for your helpful input. The "couch" is actually a lounge i use to take all the pics, my own personal set. it could be cheesy, i could upgrade to a real "studio set" if one is needed down the road.

i've also had regrets about "veryfinebooks" , given it's not quite the shortest name out there for a dot com. ebay helps to advertise plus a few local bbs.

the main business model at this point is pictures and more pictures, along with reasonable pricing. I figure if you want to buy a rare collectible book on-line, the more pictures the better, don't you agree? i dont see too many independent bookstores that offer that. like abebooks, everything there is so overpriced. i figure i can save on FEES and pass the savings on to the customer. i just need a million visitors a month to have any considerable sales. don't know how
that will happen.

[TerryBPP]

If you using code to create the page you can set a shadowed border around the pics. Makes a big difference.

[nostatic]

I'd use thumbnails that click to a bigger photo for the detailed photos...would make for a cleaner "product details" page. You should also try and make all the photos a standard size/resolution. And agreed about doing better lighting to get a "pro" look. With the quality of digicams these days, a small light setup can do wonders.

[fintstone]

Not too bad! In fact, quite professional. Good luck.

[masraum]

Good job, one mistake that many make that you didn't was trying to get too fancy. Keep it simple which you've done. Standard size photos/consistency is more professional looking, spelling is key too.

An 800 number is pretty cheap and makes a difference. I often look for an 800 when looking at a store that I've never shopped before.

Yes, lots of pictures and info about the books. You may want to have an initial thumbnail(s) that link to another page(s) with larger images.

A different set for the books is a good idea, even if it's just a plain cloth or velvet or something. It looks like the pics were taken on a couch which looks less "big time" retail and more working from home. Not really a problem, but it instills less of a sense of security in potential customers.

Again, I really like it except for those little details. Nice and simple but thoroughly descriptive.

[on-ramp]

thank you for all your advice. it's very well taken.

I realize now that taking pictures with a couch backdrop is a bit tacky and "home made" , ebay style. I thought i was doing myself a favour by taking pictures on a fancy couch but i will change it to a more neutral background/set.

I will also get a 888 number for the reasons you mentioned....

i feel at this point that there is enough inventory to get going, so with the right attitude and presentation, and audience, there's hope. the plan is to go slow, get attention over time, and grow the machine...

thanks much for your input.

[on-ramp]

ok, guys and gals, i've been working like a dog on this website for the past few weeks, photos, html, some marketing, the list goes on and on.

what do you think?

www.veryfinebooks.com

[RickM]

Looks very nice. Can you enable links via a click on the image on the first 6 pics on the front page?

[masraum]

I like the new picture backgrounds. You may want to make the page for each book exactly the same as the last. I checked the first three books on the home page, Salem's Lot, Transgressions, and Borderlands 5 and each was a little different. I just clicked the next three books, Firestarter, The Stand and Cujo. They were all the same as Salem's Lot. That is the best layout. One pic at the top left. Also, on the individual book pages you have the thumbnail as a link to the same but larger pic of that book and then an extra link to "All photos of actual book". You could probably make the thumbnail lead to the collection of photos and just put a small caption under the thumbnail that says "click for more pics" or something to that effect.

It'd also be a good idea on the main page to make the title and the image a link to the page. Having the image linked provides a big easy target for a mouse click. I have to say that on the first two books I initially tried to click the picture before the text.

Much improved!

[einreb]

You might want to update the description on the "Dwight Gooden" book. It doesn't appear that he's in the big leagues any more.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cs-0508270084aug27,1,7960833.story?coll=cs-baseball-print

-Bernie