Upgrade store before the month ends or wait until Oct 1?

[dees_den]

I sell collectibles + ephemera and took full advantage of free listings this spring.

I ended nearly 700 listings once they we were no longer free with the idea of relisting after my September two-week vacation and planned upgrade to a Premium store Oct 1.

Fires changed vacation plans and now wondering if it makes sense to upgrade BEFORE Oct 1, even though September is still, historically, a bum month for my kind of treasures. Sales horrible this month, likely because I ended so many listings.

Should I wait until Oct 1 or upgrade now to bump Sep sales? I understand a store upgrade brings more views and want to make the most of that moment. Thanks for your thoughts!

[femmefan1946]

A basic Store costs you $25 a month and gives you 250 "free" listings.

A premium Store costs you $75 a month and gives you 1000 "free" listings.

So it would cost you $50 monthly to upgrade, but your 700 Held listings would be available to customers.

But didn't we get more Free Listings in the Fall Update?

I don't think it is the upgrade that triggers Search, I think it is that upgrading sellers are also adding more listings, which definitely does trigger Search.

[chapeau-noir]

As far as I know, store upgrade has no inherent impact on views - there's no reason why it should save that a larger store will have more foot traffic because there are more items. 

IMHO, it doesn't really matter when you upgrade, it matters when you want to start listing more items, and I would personally base my decision on when I want to start stocking.  My philosophy is 'be prepared' - so if you think shopping uptick in October, I would start now to make sure I have plenty for people to see, so would probably upgrade now and get going with groups of listings, probably batching them so that there are always new listings being posted (instead of dropping them all in one big bunch).

[dees_den]

Basic currently receives 350 Free FP listings, 250 free auctions.

Managed Payments participants enjoy 1000 Free FP listings but I have not yet been asked to switch over so 350 is my current free limit for my current $20/mo store.

Premium is 59/mo  - btw at yearly level.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Some factors to consider:

When you upgrade a store subscription, you immediately get the full month's worth of free insertions, but the fee for the month is based on the number of days that you actually had the subscription. So if you upgrade in late September, you get all those free listings but pay only a fraction of the monthly cost. Or wait until October, but first use up your Basic store freebies, then upgrade.

If you upgrade an annual subscription,  the 12-month commitment re-sets.

Sellers who have Managed Payments get a huge number of additional free insertions, but they can only be used in specific selected categories (including Collectibles):

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

[mam98031]

What would be the upside of waiting?  I think you answered your own question unless you think you won't even increase your sales enough to cover the additional cost of the new store level!

With more variety in your listings typically come more views and hopefully purchases.  A store isn't what gets you more views, it is what you list.

[dees_den]

Excellent viewpoints all - thank you. Moving forward - happy sales to us all!