Seller HelpIf you don't see the answers to your questions here, try posting them at the HC questions forum.
- Is it difficult to make purchases on Hyena Cart?
- Do I need to know any html in order to use Hyena Cart?
- Do I have to pay the $5 stocking fee every month?
- How can I integrate my HC store into my main business site?
- I stocked my store, but why isn't it showing up on the stocking calendar?
- How can I customize the look of my HC store?
- Do I need a main web page before signing up for Hyena Cart? What about a business license?
- Filling out shipping info, shipping descriptions, etc. is so tedious. Can I automate this somehow?
- I just paid my monthly fee. How long does it take to reset my paid date?
- My customers and I are missing email notifications of sales. What gives?
- How do I get my store listed in a category?
- My customers are being charged extra shipping when they pay via Paypal. What's going on?
- How do I advertise on Hyena Cart?
- What is the image uploading option?
- I don't understand how to use choices (on HC Standard). Either my quantities change without my bidding, or the customers get charged the wrong amount. What am I doing wrong?
- Can I use a personal Paypal account for my HC business?
- How do I set up a raffle in my store (where people pay to buy tickets)?
- Why does HC Multi require a business or premier Paypal account?
Is it difficult to make purchases on Hyena Cart?
Hyena Cart has gotten the reputation of being hard to use. However, what makes items listed on HC hard to snag is the demand, not the cart itself. One hundred customers trying to buy the same one-of-a-kind product are going to have a hard time no matter how the stocking is performed. The biggest difference between HC and other stores is that the wahm can choose to preview her items, giving her customers a chance to look through the stocking, read the descriptions and sizing details closely, and make decisions about which items to try for before the items are available for sale. The disadvantage of this is, if many people are trying for the same item, generally the one with the quickest clicking and internet connection gets the purchase. Stockings for popular wahm's can be over in just a few seconds, which can be quite disappointing for excited customers.
However, HC is very flexible and the stockings can be done in a variety of different ways. For example, a wahm could choose to stock within a 2 hour window, with items appearing at random times with no previews. This would be close to how a typical stocking usually works, except that the wahm can have the store stocked days in advance and doesn't even have to be at her computer during the sales. Also, customers should have an easier time accessing the store page since HC is a much smaller application (i.e., no excessively slow load times and site crashes). Finally, I have added options like lotteries and auctions to give sellers an alternative to the first-come-first-served scenario.
Do I need to know any html in order to use Hyena Cart?
Nope. Html can be used to make your listings prettier, but you don't have to know any to start listing your products.
Do I have to pay the $5 stocking fee every month?
No, I set HC up to fit easily into your life as well as mine. You will not receive any invoices, and you only need to pay if you want to stock your store and your previous payment has expired. That means you could go one month or ten between payments -- it totally depends on your stocking schedule. However, if you have not paid for more than 2 months, your store will be marked "inactive" and shoppers will not be able to make purchases. This is to prevent sales from stores where sellers have not listed in a while (we’ve had both annoyed sellers who assumed their listings would expire with their paid time, and annoyed shoppers who have purchased items from old stores)
How can I integrate my HC store into my main business site?
This currently isn't an option. However, you can customize your HC pages to look exactly like your webpages, allowing a seamless flow between your site and your HC store. To see what I mean, you can visit my Kool Sheep Soakers HC store.
I stocked my store, but why isn't it showing up on the stocking calendar?
You need to have preview set to 1 in order for your store to show up on the calendar. Otherwise, I assumed you wanted to keep your stocking time secret. It can take up to an hour for the calendar to refresh.
Also note that the code only allows your store to appear once per week at any given time. Your latest stocking of the week is the one that will show up on the calendars.
How can I customize the look of my HC store?
You can visit this page for some tips on customizing your store.
Do I need a main web page before signing up for Hyena Cart? What about a business license?
No, you don't need a main site. It is nice to have one to host a gallery, list your sizing, prices, etc. but it isn't necessary. Also, some HC vendors make use of 'fake' listings to post information about their products. Whether or not you need a business license depends on your state's regulations.
Filling out shipping info, shipping descriptions, etc. is so tedious. Can I automate this somehow?
You can create templates for your listings, then copy them to create new listings. For example, set up an item with the title 'Soaker template'. Set it as a future item with preview equal to 0. Fill in most of the description except for color, measurements, etc.; set the path to the thumbnail and item pictures; enter the shipping text and shipping options. Then, next time you have a soaker to list, you can just copy this item, and edit it to reflect your current listing without having to re-type much of the information.
Similarly, you can just use one of your previous listings as a template, if it is similar to your new listing.
I just paid my monthly fee. How long does it take to reset my paid date?
It should happen instantaneously. If not, either the Paypal or the HC server might be having issues. If your paid date doesn't update within an hour or so, please contact me to let me know. Also, when making a payment, please log in to your vendor pages and pay via the Paypal button at the bottom. Thanks!
My customers and I are missing email notifications of sales. What gives?
Unfortunately, the server has a bad habit of 'forgetting' to send emails, especially during high traffic loads. I have not been able to find a way around this. However, the seller's and customer's orders lists are completely accurate, regardless of notifications. Your customers can make payments via a link on the orders list.
How do I get my store listed in a category?
There is a drop-down menu on your Profile Page (under Optional Customizations) called "Product type." Choose one of those categories and you will be automatically listed on the appropriate category page.
My customers are being charged extra shipping when they pay via Paypal. What's going on?
You probably have Paypal set to add shipping to your orders. To turn it off, log in to Paypal, go into your "profile" page, then click on "shipping settings", and set all shipping amounts to $0 in the shipping increment table.
How do I advertise on Hyena Cart?
Please follow the directions here.
What is the image uploading option?
Normally on HC, you upload your images to some host on the web, whether it's your own web host, or an image hosting site like Photobucket.com. So you need to manually resize your photos, then upload them to those servers, then point your HC listing to the correct images. With image uploading, you can browse to the image files in your hard drive while writing your HC listing, then have them uploaded and resized automatically.
Please read through this page to gain a better understanding of how to use the choice options.
Can I use a personal Paypal account for my HC business?
You may receive up to $500 into a personal Paypal account for personal or business transactions. However, if your business brings in more than that per month or you need to be able to accept credit card payments, then you should upgrade to a business or premier account. It is against Paypal's policies to split business-related payments between multiple Paypal accounts.
How do I set up a raffle in my store (where people pay to buy tickets)?
This option must only be used for charity purposes. It is illegal in many states to offer a raffle with tickets that cost money. The Hyena Cart lottery option is only intended to create a fair way to sell a high-demand item (rather than running an auction, where money is the deciding factor, or a standard "Buy it Now" where the fastest internet connection and reaction time makes the decision). Because of this, entry into HC lotteries is free and there is no option to charge customers to enter.
To set up a raffle for a charity, list your item, then use choices to set the number of available tickets (this allows customers to buy more than one ticket at a time) and set the listing price as the ticket price. You will have to manually choose a winner when the listing is over.
In addition, when running a raffle (whether you are selling just chances to win, or items that give the buyer a chance to win), you *must* also allow people to enter without purchase (i.e. "No purchase necessary").
Raffled items must be mailed to the recipient within 45 days of the end of the raffle.
Finally, you will need to provide proof that it is legal in your geography (state and / or country) to run a lottery. This proof (preferably a link to a website or scanned document stating the legality of the raffle) will need to be posted somewhere on the charity site for everyone’s reference.
Non-compliance with these rules can result in the suspension of a seller's cart.
Why does HC Multi require a business or premier Paypal account?
The functionality of HC Multi (namely that items aren't taken out of stock until payment is confirmed through Paypal) is only available through Paypal with business or premier accounts.
