eBay

jociejones · ‎09-04-2013

I am listing and staying between 25-40 items weekly, most often auction style. I've looked at whether I should open a store and moneywise it looks like it might be about even with sticking with just being a general seller. Any tips on whether I should open a store? I would appreciate any suggestions.

Muchly appreciated folks!

pierrelebel · ‎09-04-2013

How many of those 25 to 40 listings a week actually sell?

So far, the history I see suggests very little in terms of actual sales.

jociejones · ‎09-04-2013

I have recently started selling on a larger scale (larger to me). I have sold small scale off and on for a while. About 12-15 per week sell.

pierrelebel · ‎09-04-2013

Take a good look at the fee schedule;

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

WITHOUT A STORE.

150 listings a months = 50 free and 100 x $0.30 = $30.00

WITH A BASIC STORE

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/storefees.html

$20.00 monthly = 150 free listings

FVF are 1% lower with a store

jociejones · ‎09-04-2013

I schedule all of my listings, they are not free with a store. But I guess all in all they would still be cheaper.

pierrelebel · ‎09-04-2013

"I schedule all of my listings,'

Why? Sold over 100,000 items on eBay and never wasted a penny for scheduling. eBay is open 24/7.

When it is 8:00pm in Calgary, it is 10:00pm in Toronto, 11:30pm in St-John's, 4:00 am in London/Paris, 11:00 in Japan, noon in Australia, etc...

pierrelebel · ‎09-04-2013

Take a few minutes and check every one of your recently completed listings.

How many actually sold?

How did the listing/ending time affect the bidding on the others?

I took a quick look, checked about twenty listings - most did not sell and timing did not seem to affect most of those that sold.

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎09-04-2013

A store is a completely different mind set. I get a lot of sales at 3 AM. Sometimes buyers take the weekend off. Sometimes mid week off. Scheduling is a waste of effort. You are now forcing people to follow your schedule.

I get far higher prices in my store than I ever did at auction. I quit auctions years ago as they resulted in low prices and NPB.

A store listing with GTC you list it and forget it. Far less work. It was Femme who calculated your time is worth 17¢ per minute. Some people use up hours of time to save that 17¢.

ricarmic · ‎09-04-2013

As a note in my experience stuff sells in my store regularly for 2x the price (or more) than it would normally go for at auction - with some exceptions like very rare/desirable/high demand stuff.

I run virtually all GTC items. The only reason I ever run auctions is to bring people into my "world" to look at my store...so in a way I treat auctions like advertising.

tobyshitzu · ‎09-04-2013

Looks like you sold about $1,000 in the past 2 weeks. if you keep that up a store is about a wash after fvf. If you sell more you start to save FVF with a store plus get the extra listings.

If you don't commit to a year (cost $4/month extra not to) then its not a big decision. you can have a store for a month and cancel it next month. You pay the prorated amount of the first month and at least one more whole month. So if you open one, start jsut before your billing date and list everything you've got to get the free lsitings for the first month, while paying just a day or two of the fee.

rose-dee · ‎09-05-2013

@ricarmic wrote:

The only reason I ever run auctions is to bring people into my "world" to look at my store...so in a way I treat auctions like advertising.

I agree completely -- it also ends up being "free" advertising if your auction item happens to sell. Other than the occasional targeted auction for that purpose, I've run GTC/BIN listings exclusively for quite a long time. They work, they are time-saving, and easier to manage, especially for my multiple quantity listings.

The other considerations in having a store, which are often overlooked in focusing on the costs, are the branding and promotional opportunities if you're planning to stay on eBay for some time and have distinctive products to sell. It does make it easier to cultivate repeat buyers and help new visitors remember who and where you are. There are also a number of marketing tools you can access as a store owner that aren't available to regular listings. I consider this whole area the best part of eBay.

I'm not sure I understand the comment above re $1000 every 2 weeks as a threshold for a workable store. I think it can be considerably lower than that if well managed, especially if you're using GTC, are selling higher-priced items, and aren't running thousands of listings. This is particularly so if you factor in the longer-term marketing value of a customized storefront, logo, etc. IMO.

jociejones · ‎09-06-2013

Thanks for all the tips.I sell used clothing that has a definite market on ebay. What I got from your comments were:

1) Sell using fixed cost listings! Unless the item is in hot demand or you want to use it as advertising

2) Don't schedule listings! I will still continue to do this with my 99 cent advertising auctions

3) It really can't hurt to open one. the cost is almost the same, might as well get the benefits of a store!

Thanks all.

Anything else I should know?

rose-dee · ‎09-07-2013

@jociejones wrote:
Thanks for all the tips.I sell used clothing that has a definite market on ebay. What I got from your comments were:

1) Sell using fixed cost listings! Unless the item is in hot demand or you want to use it as advertising
2) Don't schedule listings! I will still continue to do this with my 99 cent advertising auctions
3) It really can't hurt to open one. the cost is almost the same, might as well get the benefits of a store!

Thanks all.
Anything else I should know?

That sums it up pretty well, and I would add that (IMO of course), GTC listings are better than limited length Fixed Price.

Just be aware that if you decide on a store you'll need to choose between month-to-month or a yearly subscription. If you take the former, you'll pay a few dollars more per month; if you take the latter you'll get a better monthly rate but be aware of the cancellation charges (see eBay "help" section). The cancellation charges go down the closer you get to your annual renewal date.

If you're not quite sure yet, try the monthly store for a while and see how that works out before committing to a yearly plan (you can upgrade to yearly at any time without extra charge). You can also get out of the monthly plan at any time without penalty.

rose-dee · ‎09-07-2013

I should have added to my post above that although there is no extra penalty or cancellation fee for a monthly store, I believe you may have to pay up to the end of the next full month if you cancel before a certain date in the month -- check the store info on the 'help' pages.

jociejones · ‎09-19-2013

I opened a store! Sales are up and well worth the cost. Thanks for the tips everyone!

rose-dee · ‎09-19-2013

I just took a peek at your new store, and it looks terrific -- nice colours, clean lines, great listing frames, excellent photos and clear descriptions! The overall look is modern and elegant but it stands out.

You also did an excellent job with the categories if I may say so. I see many sellers who apparently don't quite know what to do with store categories and end up with countless category tags that aren't relevant, or become confusing by their sheer number. The categories need to help the buyer find items, and that's what yours do.

Congratulations and best of luck!

frances74915 · ‎09-20-2013

Congratulation to your new store!

I share some of my experiences here: I use auction as free advertisement star from 0.01, not often, but sometimes. I tried 30 days listing time and GTC, find GTC more helps to my fixed price listings. A store can built up an logo and concept of what you're selling. So, although my sales are not good, I still want to maintain a store.

Good luck!