Sunshyn - 8:53 am on Jul 14, 2003 (gmt 0)

Hi Georgina

I also sell unique items, made to customer specification. I've been selling online since 1996 and had a customer base before that. Even though I agree that your questions are very broad, I probably provide some basic tips.

First and foremost, make your site as understandable and easy as possible from the customer point of view. That goes for everything from the navigation to actually placing an order. It's especially easy to overwhelm people when you make items to customer specifications because many don't want to specify all that much. It may help to offer some items with very limited options or point out some bestselling combinations.

I realize you are looking for new customers, but be certain to market your website to your current customers as well. They are probably the very best people to spread the word about it and give you the feedback you need. Make sure your site is listed on business cards, flyers, ads and any other business materials. Encourage your customers to give you feedback, maybe a survey worth a discount or contest entry?
The website should offer added value to those customers as well, perhaps in the form of order status, additional support, ease of ordering...

Be sure to point out to new potential customers how your products are better than businesses which sell the same type of merchandise. Even if the difference between mass produced and custom made is clear to you, it won't be to many of the people who see your site for the first time.

Make your turnaround time clear and over estimate rather than take a chance of being late. I've found timeframe to be *much* more important to online customers. Not meeting such promises can seriously destroy a business's reputation.

I hope some of that helps. I'm sure you already know how important it is to make the customer feel secure, especially with high priced items. There should be plenty of information about that as well as similar considerations in the archives.

Best of luck. :)