Starter Store

[lindac871]

I have paid $4.95 for a Starter Store & will be billed monthly.  I sold on eBay two years ago but took a rest until now.  I'm reading through Community posts that as a new seller, I don't need a store, just list & sell. As I made a template for an item, there was no mention of my store name.  I need your advice on whether to try & stop monthly payments through eBay somehow (probably complicated as this whole process has been with so many new things) or continue. Also, I don't remember reading how many free listings I get with this subscription, if I decide to continue with it. I need your advice please!

[chapeau-noir]

I think a starter store is basically a 'get your feet wet' service - it's easier to try things out at $7.95 for a month than $29.95 or whatever a Basic store is.  It's not really meant to be an ongoing situation but some of us use it for other reasons than saving fees.  I used to have a premium store, then when GTC came in I was able to drop to a Basic store, saving me a good deal of money without diminishing my sales.  When I went to part-time, a starter store was really all I needed.  If I were an occasional seller or not more of a niche seller, I'd probably just list without a store, but looking at my traffic patterns both when we had Omniture and now, having some kind of storefront works for me.

[katzrul15]

 

[nobody*s_perfect]

I saw that; it's purple, not orange so I was clicking around to find something definitive and orange. Anyway, the point is that eBay's own resources contradict each other.

[katzrul15]

On my screen it is a pinkish orange.

Regardless, it states it there.  If you do not have a store, you get 250 free listings in select categories, correct?  Would stand to reason it would be the same for a $4.95 starter store based on the graphic in the link.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@katzrul15 wrote: ... it states it there.  If you do not have a store, you get 250 free listings in select categories, ....

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Yes, that's what the pinkish page says.

But at least two other pages state otherwise, as I've shown. The page that provided the second of the two images also states, "If you have a Basic, Premium, Anchor, or Enterprise Store, you can only use your zero insertion fee auction-style listings allocation in the following categories..." which implies (as does the accompanying chart) that Starter stores do not have those restrictions on their auction-format insertions.

[katzrul15]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@katzrul15 wrote: ... it states it there.  If you do not have a store, you get 250 free listings in select categories, ....

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Yes, that's what the pinkish page says.

But at least two other pages state otherwise, as I've shown. The page that provided the second of the two images also states, "If you have a Basic, Premium, Anchor, or Enterprise Store, you can only use your zero insertion fee auction-style listings allocation in the following categories..." which implies (as does the accompanying chart) that Starter stores do not have those restrictions on their auction-format insertions.

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Would make zero sense for $4.95 they would give you more than a Basic store would receive at $21.95/month.  

[katzrul15]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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@katzrul15 wrote: ... it states it there.  If you do not have a store, you get 250 free listings in select categories, ....

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Yes, that's what the pinkish page says.

But at least two other pages state otherwise, as I've shown. The page that provided the second of the two images also states, "If you have a Basic, Premium, Anchor, or Enterprise Store, you can only use your zero insertion fee auction-style listings allocation in the following categories..." which implies (as does the accompanying chart) that Starter stores do not have those restrictions on their auction-format insertions.

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I was making the comparison to no store vs starter store. 

[wastingtime101]

Can we get a Store policy clarification please velvet@ebay or jasmen@ebay?

This eBay page (LINK) says that a Starter Store comes with 250 listings that can be used in any category if the listing is fixed price, or in select categories if the listing is auction format.

This eBay page (LINK) says that a Starter store comes with 250 listings that can be used in any category whether the listing is fixed price or auction.

I was always under the impression that the Starter store listings were not limited to select categories, but that purple box from the first link states otherwise.

1. Which page is correct?

2. Can you submit the incorrect page to the Stores team to get it fixed?

[skeletonstore]

If you have enough items to sell and plan on being active you NEED a store.  You will not be able to place anything on sale.  Trust me ebay's algorithm prefers to see items on sale.  I would not cancel. The people who are saying you don't need a store probably don't sell much. I can not picture someone paying all the fees over 250 items without a store and succeeding.  

[katzrul15]

@wastingtime101 

FP are not limited.  AUCTIONS are limited to select categories.

https://export.ebay.com/en/marketing/ebay-store/why-get-ebay-store/

 

[wastingtime101]

Follow-up velvet@ebay and jasmen@ebay:

I spoke with someone that has a Starter store subscription and they confirmed that the white chart here is wrong:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/store-fees?id=4809#section2 

They confirmed that auction format listings are indeed limited to select categories for the Starter store.

Can we get that page updated to reflect accurate info? My proposed edit:

Thanks @katzrul15 for bringing this up. Turns out I've been giving out bad info about Starter stores all this time because I was going off the info from that white chart. I hate when eBay pages have wrong or misleading info. 

[eunster1313]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

@wastingtime101 

FP are not limited.  AUCTIONS are limited to select categories.

https://export.ebay.com/en/marketing/ebay-store/why-get-ebay-store/

 

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[katzrul15]

Yes and to make this even weirder............

If you look at all the linked pages to the last link I placed above (not confusing at all...lol)

It says the following, which based on the table shown applies to all stores:

Sellers can use the additional allocation of fixed price listings in the following select categories:

• Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop > Sports Trading Cards
• Toys & Hobbies > Collectible Card Games
• Collectibles
• Music
• Books & Magazines
• Movies & TV
• Video Games & Consoles > Video Games
• Stamps
• Crafts
• Home & Garden > Greeting Cards & Party Supply > Party Supplies

[katzrul15]

Here is the Comparison Table for Stores - Note the Red Circle, I added that includes an * to the Text

The * is placed on the Chart above to include all Stores, but as @nobody*s_perfect pointed out in her posts and now later as I have viewed additional sets of page references, they are all slightly different??

1 reference (cut and pasted in prior post) leads you to believe the limitations are tied to FP.  Other references it either does not state or infers it is tied to Auctions.

As @eunster1313 's graphic succinctly shows, it is a maze unfortunately. 

Hopefully those that @wastingtime101 tagged can shed some light on why it is different in so many places, charts, summary areas for e-Bay and what the actual intent of the Starter Store benefits actually are, which are nominal now with Sellers with no stores getting 250 free listings each month, that appear to also have category limitations, but who knows.    

[wastingtime101]

My understanding has always been that the white chart is accurate.

Starter store gets 250 listings. Period. No category restrictions.

All other store levels get :

1. a set number of auction format listings that do have category restrictions.

2. a set number of fixed price that don't have category restrictions.

3. another set of 'additional' fixed price that do have category restrictions.

As far as I'm concerned, the only question is surrounding the Starter store since there is conflicting info on different eBay pages about whether or not categories are limited when sellers use auction format.

The seller that told me there were restrictions on their Starter store auctions came back and told me they're no longer certain after I put up my last post. LOL.

So we'll need to wait for eBay to confirm one way or the other unless somebody reading here has a Starter store subscription and can check the "promotional discounts" section of their Seller Hub Overview page and let us know what it says.