Tictail

Global eCommerce sales topped $1 trillion for the first time last year – and study upon study is showing that consumers are happier than ever to head online. If you have a product to sell it seems pretty churlish then not to use the Internet to expand your shop window well beyond the high street. And thankfully for those digitally challenged entrepreneurs it has never been easier to set up shop online. Last week I posted a demo of using Weebly to create a website in 15 minutes – and that service has drag and drop eCommerce options using PayPal or Google Checkout to sell your goods. But if you don’t want to go to the trouble of setting up a whole website Tictail.com is a new platform that will have you up and running with a dedicated retail outlet in just a few simple clicks; no technical know-how required. The site will even help you with the legaleze, suggesting T & Cs and privacy copy to keep you within the law.

Sounds good, but it’s going to be expensive, right?

Wrong. I was actually I was astounded to find out that the basic service is completely free; no monthly fees, zero percentage cut on transactions, you can upload an unlimited number of products that can be viewed by an infinite number of people (in other words no bandwidth limits) and there are no additional checkout fees – although normal fees from the company you’re processing payments through will still apply. How much this is will vary depending on your service and the volume of sales you are processing – for example Paypal charges sellers between 1.4% and 3.4% on the total sale amount plus a 20p per transaction. Tictail makes money if you add one of the premium apps, like discounts, password protection or a custom web address.

To try the service out I’ve set up a shop – http://kate.tictail.com – and rather conveniently you can go there if you want to buy a copy of my book, Working the Cloud, which has loads more tips and resources for eCommerce and other webby things for business. When setting up your own shop make sure you check out the correct tax to charge for whatever you’re selling and set the delivery charges at a fair amount that covers your expenses.