Build an eBay Business Part 1

Develop a Business Plan

You don’t have to hire a $250-an-hour consultant to create a business plan for
you. Unless you are seeking funding from financial institutions (in which case,
see the “Getting Professional Help” QuickFacts later in the chapter), a business
plan can be simply a written statement, coalescing your vision and goals,
financial resources, and a description of the products you want to sell and the
customers you want to reach. Many experts today think that spending much
time on a business plan instead of getting in and experiencing what is needed
to sell your product is counterproductive; that is, the plan itself is not the real
value. Rather the planning itself—finding and working
through potential problems and obstacles you may
encounter is the value of a business plan. That said, the
plan offers a sanctuary to return to when you find yourself
buried in the trenches of day-to-day eBay selling. When
time is of the essence and decisions that affect the longterm
success of your business come up, it’s nice to be able
to dust off that business plan and refer to the principles
that got you going in the first place.




Planning Your eBay Business

Create a Business Plan
If you’ve never created a business plan before and are daunted by the prospect,
don’t let that stop you. Like many other first-time endeavors, the hardest part
is just starting. Start by creating broad strokes, and then fill in the details as
required by external sources (such as loan officers and vendors) and by your
own needs.

OUTLINE YOUR EBAY BUSINESS

So what are you really trying to accomplish by ramping up your current eBay
sales or moving your current traditional business to eBay? Three common tools
that businesses use to help clarify their raison d’être (reason to be) and where
they see themselves in the future can help you focus your ideas for a business
plan. In fact, coalescing your ideas into a few categories may be all you need for
a business plan that doesn’t require external financing. In The One Page Business
Plan by Jim Horan, these categories, along with a few others, could comprise
your business plan:

• The Vision Statement lets you dream on paper. Place your idealistic thoughts as to what you want your business to be into words, for example, “to create a presence on eBay recognized as the go-to seller for vintage women’s clothing.”
• The Mission Statement, at its core, describes the purpose of your business, for example, “to provide quality, interesting, and functional articles of vintage clothing.”
• Goals and Objectives list what you want your business to accomplish in specific, measurable terms, for example:
• Maintain a minimum of 100 items for sale on my eBay Store and 25 auction listings at all times.
• Reach PowerSeller sales volume within one year (see the “Becoming a PowerSeller” QuickSteps).
• Reduce returned items by 20 percent.
• Become a trading assistant in six months.
• Attend eBay Live!

INVESTIGATE RESOURCES

• Learn as much as you can from free resources, such as the library and government
or business Web sites. The Small Business Administration (SBA) (www.sba.gov) and
Entrepreneur.com, Inc. (www.entrepreneur.com) offer a plethora of information on starting
a business and creating business plans and include links to supporting resources.
• Practice writing a business plan by using tutorials. CIT Small Business Lending
Corporation (www.smallbizlending.com/resources/workshop/sba.htm), an SBA lender,
provides a two-part tutorial.
• Purchase business plan software or templates. Sample
plans get you going, and most packages provide
supporting documents and other assistance. Business
Resources Software, Inc. (www.businessplans.org) is a
popular choice.
• Gather all required documents and data.

Implement Your Business Plan

The business plan is a living document. You cannot simply click Save and
place the file four layers deep in your Documents folder, or pull the final
draft from the printer and file it away in the back of a file cabinet drawer. For
the document to be effective, it needs to be presented to others, periodically
reviewed by you, and assessments turned into actionable changes.

1. Review the plan internally and externally, with business professionals, such as loan
officers, SBA online counselors, and SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)
volunteers, taking a look at it.
2. Before providing the plan to others whose money, resources, or assistance you seek,
create a professional presentation package:
• Create a cover letter to introduce the business plan to the recipient. Summarize
any prior communications and the purpose of your proposal.
• Create a title page that provides key information about your eBay business (see
Figure 1-2). Also, if your plan includes any information you consider proprietary, add
a confidentiality or copyright notice.
• Include a table of contents to help readers understand the scope of your plan and
assist them in navigating through it.
3. Post elements of the plan where you and your employees will be constantly reminded
of its underlying principles.
4. Update the plan whenever major changes occur or new ideas are brought forth.
5. Review the plan periodically to measure how close you are toward reaching your goals
and objectives.

QUICK FACTS:
DESIGNING A BUSINESS PLAN
The basic sections of a business plan are:

• The Business includes a description of your eBay business, marketing plans (see “Market Your Business” earlier in the chapter), your competition, operating procedures, personnel, and business insurance.

• Financial Data describes any loan applications, capital equipment and supply lists, a break-even analysis, and financial statements, such as a balance sheet, profit and loss projections (out to three years; by month the first year, by quarter for years two and three), budgets, and a cash flow report.

• Supporting Documents includes copies of a franchise (for example, Worldwide Brands X, an eBay drop-ship wholesaler), leases or purchase agreements for building space, licenses and other legal documents, letters of intent from suppliers, and résumés and personal financial data on all partners.

Market Your Business

As part of the business plan, or as its own plan, a marketing plan, along with a
timetable to carry it out, clarifies your big-picture marketing strategy, identifies your
target market (or audience), and helps you match your product to that audience.

Fortunately, eBay does a great deal to help its sellers make buyers aware of the
products and services they offer. You can distinguish your business by using
the tools provided by eBay, using third-party tools and services, and harnessing
your own creative efforts summarized in a marketing plan (see Chapter 2 for
specific selling strategies).

Apply a Marketing Strategy

The foundation of any marketing strategy is known as The Four Ps. The
following sections describe how to apply these to a potential eBay business.

DEVELOP YOUR PRODUCT

It’s always best to sell a product that people want. (It tends to increase sales!) In
order to determine what to sell:

1. Research your customer base (eBay members) and see
what people are buying:

• View Completed Listings for products you’re
thinking about selling.

• Check out What’s Hot on eBay (click Site Map; under
Selling Resources, click What’s Hot). You’ll see the
categories of merchandise that will be promoted by
eBay on the home page and via e-mails, as seen in
Figure 1-4.

2. Sell what you understand. Become knowledgeable
about a product line so people come to rely on you as a
source of expertise.

3. Sell what interests you. The passion for your product line
will become evident in every facet of your business.

4. Sell what makes you money. The purpose of a for-profit business is just that, making a
profit. If you run the numbers and determine you cannot sell the product for more than
your acquisition, shipping, and overhead costs, it’s time to change products.



PLACE YOUR PRODUCT

eBay defines your primary sales channel, but there
are several ways you can leverage your eBay business
with other selling venues. Developing synergy
between your eBay business and a traditional retail
business, for example, allows you to combine the
two separate sales channels into a common profitgenerator.

PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCT

Promotion gets the word out about your product to your target audience. In
eBay, you have several promotional upgrades and features you can apply to your
listings (see Chapter 4 for general information and Chapter 10 for eBay Store
promotions). Examples of other promotional actions you can explore include:

• Use the cross-promotional feature available in eBay Stores to promote your auction
listings along with your Store inventory items as a PowerSeller (see the “Becoming a
PowerSeller” QuickSteps).

• Use eBay’s Marketing Tools found in My eBay to customize your responses to
buyers, such as Customize End Of Auction Emails or Custom Invoice.

• Enhance your About Me page, to provide in-depth information about you, your company, and your product (see Chapter 10 for information on creating an About Me page).


PRICE YOUR PRODUCT

Pricing strategies are not unknown to an eBay seller. Most of the same
considerations apply to selling an occasional item as to selling many. Whether to
set a reserve price, where to start a bid price, and whether to add a Buy It Now
option are familiar to anyone who has climbed the eBay selling ladder. And, as
we all know, there is no perfect answer—if there were, we’d all be doing it.

NOTE:

When pricing your product pay particular attention to the
shipping price. eBay is offering incentives for sellers to
have free shipping for the products they sell. Also, some
products, such as books, CDs, DVDs, video games and
similar products are limited in how much the seller can
charge the buyer for shipping. Investigate this thoroughly.

TIP:
To really dig deep into selling trends for a particular
product, such as patterns, market size, competition,
pricing and profit margins, and other marketing research,
consider subscribing to eBay Marketplace Research, a
market research company that provides advanced data
on market opportunities

TIP:
The About Me page is like free advertising for you as
a seller—an opportunity not to be missed. You have a
chance to give potential buyers information about you
and your business, your products, your policies, and
other selling information. You can even have a link to your
Web site on the About Me page (with several eBay policy
caveats). Chapter 10 describes how to create an About
Me page.

Create a Marketing Plan

The marketing plan combines your product analysis and research into a
document that provides a road map you can use to implement actions, schedule
events, and quantify costs.

1. Target the plan to its audience. With a marketing plan used to procure financing, an
executive summary covering your marketing strategy should suffice. A more detailed
plan is needed for internal use and decision making.
2. Start with a narrative overview of your plan. Include a summary, a market overview as
you see it, your marketing strategy, and goals and objectives (see “Create A Business
Plan” earlier in the chapter).
3. Develop a marketing budget.
4. Set up a system to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.

Choose a Business Entity

When you establish a business, government entities at all levels will want
to share in your success, from the $10 local municipality business license to
the double hit the federal government imposes on collecting Social Security
tax. The type of entity you choose will have serious tax, reporting, and legal
consequences, so take the time to consult with professionals and business
people to see what makes the most sense for you.

Establish Your Business Entity

Key steps in setting up your business entity are:

1. Choose a business entity based on several factors, including:
• Tax considerations
• Legal protections/liabilities
• Ownership issues
• Time involvement
a. (See the “Understanding Business Entities” QuickFacts for information on how
these factors are incorporated into various entities.)
2. Obtain an EIN (Employer Identification Number) or federal Tax ID number for your
entity by submitting an IRS Form SS-4. (Sole proprietors use their Social Security
numbers.)
3. Register your entity with your state department of revenue or analogous office. This will
also get you on board with state unemployment and Labor & Industries (L&I) offices.
(Sole proprietors don’t have to worry about unemployment and L&I.)
4. Understand the taxes and reporting required of your business entity—for example,
payroll (FICA, FUTA, and Medicare), federal and state income, state unemployment,
and sales. Know when each is due, and do not fail to file on time. (Corporate filings are
taken quite seriously by the IRS and other affected offices.)
5. Obtain city or other local municipality business licenses. Consider zoning laws—for
example, if you sell large items that require shipping trucks to pick up and deliver
goods.
6. Set up business financial accounts, such as a
checking account and credit/debit cards.
7. Join or subscribe to associations or other business
societies to be recognized as a viable business in
that industry.

QUICK FACTS:
UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS
ENTITIES

The typical business entities recognized by local, state,
and federal authorities include the following.

SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP

This is the simplest entity to establish for a single
owner, typically requiring only state fees to obtain a
business license to get a business started and few, if
any, recurring fees. Tax preparation is relatively easy, as
all income is treated as personal income. Easy setup
and maintenance is offset, however, by lack of special
business income tax benefits and exposure of personal
assets to business liabilities—for example, if your
company is sued, so are you.

PARTNERSHIP

Easy to set up and maintain, a partnership agreement
should be crafted to consider all eventualities, including
dissolution, departure of a partner (this can be tricky; it’s
good to think things through early), and management
control. The main difference between general and limited
partnerships is the classification and liability of members:
• General partnerships are comprised of two or
more members who share individual responsibility
for taxes and liability of the business concern.
• Limited partnerships provide for two classes of
partners: general and limited. General partners
share similar responsibilities to those in a general
partnership. Limited partners do not share in
the management of the partnership and are not
personally liable for any more than their individual
investments in the company.

CORPORATION

Corporations are the most expensive entities to create
and maintain (think board meetings, minutes, issuance
of stock, and so on), but can be bought and sold, either
privately or publicly (although this is not really practical
for an S corporation due to a limit on the number of
stockholders), and enjoy some favorable tax treatment.
Corporations are a separate legal entity and generally
shield owners (called shareholders) from personal liability:
• C corporations are what govern the largest
companies in corporate America. Not generally
associated with small startups, these corporations
are taxed at the entity level, and shareholders are
also individually taxed on dividends.
• S corporations provide the personal liability
protection of a C corporation but “pass through”
the corporation’s income to the shareholders’
personal tax obligation, avoiding the “double-tax”
issue. This is usually a better option for most
smaller businesses.

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY

A limited liability company (LLC) combines many of the
favorable tax treatments of a corporation with personal
liability protection and the management structure of a
partnership. The rules governing LLCs vary state to state,
so check with a tax or business professional in your area
to see if an LLC might be a better option in your case
than an S corporation. Key differences between the two
are that an LLC can be owned by non-U.S. citizens and
nonresident aliens, while an S corporation can be owned
only by U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens; and
an LLC may have any number of shareholders, while an
S corporation is limited to 75.

Read more...

Build an eBay Business Part 2

Solicit Help

Everyone who started an eBay business was at one point an eBay “clueless
newbie.” For those who persisted to reach PowerSeller status, a great deal of
time, effort, and probably some money was expended to make that transition.
The experience of those who have traded before you is a great resource to
utilize, especially since much of it is free. To avoid many of the pitfalls of setting
up a business, consider free sources of professional assistance, but don’t totally
dismiss hiring paid professionals when needed to fill in any coverage gaps.

Tap into the eBay Community

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get advice from other eBay business
people.

JOIN DISCUSSION BOARDS AND GROUPS

Online discussion boards and groups provide focused topics that you can join
to communicate with others and share selling and business ideas.

TIP:
Many banks will provide a business account for you
and will also provide you with credit card processing
services. Prices for these services can vary widely, so
check all costs and fees before opening an account
for your business. It is not widely known, but many
banks will negotiate some of the credit card processing
costs, and in some cases, you can get them to provide
the necessary equipment at no cost. Also, check out
aggregators, such as Costco Business.

ATTEND WORKSHOPS

Workshops are a special form of a discussion board that covers a particular
eBay topic during a scheduled time. If you cannot be at your computer during a
workshop, not to worry—workshops are archived for several weeks.
1. Click Community on the Bay header.
2. On the Community Hub page, under News, see the workshops that are being
scheduled. Under Education, click Workshops and click the link to join a workshop in
progress.
–Or–
On the Workshop Calendar page, click Archives on the sidebar to view a listing of past
workshops.
–Or–
On the Workshop Calendar page, click Host Your Own Workshop on the right sidebar
to e-mail a request to the eBay staff to run your own workshop.

QUICK FACTS:
FUNDING YOUR eBAY BUSINESS

There’s nothing terribly unique about funding an eBay
business as compared to other businesses. Some of the
types of equipment you use will be particular to selling
online (for example, computer equipment and auctionmanagement
software), and possibly your inventory will
be unique to the types of items you sell.

FUNDING OUTLAYS
Where your startup money’s going to go:
• Equipment (computer system, camera/mini-studio,
auction-related software)
• Inventory (merchandise and items to sell)
• Operating capital (rents, payroll, phone, utilities,
professional fees, shipping fees, listing fees)

FUNDING SOURCES
Where your startup money’s coming from:
• Self-financing
• Investors
• Borrowing

ATTEND EBAY LIVE!

eBay Live! (see Figure 1-9) is the love-event for all things eBay. The convention
lets you access eBay staff; attend classes, lectures, and forums; visit vendors and

exhibitors; and rub elbows with others in the biz. Attendees at eBay Live! are eager
to share their experiences with other sellers. This is your chance to get information
that will not be available again on a face-to-face basis until the next event.

Get Personal, Free
Consulting

The Seller OnRamp feature within eBay provides
a great free consultation service for those who
do not have much eBay selling experience. Simply call a toll-free number
during normal business hours, and speak with a live Seller OnRamp marketing
consultant. Once you explain your situation, the consultant will start you on a
program to reach your immediate goals.
1. Click Site Map on the eBay header; under Selling Resources, click Seller Central.
2. On the Seller Central page, click Advanced Selling. Under Seller OnRamp in
Business Solutions, click Schedule Your Appointment. The Seller OnRamp page
displays, as shown in Figure 1-10.

TIP:
You can keep abreast of the most current trends and
activities on eBay by simply listening to eBay Radio a
few hours every week (see in Figure 1-12). Using the
multimedia equipment on your computer (speakers,
soundboard, and media player), you can listen to the
live show with “Griff,” the dean of eBay University, or
play back a show from the archives. The live show is
broadcast Tuesdays from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M. PST. This is
followed from 1 to 2 P.M. by an “eBay Radio PowerSeller
Show.” Then, too, there is an “eBay Radio Ask Griff” every
Thursday from 5 to 7 P.M. PST. To attend the live shows
or to listen to past shows, check the Calendar Events on
the Community Hub to access a link to the site.

Read more...

Build an eBay Business Part 3

Developing Selling Strategies and Inventory

To operate a successful business on eBay, you need to
consistently offer items for sale that buyers are interested
in purchasing. The key to consistent selling is to have a
steady stream of product available to list and to develop
selling strategies that keep you one step ahead of the eBay
competition. These concepts are true whether you sell unique
and hard-to-find items or if you volume-sell a single product.
In this chapter you will learn how to develop and apply
strategies to help you sell your product and stand out from the
competition, and how to become a good buyer (or purchaser)
and procure items (or inventory) to sell beyond the yard sales
and thrift stores where many of us started finding items to sell.

Develop Sales Strategies

Two basic sales strategies are employed on eBay, although there are an infinite
number of variations on these two central themes:

• Sell fewer, more expensive items, where each sale provides the opportunity for a
high profit.
–Or–
• Sell more, less expensive items, with each sale providing a small profit.
For example, you can sell one antique Oriental rug and retain a profit of
hundreds of dollars, or you can sell hundreds of battery-operated bug swatters
and net $1.50 per sale. From a profit standpoint, the businesses are a wash, but
there are other factors to consider:

• Selling unique items requires you to be a specialist in that genre, or at least highly
knowledgeable. eBay buyers want reliable and accurate information on items, and your
inexperience with an item will be obvious to an informed pool of bidders. Also, there is
typically a smaller pool of buyers for unique items than for mass-market items. If you
are a specialist in a specific area, you are more likely to develop repeat customers.
If you want to be a specialist in one area, you should be flexible enough to consider
other types of merchandise outside your current area of expertise.

• Volume selling can be labor-intensive. Each transaction requires time to process, ship,
respond to inquiries, deal with buyers who don’t pay, and all the other details involved
in completing a sale on eBay. You can use certain techniques to minimize time spent
on a transaction (see “Use Drop-Shipping” later in the chapter and Chapters 4 and 5
for information on using software tools, such as Turbo Lister and Selling Manager/
Selling Manager Pro), but many charge a fee for the services provided.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong, better or worse, sales strategy to pursue.
Depending on your interests, merchandise availability, and the time you have
to devote to the eBay business, you can successfully employ either strategy or a
blend of the two.


Sell by Volume

Volume sales concentrate on selling a lot of a few items. You can achieve several
economies of scale by selling more and more of the same item:

• Negotiate better prices with your supplier. The price per item you pay is lower if you
buy in bulk.

• Listings are similar, if not the same. You can leverage the work you do creating a
listing, thereby lowering your transaction costs per item.

• Packaging becomes cookie-cutter. The item’s weight, dimensions, insurance,
and other packaging considerations are static and allow you to obtain quantities
of packaging material at a lower cost. Labor time and cost are also reduced as the
process becomes rote and more efficient.

eBay offers several features that help you sell similar or multiple items (see
“Acquire Inventory” later in the chapter for information on finding multiple
items to sell).

SELL MULTIPLE ITEMS AT A FIXED PRICE

In a fixed-price listing, you sell all items for a fixed price. Bidders enter the
number of items they want at your fixed price. After each sale, the quantity
of items is reduced by the number sold in that particular auction. The listing
remains active as long as there are items to sell; it closes when the quantity of
items is zero.

SELL LOTS

Lots are packages, groups, or collections of the same or similar items.
For example, you could sell 200 scarves in groups of ten. You can choose
to sell items at a fixed price, such as $8.99 per lot, or you can list them as
auction items. Enter the number of lots and the number of items per lot in the Quantity area of
the Sell Your Item form.

You may need to click the Add Or Remove Options link to find the Lots entry
box. Some pointers to consider when selling lots:

• Don’t add too many items per lot. Although people like buying in Costco-sized
quantities, there is a point of diminishing returns. For example, in the field of collectible
magazines, you often see a single issue sell for $15. At the same time, another seller
will offer a lot of 20 similar issues that only sells for $25. Typically, the buyers of such
lots are dealers, who break the lots up and sell them individually.
• Keep the lot starting price low to attract bidders.
• Add the number of items per lot and the most commonly searched keyword for bulk
items—“lot”—to the listing’s title. For example, “Entire Lot Gone to Dogs—50 Brand
New Nylabones.”
• Package lots to sell in the sweet spot of lot sales: $150–$1,500 (source: eBay Live!).
• List in the Wholesale subcategory (available under many categories, using Search).

Target Selling with Your Sales Data

To assist you in analyzing your sales data so you can make listing decisions, such
as which sales format to use (bidding or fixed-price), what listing durations and
ending times seem most effective, which categories are doing best, and several
other sales metrics, you can receive Sales Reports from
eBay. The basic (although limited) Sales Report is free
(your seller’s account must be in good standing, must
have sold at least one item in the last four months, and
must have a feedback rating of at least 10). The more
robust Sales Report Plus incurs a $4.99 monthly fee but
doesn’t have minimum requirements to subscribe.

1. Click Site Map on the eBay header.
2. Under Selling Tools, click Sales Reports.
3. On the Sales Reports Overview page, view the side-by-side comparison of
the products:

• To sign up for the basic Sales Report, click the Sales Report Sign Up Now button, click Sales Reports (Free), and click I Agree To These Terms. If you don’t meet the requirements for a free subscription, you
will be offered only the Sales Reports Plus option.

• To sign up for Sales Reports Plus, click the Sales Reports Plus (Free)
Sign Up Now button, and click the I Agree To These Terms button.
After accepting the terms and conditions, you’ll receive a congratulatory
page and an e-mail with welcome information.

4. View your report from My eBay (your initial report might take up to three
days to generate). Under My Subscriptions on the sidebar, click Sales Reports. Your Sales Summary will look similar to Figure 2-4.


Gain a Competitive Awareness

eBay is a highly open market—there aren’t many secrets associated with a
transaction. This can be a proverbial double-edged sword at times. If you find
an item that sells extremely well, it won’t be long before others pick up on
your good fortune. It may be simply the product you are selling that increases
your sales, the category where it’s listed, the appearance of your listing, or a
combination of these and other factors. Conversely, there’s nothing stopping
you from mining competitor information on eBay (and beyond) and picking the
best-of-breed data to emulate. To this end, eBay goes out of its way to share best
practices, lessons learned, and success stories. (eBay makes money, regardless
if you or your competitor succeeds, but they would rather see you both do well
and pass along those listing and final value fees!) Consider integrating these
practices into your eBay business:

• Research Completed Items listings in the categories where you sell:

• View other listings and see if your listing looks as professional as theirs (see
Chapter 4 for information on improving your listings).

• See what type of listing format seems to be getting top dollar. Are top sellers using
fixed-price listings or letting the bidding process do the heavy lifting for them?

• Check the return and shipping policies of your competitors. Especially in lower-priced,
competitive sales, shipping costs can quickly sway a buyer from one listing to another.

• Stay tuned to the pulse of eBay by visiting the Community Hub and browsing
discussion boards, workshops, and the latest announcements.

• Determine current trends:

• Check out the eBay Merchandising Calendar to see what categories eBay will be
highlighting on the home page in the next few months. Click Site Map on the eBay
header, click Seller Central (under Selling Resources), and click What’s Hot on the
sidebar.

• See what buyers are searching for by
category. From Seller Central, click
Category Tips. Scroll to the category
you’re interested in, and click the In
Demand link. Top searches are listed
according to subcategories.

• Read trade periodicals (for example,
Antique Trader, Sports Collectors
Digest, Hemmings Motor News, and
Comics Buyers Guide) for insight into sales from storefront businesses.

• Peruse retail catalogs (Williams-Sonoma) to see what Madison Avenue is telling
everyone will be the latest must-have items.

QUICK STEPS:
MAKING IT EASY FOR YOUR
BUYERS

A timeless sales strategy and competitive advantage is
to make the buying experience easy and straightforward
to entice buyers to return to your sales outlet. eBay offers
several features you should consider that relieve the buyer
of anxiety and make the purchasing process simpler.

USE COMBINED PAYMENTS

To make it more convenient for repeat buyers to make
payments, you can combine the payments on multiple
purchases so the buyer only has to make one payment.
Besides the ease of making just one payment, the buyer
might then qualify for discounts you offer based on the
final purchase amount (and you can save in PayPal
fees). To offer combined payment, follow these steps:

1. In My eBay, under My Account, click Site
Preferences.

2. Under Selling Preferences, click Show
for Shipping Preferences. The Site
Preferences window expands to show
shipping preferences.

3. Click Edit to open the My eBay:
Combined Payments And Shipping
Discounts page.

4. On the Combined Payments rule, click Edit:

• On the Edit Combined Payments dialog box,
verify that a check mark is next to Allow Buyers
To Send One Combined Payment For All Items
Purchased.

• Set the Time Period For Combined Purchases
to the time period you want.

5. Click Save.

USE SHIPPING DISCOUNTS

You can combine shipping discounts by specifying rules
for flat shipping (when your items are combined into
one package using the flat-rate shipping costs) or for
calculated shipping (where your buyer’s shipping cost
is based on his or her ZIP code, promotional shipping
discounts (where you may offer special discounts to
promote your listings), and insurance offerings.
To enable the shipping discounts features for existing
listings:

1. In My eBay, under My Account, click Site
Preferences.
2. Under Selling Preferences, click Show for Shipping
Preferences. The Site Preferences window expands
to show shipping preferences. Click Edit.
3. Under the Combined Shipping Discounts area,
click Create to open a specific shipping rule pane.
4. On the specific shipping rule pane, either open
the drop-down menu and click the option you
want, or click the option buttons. Follow the tips to
set your shipping rules.
5. When you have selected the option you want,
click Next and a message will be displayed with
the options you have set.
6. Click Save.

Establish an eBay Brand

Ask anyone in Outer Mongolia if they’d like a Coke, and they’ll probably smile
and say, “Yes, thank you.” They may never have drunk one, but chances are they
know what it is. Ask these same people if they’d prefer an “Acme Cola,” and
they will probably give you a blank look. The difference is that Coca-Cola (and
its variants) is one of the world’s most recognized brands, while Acme Cola isn’t
well known beyond the bathtub it’s made in. The classic definition of a brand is
a name, design, term, or symbol that identifies a product. As an eBay business,
chances are you didn’t make the product you’re selling
(although there are many craftspeople who sell their
wares on eBay), but you still can work on establishing
an identity on eBay that buyers will remember and
trust. Brand loyalty can be a powerful prime mover for
repeat sales. Four areas exist where you can personalize
your eBay business’s presence and create a branding
aura for you and/or your product.

DESIGN A KILLER LISTING TEMPLATE

Just as many books are judged by their covers, the fortunes of many eBay sellers
are made or lost based on their listing templates. A template that has too few
pictures, doesn’t show enough detail, lacks depth in its description, or whose
layout conveys amateurism can quickly turn off a prospective buyer. Develop
the skills to work with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the language
used to create Web pages, or get someone to create a listing template for you.
eBay provides many templates you can use for free, but much like clip art,
it tends to lose its effectiveness when viewers notice it used elsewhere. See
Chapter 4 for an in-depth dissection of eBay listings.


CREATE A LOGO

The easiest way to personalize your business or product is with a logo.
Consistency is the key element in establishing a brand. That is, consistency
in how your design complements your business, product, or organization
(nonprofit charitable organizations are discussed in Chapter 9). The design
should be simple and small enough to see clearly on eBay promotional venues,
such as About Me pages and eBay Stores.

EMPLOY AN ABOUT ME PAGE

An About Me page lets you showcase your brand. You can add information
about your business, display listings you have for bid, show feedback you’ve
received, and provide links to off-eBay Web sites, including your own (see
Figure 2-5). Chapter 10 describes how to create an About Me page.

CROSS-PROMOTE

The adage “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” aptly applies to the
use of cross-promotion in eBay to build a branding sense among your bidders
and buyers. A free eBay feature lets you advertise other items you have for
bid or sale when a buyer bids on or views a purchased listing (or, for eBay
Stores, when a buyer views your item), as shown in Figure 2-6. Also, if you
have an eBay Store, items you have in the general listings are integrated with
your store items, and you’ll have a unique Internet address (URL—Uniform
Resource Locator) for your store’s home page that you can use off-eBay to drive
customers to your items. See Chapter 6 for more information on eBay Stores and
Chapter 10 for more information on using cross-promoting, in and outside of
eBay Stores.

You can tailor your cross-promotions to match your items. For example, if you
are selling gold rings, you can display other gold rings when a buyer bids on
or views a purchased item, or views a gold ring listing in an eBay Store. To
customize your cross-promotion:

1. Click My eBay on the eBay header.
2. Click Marketing Tools in the sidebar.
3. On the Marketing Tools page, click Edit next to Cross Promotion Defaults.
4. On the Cross Promotion: Defaults page, click Create New Rule.
5. Click Select An eBay Category under either of the two selling situations, and then follow the prompts to tailor your categories.

Read more...

Build an eBay Business Part 4

Acquire Inventory

To keep your eBay business engine fueled, you need merchandise, which can
come from a myriad of sources. Inventory can be procured from traditional
eBay sources, such as garage sales, but to ramp up your business to higher sales,
you’ll want to explore sources used by retail businesses, including buying from
wholesalers, using drop-shipping outlets, and buying from abroad.

Find Items the Old-Fashioned Way

Not all eBay businesses tap into manufacturers’ sales representatives, import
from China, or otherwise buy from traditional wholesale markets. Many eBay
businesses just improve on obtaining items from the traditional sources they
used when they started out, except now they do it more efficiently:

• Basements, attics, and closets provide the most readily available and lowest-cost
items (you already own them). Include items of friends and relatives that can be had
for nothing or next to it.

• Thrift stores contain hidden treasures that can be ferreted out with a sharp,
experienced pricing eye and persistent scouring. Go (early) on promotion days to
obtain even deeper discounts.

• Garage sales are typically announced in your local paper and on your
nearest telephone pole. Get out early, map out your route, and be done
before brunch. Seek out sales that start on Friday—you’ll avoid many
amateur buyers (they have day jobs) and get first look at the freshest
merchandise.

• Estate sales liquidate the contents of a household. The quality of
merchandise can range from the trappings of the rich and famous
to items more commonly found in Dumpsters. Depending on how
the contents are sold, you can purchase individual items, as in a
garage sale; or you can make a bid to purchase the entire lot. Check
the auctions section in the classified section of your newspaper for
upcoming sales. To find leads on buying an entire estate, network
with estate-planning lawyers and other professionals who often assist
survivors with liquidating family assets.

• Live auctions provide great experience in the world of bidding and
overall auction psychology (see Figure 2-8). Check out your Sunday
paper for upcoming events. Most cost very little, if anything, to
attend and provide invaluable pricing data, networking, and usually
entertaining auctioneers.

CAUTION: Buying the contents of mini-storage units whose owners failed to continue payments is a classic example of caveat emptor (buyer beware). Typically, the storage unit management periodically hires an auctioneer to sell off their inventory of unpaid units. By law, in many states, management cannot open the unit until the auction, at which time the lock is cut. The bidders, in real time, then get a chance to view the contents from the door and place a bid on all the contents. So what really is in that box labeled “Guns” or “Jewelry?” There are stories of people who, in cahoots with the storage management and auctioneer, seed a unit with junk, hazardous materials, and other hard-to-get-rid-of items, and then apply deceptive arrangement and eye-candy labeling to sell these items to unsuspecting bidders.

Acquire Wholesale Sources

A classic way to run an eBay business is to buy at wholesale and sell at retail
(or at what the highest bidder is willing to pay). Unfortunately, until you’ve
established yourself as a high-volume seller, many wholesalers do not want to
bother with smaller accounts. That’s not to say they won’t sell to you—they just
don’t seek you out. Consider these issues when trying to line up a wholesaler:

• Research the manufacturer for the product you want to sell. Many companies simply
place their brand name on a product made by another company. The classic example
is the Sears Kenmore brand—Kenmore washers are actually made by Whirlpool. You
may have to do some sleuthing to locate the manufacturer, as most branded products
don’t generally advertise their true roots. Check manuals, nameplates, and service
centers to find the OEM (original equipment manufacturer).

• Contact the manufacturer’s sales department and ask for a list of their wholesale suppliers.

• Contact the wholesale suppliers and request to set up an account. Prepare for
questions about your business and sales potential. Give honest answers and, if
rejected, move on to the next supplier on your list.

• If you don’t have the success, time, or desire to do the leg work, consider purchasing a list
of suppliers that have been screened and are willing to work with online sellers. Be aware
that a Google search will turn up legitimate as well as questionable providers. The eBay
Solutions Directory lists several providers of wholesale items whose reputations have
been verified; however, you won’t be the only eBay business trying to sell their products.

Buy Wholesale on eBay

You’ve got to love the marketing folks at eBay. Not only do they provide the
mechanisms for you to sell your items in an efficient and inexpensive manner
to a worldwide market, but they also provide you a channel to buy your items
wholesale on eBay “in an efficient and inexpensive manner from a worldwide
market.” To find items to buy in quantity and at a hopefully lower wholesale
price each:

1. On the eBay header, click Categories, and the All Categories window will open.
2. Look through the Category items. At the end of
many of them will be “Wholesale Lots.” If you click
this line, you will see a listing of all the wholesale
lots for that category.
3. You will need to narrow your search considerably, as many eBayers use wholesale lots
to sell their single items.

Import from Abroad

Buying from outside your borders opens your buying opportunities to markets
where other eBay businesspersons don’t often venture. Many businesses avoid
global transactions for a good reason, but if you’re willing to learn the ropes,
there are untapped buying opportunities. You can import through traditional channels on your own or use eBay to help you in the process.

UNDERSTAND IMPORT FACTORS

Many headaches and costs are associated with an import business, and for most
eBay business with relatively low sales volumes, it may not be worthwhile. The
main limitations to buying abroad are determined by:

• What you buy:

• Many items do not adhere to U.S. safety, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
and other standards. For example, several news accounts have highlighted the toxic
lead that was contained in toys made in China.
• Items of cultural importance may not be allowed outside the borders of a country.
For example, in Turkey, items more than 100 years old are not generally allowed to
leave the country.
• Some items just have higher duty rates than others (as a twist on the previous
bullet, antiques more than 100 years old can enter the United States duty-free).
• Heavy items may incur prohibitive per-item shipping costs, unless you buy in very
large quantities.

• Where you buy it:

• Duty rates are broadly assigned by country. Duty rates for goods entering the
United States are extracted from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule Annotated
(HTSA) of the United States, published by the United States International Trade
Commission (www.usitc.gov/tata/hts). Most countries enjoy “Column 1 of the Duty
Rates,” or favored nation, rates. Items from unfavored “Column 2” countries pay a
higher rate, as shown in Figure 2-9.

• How you bring it into the country:

• Bringing them with you is the easiest way to bring items back to the United States.
You can simply produce the items for inspection, and informal verbal declarations
when driving across a border or simple Customs forms used when arriving by plane
or boat are painless.
• Shipping by mail is an acceptable entry method because you don’t need to be
personally present at the point of entry. When the United States Postal Service
(USPS) receives an overseas package that contains dutiful items, it’s passed to a
Customs agent, who reviews Customs forms on the package and determines any
duty fees. The package is given back to the USPS, where, upon delivery to the
recipient, the duty and Customs handling fees are collected.

• Freight shipments are how most international trade is conducted and is not
generally recommended for businesses new to global shipping. You or your agent
(to whom you will need to pay fees) will need to quickly arrange movement of
the merchandise from the shipper’s warehouse to Customs to avoid demurrage
(warehousing costs) and then produce invoices, bills of lading, and Customs forms
to determine the duty owed. In the post-9/11 world, shipments are being visually
inspected more and more, and you will be responsible for associated costs to open
containers and remove shipping and packing materials.

BUY GLOBALLY ON EBAY

Many eBay users avoid global transactions because of the extra work and
potential pitfalls involved with conducting business outside the borders (see
“Understand Import Factors”). Their reluctance can be your opportunity to
acquire unique items that every other eBay business isn’t fighting over. The
“At a Glance” statistics on eBay’s Global Trade page show you the monetary
incentive to consider eBay’s global potential. eBay provides searching to its
worldwide sites and offers a lot of useful information to help you navigate the
labyrinth of currency fluctuations, shipping costs, language problems, and other
issues.

1. On the eBay header, click Site Map.
2. Under Selling Resources, click Sell Internationally
3. On the Global Trade page, shown in Figure 2-10:

• Type keywords to search global sites for items
(see “Buy Wholesale on eBay” earlier in the
chapter for keyword hints for wholesale listings).
• Click an eBay worldwide site’s flag or link to
display that country’s “Hot Items” and “Hot
Categories.”
• Scroll down and click one of the many resource
links to learn more about the aspects of buying
and selling internationally.

Use Drop-Shipping

So you want to become an eBay business, but you live in a studio apartment without a square
foot of space to store inventory? Not to worry—you can conduct a successful eBay business
without ever buying, seeing, or touching your items. Using drop-shipping, you establish a
relationship with a wholesaler, who will package and ship items you sell directly to buyers (even
with a mailing label using your company name). As far as the buyer is concerned, the billiard table he or she received came from your studio apartment. You pay the drop-shipper
the wholesale cost of the item and shipping and handling costs. Of course, the trick to making
this work is finding a reputable and reliable company with which to partner. Doing a search on Google will produce pages of potential drop-shipping sources, but as with most things on the Internet, it’s best to get a second opinion before you do business. To find companies vetted
by eBay that drop-ship or that provide lists of companies that do:

1. Click Site Map on the eBay header.
2. Under Selling Tools, click eBay Solutions Directory.
3. In the Solutions Directory, under Selling Solutions, click Sourcing.
4. Click the links of the solution providers that indicate they offer drop-shipping services,
as shown in Figure 2-11.

Read more...

Build an eBay Business Part 5

Creating eBay Business Processing Centers

From garage sale seller to PowerSeller, you have to accomplish a sequence of operations and processes to sell on eBay. It doesn’t matter if you work off a legal pad or if you use commercial auction-management software. All merchandise on its way to eBay buyers requires a certain
level of attention from you during its tenure under your ownership or control. The better organized and more efficient you become, the more time you will have to pursue other
eBay selling opportunities and, ultimately, you will become a more profitable business. In this chapter you will learn that no matter what level of selling you are at, you can benefit your eBay business by utilizing the concept of processing centers to handle the various tasks necessary to acquire, list, sell, ship, and finalize a sale.


Process Incoming Items

Chapter 2 describes several strategies you can use to acquire items. But once
you’ve purchased the merchandise, what do you do with it? Quite a bit,
actually, although the norm is closer to just placing the item in the nearest
available space on a shelf or on the floor. The more time and energy you devote
to get merchandise properly introduced into your system, the greater the
efficiency dividends you will receive during the time the product spends with
your business. The upfront time to establish inventory controls and attend to
accounting details will quickly become the “gift that keeps on giving.”

Capture Purchase Data

In the zeal to acquire and purchase merchandise, it’s easy (and tempting) to
throw all of the receipts and other documentation into a file folder or shoebox
and deal with it when the need arises (usually April 14). Though this method
might serve casual eBay sellers, as your eBay business volume increases, you
will need a more systematic approach to documenting your purchases. The best
time to do that is close to the time of purchase, when your memory is fresh and
any paper trails are still close at hand. Whether your system is a notebook with
lined columns, an Excel spreadsheet, or accounting or auction-management
software, you have to dedicate the time to log the captured data.

SET UP A SIMPLE SYSTEM

With a program such as Excel, you can create a basic spreadsheet that lists the
key information you need when purchasing an item. Create columns to record
data on each item you purchase for resale. Table 3-1 describes the columns, and
Figure 3-2 shows an example of a sample spreadsheet. (See Microsoft Office Excel
2007 QuickSteps, published by McGraw-Hill, for information on creating and
using spreadsheets).

USE AN ACCOUNTING PROGRAM

Keeping accurate records of inventory costs, selling prices, shipping and
handling, overhead, and other associated costs is the foundation to satisfying
government reporting requirements, as well as keeping on top of the
financial health of your business. Some accounting programs (such as Intuit’s
QuickBooks Simple Start/Basic/Pro/Premium series) do extremely well at the
business of accounting, but aren’t typically geared toward the business of listing
items for sale on eBay. Although you may find you can “force” one to do this,
it’s best to look at these programs as part of an overall suite of tools you might
employ and not the sole solution.


RESEARCH YOUR ITEMS

To create accurate listing titles and descriptions,
determine the best selling format (auction or Buy It
Now), and price your items where they will sell for
the best price-to-volume ratio, you need to know
your items:

• Search for the item on eBay to determine an item’s
value by checking the Completed Listings for identical
or similar items. View Completed Listings by opening
a category’s listings, clicking the Completed Listings
check box on the left sidebar, and clicking Show Items.

• Search for the item using search engines, such as
Google, to cast a wider net and see what you can find
in other auctions, brick-and-mortar stores, classified
ads, and wherever else the search engine mines
information. Or use specialized Web sites that feature
your type of item.



• Visit libraries, antique malls, and shows to purchase or borrow reference books on
antiques and collectibles, and to network with other dealers. Collectors’ shows are
one of the best places to gather information (and inventory) in any of the collectible
fields. You will be able to network with both dealers and collectors. This will allow you
up-to-the-minute information on trends, buying and selling patterns, and additional data
that might enable you to enhance your eBay listings. Your eBay sales will be greatly
enhanced when buyers can tell from your listings that you have knowledge of your field.
If you are a collector, you might find it productive to start your eBay business with sales
in your area of expertise.

• Contact others who sell, collect, manufacture, or use the item you’re trying to sell. You
will be surprised at how much information you can get from other eBay sellers.

• Use grading and authentication services to bolster your customers’ confidence in the
condition (grading) and authenticity of an item by having an independent, experienced
professional examine it (see the “Finding a Grading or Authentication Service”
QuickSteps.)

PREPARE AND SUBMIT THE LISTING

After researching and collecting the raw information for an item, the data
needs to be incorporated into a selling form that will ultimately become the
listing Web page. The technical knowledge required of the person preparing
the selling form will depend on the method you use to create your listing and
how much customization you add to it. For example, listing items with the
simplified Create Your Listing form (auction listings only) and the standard
Sell Your Item form that allows you to customize your listing, using eBay
Picture Services to host images, and using prebuilt templates requires little but
fundamental computer skills. However, if you create your listings from scratch
using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), host your own photographs, and
use custom listing or management software, the new computer user would be
challenged. Chapter 4 describes how to create listings to maximize sales using
tools such as Turbo Lister, shown in Figure 3-8.

TIP:
Find the most inquisitive and creative person or
employee in your business and put him or her in charge
of researching items and preparing listings.

TIP:
To a receive a quick and inexpensive appraisal of an item
you’re selling, click the What’s It Worth To You link at the
bottom of the Opinions, Authentication & Grading page
(see the “Finding a Grading or Authentication Service”
QuickSteps). After creating an account and providing
basic information, such as category, description, and
pictures, and any amplifying
information required by their
appraiser, you will be able to
download an appraisal certificate.

SET UP THE PICTURE ZONE

As a casual seller, you probably spent an inordinate amount of time preparing
the background to take pictures of your items, putting the equipment away
when you were finished, and then repeating the process every time you
listed a new item. A necessity when you are limited by space and equipment
constraints, but not a process you want to continue as your listing volume
increases. To streamline the picture-taking process, dedicate the space you
need—commensurate with the type and size of items you’re selling—and leave
the “studio” intact so you can quickly introduce subsequent items. When setting
up the picture area, consider:

• Lighting. Use natural lighting, light bars, and other light sources you can install and
leave in place once you’ve found the illumination satisfactory, as shown in Figure 3-9.
Avoid using a flash if you can. Pictures taken with a flash tend to produce undesired
results, such as creating reflections off glass or other shiny surfaces. Some items lend
themselves well to outdoor/natural light photography. Consider this option with smaller
and more portable items, if it’s convenient—you probably don’t want to climb up and
down five flights of stairs to shoot photos outside.

• Camera mounts. Set up a tripod on the floor or a table, and adjust it for optimal
picture taking. Remove the camera for safekeeping at the end of the day, but leave the
tripod in place for a quick setup for the next photo opportunity.

• Scanners. A good place to set up a scanning station is with your photo studio. Set up
a computer in your studio with your scanner and digital camera software and memory
card readers, and connect it to other networked equipment in your business.

• Backgrounds and backdrops. Whether your items are small or large, you will want to
place your items on top of or in front of appropriate backgrounds to accentuate them.
For example, for large items, you could install rods similar to curtain or shower rods on
a wall so you could easily slide on a different background from your stock.

Access Shipper Services

Shipping packages through eBay gets easier all the time as better relationships
are developed between eBay and its shipping partners, currently United States
Postal Service (USPS), UPS, and freightquote.com (for packages over 150
pounds). These relationships develop into the tools you can use in the various
selling forms that let you easily select mailing options and services from the
shipping partners, relieving you of many time-consuming tasks. Depending on
the tool or service you employ, you can:
• Choose the carrier and level of service you want to offer
• Show customers their costs upfront through flat-rate or calculated rates
• Print for-free shipping labels and Customs forms for international shipping
• Track packages
• Link with an inventory control system
For more information on eBay shipping in general and each of its shipping
partners, eBay provides a great clearinghouse at the Shipping Center, shown in
Figure 3-13.
1. Click Site Map on the eBay header.
2. Under Selling Resources, click Shipping Center. On the left sidebar, click links for
information on several shipping options and features.


–Or–
On the right sidebar, access information on how the individual shippers are set up to
ship within the eBay system.
–Or–
Review the Top 10 Shipping Tips at the bottom of the page.

Cut Shipping Costs

One of the slicker features eBay has provided over the years is to offer buyers
a combined shipping discount when purchasing multiple items from a single
seller. The seller sets up rules that govern costs for calculated, flat-rate, or
promotional shipping, and life is good (set up combined shipping in My eBay’s
Site Preference page). Well, it’s good if you’re selling commodity-type items
that have a standard weight and size that you can plan for in advance of your
packing needs. However, if you sell distinct items that come in all shapes, sizes,
and weights, you can run into situations where the anticipated package will
not conform to the combination of items purchased and added expense will
be required. To avoid these potential headaches, many sellers simply work out
a “worst-case” shipping cost to the most distant state and apply that flat-rate
cost to each item. (If contacted by a buyer located close to the shipping point,
adjustments can be made to their invoice for the reduction in shipping charges.)
One of the first questions that comes up when speaking of eBay shipping is,
of course, “Which carrier is cheaper, USPS or UPS?” Well, it depends. One rule
of thumb is to use USPS for lighter items, say, under three pounds and UPS
for heavier items. Another plug for UPS is their Special Pricing Program
for eBay sellers that provides significant savings over USPS pricing when
shipping is processed through eBay and PayPal. You simply need to have both
a UPS and PayPal account (go to http://pages.ebay.com/ups/home.html).
For even greater cost efficiencies, if you’re shipping regularly, consider getting
a UPS Daily Pickup Account. If you incur at least $60 a week in shipping
charges, a mere $8 per week can get you a driver to stop by daily and pick
up your packages. At the current price of gas (and not to mention your time)
that’s quite a deal. Contact the UPS New Accounts Sales Group at 800.877.1509
to investigate other pricing options and get a daily (Monday-Friday) visit
from Brown.

QUICK FACTS:
GETTING FREE PACKAGING

You can get a lot of free packaging items from the three
main eBay shippers delivered to your door (packaging
material is labeled for its intended level of service, for
example, USPS Priority Flat Rate boxes):

• United States Postal Service (USPS). The USPS
provides limited materials from their local post
offices. On the USPS home page (www.usps
.com), under Shipping Tools, click Supplies. On the Postal
Store page, select the items you want delivered, and
proceed to checkout, where
you will need to establish an
account (forms, labels, and
Priority/Express boxes and
envelopes are free; other
items incur a charge).

• UPS (United Parcel
Service). On the UPS home page (www.ups.com),
click the Shipping tab, and then click Get UPS
Labels, Paks, And More on the sidebar (you must
log in with your UPS account information to access
these free items).

• FedEx (Federal Express). On the FedEx home
page (www.fedex.com), under the Package/
Envelope tab, point to Manage, and click Order
Supplies (requires a FedEx account). FedEx is
not one of ’Bay's preferred shipping partners, but
when you need to get a package to someone
yesterday morning, FedEx is there for you.

• eBay. Click Site Map on the eBay header, and under
Selling Resources, click Shipping Central. Click
Find Shipping Supplies On eBay on the sidebar
to display “almost free” listings in the Shipping &
Packing category.

Read more...

Build an eBay Business Part 6

Setting Up an eBay Store

Beyond your listings, the eBay marketing machine provides
a great avenue you can use to supercharge your business’s
presence on eBay: eBay Stores. An eBay Store allows the
beginning eBay businessperson a quick, inexpensive, and
effective way to sell merchandise online. You can do this
without having to commit resources for new technologies
or learn new procedures beyond the eBay basics you
are already using. eBay Stores are an online storefront,
providing a permanent location within eBay to help you sell
your Store Inventory and eBay items, and to develop and
grow a customer base. eBay Stores allow you a wide range
of creativity and flexibility, including adding custom pages,
highlighting promotions, and setting up categories. The
basics of setting up an eBay store, along with these features,
are described in this chapter (marketing tools and crosspromotional
options, such as offering sales and sending
e-mails to interested buyers, are covered in Chapter 10).

Start an eBay Store

An eBay Store (or just Store) is designed for you to display quantities of merchandise for longer durations and in a less costly manner than with a traditional eBay listing. Creating the Store is a simple online process of choosing a layout; providing basic Store information, such as a description and logo; and selecting a level of service. The low overhead of $15.95 per month for “rent” to eBay should be easily covered with sales if you are determined to see your eBay activities as a real business.

QUICK FACTS:
UNDERSTANDING THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF AN eBAY STORE

Some of the basic benefits and features of opening an eBay Store include:

• Create eBay Store Inventory listings (Buy It Now format) that run for greater lengths of time than standard listings (30 days or Good ‘Til Canceled) to help minimize relisting headaches. No minimum number of listings required.

• Save money on eBay Store Inventory listings—for example, the insertion fee for a 30-day listing for an item that sells for under $25 is only $0.03. Though the insertion fees increase for items selling for more money ($0.05 for items selling between $25 and $199 and $0.10 for items selling for $200 and greater), they are still less much less than other listing types. Of course, a final value fee and listing upgrade fees, such as bolding, also apply.

• Display standard auction and fixed-price listings within your Store along with your Store Inventory listings (Figure 6-1 shows auction and Store Inventory listings). Your Store acts as an aggregator for all your eBay listings, while the reverse isn’t true. That is, your Store Inventory fixed-price items don’t show up in non-Store eBay category pages or searches, except when there is a lack of standard auction and fixed-price listings to display that meet the search criteria.

• Organize your Store items in up to 300 custom categories and sub-categories.

• Obtain your own Uniform Resource Locator (URL), such as http://stores.ebay.com/all-thingspaper, that you can provide to potential buyers, both in and out of eBay.

• Customize your Store’s presence by selecting themes and inserting your own logo. Chapter 5 describes management aspects of a Store using auction-management software and reporting:

• Get Selling Manager for free at the Basic Store subscription level.
• Get Selling Manager Pro for free at the Premium or Anchor subscription level.
• Obtain monthly sales and traffic reports from eBay, breaking out your sales into several metrics, such as the number of unique buyers, how buyers got to your listing, and bids per listing. Determining where your buyers come from can make a big difference when targeting and promoting your Store to potential buyers. The Store subscription you choose determines whether these tools are free and what level of sophistication you receive. Chapter 10 describes managing items on sale using the free Markdown Manager (limited to 250 listings per day for Basic Stores, 2,500 per day for Premium Stores, and 5,000 per day for Anchor Stores).

Open an eBay Store

1. To open an eBay Store , first ensure you meet the minimum requirements. You must
maintain a seller’s account with a credit card on file. Also, you must have a feedback
rating of 20 or higher

–Or–

Be ID Verified

–Or–

Have a PayPal account in good standing

2. On an eBay page, click Stores on the eBay header.
3. On the eBay Stores home page, click Open A Store on the right sidebar.


4. On the Stores page, review the informational links on the
sidebar. When you are ready to begin building your Store,
under the eBay Stores Login sidebar, click the link next to
Open A Store. Log in if prompted.

Select a Subscription Level and Name Your Store

1. On the Subscribe To eBay Stores: Choose Your Subscription Level page, select the
Store subscription you want. Unless you have experience running an eBay Store,
it is best to start with the Basic Store. You can always upgrade your subscription to
a Premium or Anchor Store (see Figure 6-2) when your sales volume justifies the
increase in the monthly cost.

2. Review eBay’s opinion of the key benefits each subscription level provides.

3. In the Choose A Store Name text box, type the name you want for your Store. Besides
the Don’ts listed in the accompanying Caution, do choose a name that is easy for customers to remember, easy for them to type, as your Store’s name becomes part
of its Web address (or URL), such as http://stores.ebay.com/mikes-books (blanks are
hyphenated), and describes what you sell.


4. When ready, click Continue. Sign in if prompted.

5. When you have successfully named your Store (if you didn’t abide by eBay’s rules, you
will be notified how to correct your mistake), review discounted features available to
you based on the subscription level, and click Continue.

6. On the Subscribe To eBay Stores: Review & Submit page,
shown in Figure 6-3, look over the monthly cost, review
the terms and conditions, and click the I Accept The User
Agreement check box. Provide eBay a little marketing
feedback by selecting the means by which you heard of
eBay Stores.

7. When finished, click Subscribe to finalize your application.
If you develop a severe case of post-decisional dissonance
(also known as buyer’s remorse)—not to worry, eBay
provides the first 30 days free for Basic and Premium
Stores for first-time Store owners, so you can cancel either
Store without incurring a subscription fee (listing and final
value fees will still apply).

8. If you want to get a basic look-and-feel Store set up quickly, click Start Quick Store
Tuneup (see the “Setting Up a Store Quickly” QuickSteps).

–Or–
You can customize your Store’s layout and design from Manage Your Store links
on several Store and eBay pages (see “Modify Store Settings” in the next section).
Several Store features you can set up or change to customize your Store are covered
in “Customize Your Store” later in this chapter.

QUICK STEPS:
SETTING UP A STORE QUICKLY
When you first subscribe to a Store, you can choose to have eBay provide you a generic Store to get yourself up and running in short order (of course, you will need to add inventory to stock your Store).
1. After clicking Start Quick Store Setup (see “Select a Subscription Level and Name Your Store”), the Quick Store Setup page opens. To create a Store with all the recommended settings, simply click Apply Settings at the top of the page (at a minimum, you will want to create your own Store description, either now or later in the “Modify Store Settings” section).
2. To use the recommended settings as a baseline from which to modify, scroll down the page, click Edit in the area you want to modify, and make any changes, as shown in Figure 6-4. When satisfied, click Preview Settings beneath the store design mini-mockup to see how your changes will look.
3. When ready, click Apply Settings to have your Store accept the changes. –Or– Click Restore Defaults at the bottom of the page to return to eBay’s initial recommendation and continue working on your design.

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