Follow this guide to quickly sell your hunting or fishing trip or related
service. communicate with potential clients, and manage your trips. Note that DETAILED step-by-step instructions are included at the
end of this Seller's Guide. Internal links to applicable Step-By-Step
sections are also scattered throughout the body of the guide for your
convenience. If you are in to convenience, check out our
E-Z Submit
service.
1. Register by clicking on "Membership - Register".
Browsing hunting and fishing trip listings is free. To sell a trip or
service, you will need to setup a seller's account by registering, and providing
business and contact information. You will then select your username and
password. We recommend that your user name be closely related to you
business name so that potential buyer's can make that association. The
system will e-mail you upon successful registration with your selected user name
and password along with other important information.
REGISTERING STEP-BY-STEP - Click
HERE for detailed step by step instructions.
At any time you may (and are encouraged to) create a
User Profile. This is where you can provide details of your business and
hunting/fishing services that you offer. When a potential buyer views one
of your trip listings, they have the option to click on a "Profile" link to view
your User Profile. Seller's that sell lots of trips on this site can save
time by putting a lot of information off their web site into the User Profile
(or other marketing/business materials) and refer potential buyer's to the
Profile for additional information. This will save you from having to
repeat this type of information in every trip listing. A bonus of using
the User Profile is that a potential buyer can click on a link within the User
Profile to see a list of all of your current trips. The User Profile
Business and Services Overview section allows unlimited text, images, and simple
tables. Following are links to 4 User Profiles that give you an idea
of how useful it is as a compliment to your trip listings:
AFRIHUNT
SPORSTMAN'S ACRES
LA MARINA DEL RIO
SERPOEL SAFARIS
For a one-time fee of $50, we will build your User Profile with up to 5 pages
from your existing web site. Just
CLICK HERE or on the E-Z Submit link found in the main menu of the left side
of each page if you are interested.
USER PROFILE STEP-BY-STEP - Click
HERE for detailed step by step instructions.
2. List your trip or service by clicking on "List Your Trip".
This is where you'll create your hunting and/or fishing trip listing. Here
are some of the sections you'll find and helpful tips for maximizing your
chances for a quick sell.
Select a Region: Utilize the pull down menu to select the state, province, or
other applicable region that this trip/service is being offered in. This
may be different from your registered business location in that many outfitters
offer trips in many locations. All 50
states and the Canadian provinces are listed. Popular international
countries for hunting and fishing trips are listed as well, such as Argentina,
Mexico, New Zealand. All continents are listed for trips that are offered
in areas not covered by a more specific region setting. Note that all
Region options are listed alphabetically, so look carefully to find the best
selection for your trip.
Select a Category: Explore the various categories ahead of time to
help you choose the best place to list your hunting or fishing trip or service.
This site provides two main categories: 1) BargainTrophies trips or related
hunting/fishing services, and 2) Troph-E-Trips.
The BargainTrophies categories are intended for reduced cost trips or
services. Some common reasons that providers discount their hunting and/or
fishing trips and services are:
- Re-booking of last-minute cancellations
- Non or semi-guided hunting or fishing trips
- Group discounts
- Off-peak season rates
- Week-day rates
- Early bird specials
- Internet specials
- Landowners offering trespass-fee non-guided hunts
You are also encouraged to list in the BargainTrophies section if your rates
are at least 5% lower than others in your area. This may apply to new operations
that are building their business and/or reputation. Hunting and fishing resorts,
lodges, and cabins that cater to the do-it-yourself outdoorsmen are also
encouraged to list in the BargainTrophies section.
Troph-E-Trips categories are intended for full-fare trips or services.
You can list as many of your discounted and full-fare trips as you want. We
encourage you to take full advantage of this site to fill ALL of your openings!
If you have multiple listings on the site, be sure to state that fact in each ad
and encourage the user to search by your user name to see all of your
trip/service listings.
Write a Title: Be clear, complete, and descriptive. Your title should
include words buyers would search for when looking for your item.
- Include the name of the primary game/fish
- Always include the state/province spelled out and optional abbreviation
- Include the term "Combo" when offering multiple targeted species
- Insert terms that describe the type of savings (e.g. Early Bird Special,
Cancellation Re-booking, Management Hunt, Week-day Special, Group Discount,
etc.)
- If harvesting of a trophy animal is possible/likely in your area, insert
"Trophy" into the title.
# Days Ad Will Run: Determine how long you want the ad to run. You may list
if for up to 180 days, and remember, you never pay a penny unless your trip
sells. You will be notified if it expires and will have the option to
relist it for any number of days.
Price: State the price for your trip/service. We ask that savings be at
least 5% for all trips listed in the BargainTrophies categories. You
should Price your CORE service and clearly specify what that includes in the
Description area. Add-on costs (non-participating spouse, additional
days, trophy fees, etc.) can be specified in the Description area or in your
User Profile.
More on Pricing: You may offer many similar trips with different
prices; creating possible difficulties listing the service here since only a
single price per unit may be specified. This section provides tips for setting
the price of your service by listing several scenarios and the options available
for you as the seller.
Scenario #1: Charter boats may offer 6, 8, and 10 hour trips; each
with a different price.
Pricing Options: List the most common trip and it's corresponding price.
You can optionally list all trips under different listings and inform the
potential buyers in each listing that other length trips (specify the other
lengths) are currently listed and that they can search on your user name to
find them. For example: In your 6 hour listing, mention that 8 and 10 hour
trips are available on the site as well. Recommend that the number of
hours be included in the Titles of each ad.
Scenario #2: Many hunting and fishing outfitters provide varying
discounts for groups; the larger the group the bigger the discount per person.
You may offer discounts for 4-6 hunters and a larger discount for 7-10
hunters.
Pricing options: Average all of the various savings and offer that amount
for all "groups". Optionally, list the trip multiple times for each breakdown
of group sizes.
Quantity: You need to pay special attention to this data field in your
listing. It can be used in several ways; 1) to allow a buyer to book multiple
people in a party, 2) to allow a buyer to select multiple days for his hunting
or fishing trip, and 3) a combination of both. Here are several examples of how
to use the Quantity field in conjunction with the trip price:
Scenario #1: You have a moose trip available for a particular
timeframe, say 10 days in late October. You can accommodate up to 6 hunters.
You should set the Quantity field to 6 and state in the Trip Description that
the client can book anywhere from 1 to 6 hunters for this trip. Note: When a
client purchases the trip for less than 6, the system will automatically
relist the trip with the Quantity field reduced by the number booked by the
first client. Your selling price for this trip is set to what you charge for a
single hunter to hunt the 10 days.
Scenario #2: You provide a charter boat service where you book
private parties and charge by the day. You state how many anglers max can be
accommodated in the trip description and inform the potential buyers to
specify the number of days they would like to book by entering that number in
the Quantity field. You would set the Quantity field to a number that exceeds
what most parties would ever request. Your selling price for this trip is set
to what you charge for a private party for one day of fishing.
Scenario #3: You offer pheasant hunting by the day and can
accommodate multiple groups of hunters. You state this in your trip
description and inform the potential buyer to set the Quantity field to the
number of hunters in the party multiplied by the number of days they would
like to hunt. For example, if a party of 5 would like to hunt 3 days, the
client would select 15. Your selling price for this trip is set to what you
charge one hunter for one day.
Auto Relist: If you are selling more than one trip or hunting/fishing
trip "unit" (e.g. hunter-day) in this listing, you can have the system
automatically relist the trip if the first buyer purchases less than your
"Quantity" number of trips/units.
Item Description: Here's your chance to describe and promote your
trip. Be clear and complete. Trip listings that provide exhaustive details of
both the trip and the trip provider's credentials are the most successful. Enter
all of the following data that is applicable to your trip or service:
i. Provide a detailed description of your hunting/fishing trip or service,
to include:
- Hunting or fishing methods, targeted game or fish species (all likely on
this trip), trophy potential in your area, etc.
- Transportation arrangements
- Lodging, accommodations, meals
- Other activities you offer or that are close by.
- Licenses, tags, permits requirements and information on how to purchase
- What's included and what's not included in the price; specify extra
costs if applicable to items not included in base price (meat processing,
fish cleaning, hide preparation, trophy fees, etc). State cost of extra days
or extra harvested animals. State cost for non-participating spouse of
friend.
- Business overview (years in business, guide registration info, third
party ratings, success rates, etc.)
- References (or encourage potential buyers to contact you for a list)
- Payment policy (e.g. 50% within 30 days with balance due at start of
trip). Be specific and cover all aspects of your payment policy.
- In summary, you should attempt to answer every potential question that
an outdoorsman may have related to your trip/service in your listing. Of
course, this can never be done 100%. But strive to meet that goal, and also
encourage potential clients to contact you via e-mail for additional
information.
As mentioned earlier, you can put a lot of this information in your User
Profile and ask the potential buyer to see it for additional information.
If you do this, you can put more emphasis on this particular hunting or
fishing trip/service here in the trip listing. ALWAYS request potential buyers
to review your User Profile (the link is at the top of the trip listing page
next to your user name) for any important information that is not included in
the Description area. EXAMPLE: See my User Profile for business overview,
lodging & accommodations, payment schedules/terms, transportation details, and
references.
ii. If listing a BargainTrophies discount trip, state the regular price
and/or discount (dollar figure or percentage) to demonstrate the savings.
iii. Specify the trip length and dates that this trip or service is being
offered for. You can either specify general dates (e.g. October, 2004) or very
specific dates (e.g. November 12-17, 2003). We recommend that you only use
general dates if you have the majority of that time frame open for booking. If
you do specify a general time frame in your listing, state that the user may
contact you via e-mail to confirm his or her preferred dates PRIOR to
purchasing.
iv. Utilize HTML tags to make your listing more attractive and readable.
Click on the Help link below the description box for more information on HTML tags.
v. Please do not include your web address, e-mail address or your phone
number in the Item Description area. Instead, you should encourage the
potential client to contact you via the email message window at the bottom of
the listing. After this initial contact is made, you will then know that
the hunter/angler discovered your trip or service on this site and can make
sure that the client purchases the trip via the built-in Purchase Now
facility. Also, after initial contact is made, you are free to provide
any contact info needed for any further communication with the interested
party. Since our site operates on commission only, this is a necessary
limitation to ensure that trips are consummated within the site's
infrastructure. Note that you can provide the web-site equivalent in the
User Profile. The Business and Services Overview section allows
unlimited text, images, and simple tables. For a one-time fee of $50, we
will build your User Profile with up to 5 pages from your existing web site.
Accepted Payment Methods: Click on ALL of the applicable payment
methods that buyer's may use to pay you. Note that payment arrangements
will be made AFTER a buyer purchases your trip from this site. Both you
and the buyer will get e-mails with contact info for each other. If you
accept all major credit cards (you do not have to accept them online) and you
require 50% down payment within 30 days, click on Visa, Master Card, American
Express, and "50% Deposit Due in 30 Days". If you prefer, you can put
payment terms/methods in either your Trip Description or your User
Profile (recommended). Click on the appropriate box to inform users how
to get payment details.
Additional Listing Features: Select any of the free trip listing
features that your desire for your trip. Bold will make your trip title "Bold"
in all lists that is appears in. Featured listings are placed at the top
of it's respective category. Premier listings are shown on the bottom
part of the Main Page.
E-Z Submit: If all of this is confusing to you or you would
rather have us list a trip for you, just
CLICK HERE and you will be able to fill out a simple form and we'll do the
rest.
Trip Listing STEP-BY-STEP - Click
HERE for detailed step by step
instructions.
Add Images: After reviewing and possibly editing your trip
listing, you can add images to your listing. Show off your offering with client trophy pictures,
lodge or boat pictures, pictures of your scenic beauty. You may add up to 6
pictures for each listing and must add a simple label for each one so that you
can select one for using as a thumbnail (small picture shown with your listing
in all of the views). The images may be uploaded from your computer via your
browser. Be sure you click the Upload button at the bottom of the window INSTEAD
of the Continue button. If this is confusing to you or you would rather
have us list a trip with pictures for you, just
CLICK HERE and you will be able to fill out a simple form and we'll do the
rest.
Adding Images STEP-BY-STEP - Click
HERE for detailed step by step
instructions.
3. Review and submit your listing.
Now you'll see a preview of your listing and a summary of its details. Look
this over carefully. If you're satisfied and finished, submit your listing. Now
your listing begins!
This may seem like a lot of work to get an trip listed, but once you do it
once or twice it will become routine.
4. Monitor/maintain your listings and communicate with potential clients.
4.1 MESSAGE BASE � Communicate with Potential Clients
The website provides a Message Base that is used for
communications between sellers and potential buyers. Potential clients will
most likely request additional information from you prior to purchasing your
trip(s). When this happens you will get an email notifying you of a new message
the first time someone sends you a message. You will not get another
notification email until after the next time that you check your Inbox. So, you
may have more than one new message when you check.
To check your Message Base message(s) after receiving
notification via your regular email account, login to the site and click on the
Membership - Message Base link in the main menu on the left hand side of the
screen. The Message Base is very intuitive and you should have no problem
figuring this out in short order.
The Message Base (next screen) has 3 Tabs; Inbox, Sentbox, and
Compose. To check your messages, click the Inbox tab if it is not already
selected. All of your Inbox messages will be displayed.
Each row in the Inbox signifies a
message that you have received. The first item in each row is a Checkbox. You
can use this to delete messages from your Inbox. Just check the boxes of all
messages you want to delete and then click on the Delete button at the
bottom of the page (make sure you read and respond to messages prior to deleting
them).
Next to the checkbox is some
visual information about the message you have received. You will see either a
closed envelope, signifying a message that you have not yet read, or an open
envelope to signify a message that you have already read. If your message
contains attachments, you will see a paperclip icon as well.
The next column contains
information about the user whom the message is From. If the message is
from a registered user, this column will display their user name. If not, it
will display the name they entered when sending a message as well as a special
icon that denotes the fact that the message is not from a registered user. The
Received column displays the date that the message was sent. The
System column will specify the origination of the message (Classified or
Forum). For trip inquiries, this will be set to Classified.
The Subject column contains the subject that the user
entered when sending the message. You can click on this subject or on the
icon at the beginning of the row in order to display the message detail.
When you are viewing a message,
you can choose to Reply to it or to Delete it. If there are any
files attached, they will be listed at the bottom of the page. You can click on
a file and it will be displayed within a pop up window.
You can respond directly to registered users by clicking
Reply at the bottom of the message. To reply to unregistered users, simply
copy their email address and email them directly using your regular email
client. When you respond to a registered user, your sent message will be saved
in the Sentbox. Sentbox icons and other visual information as the same as the
Inbox. You can also Compose a message and send it to a registered user.
IMPORTANT: You should monitor the e-mail address associated
with your account/listings regularly to answer questions about your
trip/service. Many potential sales are lost due to seller's not responding to
questions/reference requests from potential buyers.
4.2 Manage Your Trips
This section contains info for editing and closing current
trips, and re-listing closed/expired trips.
After logging in, click on Manage
Your Trips. Note that there are 2 tabs in the Manage Your Trips area: Open
Trips and Closed Trips. To Edit or Close active trip listings, click the Open
Trips tab if it is not already selected. Click on the appropriate icon to the
right of the Trip Listing that you want to Edit or Close. A powerful feature
contained in the Edit page is the ability to edit the images that were uploaded
during the posting of a trip listing. The user has the ability to add new images
to the listing by uploading them, deleting current images and also selecting the
default thumbnail to be associated with the listing.
Note that clicking on the Title will simply allow you to view
the listing. To see your Closed listings, click on the Closed Trips tab. You
may Relist a closed trip if you desire. After clicking the Relist icon, you will
be able to review and/or edit the trip listing prior to it being relisted.
Please be diligent with your trips and close them promptly
once you have totally booked that particular trip/timeframe. This will help
ensure that potential buyers visiting the site will always be viewing and
considering trips that are available for booking.
5. Sign up with PayPal (optional)
If you want to use PayPal's easy way to pay your monthly commission totals,
we recommend signing up before you list your first item for sale. PayPal is this
site's preferred payment option. With PayPal, you can make your payments with
all the major credit cards and/or your personal or business checking account
electronically.
In addition to providing you an easy way to pay your monthly commissions (5%
of each trip sold on this site), you can also use PayPal to collect payments
from clients that purchase your trips listed on this site (or any other selling
medium, such as your web site, for that matter). Given that this site's clients
are obviously internet-savvy for buying hunting and fishing trips online, many
are likely to already have PayPal accounts.
6. And when your listing ends...
Communicate with your buyer: When your buyer has completed the Purchase of
one of your trips, you will be notified by standard e-mail (not via Message
Base) and provided contact info for
the buyer. You and the buyer can then complete the booking of the trip.
If you have many openings for the type of trip you have just sold and you
didn't select the Auto-Relist option, be sure to
re-list the trip immediately after modifying availability dates and/or number of
openings available.
Now you're finished! You'll want to sell your next discount or full-fare trip
right away.
7. Participate in our "Great Outdoors Community"
We are building an online community that extends beyond the hunting & fishing
trip listing service. We offer the following services that you are encouraged to
participate in:
Message Board: Exchange hunting and fishing stories and tips with
outdoorsmen from across the country and the world. The Message Board provides
many different forums, one or more of which will most likely match your
interests.
Personal Classifieds: Buy and sell hunting and fishing equipment and
gear, boats, 4-wheelers, etc. Employment classifieds are also provided in
support of the hunting and fishing industry.
Link eXchange: Exchange Links with us via
our Link eXchange
service. Did you know that the number of links pointing to your site is a
key factor that many of the internet's top search engines use to rank your site?
If you have more links pointing to your site than a competitor that has similar
web site content and meta-tags, then your site will be ranked higher. You
can also search or browse through our Links Directory, chock full of
hunting, fishing, and other outdoor related web sites.
8. Your Bill
We will send you an electronic e-mail invoice at the first part of the month
for fees incurred in the previous calendar month. You can pay your bill
via PayPal (which you can configure to utilize major credit cards and/or
electronically from your checking account) or by mailing in a check or money
order.
You do not have to wait until the end of the month to know how much you owe.
You can check your account balance anytime by logging in and clicking on View
Your Bill. You can make payments throughout the month at this part of the site
if you prefer.
We always cheerfully credit your account for situations where one of your
trips was purchased but the buyer never followed thru. E-mail the
administrator with the trip listing ID (from the trip purchased e-mail) and we
will credit your account. In addition, we will block that buyer from any
future access to the site.
STEP-BY-STEP
Instructions for Registering, Selecting Your Billing Settings, Logging In, and
Listing a Trip
I. Member Registration - The First Step
1) Click on "Membership - Register" on the left side of the screen.
2) You will see the New User Registration screen which displays the Terms
of Service. Read this (AT LEAST the first 3 sections) and scroll to the
bottom. Click the little box indicating that you agree with the terms of
service. Then click "Continue".
3) You will see the New User Registration screen. Enter all required fields
(marked with a red star) and be sure to also enter your company name. Then
click "Continue."
4) You will see a small New User Registration screen. Enter the username
you want to use on the site, and a password (twice to confirm it). Recommend
that you use a username that is derived from your business name. Next click
"Register".
5) You will see a small window "Registration Complete" that states you will
be sent a reminder email with your registration info. Click "Continue".
6) You will now be on the final registration screen which welcomes you to
the site. Click on any link on the left side of the screen to get
started with your first experience on the site. From
here, you can pretty much perform any action that your desire. To List A
Trip, click on that menu item on the left side of the screen.
1) Click on "Create New Trip Listing" in the "Classifieds Options" in the
middle of the window OR on the "List Your Trip" on the left side of the
screen. Both clicks take you to the same place. Click on "Next" in the
User Confirmation Screen. Now will you see the "Add Your Trip" screen.
2) Enter information into ALL of the fields. Please read
Section 2 of the Seller's Guide above for
IMPORTANT information and tips on how to properly fill in this screen. You
need to enter DETAILED information about your trip. A potential buyer should
be able to fully understand all aspects of the trip, to include the following:
- Hunting or fishing methods, targeted game or fish species (all likely on
this trip), trophy potential in your area, etc.
- Dates/durations for this trip
- Number of clients that you can service during this trip
- Transportation arrangements
- Lodging, accommodations, meals
- Other activities you offer or that are close by.
- Licenses, tags, permits requirements and information on how to purchase
- What's included and what's not included in the price; specify extra
costs if applicable to items not included in base price (meat processing,
fish cleaning, hide preparation, trophy fees, etc). State cost of extra days
or extra harvested animals. State cost for non-participating spouse of
friend.
- Business overview (years in business, guide registration info, third
party ratings, success rates, etc.)
- References (or encourage potential buyers to contact you for a list)
- Payment policy (e.g. 50% within 30 days with balance due at start of
trip). Be specific and cover all aspects of your payment policy.
- In summary, you should attempt to answer every potential question that
an outdoorsman may have related to your trip/service in your listing. Of
course, this can never be done 100%. But strive to meet that goal, and also
encourage potential clients to contact you via e-mail for additional
information.
Again, see
"Section 2" above in the main part of the Seller's Guide for
more information on this MOST important part of your trip listings.
NOTE: Please do not include your web address, e-mail address or your phone
number in the Item Description area. Instead, you should encourage the
potential client to contact you via the email message window at the bottom of
the listing. After this initial contact is made, you will then know that
the hunter/angler discovered your trip or service on this site and can make
sure that the client purchases the trip via the built-in Purchase Now
facility. Also, after initial contact is made, you are free to provide
any contact info needed for any further communication with the interested
party. Since our site operates on commission only, this is a necessary
limitation to ensure that trips are consummated within the site's
infrastructure. Note that you can provide the web-site equivalent in the
User Profile. The Business and Services Overview section allows
unlimited text, images, and simple tables. For a one-time fee of $50, we
will build your User Profile with up to 5 pages from your existing web site.
Just
CLICK HERE and you will be able to fill out a simple form and we'll do the
rest.
3) Once you have completed this screen, click Next.
4) You can now add images to your listing if you have some pictures on your
computer. If you have a web site with pictures (and not yet on your
computer), follow these instructions to copy them to your computer's hard
drive. Skip this and step 5 if you do not want to add pictures. Just click on
"Continue" and you will bypass picture uploads.
DOWNLOAD IMAGES FROM WEB SITE: Follow one of these simple
steps.
a. If you are using Netscape Navigator, open up a new window
and go to your site page that contains the image. Right-click
your mouse on the image, and select "Save Image As..." Select
the location (remember it!) and the file name and click on Save. This
image will be downloaded to your computer to the place you specified.
b. If you are using Internet Explorer, open up a new window
and go to your site page that contains the image. Right-click
your mouse on the image, and select "Save Picture As..." Select
the location (remember it!) and the file name and click on Save. This
image will be downloaded to your computer to the place you specified.
5) Adding Images - FOLLOW
CAREFULLY: To Upload Pictures, you need to have them on your computer's
hard drive. Once you have pictures on your hard drive, first Click on the Browse... button. A
small pop-up window will appear. (NOTE: The first JPG image uploaded will be
your default thumbnail image.) Navigate to the correct folder on your
computer's hard drive, click once on the file to highlight it, and then click
"Open". The file path/name will now be displayed in the top box labeled
"Choose Your Image File". Next enter a subtitle for the picture in the bottom
box labeled "Description of Image". Finally, click "Upload" at the bottom of
the window. Do not click "Continue" as that will bypass the image upload task.
Your picture will be displayed. If you get an error message or the wrong image
is displayed, click Cancel to try again. If the image is correct, click
"Continue". Repeat this process up to 6 times. Note that all successfully
uploaded images are listed at the bottom of the main upload window. If you
have less than 6 images, click Cancel at the bottom of the window where you
select your images after you have uploaded your final picture. You are now
done with uploading images. If this is confusing to you or you would rather
have us list a trip for you (with or without pictures), just
CLICK HERE and you will be able to fill out a simple form and we'll do the
rest.
6) You will now see a draft of your trip listing. Review it carefully. If
it needs changes, click on "Back". You will be taken back to step 2 but all of
the data you entered will still be there. If you are happy with the listing,
click Finish.
7) YOU MADE IT. You can click on the link at the bottom of the Pricing
Summary and Receipt screen to view your listing.
< Back to Main Body "Listing Your Trip" section of
Seller's Guide>
IV. The next time you visit the site and want to post a trip, simply login per
below and go straight to List Your Trip.
