Answering The BANS vs PhpBay Question
Since there are a great many of you who have figured out who I am, the question I am most asked is:
Why is your blog dedicated to PhpBay instead of Build A Niche Store (BANS)?
So I thought it would be best dedicate a whole post to the answer. It's really fairly simple. There are already a ton of blogs out there dedicated to BANS. Even though I have owned and used the software since it's humble beginnings, there is not much I can teach you that has not already been said on one of these blogs.
What led me to post about phpBay is that there are very few blogs out there dedicated to it and users were looking for information and tips on using the plugin. Since that time, there have been a few more that have popped up and I will be linking to those very soon.
I will eventually get to some posts dedicated to BANS and maybe be able to offer some strategies that others either will not disclose or may not know about, but I saw no reason to rehash everything that has already been said and dedicate this blog to it. However, if you have questions or need any help with BANS, go ahead and ask me either in a comment or through the contact form. I would be glad to help you.
I still love BANS and as I said, I still use it. In fact, I owe all of my initial success with the eBay affiliate program to BANS. Kelvin and Adam as well as several of the forum users were instrumental in helping me get off the ground with it back in 2006. I cannot thank any of them enough.
Then, a little over a year ago, one of the forum users made me aware of phpBay Pro. I was thinking this was perfect for me as I knew WordPress and I was still wrapping my head around php as well as the hacks to get my sites built and optimized with BANS.
At the time, I was waiting for a BANS WordPress Plugin to be released as the developers had talked about creating one. In the end, I got impatient and bought phpBay Pro. What made it so attractive to me is that I had more control over the auction listings and with thousands of themes to choose from, it was a heck of a lot easier to build a WordPress/PhpBay site. There was virtually NO chance that someone else would have the exact same site as I did. Perfect.
Not to mention that I no longer had to sit for hours trying to create graphic headers for my BANS sites. Maybe one of these days I'll take the time to learn more about it, but we all know that I'm pretty much graphically challenged. 
Another question that I get asked a lot is which one is better? BANS or PhpBay Pro?
This is something that has no definitive answer. Honestly. It's like trying to compare an apple to an orange. About the only thing those two have in common is they are both round. Same way with these two programs. The only thing they really have in common is they both display eBay auctions on your site. It all comes down to whether you want a complete website builder or a WordPress plugin that allows a little more control. Even though both are fairly easy to learn, you have to decide which you are more familiar with.
The programs are two entirely different animals. This post is already long enough without me pointing out the differences and doing a complete comparison. However, I will tell you this - if you have them both and you haven't already done it, try combining the two. If you thought you had a powerhouse of a site before, it will kick into overdrive when you add the other to it.
For instance, if you have a BANS site in your root, add WordPress in a folder and add phpBay to it. Use the blog for your content and link back to pages on the BANS store or highlight a similar product from another category in the post using phpBay. This can also be done if you have WordPress in the root. Just add BANS to a folder and build your store.
Now for an example of what I just said. Let's say your BANS site is about women's Prada high-heeled shoes. This is the only thing you have focused on in this store making it a true niche site. Now you've just ran across an article in a magazine where Prada released a matching handbag for a certain pair of shoes. What do you do?
You're going to run over to your blog and make a new post. In the content, link to the page in your BANS store that contains the shoes then add the handbags directly into your post using phpBay Pro. Get the idea?
I started doing this around mid-September of last year and it not only doubled (and in some cases tripled) my income but it also took the sites to the top of the search engine results for many more keywords. The site had a greater reach after combining the two. And linking to the deeper pages in your BANS store, helps get them indexed and ranked. It truly is a powerful combination and if you own them both, I highly advise doing this.
However, if you're just starting out, stick with the one you have and learn everything you can about it. Master it. Success will come to you if you are diligent.
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John Treby (3 comments.) | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
Very helpful post-I bought phpBay pro a month ago-I am really wrapped in it-I also have Bans stores and love your idea of using both.My first idea was that it gives me greater control and ease of use-like you hate doing graphic headers,a learning curve I really find hard.So with PhpBay I can set up my post with a Ebay store in just a few simple moves–So what I have been doing is building quality blogs on my niche ideas and making a new campaign in Ebay net work to track my hits-it has been interesting to follow the categories now you can view on Ebay net work,they seem to be more focused as I am hand picking the products I show on different post subjects.
Going to buy phpZon this weekend as you can then have Amazon products as well-I love this-Keep those posts coming.
Melissa | Nov 23, 2008 | Reply
Hi John,
Don’t you just love phpBay Pro?
One of the things I like most about it is handpicking the products for each post or page. To me, it’s just easier than throwing up a store with BANS and then having to go back and edit or delete most or all of those generated pages.
Sounds like you have the right idea with your blogs. Just wait another month or two and you will see just how much of a difference building this way adds to your income.
I already have phpZon and love it! I’ve been a member of the Amazon affiliate program since 2005 and never made a dime with it until I added phpZon to a couple of blogs. Surprisingly, earnings are coming in at a fairly steady pace with it only on a couple of blogs. I am waiting for the first stable release with all of the features enabled before adding it to every blog. I think you’ll end up liking it just as much as phpBay Pro.
I wish you much success with your sites and would love to hear how both plugins work out for you!
Tony Lee (4 comments.) | Feb 17, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the post Melissa,
I have been a BANS user since its introduction in 2006. It’s a great tool for beginners, since its “out of the box” design lets you create a website in a matter of minutes. The problem now is the BANS “footprint” that search engines see with this product.
To combat this, the user must modify and change the architecture to avoid the “footprint” effect. The BANS forums contain a wealth of information and advice to help the beginner to accomplish this.
Then I discovered phpbay. What a difference!
The best part about using WP and phpbay is the fact that WP themes and templates are so darn SEO friendly. There is little chance of “foot printing” especially if you use a premium or custom template.
In addition to uniqueness, there are limitless other plugins available to customize a site.
BANS taught me much about SEO, site development and many other things, however now I create sites only using phpbay, phpzon and wordpress templates.
BTW Melissa, great blog!
Tony Lees last blog post..Black Diamond Wedding Rings
Melissa | Feb 17, 2009 | Reply
Hi Tony,
Thank you so much for your nice comment and I’m right there with you, my friend. I came into BANS just a week and a half after launch. I fell in love with it immediately. In fact, I still have several BANS sites which luckily have not been affected. And like you, I owe so much to BANS, but you are right. The current footprint has caused a large problem for users.
I made the move to adding a blog with phpBay about a year before everyone else caught on. I knew WordPress and could customize it so much easier than BANS sites. Not to mention, like you said, how much more SEO friendly phpBay sites are.
I made the full switch – building with phpBay only – when it became necessary to hack nearly all of the BANS files and change everything about what the program populated your pages with. I knew then if I was going to have to take all of those measures, I might as well build it from the ground up with phpBay.
Am glad you came upon it and enjoy it as well. By the way, love your site. It looks great!
Simon (1 comments.) | Feb 27, 2009 | Reply
Hi,
I have a number of sites running BANS with Wordpress. Some have BANS on the roo, other WP is on the root. I’m also using phpBay. Now, on those sites with WP on the root things are ok.
HOWEVER, my sites with BANS on the root are giving me problems. The BANS ebay listings work fine (i.e. I click and I get taken to eBay), but the Wordpress (phpBay) ones don’t work. I think that it’s something in the .htaccess file(s) that I have, but for the life of me I can’t see what it is. I am php, .htaccess myopic so that could be the problem! Can anybody help me?
Simon
Simons last blog post..Comedy DVDs for sale – Best season of Blackadder?
scott from coleman camp stoves (1 comments.) | Mar 6, 2009 | Reply
Glad I came across this post. I just got started on BANS about a year about and then had most of my sites de-indexed by google 6 months later. I’m going to start again with PhpBay. Do you think it’s better to keep my old (still de-indexed) domains or set up shop on entirely new ones?
Melissa | Mar 22, 2009 | Reply
@Scott, If I were you, I would start with new ones. The reason I say that is not many people have had much luck in getting their de-indexed domains back in the index. You can always put them up for sale to earn money for new ones. If someone else takes over the domain, they will be able to get it indexed again. Hope this helps.
BillR from ice cream maker (1 comments.) | May 22, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for this post. I bought Bans about half a month ago and soon ran across justin at seozombie talking about how bans sites were getting deindexed… talk about a homer simpson moment Doh! I guess I’ll have to give phpbay a try. Justin mentions that his new phpbay income isn’t as sweet as it was with bans. Have you found the same to be true?
Bill
Brian from Unique Diamonds (1 comments.) | Jun 26, 2009 | Reply
It is possible to run a blog using both programs and get the best of both worlds?
Jeff (1 comments.) | Jun 28, 2009 | Reply
hi melissa
thanx for your site. found it today and has given me some ideas.
with regard to phpbay vs bans:
if you were starting a new site you say you would just go with phpbay all the way?
i like both but want to do what is in the best interest of making a little jingle if ya know what i mean.
so, you wouldn’t even really bother with phpbay in the root and bans in a “store” type subdir?
the site i added in this post is phpbay and i really like the flexibility of wordpress. i did find however that there were situations where phpbay didn’t show as many items as bans did when using the same category # and keyword qualifiers.
i’ve heard that phpbay filters out items with the same title which can be good or bad in my thinking. have you seen this?
also, if you were to do phpbay in root and bans in subdir would you put any content on the bans pages or would you do it all on the phpbay side and just link to the store pages?
thanx again for your site. i wish you much success!
jw