Sunday, December 23, 2007

Uh oh.

Out of curiosity, I just did a search for the .com that would match my eBay name - eclecticvintage - and it is taken. I mean REALLY taken, as in it looks like they have been around for a while, and on eBay long enough to have the .com in their user ID.

It's all rather disconcerting. If I want to move to a more general web presence, I need an identity that can't be confused with someone else. Preferably an identity that ties in with my eBay identity. So, it looks like the only option is to change my eBay ID, which just really sucks - I have spent so much time creating my identity there around that ID.

*sigh*

At least I don't have business cards printed up yet.

8 comments:

Jan said...

how's about you add something to it, like "Eclectic Vintage Lady" or "Eclectic Vintage Village" or something better than that?

Mitzi - Vintage Goodness said...

Hi Jan, I had that thought also, what worries me is that when someone would google eclectic vintage that the other site would always come up.

People always tend to shorten things, and I am sure would try searching eclectic vintage before eclectic vintage flea market (which is the name of my ebay store, and what I considered using as as a domain name kind of like you suggested) but it is just too long of a name...

I'm still pondering the situation, I'm sure more posts are to come about this particular fiasco. ;)

Monica said...

Hmmmm I am not good at the name thing, I have had Monimania since 1989 which is my name Monica and the word Monomania which means: Pathological obsession with one idea or subject.
Intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea.


which I thought was good for my obsessive collecting!!

I actually sat with a dictionary and picked it out......

Pam Kueber said...

Hmmm. I'm noodling this with you, Mitzi. I typed in the url, evintage, but it appears taken. Frankly, I think that eclectic is kind of hard to spell/type. Your name is awesome and memorable. Maybe something alliterative or sing-songy including that....

Mitzi - Vintage Goodness said...

Hi Pam, I actually took the plunge yesterday and changed my user name to vintage*goodness and my store name to vintage-goodness-flea-market.

I got tired of thinking about my options, so I just did it! lol

Now I am working on changing everything else that needs changed, which is way more than what I realized. The last project will be updating the 400 listings in my store... yeehaw! I'll post about it all when I am done...

Leigh said...

I don't think you should change your ebay ID. Your customers, which you've probably established, are used to it and will expect it. You web site, on the other hand, is new to your business (at least that's how it sounds). I think some variation of your business name would work out fine, or using the whole name. I don't think eclectic vintage flea market is too long. If I knew for sure that was the name of the business, that's what I'd type in to search for it. Hope that helps! (Love your blog too and added it to my list).

Leigh said...

Whoops, I didn't realize you already changed your ebay name!! Sorry for not reading that first. I'm sure it will all work out.

Mitzi - Vintage Goodness said...

Hi Leigh, I was worried about it making my customers not able to find me, but I looked into it, and if someone added me to their favorites on eBay I will still be there. Also I didn't lose any of the newsletter subscribers with the name change either.

Those were the two most important factors to me, to make sure those people that actually took the time to add me to their favorites and sign up for my newsletter would still have me on their lists.

I also didn't change the look/feel of my auctions or store at all, so at least even though the name is different, people might still recognize my auctions.

What it really came down to in my mind was what was best for my business in the long run - having a name that no one else is actively using (as far as I can tell!).

Thanks for adding my blog, by the way, I'm glad you like it!! :D