E-Merchant Frequently Asked Questions

These questions are asked frequently by prospective clients. If you have a question about anything, please feel free to call us at 239-481-9789, or contact us by email.

What does it take to run the online store site?

It really doesn't take a whole lot of technical ability to run an UltimateCardStore online store. The more experience that you have will alllow you to do more with your site. Essentially, you should be familiar with how online store sites work in general, HTML source code, and be able to FTP (transfer files). We are happy to teach you what you need to know during training.

What are the keys for success for an online store?

The big question. Obviously the whole point of running a site is to make it a profitable experience. It's been our observation that it really comes down to 4 key points.

Piece of cake! Well, hardly. Certainly attainable. With the right tools, the motivation to succeed, and doing the work, it can be done! Out of the 4 points above, the only thing out of your control is #4 Buyers. It has been our experience that a combination of search engines, targeted online advertising (AdSense), selling on eBay, local promotion (In Store, Trade Shows etc.), letterheads, business cards, answering machines, and so forth will get the job done. Rome wasn't built in a day though, so remember that the splash you generate when you launch your site will be directly proportional to the time and money spent, in whatever combination.

How exactly can I save money?

If you are doing enough volume, those things alone will save you more than your store costs to operate.

The most important thing as far as we are concerned though is time. You will get so much more done in less time. How much is that worth? Will you spend that time listing more, or maybe enjoying life?

The absolute bottom line is this in our opinion. If all you do is sell on eBay, in the long term you are doing eBay a favor and building their business. With a website of your own you are building YOUR business that in the long term is something of value.

Do I have to host on your servers?

Yes, it is required to host your site on our servers. The site includes access to the online store program, but does not include source code. That's how we can keep our prices so low. By hosting on our servers you will receive free upgrades to the program and our watchful eyes over your site and your data.

But I already have a website?

That's OK, you have two options. You can move your domain to our servers, where we can host that for you and insert the online store into your existing site. OR, you can leave your site where it is, and use links in your navigation to switch to the auction server. We can configure the online store to look exactly like your original site if you wish. People would never know they left your website.

If I use an ADF scanner, are the special card sleeves required?

We manufactured a special card sleeve for scanning and storing cards because it was economical. Without our sleeves, you will need to use semi rigid card holders to scan through an ADF. Semi Rigid holders cost twice as much and cost more to ship.

How much do the special card sleeves cost?

By the case, 100 packs of 100 sleeves (10,000), the cost is $200, plus shipping. The case weighs 32 pounds. You may also purchase sleeves shipped in a Flat Rate Priority Mail box. The cost is $95 delivered for 40 packages of sleeves.

What type of servers host the sites?

The servers vary, but all of our servers are configured with at least 2 Gig of Memory, dual Gig processors and Ultra 2 SCSI drives running Raid. The servers are Unix, running Apache and Red Hat.

What about backups?

We highly recommend that you perform a backup of your web pages, templates, images and so forth that are used on our servers. We also backup changed files daily to a separate server, and weekly perform a complete backup.

What happens if I exceed my allotted bandwidth or server space?

The biggest fear people have is that their site will be disabled if these limits are exceeded. That is NOT the case. Your site will continue to operate. We will review your account and contact you to discuss a plan of action.

Do I have to link back to anything?

Your site is self contained, meaning that all of the links included in the navigation are set by you.

Ultimate Cardstore Frequently Asked Questions

What makes the UltimateCardStore different from other stores?

That's easy. This software was created by people selling sports cards to sell sports cards. It has do with making things easier to for the store owner to do the work, and easier for the buyer to find what they are looking for.

Is a Fujitsu scanner required?

Absolutely not. We talk about the Fujitsu scanner since that is what we use. The system will work with images from any scanner or digital camera. If you want something that will scan the front and back of 100 sports cards in 5 minutes, then look into a good mid range scanner with an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). That is what will save you the time. The Ultimate Card Store manager will process those images in bulk, saving lots of time naming images, resizing, and adding to items.