Setting up a second site in competition to yourself

[chodges84]

Hi,

I was wondering if any one here has ever set up a second site selling the products that you sell on another website. Difrferent name etc. The stock is already there, all it would need is a second website. Presumably people that don't buy from me buy somewhere else, and having 2 websites would increase the chance of them buying the goods from me.

ANyone ever tried this, or have any ideas?

Thanks.

[troels nybo nielsen]

There are people who have done this with great success.

[bakedjake]

I have a friend who, everytime someone new appears in his industry, builds ten new sites.

It works very well for him.

[otc_cmnn]

this is pretty standard practice. If you are trying to build a long term 'Brand' then I would focus all of my efforts on one site.

If you are looking to sell as much product as possible in the shortest amount of time, burn and turn. Focus different sitres on different keyword sets, avoid dupe content penalties.

Look at Yahoo! Stores - there are guys who have 5-10 Yahoo! Stores selling the same products, even at different prices. Same with froogle, lots of people have snuck there products in there multiple times under different storefronts.

[oldpro]

It's done all the time...just another form of spam to clutter up the serps as well as drop ship sites like amazon and beta feeds...definitely not a whitehat tactic. If you are in it for the quick buck and not the long term to build a real business with a loyal customer base...go for it, but would not be anything to brag about. Kind of a sophomoric business model.

[hannamyluv]

Catalog companies have been doing the same thing with catalogs for years and quite successfully. Different people will buy from different "look & feels".

Some people do genuinely believe that if you pay a higher price, you are getting a better product. Others want the lowest price and instinctivly think that a low brow looking site will provide that lowest price. Then there is every flavor in between.

I wouldn't make carbon copies of your site, but using the same product on sites with different feels would probably work very well.

And for the record, yes, I have overseen the operation of two sites with the same product but different feels and it worked very well for those sites.

[oldpro]

hannamyluv, i agree with that it is okay to exploit market niches with different presentations. however, i have seen too many cases of websites and stores on Yahoo being generated for the same product for the singular purpose of crowding out competition.

[oldpro]

but back to the topic...a second or third website is fine only if it does not compete with your original website...style your subsequent websites for specific target markets your may not be appealing to now.

[abertone]

From personal experience, I can say the most difficult part in maintaining multiple sites selling same/similar products for me is keeping them all straight. When products go out of stock, discontinue, change price, etc it takes a lot of record keeping and project managing to make sure the changes occur everywhere without fail.

-ABertone

[mt_biker]

This is something one of my sites is now considering. We haven't taken action on it yet but it seems like a great idea from the following perspectives:

- our original site contains a broad range of products within its industry. A spin-off site would concentrate on only one category of products within the broader range making it easier to market for SE's

- besides look & feel, we will have the opportunity to organize the products differently, which in our case could be very helpful

IOW's, we would not be simply mirroring the parent site with a different look & feel (which I see nothing wrong with short of massive spamming). We would be taking a sub-category of the parent site and focusing on it for the spin-off site.

[chodges84]

mt_biker, that is exactly what i was actually thinking. I've got a design laid out, and the products are all in stock. I'm just going to take one category and specilise in that. I'll be adding new products which i currently don't keep (although obviously adding to the existing website).

I was thinking of using the old design on the new site. I need to look at the existing site, it somehow feels 'old'. I thought it used to look 'fresh', but it's a good design and i'm reluctant to change it. Is it just me, or does anyone else ever get this feeling? Ebay and amazon never make any major changes, so i guess that i should just stick with the design i've got, as it seems to work.

How often does any one change the appearance of there website, mines been the same for about 10 months?

[mt_biker]

chodges84, I don't change the look of site just for the sake of change. However I will change the look from time to time.

If your site is working and only 10 months old I'd be very disinclined to mess with it. However, you are saying that it somehow feels old. To me, one of two things are happening.

Either you've been looking at the same site as a designer for long enough that you kind of get sick of it after a while, even if there is nothing wrong with it (I know that's happened to me). OR, the site really is becoming dated. When a site starts to look behind the times and/or neglected that's when it's time for a facelift.

Sites that are, just to pick a number, three years old or more can start to look dated because the underlying technology changes. Wider adoption of broadband, CSS, larger monitors, improved shopping cart software, have all contributed to changing how we think web sites can and should look (and feel).

Remember that the look of amazon and eBay was adopted after much research and investment. They are not going to change unless the research says they should. When that happens, rest assured, they will change.

Getting back more on topic, when I build my spin-off sites I plan to definitely give them a different look. I want to try different strategies (graphically, organizationally, promotionally) to see how they fair vs. what I've already done.

OTOH, behind the scenes a doubt much will change.

[eskipii]

isn't doing this a problem advertising with Adwords or Overture if some keywords overlap?

[hannamyluv]

isn't doing this a problem advertising with Adwords or Overture if some keywords overlap?

You open up two different accounts, one for each site and it's not a problem.

[eskipii]

even with the same credit card?
interesting...

[Automan Empire]

From what I hear, there are vendors in my niche that do VERY well selling the same exact catalog of parts through as many as 10-15 sites. Some of the players focus on particular brands for each site; others try selling all brands with different look/feel for different demographics. This is something I plan to do, too. That is, once I get out of the rut and finish my FIRST site!

A side question, what about becoming an affiliate with your competitors? The rationale being, if my site doesn't hook 'em but the competition's does, a 5-8% commission on their sale is better than nothing. Or is it?

[Leosghost]

How many people in the world do you think really make toothpaste , washing powder, soap, dogfood etc ...

This is the basis of all advertising and marketing ...2 or more sites is just like 2 or more package designs..

Works a treat ..ask unilever ...danone ..nabisco etc ..

[chodges84]

cheers for the replies, mt_biker, i think it could be becaues I spend so much time looking at it (not that I just sit there and admire my work, but because I manually add all pages i.e it is not a database driven site). I showed it to an old shcool friend the other day when she asked what i was doing, and (although we were only talking on line) I think she liked it.

leosghost, this is what I was thinking, in the UK Bold and Daz washing up powders are made by the same people same, no doubt they make it for 'Tesco Value' Boxes etc. as well.

I'll definately be going with a new look and feel on the new site