Frequently asked questions

Getting started

• What does Spiffy Stores do?
  Spiffy stores is a hosted e-commerce application that allows you to easily set up an online store to sell your stuff. Using Spiffy Stores lets you add and organise products, accept payments, track orders and customise the design of your store. All for a fraction of the cost of having an online store designed and built for you.
• What doesn’t Spiffy Stores do?
  We don't process credit card payments for you, but we provide the option for you to use your own credit card facilities - either manually using your eftPos machine, or through one of the third party payment gateways that we can connect to.
  

We've also made it easy to set up your store in seconds to accept PayPal payments.

• How do I install the software?
  Spiffy Stores is a hosted solution, so there's no software to install. This makes it really easy to create your online store or add a shopping cart to your existing site. 
  
  There are no SSL certificates or API's to install either. All you need is a modern web browser like Firefox or Safari and you're ready to go!

• What do I need in order to start selling?
  
  You will need the following...
• Something to sell

• One of our supported payment gateways to accept payments from your customers
• A modern web browser (with javascript and Microsoft Silverlight enabled) to use your online store's administration interface
• A valid credit card to pay for your online store
  

• Can I use my own domain name with my store?
  You sure can! To add your own domain name, you just log in to our toolbox, and add your domain name there. There are a few other things you may need to do. These are all detailed in our knowledge base.
• Which countries and currencies are usable with Spiffy Stores?
  We currently support businesses based in Australia, selling in Australian dollars to anyone anywhere in the world. When we're ready, we will make Spiffy Stores available to sellers worldwide.
  
• Which languages are supported?
  We currently only support English, but we are planning on extending our language support in the future.
• Can I use Spiffy Stores if I live outside Australia?
  Sorry, but Spiffy Stores isn't yet available to businesses operating outside of Australia. We're planning on launching worldwide soon!
• Are there any limitations on the trial plan?
  Trial plans exist so that you can try Spiffy Stores and see if it's the right fit for you. 
  
  Our trial plans currently restrict the amount of orders that you can receive to 10 orders. Trial plans are not supposed to be used as stores to sell products. We provide you with 10 orders only so you can test the checkout of your store.
  
  You also can't set up email addresses or use your own domain name. This is so that we can avoid abuse of our systems by people that have no intention of using our software to start an online store.

• I'm ready to set up my store. What do I do?
  To sign up, choose your plan and complete the signup form. Your store will be set up for you instantly. More information about signing up can be found here.
• How long does it take to set up my store?
  Spiffy Stores are created instantly - as soon as you complete the signup form. You can then start adding your products to your store. 
  
  Depending on how much preparation you've done (such as taking photos of your products and writing product descriptions), you can set up your store and start receiving orders within a few days.

Plans & pricing

• How much does Spiffy Stores cost?
  Our plans start at $25 per month plus a 3% transaction fee per order. More information about our plans can be found on our pricing page.
  
  
  There are no hidden fees, and we don't charge for extra bandwidth fees like some other providers.
  

• How does Spiffy Stores' pricing work?
  We charge a flat monthly fee plus a transaction fee per order. These fees vary according to the plan that you are on. Higher plans have smaller transaction fees, so work out more economical for stores that sell larger ticket items.
  
  More information about our plans can be found on our pricing page
  
  

• How can I pay?
  Spiffy Stores only accepts payment by credit card. Your credit card is charged any fees owing on the monthly anniversary of your signup.
  
  
• How do I get billed?
  We send you an invoice by email on the monthly anniversary of your signup. You then have 7 days to dispute any charges on the invoice. Your credit card is then charged the invoice amount.
  
  
• Can I cancel anytime?
  Yes, you can cancel at any time by logging into your store, going to the "Store account" page, and clicking the "Please close my store" button.
  
  
• Do I receive email accounts with my store?
  All plans include email accounts. Details of how many email accounts in each plan can be found on our pricing page. If your store is on a free trial, you cannot use the built in email until your store is activated using your credit card.
  
• How do I upgrade / downgrade my plan?
  You can upgrade or downgrade your plan in your Store Toolbox by clicking on the "Change my plan" button in the "Store account" section of your Toolbox.
  
• How do I update my account information?
  Your store address, store name and contact details can be updated in the "General settings" section of your Store Toolbox.
  
  Your billing information can be updated in the "Store account" section of your Toolbox.

Designing your store

• Do I need to be a designer/programmer to change my store design?
  Not at all! Spiffy Stores come with a range of pre-designed themes that come in a range of different colours.
  
  We also add new themes periodically so you can change the look of your shop whenever you get bored with it. Our new improved theme editor also allows you to add your own logo to all of our themes, as well as change your theme colour scheme.
  
  Each theme also has it's own site, which has instructions on how to add your logo etc. so if that's the type of thing you want to do, head on over to the theme demo site for the theme that you're currently using....
  - Fresh
  - Showtime
  - Dream Theme
  - Minimal
  - Antiqua
  

A working knowledge of HTML & CSS is pretty handy if you want to make major alterations however, so sometimes it's good to have a designer or programmer handy to make these changes for you.
If you would prefer to get us to modify your theme for you, we can do simple things like add your logo or change your colour scheme for as little as $70 AUD.

• Does Spiffy Stores offer a design service?
  Yes we do!  Small modifications like adding your logo or changing your colour scheme can be done for as little as $70 AUD.
  
  Complete store designs usually range from $300 (for modifications to an existing theme design) to $3000 for a new theme (an average of $1500 - depending on the complexity) . <a href="/contact-spiffy-stores">Contact us</a> to find out more about our store design service.
  

• Can I integrate Spiffy Stores into my existing site?
  Yes you can!  There are several options to do so. First, if you would like to use Spiffy Stores only for your storefront, you can do so by creating a subdomain (e.g. www.store.yourdomain.com). Or, you can simply link pages from your current website over to your product pages in your Spiffy Store.
  
• What is Liquid?
  Liquid is a template language used by many different hosted solutions that run on Rails. 
  
  Liquid tags are instered in the HTML of your store's templates to display dynamic data from your store's back-end.

It sounds a little scarey we know, but if you decide to build your own theme, there's truckloads of information on how to use liquid tags over in our <a href="/kb">knowledge base</a>.

Accepting payments

• How can I accept payment from my customers?
  There are several ways to collect payments from customers when they order from your e-commerce store. 
  
  Spiffy Stores is fully integrated with PayPal and Google Checkout. You can also accept all major credit cards directly from your online store, as long as you have your own merchant account.
  
  
  You can also accept manual payments by direct deposit, money order or cheque, or set up any other manual payment method that you would prefer to use.
  
  

• What is a merchant account?
  A merchant account is an account that you hold directly with a bank. If you want to accept credit card payments through your Spiffy Store, you will need either a merchant account of your own or a third-party payment processor like PayPal (see below).
  
  
• What is a payment gateway?
  A payment gateway allows you to connect your merchant account to your Spiffy Store to automatically process payments made in your store.
  
  If you're just starting out, you probably won't need to use a payment gateway until you have so many orders that processing payments manually bercomes a huge chore.
  
  Spiffy Stores supports many different payment gateways. A list of supported gateways can be found <a href="/ecommerce-software-feature-tour/accepting-credit-card-payments-in-your-ecommerce-store">here</a>.
  
  

• What is a “third-party payment processor”?
  A third-party processor such as PayPal allows you to accept credit card payments without the expense of a merchant account of your own. Generally they have their own transaction fees and in some cases have a monthly fee. 
  
  Third party processors are very simple to set up in your Spiffy Store. A list of supported third-party processors can be found <a href="/kb/Checkout_%26_Payment#Accept_External_Payment_service" target="_blank">here</a>.
  
  

• Can I accept funds manually?
  Yes!  You can accept manual payments by direct deposit, money order, cheque, or <a href="/kb/Checkout_&_Payment#Manual_Payments" target="_blank">process credit card payments manually</a> using your own eftpos facilities.
  
  
• Can I use my existing merchant account with Spiffy Stores?
  Yes!  You can <a href="/kb/Checkout_&_Payment#Manual_Payments" target="_blank">process credit card payments manually</a> using your own eftpos facilities, or you can link your merchant account to one of our <a href="/ecommerce-software-feature-tour/accepting-credit-card-payments-in-your-ecommerce-store" target="_blank">supported payment gateways</a> to process credit card payments automatically.
  
  

Orders and shipments

• What do I do when I get an order?
  After you get a new order notification by email, you log in to your Store Toolbox and check out the details of the order. If you need to get more information from your customer, you can send them an email right from the order view page. 
  
  You then just pack up the order ready to be posted, send it to the shipping address provided, and then mark the order as shipped in your Store Toolbox.
  
  

• Can I sell my products overseas?
  You sure can!  You can sell and ship your products anywhere in the world to anyone with a credit card and a pulse!
  
  Head on over to the "Regions & taxes" section of your store preferences to choose which countries you want to set up your store to sell to. More information on regions and taxes can also be found in our <a href="/kb/Regions_%26_Taxes" target="_blank">knowledge base</a>.
  
  

• Can I use custom shipping rates?
  Yes! If you would prefer to use your own courier, you can set up custom shipping rates for any weight ranges that you specify. More information can be found in our <a href="/kb/Setting_up_Custom_Shipping_Rates" target="_blank">knowledge base</a>.
  
  
• Can I print shipping labels?
  Yes!  You can print out shipping labels & packing slips to send to your customers with their order. This saves you time writing or printing out your own labels and creating packing slips of your own.
  
  

The Spiffy Stores community

• Where can I discuss tips and techniques with other Spiffy Stores users?
  Our <a href="/forum/" target="_blank">community forums</a> are the best place to get tips from other Spiffy Stores users. If you have a question, simply sign up and post it. Generally you'll get an answer pretty fast!
  
• Where can I find tutorials and guides?
  Our <a href="/kb/" target="_blank">knowledge base</a> is jam-packed with info to help you get started and to help you with any problems you may be having with your store.
  
  

Still looking?

• More answers can be found in our <a href="/kb">knowledge base </a>
• Or you can also <a href="/contact-spiffy-stores">contact us </a>