1. Before you can begin to add products, you must first activate an online store by entering a valid PayPal Merchant ID.
2. Once you've entered a valid PayPal Merchant ID and successfully activated an online store, you will now see a new "Link" option available, labeled "Online Store". This link is accessible from any button on your website. For example, you can display a product using the Image Post and adding a button to "Add to Cart".
3. When you choose the "Online Store" link option, you will be prompted to Choose a Product if you have already added one, or simply "Add a New Product".
4. When you add a new product, you will prompted for some details about the product including:
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Product Name (Limited to 127 characters. You can always add additional information or a description to the post itself.)
- Price
- Shipping Cost (We currently offer only one Shipping Cost option and it's a flat rate per item. It's ideal for most businesses who need a simple way to charge shipping that's easy for customers to understand. For more shipping ideas and suggestions, scroll down to the bottom of this article.)
- Tax Percentage (Optional)
- Quantity Selection (Turning this on allows customers to add more than one of this item to their cart at once)
- Product Options (Discussed in next step below)
5. Click "Product Options" if you would like to offer different variations, colors, sizes, etc. You will also be able to assign a unique price for each option.
6. Click "OK" to add your product and save the post to your site. Customers will now be able to purchase this product from your website.
Shipping Ideas & Suggestions
While we currently only offer a flat rate per item shipping option, here are some suggestions that will offer you and your clients more flexibility.
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Mark Up the Product Price - Mark up each product to cover part or all of the shipping expenses. Then you can lower the shipping fee for each product or simply offer free shipping for each product.
- Example 1: Reduce the Shipping Fee - Mark up each product slightly to absorb some of the shipping cost so you can lower the shipping cost per product.
- Example 2: Offer Free Shipping - Make the shipping cost $0.00 and simply mark up each product to cover the total cost of shipping.
- Offer Product Bundles - Assign different shipping costs based on the number of products in each bundle. Ex: If you are setting up a store that sells candles, you can charge $5 shipping for a single candle. You can then create a new product for a "3 Candle Set" and charge $7 shipping. This allows customers to purchase multiples of the same product while limiting the shipping cost.