Having Multiple Accounts for More Listings - How Hard to Keep Track/Switch

[tori_729]

I've been researching ways to increase my monthly listings. Currently I have a Starter store with 250 free listings and I could easily list more than that. I've looked into bumping it up to a Basic store to get 100 more but the $20 increase a month makes me hesitant.

Another option I've looked into is just opening another account. I know that it will take time to build up my feedback a bit before I can really sell though. And the thought of having to switch back and forth between accounts and not really getting an overall picture of my sales through Ebay also makes me hesitant.

I could easily separate my products and keep one account exclusively for toys and parts and such and the other for misc so that's not a problem. I just wonder logistically if it's worth the hassle. Thoughts?

[coastaltechsolution]

Crunch the numbers, would the listing fee's for the items you want to post exceed the Basic store limits or would you still be saving money?

Jumping accounts for me at least is a selling and tax nightmare so I would rather write off the store fee's for my 1 account. 

Take some time and crunch the numbers 

[penguins_dont_fly]

Adding on to what coastaltech said ...

Take into account that a Basic Store also gives you a discount on FVF fees (Starter does not)

For non-Managed Payments

9.15% instead of 10% in most categories

https://www.ebay.com/help/fees-invoices/feesinvoices-fees-selling/store-fees?id=4122

For Managed Payments

11.5% instead of 12.35% in most categories

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809

Basic Store also comes with a Quarterly Coupon for eBay Shipping Supplies ($25) ... Starter does not

Basic gets Terapeak Research, Starter does not

Here is a breakdown of what comes with each Store Level

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/run-your-store/subscriptions-and-fees.html#m22_tb_a2__2

[nobody*s_perfect]

I sell under multiple accounts for different types of items. Bookkeeping isn't that bad because all payments go to the same account.  

IMHO the Starter store is a bad deal, since you get only 50 more free insertions than a non-store and pay the same FVF rates.  Perhaps the best value would be to set up a second selling account and drop the Starter store subscription on the original account: You'd have a total of 400 free insertions and the tiny percentage saved on FVF rates might work out to be less than the cost of the store subscription.

As others have pointed out, you need to crunch the numbers for your particular situation, factoring-in the FVF rate differences in the categories where you sell, item prices, etc. If you have a full-year Starter subscription then you'd have to consider the early termination fee if you drop it, or the new full-year commitment if you upgrade it.

[somanypcs]

If you switch to a Basic store and are in Managed Payments you get an additional 10,000 free listings in certain categories.

[slippinjimmy]

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@tori_729 wrote:

And the thought of having to switch back and forth between accounts and not really getting an overall picture of my sales through Ebay also makes me hesitant.

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I use Firefox for one of my selling id's and chrome for the other instead of switching in real time on eBay. That way I know from the browser which account I'm logged into.

You would have two separate Managed Payments accounts but can both feed to the same bank account. You will have two monthly eBay invoices (stores fees etc) and you would need to run separate Transaction reports but for the downloadable .csv files you could combine them in Excel for accounting purposes.

I use a third-party listing/management tool so it's easy for me to switch listings back and forth between id's if I want (usually to maximize use of free listings)., this is an issue running multiple id's manually, there is no simple way to move listings back and forth although can do it for free using File Exchange.

[tori_729]

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@somanypcs wrote:

If you switch to a Basic store and are in Managed Payments you get an additional 10,000 free listings in certain categories.

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You do? Where is that info? I know they were doing that for store accounts last summer.

[geo2061]

@tori_729  Hi..

  Info is in 'Help' -Under-  'Store Fees for Managed Payments' ... i can say, having just this week been moved into MP, that the 10,000 extra for the Basic Store are perfect for what i sell (Includes Collectibles, DVDs, Toys, etc.)...  Was considering the second account option myself until receiving this new perk.  The Time Involved (for me) to get a New Account to a level of my current one seemed excessive.

[lamber9347]

@tori_729 I have multiple accounts. I use my desktop for my main account and my laptop for my second account. That way each one is set up to instantly log on and I never confuse either one. 

I also sell on another platform. It's really not that difficult to keep separate. Once you get started you will come up with your own systems to use and before you know it you will be a master yourself. Best of luck to you....

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@tori_729 wrote:

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@somanypcs wrote:

If you switch to a Basic store and are in Managed Payments you get an additional 10,000 free listings in certain categories.

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You do? Where is that info? I know they were doing that for store accounts last summer.

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 https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809

[moondogblues]

When I still sold here I had multiple ID's.  One for Golden Age children's books, one for sci fi and horror and one for vintage jewelry and misc.  I found that keeping a binder with sections helped.  I also sold on Bonanza and Etsey at the same time and the binder helped there too.  When something sold I could just flip to the page mark it sold and then IMMEDIATELY delete the item from the other sites.  I alphabetized everything as much as possible to make it easier.

My hubs offered to do a spreadsheet online but I prefer a binder.

[tori_729]

Ah thanks. I rarely sell in those categories. 😞

However, I didn't realize that the difference in fees between a starter and basic store are more different than I thought. I have some computers and parts to post so it might make sense to up my subscription for a bit.

[tori_729]

Thanks for all of the feedback!

The more I think about it, the more confusing it would be to have two different accounts. I really really like my store front b/c I can easily link it elsewhere and I'm a little OCD about sorting my categories. 🙂 

That being said, now that it's the first of the month, should I wait to upgrade until I use my listings up first or how would that work if I upgrade?

[nobody*s_perfect]

When you upgrade the level of your Store subscription, you immediately get access to all of the free insertions and other benefits that are attached to the new subscription, and you are immediately cut off from the leftover free insertions from the previous subscription. So if you want to maximize your free insertions for February, you'd use up the free insertions from you current subscription, before you upgrade.  The monthly subscription fee is prorated for the exact number of days you had each level of subscription, so postponing the upgrade can save you money that way too.

Two other relevant details: If you have an annual subscription, then the upgrade will re-set the calendar and you'll start over in Month 1 of your annual subscription. And listings that are already active when you upgrade will have the old final value fee rate until they roll over or are ended and relisted.

http://pages.ebay.com/stores/subscriptionterms.html

[tori_729]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

When you upgrade the level of your Store subscription, you immediately get access to all of the free insertions and other benefits that are attached to the new subscription, and you are immediately cut off from the leftover free insertions from the previous subscription. So if you want to maximize your free insertions for February, you'd use up the free insertions from you current subscription, before you upgrade.  The monthly subscription fee is prorated for the exact number of days you had each level of subscription, so postponing the upgrade can save you money that way too.

Two other relevant details: If you have an annual subscription, then the upgrade will re-set the calendar and you'll start over in Month 1 of your annual subscription. And listings that are already active when you upgrade will have the old final value fee rate until they roll over or are ended and relisted.

http://pages.ebay.com/stores/subscriptionterms.html

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Thanks. So if I have a monthly one, do the fvf rates only change on my new listings or will they take affect on any that sell after the upgrade?