Auction vs. Store

[GeekzRus]

Was curious, It has been a while since I have really worked with ebay. I noticed the pricing for stores has extremely escalated. Which do you prefer store or just a basic auction, are ebay stores even worth it? Also noticed seeing multiple stores which look like they are being run by the same person or so it seems. Is this even profitable to run two accounts at the same time with the same product?

Thanks for the input in advance

[YodaRules]

Originally Posted by GeekzRus

Was curious, It has been a while since I have really worked with ebay. I noticed the pricing for stores has extremely escalated. Which do you prefer store or just a basic auction, are ebay stores even worth it? Also noticed seeing multiple stores which look like they are being run by the same person or so it seems. Is this even profitable to run two accounts at the same time with the same product?

Years past I did lots of business through eBay..... until they raised fees and structure making it almost impossible to make a decent amount on an item. Paying fees to put 25-50 items monthly and only selling 5 or 6 cut into profit. On top of that adding enough for postage really made me stop as buyers are really looking for bargain basement prices.

Then eBay saw the drop in sellers so they started the monthly free 50 items listed in auctions. Using this method I can list 50 items and only pay for what I sell (of course, in doing this they also changed the Final Value fees to their favor). An example of my items are college flags and my wholesale cost if $5.50 each plus shipping in and it cost $2.05 to mail to my customer. I start the auction at $10 and have a Buy It Now for $12.50 and I still only sell about 5 or 6 monthly and usually at the $10 mark.

I have inventory of my items as just as soon as I sell off the inventory I will be done with eBay! You interested in purchasing inventory at well below wholesale prices?

Hope this helps.....

Patsy

[GeekzRus]

Thanks for the input Patsy, personally I am always interested in cheaper than wholesale pricing Depending on the actual product. I have found with my past dealings with ebay it was always about the demand of what people want at the current time which always seems to change from month to month.

Just debating if I should go back into store status again or keep up with just plain auctions. I just like to keep all options in mind that are available when dealing with ebay.

[Elysium]

I almost started selling on ebay a couple years ago, but then they made all those changes that got really costly for the small seller. But it looks like some people have pulled through and are doing well.

It's good to hear about the 50 items.
That can be helpful for people just starting out, or only selling a few items.

[dreed]

I chose Big Value Depot. Although they do not yet have the same exposure as Ebay currently does, you can have a web store where you can list 50 items and it is a flat raate of $14.95 per month with no contracts. They are doing a world wide launch in mid January which should create a huge audience to sell to.

[sasta10]

A store is good if you are selling thousands of item, anything less than 100 items it's not worth it. If you are selling multiples of same item then its worth it and you will save on listing fees, but you will still pay final value fee for the item and paypal fee. Thanks.

[embereli]

As a buyer, I usually stay away from the stores. If I go to ebay, I go for the auctions. Bidding is still more fun than just browsing a store.

[versativadiva]

Originally Posted by GeekzRus

Was curious, It has been a while since I have really worked with ebay. I noticed the pricing for stores has extremely escalated. Which do you prefer store or just a basic auction, are ebay stores even worth it? Also noticed seeing multiple stores which look like they are being run by the same person or so it seems. Is this even profitable to run two accounts at the same time with the same product?

Thanks for the input in advance

One thing I have found is unless you are listing alot of stuff, it is better to not have a store. Just my opinion. If you don't have a store, your first 50 listings are free to list so you aren't out if it doesn't I tried a store more than once and even though the items show up in search or category now, if you store list like for 30 days.......you are really only seen as a new listing when you first list then again as it is ending as people are looking at items ending soonest. so unless you list every day or have a customer base you just kind of sit there and dont get noticed during that time.

It costs 20 cents to list in the cheaper store where as the big store around $50 bucks or so it is only 5 cents. But for someone selling 100 items or less they figure it is cheaper to not have a store.

[theauctionmoms]

Since the addition of the 50 free auction listings per month, I only do online auctions. With the increase in fees and the Final Value Fee on shipping, I also make sure that the starting bid covers these fees so my profit is still there with each item (read: I rarely run any $0.99 starting bids anymore). I continue to do well selling at least 30 to 40 items per month, and if the item doesn't sell, there isn't a charge.

I make it a point to use every single one of the 50 free listings per month.

And, over the years, I feel that eBay has made the store listings harder to find for the average user.

May I ask what you sell, Geekzrus? That may make a difference on how eBay will best work for you.

[anoopsh00@gmail.com]

I am also prefer online auction site for shopping, i like ebay so much.