eBay

sylviebee · ‎05-31-2018

I read a post here from one of the regular posters who pointed out that if a seller has "x" number of items to sell or more then a store is the way to go.

Does anyone know what "x" is?

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-31-2018

@sylviebee wrote:
I read a post here from one of the regular posters who pointed out that if a seller has "x" number of items to sell or more then a store is the way to go. Does anyone know what "x" is?

The savings on FVF for some categories and the FVF cap for high value items can make a store worthwhile with just a few sales.

Magic number calculation (based just on listing cost):

Non-store: 50 free listings, non-free listing cost 30 cents, monthly cost $0

Basic store: monthly cost $24.95

Difference in monthly cost is 24.95- 0 = 24.95

Divide 24.95 by 0.30 = 83

50 + 83 = 133 as the magic number of listings.

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If you have a basic store yearly subscription the $19.95/month makes the magic number 117

View solution in original post

mrdutch1001 · ‎05-31-2018

It has been said that having an eBay store is beneficial for sellers with hundreds of items that are in-demand products as those "higher-volume sellers who sell more than 50 items per month can get significant savings with dramatically reduced upfront costs compared to eBay standard fees. Plus, get powerful tools to help build, manage, promote, and track your eBay presence for greater selling success."

There was a time..long long ago (over 10 years ago) when I had a store and it was beneficial. But for me those days are long gone. I still have hundreds of items that I could list on eBay but the sell through rate for my items is no longer at a level that justifies having an eBay store.

Only you can decide if a store is the way to go.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎05-31-2018

I agree, there are two parts to the equation with the sell through rate being just as important as the listing fee costs. If the sell through rate is too low a store subscription will not help profitability. There's a lot of moving parts to consider.

ricarmic · ‎05-31-2018

As a note, an important "advantage" of a store subscription is that you can hide all your good till cancelled items whilst you are on vacation. That would be an important thing for me personally.

Otherwise you'd have to manually drop everything and restart everything GTC each time....

mrdutch1001 · ‎05-31-2018

yes I can see the advantage for having the ability to have a vacation mode, for those who have a store and/or need a store for a variety of reasons.

I do not use GTC listings...I use time frames that work for me and I prefer the freedom to list items when it suits me....

ypdc_dennis · ‎05-31-2018

@sylviebee wrote:
I read a post here from one of the regular posters who pointed out that if a seller has "x" number of items to sell or more then a store is the way to go. Does anyone know what "x" is?

The savings on FVF for some categories and the FVF cap for high value items can make a store worthwhile with just a few sales.

Magic number calculation (based just on listing cost):

Non-store: 50 free listings, non-free listing cost 30 cents, monthly cost $0

Basic store: monthly cost $24.95

Difference in monthly cost is 24.95- 0 = 24.95

Divide 24.95 by 0.30 = 83

50 + 83 = 133 as the magic number of listings.

...

If you have a basic store yearly subscription the $19.95/month makes the magic number 117

reallynicestamps · ‎05-31-2018

Otherwise you'd have to manually drop everything and restart everything GTC each time....

The closing is easy enough. Also the relisting. Click . Click.

The seller does not get a rebate on listing fees for closed items.

And is charged when the items are relisted.

hlmacdon · ‎05-31-2018

Denis has given a good breakdown of the math and the other thing to weigh is monthly vs yearly. With many unpalatable changes coming down the pipeline that is something to look at as well. A monthly sub is an easy option while you figure out your direction.

ricarmic · ‎05-31-2018

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Otherwise you'd have to manually drop everything and restart everything GTC each time....

The closing is easy enough. Also the relisting. Click . Click.

The seller does not get a rebate on listing fees for closed items.
And is charged when the items are relisted.

Ahh but I store my items by listing id..... which would change in this situation......

sylviebee · ‎05-31-2018

@ypdc_dennis wrote:
@sylviebee wrote:
I read a post here from one of the regular posters who pointed out that if a seller has "x" number of items to sell or more then a store is the way to go. Does anyone know what "x" is?
The savings on FVF for some categories and the FVF cap for high value items can make a store worthwhile with just a few sales.

Magic number calculation (based just on listing cost):
Non-store: 50 free listings, non-free listing cost 30 cents, monthly cost $0
Basic store: monthly cost $24.95
Difference in monthly cost is 24.95- 0 = 24.95
Divide 24.95 by 0.30 = 83
50 + 83 = 133 as the magic number of listings.
...
If you have a basic store yearly subscription the $19.95/month makes the magic number 117

Thank You. That's what I was looking for. I recall you posted that some time ago and knew it would come in handy some day.

I don't have issues with GTCed and that type of thing because I use Garage Sale. I highly recommend it for Mac users. Simplifies so much.

I started including a link on my listings taking buyers to my store category for Purses and since eBay has been altering the "See Seller's Other Items" function that would also be a plus to having a store. (Although it may be possible to add a link to eBay's category as well? / not sure.)

Also, since eBay started to include packaging in the cost of a store I haven't had to spend much (if anything) on packaging so that's also a bonus.

I keep re-listing about half of my items because a store in conjunction with Garage Sale makes effortless and I do sell a little of that stuff every month, but without a store I'd just let that stuff slide.

Sort of talking myself into renewing the store. 🙂

(Just saw that they mucked with the link and it no longer goes to my store category for purses.)

recped · ‎05-31-2018

Sort of talking myself into renewing the store. 🙂

Although I don't have a Store at the moment I have had one for many years. I never went with the annual subscription, most years I close the Store for 1 or 2 months so any saving from an annual sub is made up by simply not paying for one or two months per year.

If you are unsure how you want to proceed just go on the month to month plan until you are.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

sylviebee · ‎05-31-2018

I think I'm going to do that.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎05-31-2018

I remember reading about a store level that's gonna be $5 a month... Is that available to us in Canada yet?

2nd-time-around-jewelry · ‎05-31-2018

I have had a store for about 2 years now. Never did the annual subscription but go from month to month. That way if anything comes up (looking after elderly parents) I can close it & reopen when I want.

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-01-2018

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
I remember reading about a store level that's gonna be $5 a month... Is that available to us in Canada yet?

Not yet. The USA side just got it rolled out in May. No timeline for Canada yet.

Starter store: $4.95/month with yearly subscription or $7.95/month without.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4122

...

Starter store gets 100 free BIN/auction listings per month.

Those extra 50 listings over non-store limits if fully used cost 10 cents / 16 cents -- if you can continue using the free listings on both .ca and .com sites then divide the cost by two.

...

The magic numbers for the new store levels (assuming Canada has the same price structure that the USA now has, and no listing promos):

Non-store: 50 free listings, 35* cents for non-free, $0/month

Starter: $7.95/month

7.95-0 = 7.95 monthly difference

7.95 dvided by 35 cents = 23

50+23 = 73 listings/month for the Starter store to be money saved when listing.

Starter magic number: 73 for month by month or 64 for yearly subscription

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* Most non-store extra listings increased in price by 5 cents on eBay.COM when the new store levels went active in May. The old listing prices on eBay.CA have not be changed, but I expect that to happen when the new store levels get rolled out.

amcdc79 · ‎06-01-2018

@zee-chan-jpn-books wrote:
I remember reading about a store level that's gonna be $5 a month... Is that available to us in Canada yet?

Not yet, it is being tested in the US now, so we may see it down the road. But I would not hold my breath.

Regarding the "magic numbers" as to whether a store will work for someone, why were only the 50 free listings on .ca considered, Is there a reason why the 50 free listings on .com were not included?

Non store seller 50 .ca + 50.com =100 fixed price or auction. Could the numbers be 183 or 167 depending on being on the monthly or yearly plan? Also would having to include the GST,HST and/or the QST, change the numbers at all?

Basic store seller 250.ca +250.com =500 fixed price listing.

Basic store seller 250.ca +250.com =500 auction listings, not that many folks still use this format, plus it is limited to certain categories.

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-01-2018

ypdc_dennis · ‎06-01-2018

@amcdc79 wrote:
Regarding the "magic numbers" as to whether a store will work for someone, why were only the 50 free listings on .ca considered, Is there a reason why the 50 free listings on .com were not included?
Non store seller 50 .ca + 50.com =100 fixed price or auction. Could the numbers be 183 or 167 depending on being on the monthly or yearly plan? Also would having to include the GST,HST and/or the QST, change the numbers at all?

Sales tax on fees are a percentage and have no impact on calculating a magic number.

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I didn't bother calculating for both sites because (a) exchange rate and (b) non-store extra listings now cost differently between the sites: 0.30 cdn vs 0.35 us

The numbers 133 or 117 are just if listing exclusively on .CA with a Canadian store.

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If listing exclusively on .COM with a Canadian store the numbers are 106 or 95 (the power of the exchange rate and new higher listing fees on .COM)

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There is no guarantee that eBay will continue allowing double use of "free" listings on both sites.

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