Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Creating an eBay Store
February 12, 2007

eBay provides a quick, easy way to create an eCommerce store. You can build your store, promote your store, manage costs and sales, and track how well you're doing. All of this for the starting price of $15.95 a month.  I promised a friend I would help him create a store to upload excess inventory, and while studying eBay's store information, I discovered it's best to reverse the steps.

Here's what I recommend:

Step 1:
Perform the research first. This will help you decide which merchandise to sell, how much to sell it for, and what you can expect. You don't want to pay a listing fee for merchandise that isn't selling anywhere on eBay. (note: this is a subscription model with a 2-day pass option for $2.99.)

Step 2:
Study the store inventory pricing model & listing strategies.

Step 3:
To make things easier, eBay offers two simple layout options:
basic store layout
advanced layout
Both contain the following features: store logo, store search box, store categories, left navigation bar, promotion boxes (left side and below the logo) and a gallery view of the items.  The basic layout allows you to add a short store description and the advanced layout allows you to create a custom HTML header instead.   eBay also provides a customer store header option for non-technical users.

Step 4:
Use the store inventory form. Your listing will appear in the following places:

Step 5:
Once you've uploaded your store items, run some promotions to help drive traffic.

Step 6:
Once your store is live for a couple days, study the reports to see where your traffic is coming from and how people are buying.

eBay provides a checklist to help you list more effectively.

Here are articles others have written to help you build your store:
eBay Made Easy by Marcia Layton Turner
Ten New Year's Resolutions for eBay Sellers by Ron Mansfield
Setting Up an eBay Store by Joel Elad

eBay Success Stories:
Period Paper
Beachcombers Bazaar

I'll keep you posted on how well Aaron's store, Wholesale Office Furniture Direct, performs on eBay.

Posted by Suze Bragg on February 12, 2007 | Comments (0)