***eBay Workshop: Understanding the eBay Store, Tuesday, November 9, 2004. 1:30-2:30 PM ET

[carly@ebay.com]

Host: eBay.ca Seller Development Group

Date: Tuesday, 11/09

Time: 1:30 - 2:30 EDT

Location: Selling on eBay Board

Description: A discussion on how eBay members can expand their business with an eBay Store.
eBay Stores are a special part of eBay where individual sellers can show other eBay members all of their listings and tell them more about their business through their own customized pages. Most eBay Stores include Store Inventory items - additional fixed price (Buy It Now) items not available in regular search results and categories on eBay. This means millions of eBay members have access to millions of additional items when they search or browse in eBay Stores.

* Please note: This workshop will not cover the "how to" use various functions of eBay Stores, but will focus on the business strategy of using an eBay Store.

Agenda: Introduction - Three steps to determine if one should open an eBay Store.

Strategy 1 - Reducing your costs to increase margin
Strategy 2 - Direct potential eBay members to your listings
Strategy 3 - Tools to manage your eBay Store

We look forward to your questions (posted here prior to, or during the event) and participation during the workshop.

Regards,
Totsuka
eBay.ca Team

[ohwhisht]

Thank you, Totsuka. I was unable to attend the workshop, but have read all the posts, and will check back for more info.

[totsuka@ebay.com]

Hello robyns_place,

I would like to answer your question, "So you obviously prefer us to open it on .ca then?"

The choice to open a .COM or .CA store is up to each individual member. Three things that may assist a person in selecting .COM or .CA is as follows:

1. To minimize cost to operate an eBay Store --> Subscribe to an eBay.ca BASIC Store
   
2. 60% or more of your BIDS came from eBay members outside of Canada in the last two months --> Subscribe to an eBay.com Store
   
3. Listen to your gut… if you feel that opening an eBay.com Store is to your advantage, then open an eBay.com Store

Remember, the difference in site functionality is that Store Inventory Format items are only searchable in the store platform site that the store resides. ALL regular listings will be searchable on any eBay site that you are willing to ship. (e.g.: List on eBay.ca, the item is available to United States, someone searching on eBay.com will see your item)

Our research shows that the location of the Store does not effect the ASP, or conversion rate of an item. Rather, it is the effectiveness of promoting items in one's Store.

Regards,
Totsuka
eBay.ca Team

[brat320]

I am just about to open a store, and wanted to say thanks for this discussion, since I didn't know there was even such a thing as an eBay.ca store. I'm targeting the US market a lot, so I'll go with an eBay.com store.

I also have a dilemma in that I'm planning on selling a wide variety of things, and not sure that's a good idea in a store. At this point, I plan on selling a custom parenting book, miniature game pieces, fishing lures and decoys, and computer software. Plus I have other assorted other odds and ends. Does this dilute the positive effect of having a store? At this point, it's not cost effective to pay for opening different stores, since I don't have enough items for sale.

[pierrelebel]

"At this point, it's not cost effective to pay for opening different stores, since I don't have enough items for sale."

You should list all your items in one store.

You can only have one store per User ID.

A store can have thousands and thousands of items for the same US$ 9.95 month (plus US$ 0.03 per listing per month, including gallery)

[laplaya29]

I have tons of different stuff in my store. Anything that does not sell at auction, I put in the store and raise the price a dollar or two and eventually it sells. I sold 5 or 6 items out of my store this week so far.