Frequently Asked Questions at QFLEA.com The Largest Free Virtual Flea Market on the Planet

HOW CAN I OPEN A TABLE AT THE FLEA MARKET?

The first step for anyone looking to be listed at QFLEA.com is to join the QFLEA YahooGroup. You can join do this by visiting the QFLEA YahooGroup and joining.

There are three different YahooGroups associated with QFLEA. Please be sure you join the correct group. The one above is the one you need to join if you are interested in listing your site at our virtual flea market. The other two groups are optional, and they are:

The QFLEA Shopping News. You can join this group at any time. Membership will allow you to advertise in our shopping newsletter, and,

The QFLEA Cafe. This is a private and restricted membership group in which you can participate in a non-business, social atmosphere. Membership is approved only after you've been a QFLEA member for a while and we get to know you.

It is most important that you read our terms of service first so that there are no surprises down the road. We follow our rules, which is what makes us such a terrific business community. Once you are a member of the group for a while, ask us for the application to open your table, which is your listing at the virtual flea market. The availability of space for new tables is announced through the group on a regular basis. It is the ONLY place where that announcement is made.

WHEN APPLICATIONS BEGIN, HOW LONG WILL IT BE BEFORE MY TABLE IS AVAILABLE?

It depends. The application process usually takes less than two weeks. We always try to get the applications processed as quickly as we can.

WHAT WILL MY FLEA MARKET TABLE COST?

At present, there is no cost to having a table at our virtual flea market. We do reserve the right to impose a fee someday, but then we'd lose the distinction of being the largest free virtual flea market on the planet, and we like that distinction! We do have two optional premium features for which there is a small fee.

WHAT ARE PREMIUM FEATURES?

There are two premium features. Once a year, in the fall, we run a holiday special where members have the option of buying a small ad for the holidays. In addition, we have a FIND feature that allows vendors to buy into our own search engine, which is one of the three ways that a vendor can be found on the QFLEA pages. We keep both premium features at a very small fee because again, this isn't about money. The fees help us acheive break-even status so we can continue to provide our general services at no cost to our members.

WHY DO FLEA MARKET VENDORS HAVE TO JOIN YAHOOGROUPS.COM?

The vendor mailing list is maintained FREE by YahooGroups.com and therefore, it reduces some of our administrative costs, thereby helping to keep us free. In addition, the vendors can post information and ideas to YahooGroups.com which get shared with other vendors. Some of the information has already reduced expenses for some QFLEA.com vendors. And the spirit of cooperation is really wonderful. Once you've joined, go back and search the archives and see the wealth of information that QFLEA members have shared with each other. In short, this flea market is a fantastic community of small businesses who support each other ... and you are welcome to join! Membership is mandatory. If you think that's going to be a problem for you, please don't join.

WHAT SETTINGS ARE RECOMMENDED FOR YAHOOGROUPS

YahooGroups has four settings: Individual E-Mail, Daily Digest, Special Announcement or No Mail / Web Only. We recommend Individual E-Mail as you will be able to respond to questions, issues and offers in real time. For example, when a free advertising offer is made with a limited number of spaces available, it is usually those getting individual e-mails who are able to take advantage of the offer. You can expect to get between five and ten e-mails on any given day. Those who choose Daily Digest will get one e-mail each day with the messages from the prior day. The Special Announcement and No Mail / Web Only options are not permitted. If an emergency arrises and you need to go "No Mail" for short term special circumstances, please let Charley know. Those choosing the Special Announcement or No Mail options without prior consent will be unsubscribed without notice. Ask Charley for additional information.

WHY IS QFLEA SO ANTI-SPAM?

There are currently almost 400 members in our group. Would YOU want an e-mail from each of the 400 every day telling you about their products? Of course not. You're not joining the YahooGroup to sell to the other flea market members. You're joining in order to improve your chances of selling to the rest of the world! There is one anti-spam exception. If a member asks "Do you know anyone who sells purple widgets?" and you happen to sell purple widgets, you can certainly respond by saying "Yes, I sell purple widgets. E-mail me and we'll talk".

WHAT OTHER BENEFITS ARE AVAILABLE TO MEMBERS

We've added some great features for flea market vendors, including a list of QFLEA vendors who offer discounts to other QFLEA vendors, a database of those interested in working out some barter arrangements, those interested in exchanging links and banners, etc. In addition, there are often some additional opportunities for exposure, including a bi-weekly shopper's newsletter, special site promotions and the QFLEA Blogs.

I ALREADY BELONG TO ANOTHER FLEA MARKET OR MALL OR GROUP. CAN I STILL JOIN QFLEA.COM?

As long as you own your own website, sure! This is not an exclusive club. Join as many places as you need to join to support your business. You do want to make money, don't you? In fact, through your affiliation with QFLEA, you will learn of many more places to list your site. If you do not own your own website, for example, you sell from an Ebay store webpage, you would not qualify for membership at QFLEA. Be sure you review our terms of service!

ARE THERE CERTAIN BUSINESS THAT WILL NOT BE INCLUDED?

Yes! Read the terms of service carefully. Any sites that are adult only, or that promote violence or weapons or anything that could be harmful to children are automatically excluded. In addition, sites that are affiliate sites or franchises that are not already members will be excluded. In addition, sites that are no longer viewable by the general public are eliminated. We don't want our flea market shoppers to find dead links. When you review our terms of service, you'll get more of an idea of what kinds of sites do not qualify for tables at QFLEA.com.

WHY NOT INCLUDE CATALOG GIFT SITES?

The issue with catalog gift sites is a tough one. There are literally thousands of people who have built websites to sell their SMC items, for example. The problem is, they all sell the same thing. Allowing these sites to list at QFLEA would cause us to have dozens of the same type site selling the same items. It would be like going to your local mall and finding 8 Radio Shack stores and 7 Bath & Body Work stores and 11 GAPS and 6 KB Toys, etc. It's not that we have anything against SMC or World of Products or the many other gift catalogs. It's just that having a multitude of sites all selling the same thing is not what we want to provide to our shoppers.

WHAT IS THE RESOURCE CENTER?

We've designed the resource center for the vendors of QFLEA.com - The Virtual Flea Market. The purpose is to provide links to business resources that will assist in the development of your web sites and your businesses. This business resource center, like everything else, is available at no cost!

OK. SO HOW DOES QFLEA MAKE MONEY TO STAY OPEN?

First, and most important, QFLEA is not established for the purpose of making money. QFLEA, in essence, is a unique hobby ... one designed to help other small businesses grow and prosper. The revenues received by QFLEA are put right back into the site and the operation to meet the goal of supporting the small business members. There are no salaried employees and no intent to produce a profit. If we break even, we've done well.

To remain solvent, we have the two premium features mentioned earlier that some members can chose to use. In addition, we participate in Google's adsense program where Google pays us to run advertising on our site. It doesn't sound like much, but hopefully it will be enough to continue to support the operation.

HOW DID QFLEA GET IT'S NAME?

I originally wanted to call it EFLEA - The Electronic Flea Market, but it was taken. So was IFLEA (Internet Flea Market). So I tried AFLEA (figuring I'd be first alphabetically) and it was also taken. So I thought to myself, OK ... I'll try each key in the order they appear on the keyboard and I'll see what's available. The first letter on the keyboard is Q. I stopped and said, "OK, We're QFLEA.com - The Virtual Flea Market".

WHAT IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT LISTED HERE?

Simple. Just contact Charley by clicking here. He'll be delighted to answer any question you've got.