phpBay Pro Review - Extra Monetization with a Niche Shop!
December 1st, 2008 | 22 comments
A few weeks back I created a new GeoCaching Blog, so I could start talking about one of my new hobbies, GeoCaching. Of course I created the blog because I just love the hobby and want to write about it, but it’s always good to make some money with your hobby while you’re at it!
So, I was speaking with my buddy, Mark Mason and he mentioned some software he had been using called “phpBay” to create stores on his sites. He sent over a few examples and I was sold. I bought a copy and set up my first store in no time flat at http://www.madcacher.com/shop/.
What is phpBay
phpBay is a very powerful PHP script, which allows anyone to create a shop, which contains various Ebay items targeted to your niche. After you install it you simply insert your Ebay affiliate ID then generate the code that will make your shop work by inserting a simple keyword or phrase. The script will generate a very professional, user friendly shop that will display only items that are related to the phrase you inserted! And of course, every sale that is generated through your shop equals money in your pocket, which is the best part!
If you want a shop on your WordPress blog you’re all set because phpBay offers an easy to use WP plugin, which is what I’m currently using on madcacher.com
But, it’s not specific to WordPress. You can use this script on any PHP based website. MOST servers are PHP based, so if you’re not sure, most likely your server can run this… the file extension just needs to end with .php instead of .html or other formats. This can be easily changed though.
How many shops can I create?
You can create an UNLIMITED amount of sites on an UNLIMITED number of sites! To me that’s very important! I don’t ant to spend money on something I’m using for a little niche site and not be able to use it on my other sites as well!
Is this only for U.S. based customers?
Nope, phpBay supports seventeen different Countries!
What I like
I really like the easy of use and the potential here. The WordPress plugin is as simple to install and integrate as any other plugin, which is incredibly easy. The income potential is great. Obviously traffic is key, but this is the easiest way I know of to get a shot up on any of your sites within minutes, with no additional work!
What I don’t like
I always try to find things I don’t like about products I’m promoting, because to be honest, it adds to credibility. What kind of a reviewer would I be if I loved everything I was reviewing? Well, this time I honestly haven’t seen anything I don’t like about phpBay. I’m sure I could find a few small things here and there, but I haven’t yet. It’s pretty cut and dry… install it, insert a few settings and your shop is up and running.
How much does it cost?
phpBay normally sells for $79, but I’ve worked out a special deal for my readers. You know I take care of you 
So, If you order through the link below and use the following coupon code, you’ll get a 20% discount, which is far less than what everyone else, including myself, is paying. However, after 100 orders this coupon code will no longer be valid. (If the coupon code is still there, the offer is still good)
coupon code: 6BC288DE3A
Order Link: http://ez-onlinemoney.com/recommends/phpBay
Whether you use phpBay or not, having a shop for each niche you target is an excellent idea, especially if you’re a niche marketer with several small, niche sites. A one-time investment can add a new monetization model to your entire business and unlike ads, it’s not intrusive and actually adds to the credibility of your site!
Popularity: 21% [?]
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1st December, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Interesting,
Do you know if you can set it up to grab products from particular sellers and list their products exclusively?
1st December, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Josh
I have been using PHPBay for a while now and as you say, it cannot be faulted and Wade’s backup is second to none.
Very coincidentally, I just bought the Beta version of his Amazon plugin today and will be implementing that across a couple of sites.
There are actually two PHPbay scripts. One is a Wordpress Plugin, which is the one you have and the other is a version for PHP/HTML static sites.
The only thing I would say, which is nothing to do with PHPBay, and that is to implement the Ebay listings on Pages as opposed to posts. I have found from experience that page loading times are badly affected if you put listings into posts. I even got a warning from Google webmaster tools at one point saying that one of my blogs was taking too long to load, which was down to the listings on the bottom of the post.
Alan
1st December, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Nice idea.
I’d be interested to see how you get on and what sort of success other people have had with this.
Testing is the only way to find out I suppose.
Not enough minutes in the hour for me right now!
Keep us updated Josh.
Cheers,
~ Peter Tremayne
1st December, 2008 at 6:14 pm
How does this product compare to BANS? I have been seriously looking at BANS for doing what you are doing on your blog. It is nice that this product is more than eBay capable.
1st December, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I’d love to add this Ebay plugin to my blog but for the life of me I can’t get accepted into Ebay’s affiliate program. *SIGH*
1st December, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Josh,
Let me rain on the parade a bit…
Recently I’ve changed how I build my Wordpress IM sites, I avoid third party software at all cost. I have used several products to “enhance” the usefulness or monetization of my blogs, only to have that software become obsolete when a newer version of Wordpress is released. At that point I’m at the mercy of someone else, and I end up spending an enormous amount of time trying to get the software working again, if ever.
So, phpeBay sounds great but it’s just one more piece of software to deal with, it’s not a matter of if it stops working, it’s when.
Not trying to be negative, just my two cents.
Cheers,
MIke
FLY NAVY!
1st December, 2008 at 6:40 pm
@ saltwater - hmm that’s a good question. I’m not 100% sure, but I’ll get with Wade and let you know.
@ Alan - Glad to hear of another happy customer… I can’t imagine anyone not liking it… it’s very straight forward… thanks for the tip as well.
@ Peter - True, Wade has some screenshots up on the salespage from his own success and I’ll certainly let everyone know how it turns out for me.
@ Len - I’ll see if Wade can provide a comparison for you and get back to you.
@ Well, Ebay actually has an alternate affiliate program up with PepperJam Network, and phpBay works with both Ebay and PepperJam, so if you have a PepperJam account, you can go that route.
@ Mike - I’m not sure whos parade you’re raining on, but it’s not mine
For one, this product isn’t WordPress specific and those who do use it with WordPress don’t have anything to worry about.
I’ve been running blogs on WordPress for years and VERY FEW paid plugins are incompatible and if they are it is worked out quickly and updates are sent.
It just depends on how good the support is and so far, hearing from Mark and Alan and also speaking with Wade personally, the support is excellent.
1st December, 2008 at 7:18 pm
To save you a job Josh, phpBay is able to grab items from a named seller if you want it to.
If you go into the set up screen and scroll to advanced settings, you can see some of the various global options.
@Mike
phpBay is a very well supported script and Wade (the programmer) is on the ball with any changes that happen with Wordpress. There is also a very active forum that you can access once you buy any of the scripts or plugins. When Ebay changed from CJ to EPN, Wade had all the changes made to the program before Ebay had even rolled out their partner network properly.
Alan
1st December, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Thanks Josh,
Great information as usual. Like Len I was wondering how this compared to a Bans site. I don’t use one yet but have been contemplating it.
Also, I was wondering if you could share a little bit of your traffic generating strategy for this site with us.
As you say, traffic is the biggest part.
Thanks again.
1st December, 2008 at 7:21 pm
sounds well worth a try.
I have tried BANS but found it difficult to work with and adapt.
I love everything to do with Wordpress but I’m slightly worried by Alan’s experience.
Does it matter how you set up your permalinks?
I can understand Mike’s point of view but you don’t have to upgrade your Wordpress just because wordpress does!
The experts I know are always a few upgrades behind and leave others work out the probs so they can upgrade smoothly when appropriate.
Thank Josh
Alex
1st December, 2008 at 7:55 pm
I have to agree with the other supporters of phpBay Pro. I have been using it for about a year and have over 50 sites with this plugin. I also have BANS and much prefer phpbay over it. When Google was slapping down BANS sites I had no trouble with my phpBay sites.
Wad is the best at supporting his creations and has an update available almost as soon as WP updates to a new version. so no worries about the software becoming obsolete.
It’s been a money maker for me.
1st December, 2008 at 8:13 pm
@Alex
Maybe I should rephrase my comments re posts and pages. There is no problem putting phpBay onto posts, as many do.
Since Wordpress is PHP, it has to build the site post pages everytime somebody accesses your blog. That includes pulling the live data from Ebay in order to show the listing on your post. Sometimes, especially at peak times, Ebay gets a little slow in fulfilling data requests which means that your blog php build slows up waiting for the data from Ebay.
I notice the same problem with YouTube on occasions. I have videos embedded in a lot of my posts and if YouTube slows up, which it does during busy periods, that in turn slows up load time for my blogs.
How many times have you gone to some blog or the other and found that it takes an age to load up on your screen. I have even had one or two sites cause IE to fall over before now. That is more often than not due to excess advertising banners, video’s and all manner of other things that need to load before the site appears on your screen.
Wordpress pages on the other hand live outside the blog loop and are only built on a page by page basis when they are needed.
Hope that makes sense.
Alan
1st December, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I can put in a comment about BANS to the person who was considering it. My wife has had two BANS sites up for almost six months and hasn’t made a single sale. she gets penty of traffic but according to the control panel she hasn’t made any sales.
So either she’s not getting paid for sales or they aren’t recording any sales she’s making. Either way, I wouldn’t be in a big hurry to spend money on BANS.
This isn’t a reflection on phpBay. I know nothing about them. I just know my wife is one sharp geek and she can’t figure out why she’s not making any money on the BANS sites and there’s no support besides a forum.
1st December, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I’ve been using phpBay since last spring and it actually paid for itself within a month or so for me. It’s a great plugin and works well. If you set up your sites properly and target the right keywords you don’t actually need very much traffic to be successful because you you will get multiple ebay click-thrus from each visitor.
My only regret about the plugin is that I didn’t put more effort into making additional sites back when I first started out because I would be much further along now.
1st December, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Hey Josh,
Exactly. It’s always a good thing to get as many monetization avenues as possible on any of your money sites. I looked at PHPBay as well as StoreStacker and BANS. I actually tried BANS but thought it was too restrictive as to number of revenue sources available. I finally stumbled upon a new software called Affiliate Afterburner that is (IMHO) perfect for me. Any of the aforementioned softwares will do the trick. The key is and always will be, TRAFFIC!, targeted Traffic. I just like the Affiliate Afterburner for ease of use and versatility.
2nd December, 2008 at 6:07 am
One thing that everyone should know is that BANS is not liked by Google very much.
No Ebay affiliate product for that matter.
There is no love lost between the two due to Ebay not allowing G’s Checkout on E’s auctions.
Ebay in turn has pulled advertising on occasion from Google for a period of time.
I have a few sites using a similar product and get more traffic from Yahoo and MSN then Google.
Being an ebay affiliate is a great way to make money, but you have to know what the pitfalls are.
2nd December, 2008 at 6:12 am
This sounds like a great tool to try, Josh. Thanks for the heads up.
2nd December, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Thanks for a great review, Josh. I looked at your GeoCaching site and noticed a small error you might want to look at. The RSS icon has a dangling “nofollow” attribute in the anchor. Your site really looks slick, though. Great job.
Doug
2nd December, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Josh,
Yes, I agree, the PhPBay Pro plug-in is really good. I have a few sites up already and have made a little bit of money on them.
I would recommend that the Pepperjam Network be used (with the eBay program of course) instead of the ebay partner Network. I have not made a dime off that and all my sales have come through Pepperjam.
29th December, 2008 at 12:01 am
Was anyone using the eBay affiliate program under CJ.com? I was getting between $800 - $1,200 a month when cj managed it. Since eBay took over, I managed 1 $1,400 month recently, but most are closer to $200 or less.
I don’t trust eBay. Has anyone else experienced this?
29th December, 2008 at 5:19 am
I wasn’t doing a whole lot with CJ, so I’m not a good judge. I hear that Pepperjam is also an affiliate manager for them, but am not sure on the details.
29th December, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I’m still going straight through Ebay and have made a few sales, but nothing extremely impressive yet. That’s to be expected with the low traffic my GeoCaching blog has right now though.
I initially applied for the ebay affiliate program on PPJ and they said they weren’t approving affiliates until January.