E-Commerce Blog

“Lessons Learned” is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed Micheline Hellwege, owner of The Collector’s Hub, an online store based in Howell, Mich. The Collector’s Hub sells collectibles, figurines and gifts, representing between 1,200 and 1,300 SKUs.

Hellwege’s first attempt at ecommerce began in 2001 when she briefly opened an online store selling horse equipment and tacking supplies. “It was right around the time of 9/11,” said Hellwege. “The economy took a hit and I was forced to close the store, but after a couple of years, I missed it. So, I started up The Collector’s Hub in 2006.

“We’re taking growth very, very slowly, but it has been just a…

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Lessons Learned: Micheline Hellwege of The Collector’s Hub

“Lessons Learned” is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed William (Will) Seippel, CEO and chairman of WorthPoint, the parent company of GoAntiques, a subscription-based information service for antique dealers based in Dublin, Ohio. According to Seippel, GoAntiques is the oldest antique mall on the Internet.

“GoAntiques was in some financial disarray and their owners had planned to close it down at the end of 2008,” said Seippel. “I thought I could get GoAntiques profitable and actually improve the quality of what they had to offer, and work on helping the dealers upgrade some of their image and products on the web. We’ve actually come a long ways to…

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Lessons Learned: Will Seippel of GoAntiques

“Lessons Learned” is a series where we ask ecommerce business owners to share their experiences and advice. For this installment, we interviewed Jamee Simons, co-owner of Enstrom Candies Inc., a Colorado-based candy company. The family-owned business produces Enstrom’s World Famous Almond Toffee and dozens of other hand-made confections.

Simons’ grandfather opened the first Enstrom Candies shop in 1960 in Grand Junction, Colo. In 1979, Jamee and her husband Doug began working for the company, and the couple eventually bought the business in 1993.

Today, Enstrom Candies has six physical stores across Colorado, and a successful online store. The company’s annual revenue is roughly $13 million, with online sales making up 30 percent of…

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Lessons Learned: Enstrom Candies Co-owner Jamee Simons

?Lessons Learned? is an occasional series where we ask seasoned ecommerce professionals about their mistakes and successes. For this installment, we?ve asked Byron Tabor, owner of Rooms Delivered, a company that sells sporting goods and camping equipment on its sites Practicalsports.com and Roomsdelivered.com. Rooms Delivered is based in Dallas, Texas and has been in business since 2006. Tabor is its only employee, and he works with his drop shippers selling over 400 unique products, although he hopes to have 1,000 by next December. Rooms Delivered has annual revenue of $42,000. Here we give you Tabor?s experiences and suggestions.

On general advice would you offer new ecommerce merchants


?You need to learn as much as possible before your start. Research your niche and set up a well thought out plan. Find the people and information that will help you succeed. This will help you make wise decisions. Keep learning, keep growing and keep moving forward. Keep your…

Lessons Learned: Practicalsports.com Owner Byron Tabor

“Lessons Learned” is an occasional series where we ask seasoned ecommerce professionals about their mistakes and successes. For this installment, we’ve asked Allan Regenbaum, owner of Keylan, Inc., a company that sells cookware, coffee machines and fitness products online. Keylan, Inc. is 12 years old and based in Atlanta. It has two employees, Regenbaum and his wife Robyn, with an annual revenue approaching $1 million. It offers about 200 products. Here we give you Regenbaum’s experiences and suggestions.

On general advice for ecommerce merchants
“People like to speak to other people. Customers yearn to speak to someone with good product knowledge. They are tired of minimum wage, gum-chewing salespeople who have zero product knowledge. Compete in areas where Amazon.com cannot, for example where just being there to explain the product to the client is a unique differentiator. For high-ticket items, I think the web is going to be used more and more to push customers to call…

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Lessons Learned: Scanpancookware.com Owner Allan Regenbaum