If you have a lot of items for sale on a regular basis, you might want to consider opening an eBay Store. An eBay Store is a online storefront you can use to sell additional fixed-price merchandise, in addition to your regular auction items. If you're a heavy seller thinking of making the move into real honest-to-goodness online retailing, creating an eBay Store is a relatively painless way to start (see Figure 16.2). Figure 16.2. The author's eBay Store.Do You Qualify?Just about any seller can open an eBay Store. All you have to do is meet the following criteria:
Given these light requirements, you can see that you don't actually have to be a big traditional retailer to open an eBay Store. Any individual meeting the requirements can also open an eBay Store, thus making eBay Stores a great way for entrepreneurial types to get started in retailing. Tip
Why would you want to open your own eBay Store? Well, it certainly isn't for casual sellers; you do have to set up your own web page, and keep the store filled with merchandise. But if you're a high-volume seller who specializes in a single category (or even a handful of categories), there are benefits to opening your own store. These include being able to sell more merchandise (through your store) than you can otherwise list in auctions; being able to display a special eBay Stores icon next to all of your auction lists; and being able to generate repeat business from future sales to current purchasers. "Mike Sez"
The Costs of Running an eBay StoreNaturally, it costs money to open an eBay Store. (eBay isn't in this for the betterment of mankind, after all.) You pay a monthly fee to be an eBay Store merchant, and there are three subscription levels to choose from, as shown in Table 16.1.
You also have to pay eBay for each item you list and each item you selljust as in a normal auction. The difference is you're not listing for a (relatively short) auction; you're listing for longer-term inventory. While eBay provides a detailed fee schedule, it pretty much boils down to paying $0.02 per month for each item listed in your eBay Store. If you list an item for 60 days, you pay $0.04; if you list an item for 90 days, you pay $0.06. And, of course, for every item you sell in your eBay Store, eBay charges a final value fee. Table 16.2 lists the eBay Stores final value fees.
eBay Stores also offers a full assortment of listing upgrades, just like the ones you can use in regular eBay auctions. These enhancementsgallery, bold, highlight, and so onare priced according to the length of your listing. You can also offer multiples of the same item in Dutch auction format. Setting Up Your eBay StoreOpening your own eBay store is as easy as going to the eBay Stores home page (stores.ebay.com), clicking the Open a Store button, and then following the onscreen instructions. There's nothing overly complex involved; you'll need to create your store, customize your pages (otherwise known as your virtual storefront), and list the items you want to sell. Just follow the onscreen instructions, and you'll have your own store up and running in just a few minutes. Note
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