Last year we split two of our niches into their own premium shops. When making the move, I hid the niche designs in our main shop as I added them to the new shop.
I would really like to delete these old sections. There have not been any sales on these items (from the hidden sections) in over 6 months but I still see a few of them in affiliate stores. Now, I really don't want to screw things up for my dear affiliates, but I can't stand looking at these useless, duplicate hidden sections when performing shop mainenance. I had announced the moves on the forums when I started the niche shops. Will affiliates shun me if I delete these sections? I get so few affiliate sales I'm not worried about losing sales, I just don't want to be a jerk (too late?).
I'm planning on splitting off two more niche shops next year and moving a lot stuff to a new general store so this problem (with my sanity) is only going to get worse.
From an affiliate aspect, posting in the forums is not often enough. I just don't have the time to scan every announcement that comes thru the site.
I sell your stuff in a 4thclick shop...and we just can't react that fast....and inevitably we will have some broken links.
But you gotta do what you gotta do
I personally would move the hidden sections to the bottom and forget about them. But if you have to delete them...post a notice in the forum and give about a week's notice.
But also...you say you know where some of the links are...a personal email to each site owner that you are aware of would be a nice way to try to soothe the pain of broken links.
I'm not gonna be mad at you...nor will I stop affiliating you...
Hugs Susan
Buzz Edition Blog Looking for hot newsworthy quality designs and the big story they were inspired by. PM me with the design link and a link to the story behind it for inclusion at Buzz Edition. Entertainment, Elections, Pop Culture, Etc.
I think six months is a (more than) reasonable amount of time to wait. Affiliates should be updating their non-seasonal shops at least twice a year. However, it might be best to wait until after the holiday shopping ends before you pull the plug.
Just out of curiosity...what did you decide to do???
Hugs Susan
Buzz Edition Blog Looking for hot newsworthy quality designs and the big story they were inspired by. PM me with the design link and a link to the story behind it for inclusion at Buzz Edition. Entertainment, Elections, Pop Culture, Etc.
After the holidays I will check again for affiliates that have the old sections in their shops and contact them. About a week after that I will delete the old sections.
For the new shops I will do the same (post on boards, hide sections, wait 6 months, email, delete).
Diane, I would do that, but these are really old sections with a lot of the newer products missing. It would be easy to replace the name/description/image, but to check each section for missing products would be too much work. Unless there is a trick I am missing?
Actually Amy, I'm in the same boat with the missing products. I have plans to create a tool that will look at what products are there and add ones that aren't using the content API. However, I would be hesitant to release it until CafePress releases the API from beta and starts supporting it.
You may be able to do something like this using iMacros or find another tool to do something similar or there may be something a shopkeeper has already developed to do this just need to look around.
At any rate, I haven't got any further than realizing I need to figure out how to look at sections and add missing products. Hopefully I might figure out a way to do it and create something after the first of the year - API if it is supported by then or iMacros-ish if API not supported still.
It would be easy to replace the name/description/image, but to check each section for missing products would be too much work. Unless there is a trick I am missing?
Well there is ... but I suppose your shop is too large to make use of the free version of CafeWish http://www.cafewish.com/#catscript One of the things it can do is exactly that, give you a section by section report on what products are present and which are missing.
Diane Blackman
Experiment! Try things! Then if you can't figure it out - ask. Play with Your Dog
Ack, I didn't say what I really meant. I can find the missing products (DH made an app). The actual problem is that I find it too much work (too lazy!) to go and add them into these sections. Especially since I have been planning on deleting them for 6+ months. If we had the content API I could do what Shawn is thinking of (and so much more *cry*), but we didn't get one before they stopped giving them out. Hopefully they will start giving them out again... but in the meantime I will delete these old sections.
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Especially since I have been planning on deleting them for 6+ months. If we had the content API I could do what Shawn is thinking of (and so much more *cry*), but we didn't get one before they stopped giving them out. Hopefully they will start giving them out again... but in the meantime I will delete these old sections.
