Section 161. Set Up an eBay Store

161. Set Up an eBay Store

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

160 About eBay Businesses


SEE ALSO

162 About Listing Items for Sale at Your Store

163 Market Your Store

164 Make the Sale


Setting up an eBay store is surprisingly easyit requires only a few minutes of your time and some thought. Remember, though, that you have to be able to accept credit card payments from an Internet payment service such as PayPal or through a credit card merchant account. After that payment option is set up, here's how to start your own eBay store:

1.
Click eBay Stores; Then Click Open Your Store Now

From the eBay home page, click the eBay Stores link in the Specialty Sites area near the top of the page. Then click the Open Your Store Now link. If you're not currently logged in to eBay, you'll have to log in before you can continue. After you log in, you come to a page that informs you that you need a minimum feedback rating of 20 or to be ID Verified . If you don't have a minimum feedback rating of 20, click the ID Verified link and fill out the form to be ID Verified. It costs $5 to be verified.

NOTE

The eBay verification service requires that you enter your credit card number and driver's license number, so have those handy when you fill out the ID Verified form. If you're not comfortable giving out that information, you won't be able to be verified. Also, the service asks questions about your mortgage payments and credit card limits. If you don't know them, put in any number and you'll get an error message along with a phone number to call. When you call that phone number, you'll be able to be verified.

2.
Choose Your Store Name

When you're presented with a form asking for information about the store you're creating, the first bit of information you're asked to provide is the name of your store. Don't just type the first name that comes to mindin many ways, this step is the most important one of all for setting up an eBay store. You should choose a name that describes what your store specializes in selling; the store name should be unique, recognizable, and easy to remember. Having the store name reflect exactly what you sell will also make it more likely to show up in Internet search engines when someone is looking to buy particular kinds of goods.

161. Set Up an eBay Store


Keep in mind that the name of your store determines your store's website address. So, if your store name is Opera Unlimited, for example, its address will be http://stores.ebay.com/operaunlimited. (When determining your address, eBay takes out special charactersapostrophes, spaces, &, !, $, and so onand makes all letters lowercase.)

Also, keep these rules in mind when choosing a store name:

  • It must start and end with a letter or a number.

  • It cannot start with four or more consecutive letter A s (either lowercase or uppercase).

  • It cannot start with a lowercase or uppercase e followed by a number.

  • It cannot contain the characters < , > , or @ .

  • It cannot contain three consecutive letter W s ( www or WWW ) anywhere in the name.

  • It cannot contain two or more consecutive spaces or non- alphanumeric characters.

  • It cannot end with a top-level Internet domain abbreviation such as .com, .net, .org, .mil , and so on.

  • It cannot be identical or very similar to another company's name that is protected by a trademark. It cannot contain the word eBay, Half.com , Butterfields , or Billpoint , or be very similar to any of those names .

3.
Fill In Payment and Store Details

The payment information eBay asks you to provide is straightforward: Include the name and address that payments should be made out to.

The store description, like the store name, is of primary importance. It appears in the header of all your store pages and is therefore highly prominent. The store description (although optional) is the primary means of telling people about what makes your store unique and trustworthy. If you've been in business for several years , let people know thatand certainly tell them what goods you specialize in. Because people often use search engines to find products they're shopping for, you also want your store description to be picked up by search engines. So use words that people would typically use when searchingfor example, sneakers rather than running accoutrements . Include products and brand names you often have in stock, but don't include products and brand names you don't stock.

NOTE

Don't include links to websites outside of eBay in your store descriptiondoing so violates eBay policies.

Filling out your store specialties is optional. The specialties appear only on your Store Policies page and are not prominently displayed. However, if you do specialize in certain products, list them in this text box.

4.
Choose Your Custom Store Categories

You can organize your store by choosing up to 19 different categories. Think of categories as your store's aislescategories are how people browse through your store. These categories can be unique to your store; they do not have to match eBay's categorization scheme.

Choose a set of categories that best reflects the variety of goods you have for sale and that helps potential buyers find what they're looking for. You can categorize by type of item, by price levels, by brand names, and so on. You might also want to have special categories, such as Today's Specials or Half-Off.

To choose a category, type the name of each category you want in your store using the Store Category text boxes. You can have up to 19 categories, and each category name can have a maximum of 29 characters.

5.
Choose Your Store Subscription

You can choose to make your store a basic store ($9.95/month), a featured store ($49.95/month), or an anchor store ($499.95/month). Featured stores and anchor stores get more exposure than do basic stores, but apart from that, there is not an enormous amount of difference among these options.

NOTE

A featured store gives you extra exposure compared to a basic store by giving you priority placement in the Shop eBay Stores section that appears on search results pages on eBay, featured placement on the eBay Stores home page, and extra positioning in the eBay Stores Directory for categories where you have items listed. An anchor store gives you all that plus one million impressions per month for your store throughout eBay.com, priority placement in the Shop eBay Stores section that appears on search results pages on eBay, and showcase placement of your logo on the eBay Stores Directory pages.

6.
Provide About Your Store Information

The bottom of the form contains information such as the payment methods you accept, where you will ship to, who pays for shipping costs, customer service and return policies, and any additional information you might want to appear on your Store Policies page. Your store will include an automatic link to your About Me page, so if you don't have one, now is a good time to create one (click the Create One Now link in the About Me section).

Pay particular attention to the Store Sales Tax section of the page. Some states require that you collect sales tax, and others don't; some states require that you collect sales tax only if you sell to others in your own state. For more information, contact your state government.

When you're done filling out the store-creation form, click the Continue button.

7.
Customize Your Store's Appearance

The next page that appears lets you choose your store's color scheme, pick a graphic (you can select one of eBay's graphics or use one of your own), and use HTML to design your store. (For more information about using HTML on eBay, see 157 Jazz Up Text and Headlines with HTML, 158 Colorize and Change Fonts and Add Effects with HTML , and 159 About Including HTML on eBay Auction Pages . For information about graphics on eBay, see 138 About Digital Pictures and eBay .

When you're done designing your store's appearance, click the Save Changes and Publish button.

8.
Visit Your Store

Your store now exists on eBay. You'll get an email message confirming your store's URL and containing information about how to make changes to your store. Because you haven't yet listed any items for sale, your store will be empty of goods, but you should still visit it before listing items for sale so you can make sure the store looks the way you want it to before you open for business.



Sams Teach Yourself Creating Web Pages All in One
Sams Teach Yourself Creating Web Pages All in One
ISBN: 0672326906
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 276

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net