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Username:
webmaster23 (60%)
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ECommerce Web 2.0 Store Builder Startup

Listed in Google Checkout as Partner

  • URL: http://www.spotmerchant.com/
  • Established: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:00:00 GMT
  • Uniques/Month: 500
  • Page views/month: 1,200
  • Monthly Revenue: 0
  • Google Pagerank: 4
  • Listed: Thu, 08 May 2008 18:49:38 GMT

Description:

Up for sale is an established online store creator Spotmerchant. This is one of the most advanced store creator out there in terms of features and flexibility. I am selling this because I don’t have the resource to develop the business side of the startup.

Google Checkout Level 2 Integration has been completed, and it is listed as a Google Checkout partner at https://checkout.google.com/seller/integrate_cart.html.

The app was developed over 7 months, and is coded in PHP 5, MySQL 5, and the Prototype JavaScript library. All individual stores are store on separate databases, and are independent of each other, but share the same base codes. The server currently used is Fedora Core 6, but can be adapted other Linux flavors.

To see a working example, create a free account: https://www.spotmerchant.com/build.htm?plan=1

Features are listed on http://www.spotmerchant.com/features.htm.

  • SEO friendly URLs
  • Easy to use templates, or complete HTML control
  • Google Checkout and PayPal integration
  • Product reviews and product tagging
  • Automatic image resizing
  • And many more

There are currently about 100 stores created, and all account are currently in free trials. There are about 1200 page views from 500 unique visitors in the last month for the www.spotmerchant.com site itself.

Buyer will receive all rights to the source code, labor for complete install on your server, and all current customers migrated to your server.

There is a reserve, but I will consider selling if it’s not met. I can meet in person in San Francisco with buyer.

This is an excellent business opportunity for an entrepreneur!

 

Revenue Details:

Currently we are offering free trials, so there are no revenues yet.

Traffic Details:

About 70% referring sites and 30% search engine.

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Questions to the Seller

  1. Posted date:
    Thu, 08 May 2008 20:47:43 GMT
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    Comment ID:
    #1

    You say: The server currently used is Fedora Core 6, but can be adapted other Linux flavors.

    Is there anything specific to the design that is tied to Fedora? What kind of adaptation are you referring to?

    Would you consider escrow.com for payment?

    Thanks.

    Posted by:
    gluedtothescreen (60%)
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  2. Posted date:
    Thu, 08 May 2008 22:39:39 GMT
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    #2

    @gluedtothescreen

    The batch file that sets up stores current copies a new Apache config and (if new domain is chosen) a zone dns file. The current server has Apache and Bind 9 install, which can probably be set up on any Linux box. Right now the 'service' command of Fedora Core is being used, but that can be changed to whatever server you are using.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  3. Posted date:
    Thu, 08 May 2008 22:48:59 GMT
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    #3

    "There are currently about 100 stores created" - meaning there are about 100 databases?
    Are there any known bugs? incomplete parts?
    Can current free trial customers upgrade to a paid version?
    Can you PM a demo for the store admin?
    Is there a master admin?

    Posted by:
    neran_a (100%)
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  4. Posted date:
    Thu, 08 May 2008 23:10:14 GMT
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    @neran_a

    Each store has it's own database. All databases have the same schema. The separate databases are for easy scaling and portability. There are no known bugs. You can see everything by easily creating a store at https://www.spotmerchant.com/build.htm?plan=1 . I highly recommend that you create one to see everything. Trial accounts are the same as full accounts, except they are not billed.

    Things to do include: more payment gateways and triggering billing customers (billing info and databases are already completed).

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  5. Posted date:
    Sat, 10 May 2008 02:56:57 GMT
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    #5

    In general terms, could you describe the programming style and techniques used in the code?

    Also, the site talks about payments gateways... I see Google Checkout and Paypal specifically mentioned... but it alludes to others... but you answer the question above about more gateways being on the to-do list. Are there any others (such as Authorize.net)?

    What kind of support has been required to get a new customer's store up and running?

    Posted by:
    gluedtothescreen (60%)
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  6. Posted date:
    Sat, 10 May 2008 08:19:02 GMT
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    #6

    I'm surprised KiN's comment hasn't been deleted yet. Kin, here's an idea - how about you keep your unprofessional opinions to yourself? Unfortunately I doubt there will ever be a day that sitepoint is free of users who know nothing about appraising a web business.

    Posted by:
    xcentricnet (0%)
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    Houston, TX
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  7. Posted date:
    Tue, 13 May 2008 22:06:46 GMT
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    #7

    your demo subdomains seem to be down. Any chance of some testimonials/comments from your current (~100) trial users?

    Posted by:
    jimlit (0%)
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  8. Posted date:
    Wed, 14 May 2008 18:33:56 GMT
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    #8

    @jimlit

    Sorry the subdomains were down for a moment, but is up now. It was an IP switching issue.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  9. Posted date:
    Wed, 21 May 2008 14:21:14 GMT
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    #9

    I am surprised no one has asked this yet:

    1) *Why* there are no paid customers so far ?
    2) Why would someone pay? Is all functionality working with the trial version?

    I mean, It's online for a few months - people went to trouble to create a store and NOBODY bought ?

    Can u please expand on this ?

    It looks very well made and It's very interesting but this fact alone can break your auction unless you back it up with good arguments.

    Thanks

    Posted by:
    stanto (0%)
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  10. Posted date:
    Thu, 22 May 2008 17:40:15 GMT
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    #10

    @stanto

    There are no paid customers because I have not charged any one yet. This is my way to trying to get as many customers as I can because I start charging.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  11. Posted date:
    Fri, 30 May 2008 04:06:34 GMT
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    #11

    Can you please provide some info on visitor stats...where do you get current uv traffic from?

    I'm interested but would need to have the member billing system up and running. Would you includ functionality to automatically bill free accounts after a 30 day free trial period?

    What is the code like for creating new templates?

    Posted by:
    Newviewit (60%) (bidder)
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  12. Posted date:
    Fri, 30 May 2008 22:41:07 GMT
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    #12

    I have similar questions to Newviewit... also, what are the hosting costs per yr? I assume you have to host each store on a seperate secure server.

    Posted by:
    Juicy47 (60%)
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  13. Posted date:
    Sat, 31 May 2008 02:01:48 GMT
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    #13

    About 60 to 70% of the current traffic comes from referring sites (sites related to ecommerce and web technologies) and the rest is from search engines. Store can be configured to use separate servers, but most store are hosted one server. Each store has a folder that includes custom things in a base folder. The base folder contains the common code for all stores.

    The code for creating new templates is like the codes at http://spotmerchant.com/developer.htm . You can download a sample: http://spotmerchant.com/files/sample_template.zip

    Billing isn't that complicated because the user payment info are stored in a database. I can create a billing system on contract for the winning bidder.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  14. Posted date:
    Sat, 31 May 2008 02:09:35 GMT
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    #14

    Traffic stats uploaded to http://spotmerchant.com/stats.jpg . This traffic does not include store traffic. It looks like I was a little off on the traffic source in the last comment.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  15. Posted date:
    Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:26:15 GMT
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    #15

    Sorry, I accidentally deleted the last message.

    I haven't built a backend yet for viewing the clients. Right now I'm just looking the the DB direct using a query browser. I'm not sure how many of the trial users are selling as I have not been collecting stats.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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  16. Posted date:
    Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:05:50 GMT
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    #16

    Is spotmerchant.com domain part of the deal along with pages on it?

    Posted by:
    l2s (0%) (bidder)
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  17. Posted date:
    Sat, 07 Jun 2008 12:45:44 GMT
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    #17

    yes, the domain is included.

    Posted by:
    webmaster23 (60%) (seller)
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