NO increase to free listings for starter store with managed payments

[lucyslocker15]

With the spring 2021 update, non store sellers and starter store sellers with managed payments both receive the same 250 zero insertion listings.  Why? There should be the advantage of more free listings when you are paying for a store of ANY level. The other stores free listings increased ALOT, but not the starter store. The starter store didn't even get 100 more listings. Why? 100 more free listings is cheaper to Ebay than thousands of free listings. Shouldn't Ebay help the small sellers grow also? All sellers are paying fees. I find it hard to value a starter store monthly cost now.  Why did Ebay ignore the starter store???? 

[chapeau-noir]

---

@lucyslocker15 wrote:

With the spring 2021 update, non store sellers and starter store sellers with managed payments both receive the same 250 zero insertion listings.  Why? There should be the advantage of more free listings when you are paying for a store of ANY level. The other stores free listings increased ALOT, but not the starter store. The starter store didn't even get 100 more listings. Why? 100 more free listings is cheaper to Ebay than thousands of free listings. Shouldn't Ebay help the small sellers grow also? All sellers are paying fees. I find it hard to value a starter store monthly cost now.  Why did Ebay ignore the starter store???? 

---

I'm a starter store, too, and our store level really is just for small timers - anyone who is going to be listing more is supposed to move up to basic - so we're kind of the red-headed stepchild.  We don't get the shipping supplies credit and I don't think we get the promotional listings credit.

At this point, the only advantage to a starter store that I can see is having better listings organization and a discrete footprint and 'brand' - that's fine as I've gone down to just part-time selling from full time, but if I had more listings I would simply move to Basic, which gives you all the perks.

[coffeebean832]

You're paying for more than just the number of listings. You're gaining access to offer sales and discounts, set up a storefront and more. You also get a discount on listings that go above the store allotment. It's a "starter" store because it's just supposed to get you started- and when you graduate from that level you can move on to a larger store.

If you don't need the bells and whistles that come with a store and the number of listings is the only thing that matters to you- then you can end your store subscription without the early termination fee penalty through April.

[chapeau-noir]

That's right - you can run sales, too.

One thing - I have more than a few people who actually shop my store.  That little footprint makes a difference. 

[katzrul15]

We decided to upgrade from Starter to Basic because the math just made sense - Starter (annual cost) @$4.95 with 250 listings and .30 cents for each one over did not make sense after they offered Basic @$21.95/annual plan with the increased number of listings.  The $17 investment is not only deductible, but we think it will pay for itself.

Would not consider giving up your store - a lot more work to do the listings without one and we use the Newsletters/Email marketing feature, use it for flyers that go in our parcels, use sales reports daily and it has Store Support to get a "live" person to call you.  

[farmalljr]

I'll be honest, eBay doesn't really want small timers. Think about it, store listing ability has grown by HUGE margins since this time last year. My premium store has grown from 1K listing plus some auction listings, to 61K  listings. eBay wants bigger stores/sellers/activity. 

Ebay is still letting small, small stores/individuals sell. For now anyway. My bet is in the future, selling will only be allowed by subscription base only. somewhere down the road anyway. 

To be truthful, people with a hundred listings aren't doing a thing for their platform. Then you have some with many accounts, using only free listings. eBay wants sellers to take this serious and list TONS of stuff. More offerings attract a wider and bigger audience. So there you have it. non stores and starters were given the bird, because eBay doesn't want them or really care about them. They want activity and big stores. I can tell you from my experience, there is a big difference in traffic when you grow big enough. 

If you aren't "mildly" serious about business (basic store), then eBay doesn't really care if you are here or not. They aren't going to "reward" you either, unless there is something in it for them.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@farmalljr wrote:

I'll be honest, eBay doesn't really want small timers. Think about it, store listing ability has grown by HUGE margins since this time last year. My premium store has grown from 1K listing plus some auction listings, to 61K  listings. eBay wants bigger stores/sellers/activity. 

Ebay is still letting small, small stores/individuals sell. For now anyway. My bet is in the future, selling will only be allowed by subscription base only. somewhere down the road anyway. 

To be truthful, people with a hundred listings aren't doing a thing for their platform. Then you have some with many accounts, using only free listings. eBay wants sellers to take this serious and list TONS of stuff. More offerings attract a wider and bigger audience. So there you have it. non stores and starters were given the bird, because eBay doesn't want them or really care about them. They want activity and big stores. I can tell you from my experience, there is a big difference in traffic when you grow big enough. 

If you aren't "mildly" serious about business (basic store), then eBay doesn't really care if you are here or not. They aren't going to "reward" you either, unless there is something in it for them.

---

The difference in traffic is generally due to simply having more stuff - what is important is sell-through.  Mine is the same with my starter store than it was when I had a premium store with a ton of stuff listed.  THAT is what eBay cares about because that is where the money is - you can have two thousand listings that just sit camped out on their bandwidth or 190 listings that are continually selling and making the site money.

No opinion about the multiplicity of accounts to get 'free' listings - I think the quality of merchandise on this site would improve if everyone had to pay something to list it (store fee or whatever), and micro-listings were re-introduced for certain smalls (cards, stamps, etc.), but mine is an unpopular opinion.

[gjs_16]

Because it doesn't matter, unless you're talking about a different account I see only 108 listings anyway, but if you still don't have enough with 250 get a Basic store... Simple, I've had a Basic store for years and to be quite frank this "free listings" increase baffles me, I've never even come close to the max allowance... So 200, 250, 350, 5 million, it's all the same to me and my ~140 listings.

[farmalljr]

Not gonna argue your points. All I will say is, eBay is going to reward a seller that does all their selling right, and has lots of stuff to sell buyers, with more traffic. Yes, it comes down to fees they collect, but they want to reward the sellers who will put in the work to sell the items to buyers, that keep buyers coming back. 

Just like if we went to a brick and mortar, we as buyers want to see all the shelves stuffed to the brim with variety. We will come back often.  As opposed to say a store with many empty shelves and little to no variety. 

eBay will reward sellers who make their shelves full, rather than the seller in the parking lot that has some stuff to sell from their car trunk. eBay knows what buyers are coming here for, hence why certain categories are rewarded more than others. 

[m60driver]

Yea, I stopped my starter store.  I mean it is kind of, to be polite, silly that they did not give a token increase in listings and I would have continued with my starter store for such a token increase .  It would have cost Ebay nothing and it would have still generated additional revenue.   It is just one of those business decisions that is simply unfathomable to this now retired business man of many decades experience.

[shado-x]

There should be the advantage of more free listings when you are paying for a store of ANY level. The other stores free listings increased ALOT, but not the starter store.

I like reading this.  When you start to complain about the Starter Store (a store that I had for 1 year and 2 months), then it is time to jump up to the Basic Store and have a boardroom session concerning the amount you are selling, what you are selling, how much the costs for a higher store will be verses the extra discounts, lower insertion and FVF fees, and sales that you will receive to offset it.  The difference of $17 more per month is definitely offset with the fee savings, a free $25 in shipping supplies per quarter, and that Teramack (is that spelt right) which I use maybe ... umm ... once per comet discovery, but I do use it in a moment (hope eBay buys Worthpoint).  LOL.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@m60driver wrote:

Yea, I stopped my starter store.  I mean it is kind of, to be polite, silly that they did not give a token increase in listings and I would have continued with my starter store for such a token increase .  It would have cost Ebay nothing and it would have still generated additional revenue.   It is just one of those business decisions that is simply unfathomable to this now retired business man of many decades experience.

---

I recall getting an increase in listings for my starter store.  At any rate, I like the other perks of having a store but can no longer source enough inventory to run a full-time operation or warrant a basic (or once upon a time premium) store.  Some of we little part-timer table-toppers are pretty good at the business, we're just small and have decided to stay small.  Agree, though, that if one is growing, at some point a basic store is the best option.  IMHO, the basic store is an excellent bargain.  I just can't fill one up anymore.