Who Has An Ebay Store?

**many houseapes** · 05-19-2008, 08:21 PM

I have sold on ebay, but lately, I've been considering having an ebay store. For those who have Ebay stores, is it truly a better deal than to just sell sporadically?

**Jskell911** · 05-19-2008, 08:36 PM

I had one for about 2 years. I closed it when I had my hysterectomy, because I knew I wouldn't have the time to devote to it. I honestly loved having one, but again right now my time is very limited. I would say it's worth it if you can constantly keep it stocked and are good about listing and keeping the store fresh.

**FHTM Devin** · 05-19-2008, 09:07 PM

I made my first ebay listing last night. It's only a vintage tshirt that I paid .25 for at a thrift store. I want to try to make a few dollars off of it. So far the experience has been exciting waiting to see if people are actually going to bid on it.

**FrugalMomof3** · 05-19-2008, 10:37 PM

I use to have a store there but keeping it stocked up consistently to make it worth the monthly fee wasnt worth it, so when I need to make some money I just sell it at the auction, etsy might be another avenue you might want to check out.

http://www.etsy.com

**PennyWise** · 05-24-2008, 08:58 AM

I had an Ebay store for a few years.
I enjoyed it, and did pretty well....it was well stocked, and I would also have auctions to keep driving customers to the store.
My business has taken off so well, that I don't have time for it anymore....so now I just do auctions when I can.

**beesue** · 06-07-2008, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by aimeebee

I used to have an ebay store, also. Now, I mostly list things on craigslist, a trading site, or just freecycle it. I sold scrapbooking supplies in my store, but I didn't feel like the profit margin was high enough in comparison to the amount of time/work and the fees...fees to list, then fees when it sells and then paypal fees so that you can get paid. Seems a bit much to me and now sellers can't leave feedback on the people who buy from them??

The new feedback rules bug me too. Sellers can leave feedback, but only if they leave positive feedback. If its a bad experience the seller can't warn others... and neutral and negatives count the same. I have a feedback of 100%, but I know a lot of people were affected by the changes that have been occurring.

**scottVee** · 06-17-2008, 12:35 PM

I've been on eBay since 1996, and have sold thousands of items, mostly stamps. I agree with the previous post that you need auctions to drive people to the eBay store. I sell about 80% of auction items within 3-5 days of posting them, but store items can linger for months. Store items show up at the bottom of searches, if at all. They're not where the main action is.

As mentioned, it's important to know how much time your items take to get ready, and what the margins are. It's very hard to try and make money on eBay with $1 and $2 items, since the fees can run up to 40% of your net. For $5-10 items, the fees are effectively only 8-12% of the net. I still run some 99 cent lots every week to attract buyers. If I'm confident that a lot will sell for $5-10, I often start it at 99 cents anyway ... the listing fee is then 15 cents instead of 35 cents, and when listing 100+ items a week, it saves a bit.

My one other big tip is to know how to ship things. Mail is complicated these days. Guessing the cost ahead of time is tricky, but can be learned. You can charge maybe $1 above cost for shipping before you start driving customers away. I've seen people charge $5 to ship a single stamp, and have it show up in a letter the guy spent 42 cents on. So it works both ways -- don't bid on something if it looks like you're getting ripped off for shipping.

The changes to feedback are not worth griping about. There's no need for negative feedback. Bad transactions get no feedback. In fact, there's no real need for feedback at all. I know there are people who obsess about the numbers, but I've always felt it's a waste of time. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Buyers who get tangled up in tons of disputes should ultimately get blocked, and sellers have ban lists for buyers who have annoyed them -- there are plenty of checks in place. People online just love to rate things and it can always be abused.