EBAY Stores (fees, profit, advertising, buy)

[spotrod]

I started a home based business and wondered if anyone had an ebay store or used one before. Is it worth the $$ to open one up or should I concentrate on other areas like local papers, magazines, flyers, etc or wherever. Your comments would be appreciated. Thanks

[Racelady88]

I attempted to use an ebay store to sell some items. They told me 2 days to get the items listed, and after 14 days I stuck my head in to ask why I could not find them out there. Was told how busy they were. 7 days after that I went to pick my items up because they still had not posted them. I had to go into the back room and identify my items because nothing was labeled. I could have walked out with any number of valuable items that belonged to other people. I took my stuff and left. I will never trust a place like that again.

[spotrod]

Originally Posted by Evey

I attempted to use an ebay store to sell some items. They told me 2 days to get the items listed, and after 14 days I stuck my head in to ask why I could not find them out there. Was told how busy they were. 7 days after that I went to pick my items up because they still had not posted them. I had to go into the back room and identify my items because nothing was labeled. I could have walked out with any number of valuable items that belonged to other people. I took my stuff and left. I will never trust a place like that again.

Is that the same as the on line ebay stores or was this at a physical storefront? I was trying to find out if the online ebay stores are worth advertising on or would it be more beneficial to just look elsewhere? Thanks.

[cazelais]

Look up Terry Gibbs.

[Anarchy]

Originally Posted by spotrod

I started a home based business and wondered if anyone had an ebay store or used one before. Is it worth the $$ to open one up or should I concentrate on other areas like local papers, magazines, flyers, etc or wherever. Your comments would be appreciated. Thanks

Its best to concentrate on other areas like websites and other means of advertising unless you sell loads of items a month and/or a powerseller I wouldnt say its worth it to open an ebay store.

[SunnyKayak]

ebay doesnot google your store items and unless someone is shopping specifically for that item on ebay they will not locate your items you are selling. The fees alone will kill alot of your profit. I would look into adware and getting a google checkout.

[Racelady88]

Originally Posted by spotrod

Is that the same as the on line ebay stores or was this at a physical storefront? I was trying to find out if the online ebay stores are worth advertising on or would it be more beneficial to just look elsewhere? Thanks.

This was a physical storefront.

I gotta tell 'ya, I am more inclined to sell something on craigslist than I am on ebay.

[Rapture]

I have met several people that have ebay stores and all do very well. I'm sure it depends on what you're selling and what your competition is on there. I was told if you don't have at least 125/150 items it's not even worth it. If you can hook up with some reliable drop shippers, then why not try it. No matter what business you open, there's no guarantees. This is probably the least expensive store you can open, I'm thinking of doing it myself.

[bls5555]

I am an ebay powerseller (gamesnroses) and I can tell you the Ebay store is NOT worth it. All I ever use are auctions. You can list your items as buy it nows and have them sit there for 3 cents a month (might have gone up to 4 cents, this includes listing and gallery pic.), but the problem is on items with numerous listings, your store item will NOT show up when someone searches for it. Also, if Im not mistaken the final value fee is going to be higher, so basically it nixes the 3 or 4 cent listing fee.

They actually have to find your store and browse through your items. The reasoning I would assume is that ebay would rather have you do the 1,3,5,7,10 day auctions to get products up and off instead of just sitting there.

Also in my experience, a LOT of my auctions end up for more than I would have listed them for as a buy it now. Yes you will get some dissapointments, but it really does get evened out by the pleasant surprises you get by people bidding to win with out regard to value.

Yes Ebay is a great market place to sell one, but I would stay away from spending the 15 a month or whatever it is for a store and just use regular auctions.

By the way, what are you selling? If you are looking for the largest market possible, Ebay is the way to go. It really does depend on what you are selling though.

As to the person's comment above. I think they 125/150 items comment is pretty truthful. I am taking a bit of a break now as it does get tiring, but on average I normally have 200-250 auctions going at a time and I can honestly say (though I haven't scientifically proven this) it does seem that if you have more items up, you will see your bid amounts go higher than normal. This is especially true when you have a lot that end at the same time. I would assume it is from people bidding on extra stuff in an attempt to get combined shipping.

[Rapture]

bls5555 - I sell on ebay also. How do you list something for 3 or 4 cents a month? I know some people get tricky and list items low and raise the shipping (against their rules) but I have never listed anything for 4 cents?
I also didn't understand what you said that if you have a store noone will find it? I find items all the time that are being sold by ebay stores?