Starting an eBay Store

@toms65 (84)
United States
March 9, 2008 7:50pm CST
Has anyone here set up an eBay store? I was wondering how that is done or if I'm better off going to a place like Amazon to do this. Any help would be appreciated.
4 responses
@SweetTrix (1071)
• United States
10 Mar 08
My fiance has an ebay store and it costs $15.00 a month to run it plus the listing and final value fees of the items. He lists his items at a reasonable price and then makes sure shipping covers the fees, If he bought the items from a bulk lot then its mostly profit. He brought in $1,200 this month, hopefully more for next month considering I want a new car, lol. If you are selling items that sell well on ebay then you should be able to cover all the cost and make profit. Some people try to sell handmade things on ebay but I notice they don't do that well. Usually anything electronic sells well. I haven't tried Amazon stores so I wouldn't know, I only shop on Amazon when I get gift cards there. •¤•Good Luck•¤•
• United States
10 Mar 08
People who make profits on EBay have good descriptions of their items. An accurate description of a vintage or antique item can go a long way in raising the value of the final bid.
@SweetTrix (1071)
• United States
10 Mar 08
Having good descriptions of your items is a must. I have seen some actions that just say what the product is and no other details - if it is used, new, if there are scratches, dents, missing pieces, etc. Vintage items and antiques can go for a lot on eBay if, as you said, provide accurate information about them. I also think the title of the auction is important too, if its clearly stated then its bound to get bids, that is if its a good antique. I know coins sell okay on eBay as well. I bought a sheet of $2 bills for $15 about 4 years ago and checked on eBay and it was going for $52, I was gonna sell it but I figured I would wait.... maybe the value would go up more? I also think the seller rating and feedback are also important in selling well, if you have negative feedbacks I think that hurts your selling. Usually if a seller has more than 4 negative ones I am kinda wherry about buying from them.
• United States
10 Mar 08
Usually, if you don't have a picture or a description of a few sentences, there won't be many bids. Have you ever read those how-to-sell books and starter's guides, and are there any good information inside of them?
@Cocoa33 (921)
• United States
11 Mar 08
hi. well the first month was free to start. the fee is 14.95 per month i found the days went so quick, before i knew it. i was getting charged for the month. it took me a while to figure how the set up the website for ebay. there were separate features that ebay were charging to use, that were needed to operate the website. i was selling women's clothes, shoes,computer software, etc. i was being charged to post the picture of the item. if the item didn't sell. i wanted to try selling it again. i would charged again. the highest item was a pair of montego summer shoes. i charged 20.00 plus 15.00 for shipping and handling. i sold them. i did pretty good for this transaction. the rest of the stuff i sold for that price and under. the thing that really hurt was amount the fees were adding up to each month. although my prices were low. not many people were buying my items. i wasn't making the money back i was spending on ebay on fees each month. have a good day
@toms65 (84)
• United States
12 Mar 08
Thanks for the reply. Right now I have a decent amount of time to put into this, so I should not have that problem...for the time being, anyway. I'm definitely looking around the sites to see what is selling best and then doing some calculations to figure if I can make a profit. I have realistic expectations and know I have to put the effort into this if I expect to make money at it. Thanks again for the reply and the info. It's much appreciated.
@redfang (967)
10 Mar 08
when i was a powerseller on ebay i had a shop as well as running auctions and for me it went fairly well the reason for this was that i did not put up for auction the items i had for sale in my shop BUT i did have things from the same range, for instance if i were selling me to you bears ( a modern collectable ) i would not put the same bears on auction as i had for sale at a set price in my shop, this would be counter productive as people would rather wait and see if they can get the item a little cheaper on the auction BUT doing it the way i did meant that people were winning auctions then going and having a look in the store and buying one or two pieces out of there as well so in all it worked rather well, it all just depends how you do things and how you set it all out, you have to be clever about it. I did look at amazon a while back for selling a few bits and pieces on and i was hugely put off it by their over excessive fee's, i don't know how anyone makes any decent money from there to be honest i find it a total rip off. So what you really want to do is look at what it is you are selling and if you are a business seller ( as i was ) then think about what your doing and do it the right way it will have good results for you, if you are a private sellers just selling bits and bobs from around your home there is no point setting up a shop at all it's a waste of time and money. hope that is of some help to you.
@toms65 (84)
• United States
12 Mar 08
Thanks for the reply. It's good to hear from a powerseller. I appreciate the tip about separating auction and store items and the info about Amazon. At $14.95 a month for the store on eBay, it's a cost I feel I should be able to cover with the right products, given cost and profit margins, etc.
@Cocoa33 (921)
• United States
10 Mar 08
i have had one before. i wasn't happy with the results that i got. i found that i was spending more money in fees, than i was gaining in profit on selling the items that i had. i would say you are better off going with amazon. hope this help. have a good day
• United States
10 Mar 08
What were you trying to sell? How much did it cost to create your store and what was the highest bid you ever got for an item?