Chapter 28. Launching a Full-Featured Merchant Website

In Chapter 27, "Opening an eBay Store," we looked at eBay Stores, where you can sell additional fixed-price merchandise to your auction customers. An eBay Store, however, is a rather limited online store-front. If you want to move full-force into online retailing, you need something more fully featured.

Fortunately, setting up your own online storefront isn't nearly as involved as you might think. Numerous services, including eBay itself, provide prepackaged storefront solutions; all you have to do is point and click (and pay some money) to get your store online. Or, if you want something really fancy, you can design your own store on your own website, complete with your own proprietary web domain.

However you do it, opening a dedicated web store-front lets you sell your merchandise 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. You don't have to wait for an auction to end to sell an item and collect your money; you're open for business anytime your customers want to buy.

If you have dreams of turning your online auction business into the next Amazon.com, read onand learn how to become a bona fide Internet e-tailer.

Tip

One of the advantages of using a prepackaged storefront, especially one with strong ties to eBay (such as Ándale Stores or eBay ProStoresis that they help you drive new customers to your stores from your eBay listings. If you build your site from scratch, you don't have this ability to link to your site from eBay.