A long while back I wrote about the benefits of being a vendor in a Congo on Hyena Cart. I am happy to say that I have joined The Whimsy Willows and will regularly be stocking in that congo. As vendors we’re having a great time creating and working together, but it’s come to our attention that some of our buyers are having a tough time navigating. This post is to help you out.
First: What is a congo? Think of a congo like a mall. Each shop is owned and run independently, but they all sell from the same location. In a congo a variety of shops work together and post their items at the same time. The Whimsy Willows stocks on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7pm Eastern. Throughout the month each shop runs it’s own business and works on items for the congo, then they put the listings in the congo.
In order to shop on Hyena Cart you will need an account and be logged in. In the upper left corner is the link to login/register. You will also need Paypal as it’s the only payment method integrated with the Hyena Cart check out process. It’s best to have these accounts set up in advance as sometimes stockings move quickly while a number of people try to buy the same items. For high demand listings it can be a bit of a race to see who will checkout first. This combat shopping is where we get the term “stalking”.
Prior to the stocking time items are previewed as shown rather than a “buy now!” button it says when the item will be available for purchase.
In the screenshot above you can see this item will be available at 7:00pm on Thursday July 10 and that is days away from when the screenshot was taken. This info help you to set an alarm if you don’t want to forget. You can also see the shipping options, so you’ll know what it will cost for shipping and if the item can be sent to your location.
Each item needs to be bought individually. Select the green Buy Now! button to add to cart. If your item has options you will select them at this point too. It’s important to select your shipping option. It defaults to USA domestic. If you decide not to continue your purchase please contact us as it is unavailable for others to purchase once you click “buy now”. Once in your cart you must click the Paypal button to roll over into the payment screen. You will have to log in to your Paypal account to finish the order. Once complete it will not always automatically return you to Hyena Cart, so you will have to navigate back if you would like to shop more.
It’s important to remember that each shop title within the congo is an individual shop and when you purchase you are buying from that small business not the congo itself. Be sure to scroll all the way through the congo, so you don’t miss any wonderful items.
Some listings are sold as auctions. You enter your bid and hopefully win. If you would like to practice the bidding process there is a Fake Auction available. If you are the winner of an auction, Hyena Cart will send a message to your email on file letting you know. In that email is a link to pay for the auction. If you do not get the email you can make a payment from your account. First select purchases from your account pull down.
Your auction will show in your purchases. And if you click Pay you will be directed to select shipping and go Paypal to complete payment.
We love our customers and it’s important that we help make your shopping experience smooth and pleasurable, don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Additional Hyena Cart shopping info can be found in the Shopper’s FAQ.
