To Open A Store, Or Not Open A Store, That Is The Question?:|

[thebarterersdog]

?:| Not sure what we are doing yet... Anyone else opening a store and care to share their concerns or thoughts as to why? Do your items show up earlier in the search pages? What's the benefits besides fees...?

[pierrelebel]

Policies and fees are changing next month.

We will all have to relearn what we knew about having a store on eBay (I closed mine last year when I retired and have been listing without a store this year).  What may be valid today may not be next month.

Yes, there is some value in having a store despite the fact it may cost you a little bit more money every month, depending on the number and type of listings you offer every month.

Having an identity where all your listings reside is important for many. 

The ability to use the "Markdown Manager" for fixed priced items is important for many sellers

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

Sending messages to your customers who put their names on your mailing list may be an important part of your marketing:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/email-newsletter.html 

etc...

[thebarterersdog]

Thanks Pierre, two great perks I forgot about. Always helpful, you are. 🙂

[pjcdn2005]

There is an ebay calculator that may help you decide. The info on it is valid once the prices change in April and May.

http://pages.ebay.ca/sellerinformation/news/FeeIllustrator.html

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

If money is a concern, yer basically talking a few bucks. Kinda like "Will I save $30 or will it cost me $30?".

The cost of my store is a cost of doing business. A store takes very little effort to maintain. List items and forget about them. Those that rely of free listing promo's to save money, $30 a month whatever, are using up hours of time.

Three years ago I decided my time was worth $25 an hour. Now? Now my time is worth $30 an hour. Conventional business wisdom is that self-employed income is worth 1.5 X employed income. The advantages of writing off all expenses before paying taxes. $30 is actually $45 per hour.

A premium store is $49. May it goes to $59 but with 500 free listings reducing the cost to $34. Sign up for a year and the store cost is $49 less the free listings for a cost of $24 a month.

If ya gotta worry about $24 a month, there is a problem with yer business model.

First day of every month, I have a sale that pays for my store for a month. One sale pays for it.

Many thousands of dollars a month goes through my hands. I should worry about $50? I buy peace of mind for $50.

[recped]

CYA, have two id's one with a store and one without.

That way you will qualify one way or another if eBay continues to run separate store/non-store listing deals.

With the simplification of fees if you sell more than $1500 a month including shipping (9 or 10% FVF categories) your fees will be cheaper with a basic store not including the theoretical value of the extra 100 free listings.

The intangibles of a store have a value as well but it's hard to quantify.

[recped]

If ya gotta worry about $24 a month, there is a problem with yer business model.

It's not "worrying" it's proceeding in a fashion which keeps the most money in your pocket. It's a good habit to be in regardless of the sums involved.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

The intangibles of a store have a value as well but it's hard to quantify.

Kinda where I was going. The intangibles mean different things to different people.

[pierrelebel]

"The intangibles mean different things to different people"

That is correct.

For example, if a seller sells mostly at auction, the ability to use the "Markdown Manager" is meaningless.

Using the Markdown Manager in concert with weekly messages to buyers on the mailing list works great IF you have the gross margins to discount your products.

So yes, there is more than fees to take into account.  Any seller interested in opening a store must make an honest analysis of his marketing plan for the next twelve months, deciding what to sell, the pricing brackets and the format to sell (auction or fixed price).

Not having a store may cost a few more cents if you have many items to list every month in addition to the extra 1% FVF..

On the other hand, to spend $20 a month for a few months to see what happens may not be a bad investment.  Without an annual contract, a seller can cancel the store if things do not work out.

You have to spend money to make money.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

You have to spend money to make money.

That is my argument when people do the analysis of whether or not the extra $20 a month will pay off. I opened a store about eight YEARS ago and had my first sale three days later.

Sellers should decide, is this a hobby, wait for the free listings, or a business, full steam ahead?

I walked out on my government, union, guaranteed income, year and a half to retirement, job. That is 3 1/2 years ago. Balls to the walls I am gonna work for myself at the age of 53. I would never recommend anyone do what I did.

I had laid the foundation. Sell what you know and know what you sell, a famous Cdn seller said.

I am a rare bird. I made it work. It could all end in the blink of an eye. I went from a union job to self-employed on a Tuesday.

Dramatic? Perhaps. I believe in absolutes. Yer either in or out, yes or no, black or white, now or never. For me it worked, big time.

[thebarterersdog]

Hi all, gosh you are all great helpers! Thanks so much. Wisdom is the most valuable equity in life, I always say 🙂

Okay it's not so much the monthly rates that have us not really wondering but perhaps, have us hesitant?? It's more about product and auction vs. fixed, the work if there is any, etc. We've never had a store online so this is a big move. We are more used to dealing one on one with buyers/collectors here... So this is a consideration for moving with the times and reality shows that the future trend is turning more and more towards ecommerce and online marketing.

Please keep the comments coming because it's always good to get other people's take on things to keep everything in perspective and you all have already made so many viable points that we haven't considered 🙂

Now if we can only figure out the email icon installation thingy, lol but that's another board... 🙂

[pierrelebel]

How to restore the Envelope icon in the notification area in Outlook

To restore the Envelope icon in the notification area follow these steps: Start Outlook. Click the Tools menu, click Options. On the Preferences Tab, click E-mail Options. Click Advanced E-mail Options. Click to select the Show an envelope icon in the notification area check box.

Note In Microsoft Outlook 2002, the check box is named Show an envelope icon in the system tray.

Outlook 2010

On the File tab, click Options. Select Mail in the left navigation pane. In the Message arrival section, click to select the Show an envelope icon in the taskbar check box.

[Anonymous]

I use the Basic store features for the $29 charge from Ebay.  It gives me what I need for what I sell.  Up to 12 pictures (included in the $29) per item. All the Ebay support I could invision ....claims, tutorials, discussion forums, marketing, communications with customers, technical help.  I could not do that on my own.

Maintaining an Ebay store costing $49 would do me no good.  I sell items that do not give high dollar returns.  I would have to sell 15 - 20 items per month as to the 5 - 15 that I sell now.  

You bet there are problems that arise, but where else would gain such a great experience.

I have tried Flea Market selling or even Nostagia shows.  Table and handling costs suck up any money I see coming in. 

I love getting up in the morning and tuning into my Ebay store.  Some days are Diamonds, some days are Stones. 

[thebarterersdog]

Pierre, visit me on the other board 🙂 I have dumb questions for you. lol

[femmefan1946]

 It's more about product and auction vs. fixed, the work if there is any, etc.

Just to be clear, a Store can include both Fixed Price and Auction items.

In my opinion, a Store is worth it just for the Good Til Cancelled. Most of my product is slowmoving (allowed for in asking price) and not having to manually relist is worth the monthly Store "rent".

[pierrelebel]

femmefan - you do not need a store to list fixed price listings GTC (Good Till Cancelled). 

That duration option is available to all sellers, with or without a store. The listings are relisted automatically every 30 days and applicable listing fee charged at that time.

[thebarterersdog]

I love the Good Til Cancelled option too because a lot of my collectibles don't move right away and need a bit of "airing out time" lol

[trikiliki]

Will opening a store end all current listings or will they still run their course? I am tempted to pull the trigger and open a store, probably should have done it a long time ago considering the average number of items I typically list and sell in a month, but having a bunch of listings on the go that I already paid for and have a bunch of watchers always stops me...

[pierrelebel]

"Will opening a store end all current listings"

No.

All listings, whether fixed price or auction format, listed on eBay.ca, eBay.com or any other international eBay sites will all appear in your eBay store once you open it.

However, a seller needs to revise each outstanding listing to reflect "store categories", once the store has been opened and the store categories selected.

[pierrelebel]

By the way, opening an eBay store is an important decision and should be made with full understanding of what is involved.

It may be worth a few hours of research.

Today, one almost needs to forget about the current different fee structures that apply to store and non-store listings and look at the new fee schedules coming into effect in the next few weeks.

Also, one should invest a few hours browsing through the "eBay Stores" discussion board on eBay.com.  It is full of information and answers to many questions, inquiries and problems that may arise:

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum/Ebay-Stores/21 

Good Luck