What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to opening up an ebay store? I currently just do auctions.?

Answer 1

More people trust you as a seller and are likely to bid because they know that you have invested your time as a seller into a store format and you're not just going to disappear with their money.

On the other hand, E-Bay listing fees coupled with the monthly store fee (I think it's around 30 bucks) really eat into your profits.

Answer 2

See this question depends on what you are selling on E-bay and how marketable your items are. Some items sell extremely well on E-bay and will draw tremendous attention. I will tell you one advantage to opening a store instead of doing regular auctions, is people like to find what they are looking for promptly. If you are well advertised and have quality items you will get noticed very quickly. You should think about also listing certain auctions themselves on E-bay and connecting them with a link to your store. Those honestly are two of the best ways to establish the interest. The third way is pictures and very detailed item descriptions. If you have to ask what detailed is, full description of the item, any flaws, where is it from, when, age, etc. If this information isnt available to you , find it, it could make the difference between a large and small bidding circle.

The only disadvantages I can tell you about opening a store is one unless you have a variety you become a seller known to just sell this particular type of item, which will cause problems when you might decide to start listing things a little out of your realm. Number two is the fees and payments, the fees are always manageable and the best way to go about shipping is to use calculated shipping so you incur no shipping costs, it is automatically calculated for you and tacked on to the auction price. Also the type of payments you accept if you accept everything , I hope you are very organized because it takes a genius sometimes to work pay-pal and to keep track of checks you are waiting for to clear etc. other than that you should have a good venture and just take everything I said into consideration.

Answer 3

There is NO increased visibility for ebay stores. In fact it is very hard for buyers who are not completely ebay savvy to even find your store. Many store owners wind up having to run more auctions than without a store just because it is the only way they can get shoppers to find their store. Also my experience has been that after opening a store, instead of bidding on my auctions, the potential bidders just bookmark the same item I have in the store (despite considerably higher price) and just sit their staring at the item for months rather than ever buying. So my auctions got no bids, & my store items got watchers but no buyers. I have opened and closed ebay store a number of times and the results are always the same.

Answer 4

Unless you have alot of "stock" or if you make your items, it is not a good idea. The cost of the cheapest store is 15.99 a month + regular Ebay fees. You will need to have mostly new items, & specialize in something like childrens wear. Plus w/ a store you will need to make your auctions have a more pro apperance so if you don't already you would want to use auctiva or sellersourse book or purchased html templates. I personaly do alot of Ebaying & have tried a store but was not happy, try using auctiva it is easy & free! Your auctions will have a pro apperance & usually your items will sell 50% better w/ a 30% bidding increase. Hop that helps. Also someone above said the price was 0.06 per listing, that is no longer true, it is regular Ebay fees unless you subscibe to the 489.00 a month store.

Answer 5

I've been reading the eBay forums 10/06 (I suggest you go there) and recently eBay raised their fees, plus they no longer give you your first month's free when you open a store. And they will remove auctions if you overcharge on your shipping/handling, and the additional costs of a merchants account is a detriment at this time as well...so they're getting strict and some stores are finding it difficult to survive at this time because of the additional fees. Some posters mentioned going to other places like yahoo auctions.

Answer 6

monthly fee for a store and eBay's fees I also sell and buy alot from eBay and I had a store once and the downside was when you first open everything listed in the store is buy it now and the regular auctions didn't show in the store. But since they have the program where you can cross advertise your items they might now.. it's worth a shot to look into it.

Answer 7

I love my eBay store. I've been at it a little over a year now, started with just auctions, then upgraded. If you've got good items, I say try it out. I'm discouraged at the high fees, but overall it's really been a lifesaver for me. Good Luck

Answer 8

Listing something in a store inventory only costs .06 per month - with a gallery pic. You can list a bunch of lower cost items cheaper. If you still have a few auctions - it will draw people to the store.

Answer 9

I would only open up a Ebay store if I had many things to sell
atleast a few pages full
not if I only have a few items to sell at a time (1page or under)
You dont need a store for people to trust you
its your feedback that counts.

Answer 10

yet another benefit is the shopper and supplier know they're secure by way of ebay if something is going incorrect with the transaction. additionally the comments gadget is what keeps ebay powerful. their costs are equivalent to a million.5% of the suited cost of the object. it extremely is not lots. there are a bunch of books on advertising stuff on ebay. they might have greater information for you.