Just started my E-bay store need opinions
tennesseebanker
Posts: 5,433 ✭✭✭
I thought I would get some of your opinions on what I could do to make my E-bay store more appealing, and get your opinions on whether my prices are too high,too low or bout right.
I just opened last night so it is a work in progress at the moment, but i would like to hear some of your suggestions so far, Thanks !
my new store
I just opened last night so it is a work in progress at the moment, but i would like to hear some of your suggestions so far, Thanks !
my new store
0
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Bosox1976
Check out my eBay store to see what I mean. On the left hand side under store categories. SportsCardMan eBay Store
* C. PASCUAL BASIC #3
* T. PEREZ BASIC #4 100%
* L. TIANT BASIC #1
* DRYSDALE BASIC #4 100%
* MAGIC MASTER #4/BASIC #3
* PALMEIRO MASTER/BASIC #1
* '65 DISNEYLAND #2
* '78 ELVIS PRESLEY #6
* '78 THREE'S COMPANY #1
WaltDisneyBoards
Thanks again !
These are ONLY my "opinions," and are not really
"suggestions" specific to your store or any other
store.
I have found that stores are a good value, provided you
can use a few auctions to "drive" customers into the store.
Getting people into the store is the hardest part. The "search
exposure" of the stores can be great on some items and ZERO
on some items. If your store inventory can dominate in a card/category
that has a limited number of auctions, your search exposure will
be good and you can sell a bunch of stuff. If other sellers have
got lots of auctions going for the same card/category, your
store will go unvisited by most potential buyers.
I think that, longterm, FREE shipping is going to be the online
"standard." A $5.99 item with a $3.00 shipping fee, is not as
attractive as as an $8.99 item with FREE shipping, IMO.
The current problem with this concept is that shipping-rates
only show up on auctions, and not on the in-store items
that show up below those auctions. Thus, you need a few
auctions going all the time to get the "FREE" shipping
concept in front of the shoppers and "drive" them into
your store.
It is good to avoid any negative language about "insurance."
One can either "self-insure," buy a "collector's policy," or
use the carriers insurance. In any event, putting "insurance"
as an ala carte selection will not be a viable option when/if eBay
"tightens-up" and manadates that sellers "must accept
PayPal," or EVEN that "PayPal is the ONLY payment method
that can be used on eBay." (As has been discussed here
many times, the PayPal scheme requires the seller to prove
safe delivery.)
Certainly on high-dollar items, "FREE" insured-delivery is
a business boost. I think it is workable even on low $
items.
Repeat customers are critical to an eBay store's success.
Most people on eBay never make it into a store; the ones
that do show up and buy something must be encouraged
to "come back."
Stores should always have at least 100 items on the shelf.
To make any real money, you either need an endless supply
of cheap stuff, or a moderate supply of pricey stuff.
Store managers have to monitor "the watcher count." When
there are a lot of folks "watching" an item, do a "markdown;"
that item may sell fast.
Stores should have an "other" category, even if eBay says
it is useless. It is a great place to get rid of stuff you find
in the closet/garage.
Store managers must monitor their competition. If your price
is too much higher than your competitor's, the first-time buyer
will pass you up. If your price is too low, "sharpshooters" will
clean out your supply and you will be left with little to attract
new buyers that can be converted to "longterm customers."
In summary, if you want to make money with an eBay store,
you have to do many of the things you would do if you were
running a "real store." And, even if you just break-even, you
can still have fun playing.
storm
TennBank, notice that gd now has just enough auctions to
"drive" the lookers into the store.
storm
ebayers can't find things in your store unless they do a search under stores. Most ebayers only know how to do a regular search for items.
...1991 TOPPS Desert Shield Baseball Card Collector
.....Since 1991 HOOAH!
S1991TOPPS@aol.com ">myemailaddress
"ebayers can't find things in your store unless they do a search under stores.
Most ebayers only know how to do a regular search for items."
VERY true.
But, there are ways to make it work. You really only need a few auctions/fixed-price
listings to bring the customers into the store. Once they do one deal with a satisfactory outcome,
they will keep coming back for more.
Everytime I have had a store, I have been surprised at how stuff keeps moving off the
shelves in a slow but sure manner. That is why they work best if you have a bunch of
stuff. The eBay storekeepers that I know well - five or six - keep between 1,000
and 3,000 items up at all times. They all make money selling low-priced stuff to repeat
buyers.
I guess a lot of the feelings of success/failure regarding eBay stores have to do
with "expectations" and "effort." You have to be reasonable about what you
expect, and you have to put out the kind of effort you would if you expected
to get rich.
And, the $ cost of the stores is REALLY low.
storm
i do great in my store. this is my latest summary for this month:
Summary
Forecast June 2006 May 2006 June 2005
Total Page Views 17,368 5,180 14,646 6,867
17,500 views in a month is great. i'm suprised how many people view my store.
i love it!
I did pretty well with a store around the holidays using FREE shipping for ALL store items. All I did was raise the price a couple (two) of bucks per item and advertise FREE SHIPING ON ALL STORE ITEMS wooooo hoooo. I actually did pretty well ....
Dan
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Also, if someone is looking for a particular item, and not just doing a general search, they can find it in the stores. An example would be Pete Rose 1976 PSA 8. If an ebayer types it in it may show the one or two in reg. auctions, but it will also show the store items right after that. I assume that is how most people came across the wax I had in my store.
-- Yogi Berra
One more question;Does E-bay charge you to revise items in your e-bay store ?
I just checked out your store and wanted to ask you, since you have scans of each card before actually clicking onto the individual auction did you choose the gallery photo option ? If so I would recommend being very careful with that. Although it costs only 2 cents for a 30 day listing, once you add the gallery it goes up. Some cards or items can sit in the store months, which ordinarily wouldnt matter much since its only the 2 cents a month, but if I remember correctly they will also tack on a new fee for the gallery photo each 30 days. That can add up fast, especially for low $$ items.
-- Yogi Berra
This only works when there are few or no items selling on ebay (store items will show up). This doesn't work all the time.
I find most items in my store that sell sell in the first 30 days. After that I find ways to either put them in lots for auction or something similar.
My Steve Carlton Basic Registry Set
I should have added that. I often do exactly what you said (markup). If I see watchers dropping, I then do the markdown.
storm
Does E-bay charge to Re-list, When you have to change an item? I have had to go back and change a few things in my store inventory, I know they usually charge something when you have to do this with a regular auction.
re-list or revise
re-list - yes
revise - no
<< <i>Bri, the gallery option is only an extra penny in eBay stores. I always used it, heck you can't beat it for a penny. My thinking was I could list 1000 items for $45.95 a month ($30 for the insertion and gallery + $15.95 for the monthly fee). Considering all the traffic that eBay generates it's the best thing going. >>
My bad, thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression that ebay charged the same for gallery whether auction or store item....time to go update my store !
-- Yogi Berra
File Exchange is way faster for big batches of uploads.
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