What are the Pros and Cons of an eBay Shop?

[The Cue Store]

I'm registered on eBay as a Business Seller and considering opening an eBay Shop, but what are the Pros and Cons of an eBay shop?

 

[wryrych]

We’ve been selling for 6 months now and I can write almost only about disadvantages.

eBay rips you off! Their fees are huge. But now I’ll tell about that made us furious – eBay standards and selling limits.

Back in January, when we started and had many problems as a beginner, a parcel from our supplier got lost. It causes several delays with dispatching. We got very low points from, IIRC, 8 people. Yes, only eight people!

Since then, and we have June now, even though we have one day dispatch time and customers are very happy, we are still ‘below standard’. It takes ages to improve it and we still have to wait one or two months. During this time we couldn’t add many products because of the limit.

Many people complain and I agree with it, that eBay treats customers better than sellers. At the beginning you have to be very, very careful how you deal with a customer. The nasty ones are able to stop your business from growing.

Perhaps others have better experience but we don’t. That’s why we are opening our own store.

 

[The Cue Store]

Sorry to hear about the problems you have had with eBay.

I've noticed that about their fees, as I've said in another thread I would have to increase my prices by 15% to cover just the normal selling fees etc. If I open a shop I have to factor in the £14.99 per month for the eBay shop as well.

 

[UrbanRetail]

Sorry to hear about the problems you have had with eBay.

I've noticed that about their fees, as I've said in another thread I would have to increase my prices by 15% to cover just the normal selling fees etc. If I open a shop I have to factor in the £14.99 per month for the eBay shop as well.

Having an eBay shop can actually save you money is most cases. Listing fees for most categories are £0.40 but drop to £0.10 with a shop.

Take this an example

100 item listings without shop = £40.00
100 item listings with shop = £24.99
Saving £15.01

eBay fees can be costly, but having a shop certainly does soften the blow.

 

[The Cue Store]

The saving for the insertion would cover the cost of the shop.

Then would caught with the Final Fees and PayPal.

Even though I use PayPal as my payment gateway on my website as well which in the long run would reduce their fees.

I need business to increase to take advantage of this and I thought having an eBay shop would help with.

 

[Laurenpears]

i do sell a few bits on ebay, but dont have a store but from what i can see the fees are HUGE now compared to what they used to be, and the power and control is all in the buyer.

On a few occassions i have purchased jewellery and its come with stones missing etc, ive messaged the seller and theyve sent another + a refund..... whilst im honest i know that others arent and probably do this with every purchase so beware!
I would ask for photographic evidence of the product, i have always supplied this when making a complaint.

 

[donna777]

Trying to launch my business on ebay and having the exacts same problem, too much in terms of fees and restrictions

 

[Twisterwebsites]

eBay takes a lot and then PayPal take about 4/5% as well! But is good to get known on eBay, you could consider it as a pic campaign as well as selling!

 

[camorra]

The likes of eBay and Amazon give an amazing opportunity to traders to increase their bottom line. Yes, ebay isn't what it used to be, but there is still some money to be made on the site.

I would recommend having an ebay shop/store with full contact details displayed, if you are a serious business. (as opposed to a 'side door' seller who wants to avoid paying income tax, by not declaring on ebay that you are a business). It will give your customers more confidence and make you look more professional. Also, if you have a featured shop or above, you can list products in your shop for only 5p per item GTC. Therefore, you will be able to have as many products as you like on show for a minmal investment, and you will only pay a final value fee if they sell.

People may knock ebay, but the ebay SEO/Marketing machine is enormous, so anyone who sells a competitively priced product, should always sell there.

 

[Giggleberries]

Lower profit margin because of the fees you have to pay them. Limited fraud protection as PayPal Pro is nowhere as good as other payment gateway services such as SagePay.

 

[camorra]

Lower profit margin because of the fees you have to pay them.

Lower profit margins than what? Yes, by all means, just have a website with limited or no traffic, no 1st page SEO and have a higher profit margin.

The alternative is to have a huge amount of traffic, sell much much more and have a lower profit margin.

I know which one I would have.

 

[The Cue Store]

cammaro, I am a serious business and I want it to be my future and something I can pass on to my kids when they are old enough.

How putting our full contact details on an eBay shop make it look more professional?

So you would go for the eBay Store then?

 

[camorra]

How putting our full contact details on an eBay shop make it look more professional?

One of the basic lessons in any legitimate business is transparency and customer confidence.

If the same new item was the same price from two different ebay sellers. One was a registered business seller with a good feedback and all verified contact details available and the other was not registered as a business seller, a good feedback and had no contact details available/visible. Who would you buy from? What about if you want to return the item for a refund?


My ecommerce businesses have several ebay stores under several ebay IDs/business trading names. So, the answer is yes, I would have an ebay store. You don't have to have the top end subscription. You can start with a basic and then move up to a featured store, as and when your profits increase.

The bottom line for trading on ebay is supply a good value product at lightning speed (i.e. Dispatch every day). Also, make sure that you provide good customer service (answer/resolve messages quickly and deal with returns). It is very simple. It is not rocket science.

 

[sparky011]

hi guys

there is obciously some experienced ebay sellers on the forum


can you please help me


i am looking to open a shop and place around 300 items on the site, how much will this cost and is the fees per month

 

[The Cue Store]

camorra, sorry for misspelling you username in my last post.

What if the business seller with the shop has no feedback which one would you deal with?

sparky011, you should be able to find information about fees for a shop and items here - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/storefees.html

 

[sparky011]

hi

yes i have looked at this already

what i realy wanted to know is if i have the 300 items on the store every month for 12 months do i pay an insertion, buy it now my monthly shop every month even if i fail to sell.

and if i do sell there would be end value, paypall fees on top

 

[camorra]

Sparky011, it is a pleasure to help.

If you are really going to list 300 items for sale at one time, then you should probably go for a featured shop. The cost being £49.99 sub fee per month, plus 0.5p per item to list (£15.00 for 300 items). A featured shop will get you more traffic than a basic and for the amount of products you want to list, the listing fees for a basic shop will be silly (£60 ish). A top end Anchor shop is in a different league (£350 a month), so will not benefit you at this early stage.

Of course, you have to also factor in the final value fee (when an item sells) to your selling price.

Hope this info and advice helps.

 

[sparky011]

Hi Camorra


can you explain the brake down on why a featured shop would benifit me more


please excuse the spelling

 

[The Cue Store]

I think it's because more people would see a featured shop and your items you also would get lower insertion fees.

 

[camorra]

Hey Sparky011,

I think I have made it pretty clear. If you want detailled final value fee costings, do a google search for 'ebay shop fees' and click the link.

Like I originally said. If you are really listing 300 items, then a featured shop will be best for you. Work it out for yourself (300 x 0.5p = £15). The £49.99 a month sub fee will get your shop more traffic than a basic (i.e. better search position in ebay shop search etc.,) plus it is cheaper overall for 300 products.

If on the other hand you are only listing a few items (10 or 20 etc.,), a basic shop is better value.

Do the math....

 

[sparky011]

Hi Camorra


Do appologise i read it wrong what you wrote in your last poste sorry for that,


still trying to get my head around ebay think its very complicated but imagin it will be ok once i get used to it.

dose a featured shop get more traffic as ebay promotes it more.


i see what you mean about it being cheaper as well, so my monthly fees would be 15.00 plus the 49.99 per month plus my other fees

 

[sparky011]

i take it the biggest complaint is the end value fee and the pay pall fee

 

[The Cue Store]

sparky011, what are you going to be selling as the Final Value Fee differs depending on what you are selling - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/businessfees.html

Yes that the main complaint is the Final Value Fees and PayPal fees but then they also change once your transactions increase - https://www.paypal-business.co.uk/accept-online-payments-with-paypal/index.htm

Hope this helps
https://www.paypal-business.co.uk/accept-online-payments-with-paypal/index.htm

 

[sparky011]

hi cue store


i am going to be selling electrical products ie cable sockets etc etc

 

[sparky011]

just been checking out paypall fees


3.4% + 0.20P for £1500 of transactions per month



whawwwww

 

[The Cue Store]

Should or guessed really by your Username lol

The percentage does go down the more you do per month as shown on the link I posted.

 

[sparky011]

if you think about that over a period of 12 months it might not be that bad


just looks like the final valuation fee is the big hit.

i take it also if i put the 300 items on every month do i pay insertion fees for them every month as well

 

[The Cue Store]

Yes you would as I said in your eBay Fees Thread - http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=2022234#post2022234

 

[camorra]

Hi Camorra

dose a featured shop get more traffic as ebay promotes it more.


i see what you mean about it being cheaper as well, so my monthly fees would be 15.00 plus the 49.99 per month plus my other fees

Yes, a featured shop gets better 'shop ranking' (this does not mean that the individual products will be higher in the search results. This depends on getting 'top rated seller' staus plus other factors).

Your fees would be £49.99 per month plus a one off cost of 0.5p per listing (not monthly). If an item sells, only then do you pay the final value fee. Of course, if the customer pays via Paypal, Paypal will take a processing fee dependant on how much money volume you put through them (the more money you put through them, the less the transaction fee).

 

[camorra]

Oh....and I forgot to mention that for 0.5p, you can list 100's, even 1000's of items (the same product). Therefore, if you product is popular, it will rise higher in the search results, due to the amount of time it will be active (how long will it take to shift 1000 widgets for example).

You will only pay the final value fee for each item that is sold from the listing. Get it?

 

[internetspaceships]

Respectfully Sparky i would also employ someone to write your auctions for you.

 

[sparky011]

hi

yes i have my hosting company that is taking care of all of that

 

[internetspaceships]

You're paying a hosting company to write your auctions?

Err what exactly are you going to be doing?

 

[cholland]

If you are on a budget then the basic shop is cheaper for only 300 items?

Basic shop - £14.99
Featured shop - £49.99

Basic insertion fees - £0.10 x 300 = £30
Featured insertion fees - £0.05 = £15

Totals -

Basic shop - £44.99
Featured - £64.99

Being a featured shop has minimal impact on shop rankings.

 

[sparky011]

You're paying a hosting company to write your auctions?

Err what exactly are you going to be doing?

Sorry what do you mean by write my auctions

 

[internetspaceships]

Honestly? You can't spell and your ebay shop is your window to the world. Mis spelled auctions are not the best advert on the planet.

 

[sparky011]

listen you dont have to worry about my spelling, not every one in the world is perfect if you have a problem doint join in the post

 

[internetspaceships]

You might want to listen to what I'm saying here. I sell a lot on ebay and on other media too. Ive been doing it over 15 years too.

You need to be able to take the truth from people without chucking your teddy out of the pram if you want to be successful.

Trust me you need to write literate auctions. If you cannot do it then employ someone who can.

 

[sparky011]

i dont mind taking truth from people not a problem thats why i am on here to get sensible advice, if you bothered to read the thred from start to finish you would have seen that i have already appologised for my spelling,

dyslexia is not to be taken the mick out off its something that millions of people have to deal with on a day to day basis.


to be honist with you i dont have to be successfull with my site as i am already a very very sucessfull business man,

i have my own team of guys that do all the work for me so spelling is not an issue to me

but hey if thats all you have to complain about then at least your not doing it to some one else

 

[internetspaceships]

Dyslexia? Do come on.

I employ people who have that. They are more careful about their spelling than non dyslexic people. They never use it as an excuse, especially when there is a spell checker available.

I was genuinely trying to help with my advice but excuse me when I say that I'm skeptical about your team of guys based upon your knowledge so far.

However, good luck there and I wish you all the best.