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 Replies: 19 / Views: 4,631 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1980 Posts |
i have wondered for a while if I should open a store or not on ebay what do you think is it worth it? how are the profit margins compared to online bidding will the ebay fees be more less? as many of you know I deal mainly in large cents and maybe list about 100 a month, all though I could list many more including other denominations, as well as stamps jewelery and other items. just not sure if I should open a store or not., I just feel that if I get lazy and I dont list stuff for a while I will not be selling anything but I will still have the monthly fee its about $40 a month for a store right? |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5394 Posts |
It is really a personal choice. For us it was the right thing to do. Since we opened the ebay store our sales increased dramatically, and our costs came down a fair bit. Others we have talked to say it is NOT worth it for them. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
You can subscribe by the month, that's what I did for a bit... It's certainly worth it...
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1505 Posts |
I guess the big question is this;
Do you have enough items to sell on a regular basis to support a store?
perhaps your supply will dry up?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7614 Posts |
Crunch the numbers to see if a store is worthwhile and benefits YOU. Unless you are a high volume seller it probably is not worth the expense. A store benefits ebay because you are paying a set fee every month. It is predictable income for them. That's why they "push" you to it and offer you piddley discounts and reports you probably won't ever look at. If you do decide to do the store thing do it on a month to month basis to see if it works. Do not lock yourself in to a long term commitment until you are sure that is exactly what you want to do. Good luck! |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5394 Posts |
Actually the discounts are pretty good and the reports are excellent tools for both a snapshot of what is going on and also accounting and tax purposes.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
And learn ALL ....again.....ALL of the caveats of being an ebay seller entails. Beside the cost...there is a considerable TIME factor involved as well. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
Plug your numbers into the calculator http://www.fees.ebay.ca/feeweb/feecalculator and play around with the options. A basic store gives you 150 listings for $20/month (unless you do the discounted annual commitment thing) and would probably be worthwhile for you. Try it for a couple of months and see how you like it. I wouldn't suggest going to a premium store until you're sure you're ready for the time commitment. 500+listings per month takes a steady couple of hours or so every day. If I remember correctly your final fee is cut to 6% and if you can earn your top rated status you get another 20% off that so it drops to 4.8%. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
805 Posts |
I did the basic store for a while, then decided that I was going to add stamps as well. So, I opened the annual subscription account. The fees are approximately 20% or less (I'm usually around 15% to 18% - perhaps selling higher or lower items will change as I saw kuh_85's average) for the month plus I can never list as many listings that are free for the month, so I don't have to worry about the basic listing fees. Once your dashboard reaches powerseller, you will receive 20% off extra fees as well. The qualifications have changed, so you don't have to a "big" seller to reap the benefits. Opening the store was a great decision, I am happy at how it is working out. I auctioned on ebay for about 12 years and had a store on BidStart. BidStart is cheap, cheap...but...your items may sit for years. If you think you can list enough every month on e-Bay, I would recommend it. The only drawback to opening a basic store and then upgrading is that there will be a month higher fees because of the billing pro-ration. Each invoice that you receive will show you what your percentage of fees are according to your value sold. Edited by steve123
11/26/2014 08:48 am
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1980 Posts |
thanks all for your input, still not sure what I should do...i might try it for a month or two and see how it goes..
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Forum Kid
Canada
1074 Posts |
for you gidjt, it might be worth it... I don't really know much about the benefits in which opening a store would give you. I guess just more advanced selling features. it might cost a lot more. yes supply is a big thing, we already know you can take great selling pictures, and we already know that you know what you are selling. Make sure you do not get committed for a year deal, like a cell phone right? Um, the other advice that I can give you is that you may or not be retired so make sure it does not eat up all of your time. Remember, ebay is going to make money off of you either way, so understand that they do it for money and not for friends. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5394 Posts |
An ebay store is much the same as a bricks and mortar operation. All the principles are the same. If you can make a profit it is worthwhile. If you are fooling around listing $5 items and getting $4.99 uh no , not recommended at all. As to putting in time, any successful business you will get back in spades time well spent. I just wish ebay had been around back when I had my shop! |
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Moderator
Canada
10456 Posts |
Jack, did we even have electricity back then?  "Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Valued Member
Canada
491 Posts |
I guess it all depends on if your willing to put the time and energy into it. If your doing it for fun because you have nothing better to do then no. Anything worth doing is doing it right
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
Another question to ask yourself: do you have a local place other than ebay where you can seel your coins at a lower fee or at no fee? Do you have a local dealer who buys coins from you? |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5394 Posts |
Roger umm lets .............. no electricity , but I had one heck of a delivery horse and every thing was paid for in gold certificates!  |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 4,631 |
Posted 11/25/2014 6:15 pm
