Opening an Ebay store to sell a variety of items.

[georgcrabtre-0]

I've been selling on ebay for about 2 years now, nothing big but consistently 50-100 items a month. The problem is I sell everything mostly Sports Cards but I also do clothing, electronics, almost anything I can find. 

My question is - Does it make sense to open a store that does not specialize in a certain product, and if I do open a store how to name it so people know what I sell?

Thanks

[divwido]

Two months ago I would have said yes.  But today my vote is no.  What do you get for a store?  It costs money and it doesn't bring money back to you-so what's the point of having one?

And yes, mine is ending July 1.  Then I can schedule listings for free and save $ 21.95 a month.

[tunicaslot]

This is a posting ID and I have a basic store. I sell a variety of items and use my store categories to separate clothing from shoes from collectibles ect.. I don't have a specific name to identify what I sell as I find most buyers really don't search stores here unless the seller has a niche.

On another venue I have many followers but I've had a store here for 7/8 yrs and only have a couple. Many buyers here buy from who ever has a best price. As I said - those with niches have loyal followers - those of us who have a bit of this and that usually don't.

As far as opening a store - it really depends on how many items you plan on listing and take into acct that unless you cancel your listing before it rolls over that fixed price listings are Good Till Cancelled so roll over and take away from your store allotment.

[domin-tomas]

If you do open up a store try it out month to month at first and if you don't like whats going on you can end it. If you get a store and take it for a yearly contract with Ebay you can't get out of it. you will basically have to keep it till the end of contract or pay a hefty fee.

[this*old*attic]

If you are consistently listing more than 50 and up to 100 items per month (or else you couldn’t sell them), it would seem worthwhile to me.

A store gives you perks like categories and vacation holds, too.

Only you can do the math for yourself, to see what works for you.

There is a store calculator if someone would throw up the link, and finnefemme (darn, how does she spell her user name?) lays out a nice analysis.

 I’m sitting in my swimming pool being summer lazy at moment.... but I WILL tell you I’m about to bite the bullet, myself.

[divwido]

I would think long and hard about why you want to give eBay more money. That's really all it is.

[fern*wood]

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@divwido wrote:
I would think long and hard about why you want to give eBay more money. That's really all it is.

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I don't have a store to give ebay more money.  It saves me money or I would drop it.  The savings on listing fees is why I have one.  There are other perks too, but that is the big one.   I never once have counted on a store to bring me customers---either the math benefits me or it doesn't.

[mr_lincoln · Accepted solution]

@georgcrabtre-0   Absolutely open a store ... suggest the Basic Level with 250 Auction and 250 Fixed Price (GTC) listings.  The name can be generic and non specific like "Things and Stuff", "Odds and Ends", "This and That", "Check it out!", you can always rename it later.

I also suggest a Month to Month Subscription to start, then if you want to change the size you can without issue, or close it if you are not happy with it.  The Month to month will be about % more per month then committing to a full year.

You will get a Quarterly Coupon for eBay Branded Supplies, $ 25 which if used basically pays for almost one month of the subscription.  You get the use of the Vacation settings which allows you to "hide" GTC listings (but NOT Auctions) while you are away.  Auctions stay active but if you have them end AFTER you return you will not have any issues with shipping on time should any sell ...

Well, that's my 2 cents ... best wishes to you ...

[this*old*attic]

@mr_lincoln 

Could you explain a bit about the supplies coupon, please?

And are the available branded items better quality and price than the big online companies?

[dasarock]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

@mr_lincoln 

Could you explain a bit about the supplies coupon, please?

And are the available branded items better quality and price than the big online companies?

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the are free which is a major.  i always get the padded 9x7 envelopes and ocassionally box in diff sizes.  from seller's hub you just click the 'subscriptions' in the links boxes and the ebay branded shipping supplies box will also show a coupon that you copy paste into checkout for the discount.  virtually all my shipping supplies except for bubble wrap come from ebay free.  bubble wrap i get for free from local collision centers (auto body shops).  

[m60driver]

If you list over about 65 items or so, , sorry I have forgotten the exact number, every month then a store saves you money in listing fees.  Nobody really cares if you sell a hodgepodge of items like I do, and in that case nobody cares about the name.  But even my starter store allows me to subdivide items into broad categories if somebody wanted to peruse my offerings further.  But really the only reason I have a store is to save money.

[turquoisetulips]

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@divwido wrote:

Two months ago I would have said yes.  But today my vote is no.  What do you get for a store?  It costs money and it doesn't bring money back to you-so what's the point of having one?

And yes, mine is ending July 1.  Then I can schedule listings for free and save $ 21.95 a month.

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Isn't it free only for the first 50 items ?  I have had a store for a few years now  so I'm not sure of the protocol  for that any longer . Tulips 

[mr_lincoln]

@this*old*attic   eBay Branded Supplies include shipping boxes of decent quality, tape, mailers, etc. ALL with an eBay logo on them.  They have several different box sizes ... we have gotten good use out of the 12 x 6 x 6 and 16 x 12 x 8 size boxes.  They come in 25 count bundles and can be ordered in 25 count increments ... 50, 75, 100.  Etc.  The $ 25 coupon really helps defray the cost of those packaging materials.

In the Store there is a Subscriber Discount section and that is where the coupon is found and a link to the Branded Supplies Store ...

[thegardeningworld]

Stay as far away from ebay as you can. They will screw you at every chance they get. One update after another totally destroys your sales. They say it will make it better, yeah Right. 15 years it has become worse and worse and then again another update to their system today and my sales are back to zero not 1 hour after they did an update, from 30 to 40 sales a day, down to zero sales in 18 hours and we get 2-3 sales per hour, not to mention their world wide outage yesterday messed everything up, promoted items now do not work at al for any seller and when you call them they say yeah we know about it and will be fixed in an hour and here it is now 12 hours later and they still do not work. No you do not want a store with ebay. Go to another marketplace if your smart.

[popeye3165]

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@georgcrabtre-0 wrote:

I've been selling on ebay for about 2 years now, nothing big but consistently 50-100 items a month. The problem is I sell everything mostly Sports Cards but I also do clothing, electronics, almost anything I can find. 

My question is - Does it make sense to open a store that does not specialize in a certain product, and if I do open a store how to name it so people know what I sell?

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The rumors are aplenty about eBay trying to get rid of the one of a kind sellers proceed with caution. If you do open a store I suggest you go month to month until your sure you willing to make the "investment" here on eBay. I would also suggest you research other venues.