I'm delinquent on getting the full v2 SmartDD documentation up to date.  Included inside the current (and future) builds is support for physical goods and also the ability to set up a basic web store.

My SmartDD developer (Paul) has been adding to that store functionality.  Now that we're close to releasing v2.1 I suppose I'd better get my finger out and get the documentation up to date.

This should be ideal for what you want to do with your CD series, and even more so when I release v2.5 in about a months time which will add in OTO and free sign up functionality plus the enhancements to the store.

Jan:

Hey there!  Somebody we both know - Jonathan Paston - has already written a very nice little report on the topic, and I'll provide a link to that later this week when I know v2.1 is ready.

As Jonathan says:-

"The idea of having to package up CDROMs and send them out through the post is enough to strike terror in the minds of the lazy eBay marketers!"

I really do think that this has been the BEST news for any smart marketers.

Gareth:

Yep!

This is why I think the eBay "slap" is really just the opposite.  What it will do is get rid of the non-serious marketers (98%) who were selling digital downloads on eBay.

I already have some very good ideas as to how I can use Classifieds to increase my income, and I don't think I would have bothered had I not been forced to start thinking about it by eBay.

The next few months will turn eBay into a gold mine for people who use Classifieds to build their mailing list.

I'm already talking to one of my very talented friends about putting together some products and using eBay to market them, where it may not have been viable (or as easy) before.

If Lulu put together an API like Kunaki (did I say Kunaki?), we'd add support for them too.  I think I'll write to them and see what they have to say.

-Frank Haywood

Thanks for the update - and I agree; this is indeed good news.

SmartDD 2.0 is very good, and I'm looking forward to the 2.1 version.

I think your tips and suggestions are worth their weight in gold, so please keep them coming!

By the way: Do you have any plans for a post about "How to use eBay's Classified
Ads to sell your stuff"?

Cheers,

Jan

That turns SmartDD into a fully fledged physical business machine - nicely in time for my 13 part CD series, which I've just finished.

I have a script that automates the dropship part of the purchase process, but it doesn't allow me total flexibility with my sales pages - which I want.

Marrying my sales page to SmartDD and having SmartDD do my fulfillment, once payment hits my account(!), means I can afford to put my time into promotion, instead of fulfillment.

Nice to know that if someone buys at 2 am I can, literally, deal with it in my sleep.