Choosing a Designer on eBay
Two of the biggest questions I get asked are “How do I know which designer to choose?”
and
“How do I know that I am getting what I need for my eBay store?”. These
are both very important questions so I have decided to write this guide
to help you along the way.
First, I would like to say I am a Certified eBay designer and do
sell my services on eBay and my personal website. But I have tried to
make this guide as to what I would personally need to know if I was the
one that was purchasing the design.
A Designers Portfolio
All legit Designers should have a portfolio on their site. If they
do not, you should email them and ask if they have one available for
you to see. Looking at their work is a great way to get an idea of what
type of work you can expect from them. Be sure to follow links in the
portfolio to see the design live on a site.
Ask if they are Legal
A designer is not someone who just pulls images off of google or any
website and slaps them on a page for you. They must purchase specific
licenses for the images they are using, unless they are hand drawn by
the designer. Be sure to ask your designer if they do this. If they do
not you will want to stay clear of them, if you happen to have an image
on your store or auction that was taken illegally you will be held
responsible. Punishment can range from having your Store Closed to a
law suit by the copyright holder of the images. This is a VERY
important matter and must be taken seriously.
Ask Questions
Asking questions is the best way for you to find out about your
designer. They should be willing to answer all of your questions
whether it be 1 or 50. Any designer that is not willing to answer your
questions is not someone you should want to hire. If they are not
willing to do this then will they be willing to do the job you pay for??
Price of Services
Obviously price is going to be important to you. But remember that
you also get what you pay for. All designers choose their own pricing.
I have seen very low priced designs that are wonderful, but I have seen
much more that are not. So be sure to compare price to quality before
purchasing.
Types of Images Used
Most Designers are using Stock Images. This usually means they are
purchasing their images from a stock website. These images are NOT one
of a kind. Although the designer may never use them again, that does
not mean another designer is not.
The next type would be Hand Drawn images. These are hand drawn by
your designer for use in your store. Usually this is much more
expensive than the Stock Design. So be sure to ask your designer if
these are going to be the only ones they sell or if they are going to
resell the images they draw for you.
Types Of Coding
Most designers use HTML for their designs. The problem is the
amature designer is taking a code and just slapping the images into a
code they found or took from another designer. This happens more than
you would think. The problem with this is that you never know if you
are getting clean HTML codes for your design. There are many codes out
there that are actually against eBay rules, and can result in your
listings getting pulled. So its important that your designer knows the
correct way of coding, and customizes your code to fit ebays
regulations.
Web Designing
More and more I see people passing off site builders as a customized
website. This is just not the case. A true designer will help you from
start to finish on making sure you are getting the right type of site
for your needs. There are many free builders out there if you are
wanting something for personal use. But they are not recommended for
business use.
Bravenet
Yahooo Geocities
Angel Fire
These are just a few that I see being advertised by designers as
websites they are creating. These in fact are so simple to use that
even my 10 year old son built one. And remember they are also filled
with advertisements you can not remove.
Image Hosting
Most graphics designers will host your images on their own host.
There are a few things to keep in mind when this happens. If they are
using Photobucket and have a free account, then when they run out of
bandwidth, your images are gone. Which means the design is useless for
you. If they are hosting it on their own site, then you have the worry
of making sure they never leave eBay and close their site down. Because
if this happens you again are without your images. So be sure to ask
your designer if they will also send you the images they use on your
design, or to upload and link the code to your hosting. If the designer
is not willing to do this, you probably will want to look else where.
Terms of Service
Most Designers have a terms of Service on their designs. Be sure to
ask about this and read them. You will need to know what they will
allow you to use the images for and if you are allowed to make any
changes to them. Again if you have questions be sure to ask!
Guarantee
Most designers have a no refund policy due to the nature of their
work. So be sure to make sure that you have all your questions answered
before choosing your designer. Check their feedback, not only if its
positive, but read some of the comments given to get a good idea of the
satisfaction of their previous clients.
I hope that is was able to help you be more informed when
choosing your own designer. And as always, if you ever have any
questions I am here to help and happy to answer! Thanks!
) 
