SmartAlec's on line store - names please

tuppetsdad

Funding & Tech Support
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Oct 5, 2010
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Melbourne
Hear a rumour that SmartAlec has migrated to China so he can open his own Alibaba store in competition to Ray.

seems like he will be stocking
- Crap strips with only each third LED working intermittently so you don't need a controller.
- Blow Ups and other aids .... not for the young
- Walking frames with integrated LED's
- And lots more useful stuff

Terms:
Payment 120% in advance
12 - 42 weeks delivery on all items
No refunds
Warranty - your kidding

So we can help Alec in this great new venture we need your suggestions for:

Ideas for the store name and logo
Suggestions for what Alec should stock
Excuses he can give Leanne on why he is taking so long to come back.

Over to you ACL members...
 

Kaden

Pixels! I need more pixels!
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Gold Coast
And to think you aren't in charge of marketing your own display!

Names......... What about "String Lights Using Trees" or "Decorators In Christmas Knowledge". They would make great acronyms........

Or Maybe a mod should just delete my post.
 
G

GoofyGuy

Guest
Kaden said:
And to think you aren't in charge of marketing your own display!

Names......... What about "String Lights Using Trees" or "Decorators In Christmas Knowledge". They would make great acronyms........

Or Maybe a mod should just delete my post.

"Smiles Highlighted In Technology"?

Its all good if I get to pay less for more
 

SmartAlecLights

Im a SmartAlec what can i say!
Community project designer
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Murray Bridge, S.A.
I lurk for a couple of days an the kids start to play. :D

Well i do have a online store, selling decent china gear not the non working crap (that TD donated)
I like to test trial all products for over a week, so that means little stock (but decent stock)

this time of season i still watch the happenings of ACL, but i like to do some electronics at the start of the year.

the shop name is SmartAlec's Lights http://www.smartaleclights.com/shop/
the price's might be expencive for people here, but for normal non-led people there a bargin price.

I do like your payment terms TD, if only everyone was willing to pay extra like that ;)
Ps. I dont need an excuse with leeanne she's busy with her online scrapbooking store (lots of stock)

Well time to go back to lurking..
Im around if needed, but with all the new people trained up on pixels an RGB, i might get to relax
 

z_special

Full time elf
Joined
Feb 2, 2012
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113
Location
Edmonton Alberta
In good faith I visited Alec's store, seems as though free shipping is included. Wonder if that includes Canada? Cause at those prices I think it should

Zane
 

Beacy

It's so much better on the dark side
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Beaconsfield
If I ring the phone number does the cute chick answer the phone - as per picture on web page?
 

fasteddy

I have C.L.A.P
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You may want to investigate if you require SAA Electrical safety approval to legally sell this stuff in Australia. This may come under the below SAA category and if something was to happen in the future you may be liable

Decorative Lighting Outfit
An electrical appliance which —
(a) is for decorative, display or illumination purposes;
(b) is portable;
(c) consists of –
(i) lamps (including Light Emitting Diodes “LED” types) or lampholders interconnected by flexible cord of less
than 2.5 mm cross-sectional area; or
(ii) lamps (including Light Emitting Diodes “LED” types) within a flexible enclosure;
(d) may be integral with a frame or similar support;
and includes —
(e) any integral power supply or control device.
Class Specification: AS/NZS 60598.2.20


So do your homework before selling to the public, you may get around this if you are selling hobby and DIY stuff, but i would find out first. Selling electrical goods is a bit different to selling scrapbook products as there are certain regulations that need to be followed.
 

fasteddy

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For further info take a look here http://www.saaapprovals.com.au/frequently_asked_questions.html

The first question is what grabs my attention

1. What are the requirements for importing and/or selling electrical products?

All electrical equipment imported and sold in Australia must be proven to be electrically safe. Specific items (declared or prescribed electrical products) must also have SAA Approval Certification and be marked to show compliance with this requirement.

The fact that these lights seem to fall under the below category makes me believe that its not just a simple case of opening up a store and selling these products.

Decorative Lighting Outfit
An electrical appliance which —
(a) is for decorative, display or illumination purposes;
(b) is portable;
(c) consists of –
(i) lamps (including Light Emitting Diodes “LED” types) or lampholders interconnected by flexible cord of less
than 2.5 mm cross-sectional area; or
(ii) lamps (including Light Emitting Diodes “LED” types) within a flexible enclosure;
(d) may be integral with a frame or similar support;
and includes —
(e) any integral power supply or control device.
Class Specification: AS/NZS 60598.2.20
 

Kaden

Pixels! I need more pixels!
Joined
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Messages
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ɟɐsʇǝppʎ said:
You may want to investigate if you require SAA Electrical safety approval to legally sell this stuff in Australia.


uh oh fun police :)


Its good advice though, it seems to be all low voltage so approval may be straight forward (or not required?).
 

fasteddy

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Kaden said:
ɟɐsʇǝppʎ said:
You may want to investigate if you require SAA Electrical safety approval to legally sell this stuff in Australia.


uh oh fun police :)


Its good advice though, it seems to be all low voltage so approval may be straight forward (or not required?).

I have the Australian standard AS/NZS 60598.2.20.2002 here and the scope says these are for basically any lighting chain either in series or parrallel or both with voltages not exceeding 250 volts. I cant say if you need to be covered or not but ignorance is no defense in these situations so i would find out first before committing to much effort
 

DeeJai

Is that Magic Smoke?!?
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No longer in Radelaide
what about Cheap Lighting and Plugs
or Creating Rice And Paper
or Lights Are Musical Exhebitionists
or ...... Ohh i dont know, thats enough from me.. haha
 

SmartAlecLights

Im a SmartAlec what can i say!
Community project designer
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Murray Bridge, S.A.
No Free Postage, i just have'nt installed the postage module yet..
Eddy i understand the issue i might have selling the 240v floods with the aussie rules.
Im pretty sure them rules dont apply for low voltage gear, (i guess i have studying to do) :-\

beacy if you ring the number, you'll get me or the miss's saying hello - sorry for the disappointment with that sexy chick idea, the pic came with the shopping cart system..lol

I will never be as cheap as buying directly from ray, postage would kill me there.
matt i did have rays plugs up for sale, but i think i used all the stock myself.

I dont think my shop will be popular for ACL people, but for the local towns around here think them prices are super cheap.
 

kane

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smartalec said:
No Free Postage, i just have'nt installed the postage module yet..
Changing the topic from Alec-Hassling slighly, but I'd always recommend offering free shipping on any online store.. At the very least, for orders over $30 or something..

You obviously need to factor it into your prices, but you will not believe how much of a difference it makes to people.

One of our clients was getting very few sales (one a week), but as soon as she offered free postage, she started averaging a sale a day. And surprisingly, the items she was selling were quite expensive ($100/each), so the $10 postage charge shouldn't have been an issue, but for some reason it was.

Another thing to include is testimonials. Was speaking to another client who sold wedding bands online - when they introduced personal testimonials on the site, their sales doubled.. Not sure what it is, but perhaps it gives the site less of a templated "website in a box" feel to one with actual people..

And it goes without saying - try to get rid of obvious stock photography, and make sure that any of the standard content pages (about us, contact us, etc,), are populated with actual information, and hopefully information that will give the user a warm fuzzy feeling that they're dealing with a local friendly person, rather than a faceless company.. And Alec, without trying to sound condescending, I'd recommend you ask a few people to look over your content, as obvious spelling and grammar errors are a big turn-off for a lot of people.
 

SmartAlecLights

Im a SmartAlec what can i say!
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Thanks kane,
Personal testimonials is something i also use when i test out products myself.. so i will be adding that module

free shipping does hook people into buying, i know from personal experance

warm fuzzies hey.. umm how about some of the heat were getting.. some might like that more.. :D

so edit the photo's for what real life shots of them in use or something..?

cool, a funny post from TD is realy turning into a information session.. cool
 

kane

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Location
Trigg (Northern suburbs of Perth)
smartalec said:
so edit the photo's for what real life shots of them in use or something..?

cool, a funny post from TD is realy turning into a information session.. cool
It was more the photos that you get as part of your "off the shelf" shopping cart software (like the girl next to the phone number), which are usually referred to as "stock" photos. The more you can make it look less like an off the shelf product, the better - makes it look more professional.

The actual photos of your items are a different story, but I'd say that the more photos you can put on, the better - pictures tell a thousand words so you'll never cause issues by adding extras.
 
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