Who can use eSeekerz.com?
eSeekerz.com can be used by anyone who has a social network presence. There are
three categories of users.
Merchants – these are the companies that offer their products to eSeekerz.com
affiliates. Their products are listed in the eSeekerz.com database according to
category and type. Each product is listed with a commission rate. Merchants can
be global operations or a local high street business
Affiliates – these are merchants or social network users who have created
a free eSeekerz.com web store, accessed the eSeekerz.com product database and placed
products/services on their web store for sale
Buyers – Buyers can be anyone with a social network presence.
Sellers – You will see the phrase ‘sellers’ used on eSeekerz.com. It’s not
a separate category but a broad term that includes affiliates or merchants, that
is, parties who are selling products/services
How do I earn money on eSeekerz.com?
There are several different avenues for earning money on eSeekerz.com.
Add products – to your web store and earn a commission for each product sold.
Offer personal services on your web store and earn from the sale of your
services
Share/forward group buy and daily deals for commission – group buys and daily
deals offer high commission rates and sale opportunities.
- The minimum commission rate for group deals is 30 percent. So for every group
deal purchase that you forward, and someone buys, you earn 30 percent commission.
- The minimum discount for daily deals is 40 percent. The seller sets the daily
deal commission rate. Because of the reduced price for daily deals the incentive
for buyers is increased which in turn increases your potential commission earnings.
Refer products on your wall and earn a referral fee when the product is sold.
Share, forward and recommend product/services to your trusted social network.
Each sale provides you with a sales commission or referral fee.
Become an eSeekerz.com Certified Professional (CP). A CP can increase their
potential earnings by:
- Providing content creation, research and approval services to merchants and resellers,
- Encourage merchants and sellers to engage in group buy and daily deals
- Help local businesses place their products/services on eSeekerz.com
What is the trust score?TOP
The trust score provides an assurance on the credibility of eSeekerz.com traders
The trust score system covers five areas:
Invitations
Offers
Helpful or misleading information
Order requests
Referral requests
Invitations
Every time you send an invitation to someone to join your web store and they accept,
you receive a positive score. Every invitation you send that is rejected receives
a negative score. This is designed to ensure that web store owners don’t spam people,
for example, by sending out invites to everyone in their email address book whether
they are friends or not. It ensures you carefully consider who you send invitations
to.
Offers
A potential buyer can make a seller an offer that is below the listed price. If
a seller rejects the offer as ‘spam’ the person who made the offer receives a negative
score. This ensures that a potential buyer makes a reasonable offer. It avoids a
situation in which potential buyers make ‘silly’ offers that are not genuine, for
example, offering $20 for a $100 product. In these cases the seller can reject the
offer as ‘spam’.
Helpful/misleading information
A potential buyer can talk to a seller online and request further information. If
the comments are helpful a positive score is registered. If the comments are less
than helpful a negative score is received. This ensures that when someone is making
comments they think carefully about what they say and answer the questions the potential
seller is asking.
Order requests
If a seller accepts an offer and then subsequently rejects the offer a negative
score is registered. This is designed to make the system fair and ensure sellers
don’t hold out for higher bids after accepting an offer.
Referral requests
When someone is selling a product they can offer a commission to someone for referring
their product to their network of friends. If you accept the referral offer and
then refer to another network and the referral is rejected by the seller you receive
a negative score. This is to ensure that when someone accepts a referral they don’t
blindly pass the referral on to any network in order to make a commission. It makes
them think carefully about the network they are passing the referral to.
Aggregated scores
The positive and negative scores of any particular network and individual are automatically
aggregated to reveal an average trust score. This ensures that new buyers and sellers
can immediately establish the trustworthiness of the network and the individual.
If there is any one individual within a network who is not genuine in his or her
eSeekerz.com transactions this will become apparent by looking at their aggregated
score. Their aggregated score will also affect the aggregated network score bringing
it down. However, if this is the case, individuals within the network can ‘unfriend’
this person to protect the trust score of their network.
How to use the trust score to evaluate credibility
The trust score tells you how credible and genuine a person’s buying and selling
activity is. The higher the trust score the more you can trust that person. If a
trust score is low it means that the credibility of the individual is in question.
Don’t worry very few people or networks will have a 100 per cent trust score.
How the buying process worksTOP
The buyer sends a buying request to the seller. This results in four possible courses
of action for the buyer: The seller accepts the offer The seller rejects the offer
The seller does not respond to the buyer’s request The buyer cancels the offer before
the seller accepts
The seller accepts the offer.
The buyer then makes the payment via Paypal or into the seller’s eSeekerz.com account
The seller rejects the offer
The buyer could try offering a higher price if the offered price was below the seller’s
listing
The seller does not respond to the buyer’s request
This could be due to several reasons; the seller has sold the product and signed
out of their esekeekerz account, or they are not logged into their account. If a
period of 72 hours passes and the seller has not responded to the buyer the transaction
is cancelled.
The buyer cancels the offer before the seller accepts
A buyer has the right to cancel their order at any point until the shipment is confirmed.
Order confirmation, payment and shipping
The buyer makes payment when the seller accepts the offer (order confirmation).
The seller then ships the product and confirms to the buyer that the product has
been shipped. The buyer receives a shipping code and web site address from the seller
allowing them to track the delivery of their order.
Returns and refunds
The buyer has the right to return a product as long as notification of a return
is made within 7 days of receiving the product Although the buyer’s funds have been
deposited the seller cannot access the funds until the 7 day return and refund policy
has expired.
How the selling process worksTOP
The selling process
The seller chooses which product to place in their web store. The product will have
a commission attached to it so the seller can immediately see how much they will
earn if the product is sold. The seller’s social network friends are automatically
notified of the new product when the seller places the product in their web store.
Packages
A seller can choose to offer a product with other products as a single package.
When a seller is uploading products to a web store one of the options is to offer
a package. For example a mobile phone may be sold with headphones and a cover. A
pair of trainers may be sold with sports socks. A baby’s cot could be sold with
baby blankets. A seller could choose to specialise in selling packaged goods.
This is up to the discretion of the seller. Packages can be sold as:
Products
Hot deals (Daily Deals and/or Group Buy deals)
Services
Services
Sellers can also offer services for sale. Services can include a wide range of options
(excluding adult content). For example, a beauty salon could offer beauty service
packages. A gymnasium could offer cut-price introductory courses. A web site designer
could promote his or her business. The services section is ideal for established
businesses that want to extend their reach to a wider audience. (See Making a service
sale)
Making a sale
The seller will receive a message from a potential buyer revealing their interest.
The buyer may make an offer that is below the seller’s listed price. However, the
commission will remain the same. The seller agrees a fee with the buyer, whether
it’s the listed price or another price. When the price is agreed the buyer makes
the payment. The seller doesn’t receive the funds until the product has been shipped
and the 7 day return and refund policy has expired. The buyer has the right to cancel
the purchase at any point until shipment is confirmed by the seller.
Shipment and payment
To safeguard against the buyer cancelling the order when the seller is actually
in the process of the packaging and posting the product, the seller can stipulate
a cut off time for cancellation notification. For example, the seller plans to post
the package at 1pm so he/she can stipulate the cut off time is 1pm. The seller notifies
the buyer that the product has been shipped and sends the tracking code to the buyer.
The seller can confirm delivery of the product via the tracking code. The seller
does not receive payment until a seven day refund & return period has expired which
begins as soon as the product is received.
Returns and refunds
The seller needs to specify whether they accept returns or not. Clearly, it’s in
the seller’s interest to offer a refund policy as it helps establish bona fide credentials.
The seller can choose from a returns policy based on 7, 15, 30, 45 or 60 days. However
to qualify for the returns policy, notification of return must be made by the buyer
within 7 days of receiving the product.
Making a service sale
When a buyer is interested in a service they click on Send Buying request. A pop
up box appears asking the buyer to specify their requirements. The box allows the
buyer to ask questions and provide further detail. For example, the service may
be web site design. The potential buyer can then provide specific detail about what
they are looking for. There is also the ability to upload documents to provide the
seller with more detail about the buyer’s requirements. Of course, if the service
is straightforward, such as beauty services, the buyer simply needs to make a booking.
On-site services
If the service is to be delivered from a specific location, for example, a beauty
treatment from a hair salon, when the buyer buys the service he/she is issued with
a coupon. The coupon is given to the seller at the premises where the service is
delivered. The service seller receives payment by entering the coupon code into
his/her eSeekerz account. The money is then transferred to the seller’s PayPal account.
Remote services
Remote services can include a wide range of services, for example, web site design,
copy writing, astrology, annual accounts and so on. In these cases the seller will
listen to the buyer’s requirements and then propose a cost estimate. The estimate
is based on the number of hours, or a fixed time, that the seller believes it will
take to provide the service. Once the seller raises an invoice for the service the
buyer raises a deposit. This can be either refundable or non-refundable depending
on the agreement reached by the seller and the buyer. If the deposit is non-refundable
it goes straight into the sellers account. If the deposit is refundable it sits
in the PayPal account until the service has been delivered.
The certified professional programmeTOP
An eSeekerz.com user can supplement their income by becoming a certified professional
(CP).
A CP is someone that sellers turn to for guidance on the best way to list their
products/services on eSeekerz.com.
The CP's role involves:
- -Content creation (including product verification)
- -Training
- -Sales and marketing
Content creation
A seller may want help in ensuring that the description of their product/service
accurately reflects its worth and that the product/service is portrayed in the best
possible light.
In these cases a CP can:
- -Undertake research to evaluate the market value of the product/service
- -Verify the accuracy of the content description to ensure it is compelling and appeals
to a wide audience
- -Advise on the image that is being used to showcase the product/service, for example,
perhaps the image lighting is too dark or the image needs cropping
Training
A seller may want to open a web store and populate it with a wide range of products.
However, the seller may have no experience of eSeekerz.com and may contact a CP
for advice on how to best place and present their products The CP can:
- -Research the value of the product/service and provide price guidelines for the
seller to use
- -Create compelling and accurate content description for each product/service in
the web store
- -Use best practice guidelines to ensure optimal images are used
- -Advise on how to best reach a wide audience
Sales and marketing
The CP can use their knowledge of local businesses to encourage them to participate
in Group Deals and Daily Deals.
- -Explain what eSeekerz.com group deals and daily deals are and how these can benefit
their business
- -Outline the benefits of a business placing their product/service on eSeekerz.com.
For example, this could include selling a high quantity of product or services in
a short space of time.
- -Act as a facilitator for the business by helping evaluate the worth of the product/service
- -Provide content description
Becoming an affiliateTOP
It's really simple.
ESeekerz.com has millions of listed products from all over the world.
To become an affiliate you simply open your free eSeekerz.com account.
The account provides you with the ability to open up your own web store free of
charge.
As an affiliate you offer your products to your social network friends.
Establishing seller's credentials
Before you list and offer your products you have the opportunity to establish the
seller's 'trust' credentials.
The seller's wall displays their trust score and also provides a detailed breakdown
such as the number of positive, negative and neutral reviews.
For example, by using the eSeekerz.com trust score system you can let your friends
know whether you've used the seller before or not, why you are sharing the product
and how helpful the seller is.
This ability to review the seller's credentials is unique. It enables you to act
as gatekeeper for your friends, and yourself, by establishing the trustworthiness
of the seller.
You establish the trustworthiness of the seller based on rankings for their past
activities. This includes sales, buying and sharing reviews from other buyers as
well as information provided by the seller on the products they are sharing.
Using your social network
Because you know your social network friends you have an understanding of their
tastes and the things they like. As a result, you can tailor your web store products
to exclusively suit their tastes.
Each time you add a product to your web store your social network friends will be
automatically notified. This will include a picture of the product and the price.
Affiliate commission
As an affiliate you earn a commission on each product you sell.
The commission amount varies according to the sale price of the product.
You can add up to 50 products into your web store free of charge.
The wish list and how it worksTOP
The wish list enables you to search for a specific product by posting your 'wish'
on your wall.
You simply click on Wish List at the foot of the page and fill in the appropriate
fields.
For example, you choose the category and enter a keyword that describes the product
you are looking for. You also enter the price range and whether you are looking
for a new or used product.
Posting a wish list image to your wall
You have the option to post an image of the product you are looking for on your
wall.
Several boxes have a live 'browse' link. Clicking this link takes you to another
box that enables you to automatically search for the image you would like to post
on your wall.
The box provides the option to either upload your own image or carry out a Google
search for an appropriate image.
If you do the Google search you need to cut and paste the image link into the image
search box.
When you press 'submit' the image immediately appears on your wall as a 'wish list'
product.
Using other people's wish lists to offer products
If someone you are connected to posts a 'wish list' product you will receive an
automatic notification on your wall.
If you already have that product in your web store you can respond to that person's
request by sending them a private message with an image of the product and price
range.
Searching for wish list products
You can also carry out your own search for wish list products.
If you find an appropriate product you simply add it to your web store and then
notify the person with a private message.
What is the open channel?TOP
The 'open channel' are social network users who are beyond your immediate trusted
network.
Your wall cannot be accessed by the open channel.
There is no trust relationship with the open channel.
However, friends of your trusted network can see the product you are offering.
As a result, they can contact you directly if they are interested in your product.
Using the open channel
You can use the open channel by asking friends to refer products to their networks.
They gain a referral fee for doing so.
Similarly, their friends can also gain a referral fee if they pass the product on
to their friends.
This has the effect of creating a spider's web of friends, extending out beyond
your trusted network to their friends and their friends and so on.
The benefits of using the open channel
The open channel is central to extending the size of the audience that has access
to your products.
You can potentially grow your network to thousands of people.
The trust score also ensures that you can immediately assess the credibility and
trustworthiness of social network users within the open channel that you may not
have previously dealt with.
Making an offerTOP
You simply choose a product you want to buy.
If you are happy to buy at the listed price you then click the Send Buy Request
button.
The seller is immediately notified of your wish to buy.
Making an offer below the listed price
If you want to make an offer below the listed price simply click 'offer' and then
complete the price field.
The seller will automatically be notified of your offer and will either accept or
reject the offer.
Hot deals, daily deals and
group dealsTOP
Hot deals are a combination of daily deals and group buy deals.
They're designed to encourage fast sales.
They offer considerable discounts on recommended retail prices and high levels of
commission to incentivise affiliates.
Hot deal information is emailed directly to eseekerz.com users.
This ensures the product/products are marketed directly to eseekerz.com users.
It also increases the audience range well beyond the trusted network and is an effective
way of promoting products.
Daily deals and how they work
Daily deals can run from 24 to 48 hours.
When a buyer is adding a product to their web store they can decide to add their
product to the daily deals section.
For a product to qualify for daily deals, a minimum 40% discount of the RRP must
be offered.
When you add products to the daily deal section you also specify the date and time
when the deal starts and ends.
Buyers are automatically notified, via email, when daily deals are posted. This
ensures a wide audience for products.
Daily deal benefits
If a merchant has product/service that is not selling particularly quickly or a
product/service they want to promote daily deals can boost sales and increase publicity.
Daily deals are attractive to buyers because of the high rate of discount.
Group deals and how they work
A merchant places products or services on group buy deals at a discounted price.
The minimum number of products placed on group deals is 50.
The merchant must offer a commission rate on group deals of at least 30%.
Group deal merchant benefits
The merchant benefits by potentially selling a high quantity of product or services
in a short space of time.
Group deal buyer benefits
When buyer of a group deal product/service makes a personal recommendation to a
friend or number of friends about the product/service they gain a 30% commission
on each subsequent sale.
Group deal affiliate benefits
If an affiliate thinks his or her trusted network would be interested in the product
or service, they can place the merchant's group deal on their web store.
Each subsequent sale of the group deal product/service earns the affiliate a 30%
commission.
How to become a certified professionalTOP
There are two tests involved in becoming a Certified Professional:
Theory test
You complete an online questionnaire.
Some questions have multiple answers.
By completing the questionnaire you will gain an understanding of your knowledge
of eSeekerz.com and whether you understand it sufficiently enough to become a CP.
If you score highly enough you will receive a certificate that confirms your status
as a provisional CP.
Becoming a provisional CP enables you to take the practical test.
If you fail to reach a high enough score you can retake the test. However, you are
limited to taking the test once a month only.
Practical test
Every month, within any given week, you need to sell 50 products from your web store.
Within the same month you need to bring into your web store/network at least 4 group
buy deals which need to be successfully sold.
If you achieve these two criteria you will become a CP
Applicants will be evaluated by administrative staff who will assign a certificate
of approval if the applicant is successful.
CP status needs to be renewed each year.
Important notice – the number of CPs in any given geographical location or social
network circle is limited. Before applying to become a CP you need to use the post
code checker (link required) to see if there are vacancies
At the moment applications to become a CP are free. However, this may be subject
to change in the future, with fees applied.
Payments and
verified and unverified PayPal accountsTOP
If a seller's PayPal account is verified, when a buyer sends a payment the money
moves to the sellers' PayPal account.
However, the funds cannot be accessed until the buyer has confirmed receipt of the
goods and the returns period has expired.
If the seller's PayPal account is not verified the money moves directly to the sellers
account and the funds can be accessed immediately.
However, this may create unease in the buyer. As a result, the buyer may choose
not to buy from that particular seller.
If the seller wants to make the most of eSeekerz.com the onus is on him or her to
verify their PayPal account to establish a bond of trust.
You can verify your PayPal account by clicking on the following link and following
the instructions: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/acc/seal-CA-unconfirmed-outside
Live chatTOP
If you have questions about a product or service live chat enables you to communicate
directly with a buyer, seller or affiliate.
To activate chat you simply click on the word 'chat' which is below the product
to the right.
A chat box appears and you simply post your question in the message box.
If the person you are contacting is online they will be notified of your query and
can respond immediately.
If the person is offline you will see the word 'discussions' appear in the chat
box. You can still post your query and the person will be notified of your query
when they come online.
Chat discussion threads
All chats are automatically saved so you can see the chat history (discussions).
By reading through the chat history you may find an answer to your question.
For example, if the product in question is a jacket perhaps your question might
be about the material from which the jacket is made. This question may have already
been answered in the discussion thread.
Automatic language translation
The chat facility enables chat to place across languages due to automatic language
translation.
The seller may be Spanish so your queries will be automatically translated into
Spanish. His or her responses to you will also automatically be translated from
Spanish into the language you use.
Adding product to your web storeTOP
You simply go to the bottom of the page and click on 'products.'
You can then search for the products you want to add to your web store by category
type or product name.
When you find a product you want to display roll your mouse over the image. A box
appears with a link 'Add to Web Store' and the commission amount you can earn from
the product.
The product comment box and it's importance
When you click on the 'Add to Web Store' link a product comment box appears.
This box provides you with an opportunity to explain to your circle of friends why
you are placing the product in your web store.
It's an important feature of eSeekerz.com and provides you with the opportunity
to explain why you've added the product to your web store.
For example, you might think its a unique product or the price is very good.
The product comment box fields
The product comment box has three fields.
The first field gives you the opportunity to write a personal message about why
you're putting the product in your web store.
The second field allows you to provide some information on the seller. For example,
you can says that you've looked at the seller's trust score, read the product reviews
and also engaged in live chat with the seller.
The third field allows you to comment on the product price. For example, you may
have done some independent research and concluded that the product is selling for
a good price or that it's available at the market rate.
Your social network friends wall and your products
All of your comments will appear on your friends' walls.
This lets them know that you've added a new product to your store.
It also tells them why you've added the product to your store.
What are product referrals?TOP
When you add a product to your web store you have the option of allowing one of
your friends within your trusted network to refer the product to one of their friends.
You can stipulate the number of friends who refer the product. This could be one
friend or it could be 10 friends, it's up to you.
Why should I refer products?
By allowing product referral you increase the number of potential buyers.
For example, if you place a product in your web store a friend might want to refer
the product to their friends.
This can increase the number of potential buyers. If, for instance, you allow 10
referrals and each person has a network of 100 friends you increase your potential
audience to 1,000.
Referral fee
To incentivise your friends to refer your products you can offer a referral fee.
This means for each sale of your product the friend who made the referral receives
a fee.
Approving referral requests
You have the option to allow all referral requests or to approve the referral requests
yourself.
Approving referral requests means you can select the referrals that are most beneficial
to you. For example, a friend might want to refer your product to their network
of 100 friends but you may already be connected to 90 of these people.
In such cases you would probably refuse the referral in preference to one that puts
your product in front of an entirely new audience.