1) Cheaper Fees: - The insertion fee for an auction listing on eBay is 15p. The insertion fee for a buy it now listing on eBay is 20p. However, the insertion fee for a store listing is only 3p. On top of this the gallery fee for auction and buy it now listings is 15p whilst the gallery fee for a store listing is only 5p. These are the only two listing features I use for my eBay e-book listings which gives me a total saving of between 12p-17p per e-book I list in my eBay store. Now this doesn't seem like much of a saving, but since I list all my e-books as store listings and only a small proportion as auction listings this actually equates to a significant saving. I would advise any other e-book sellers on eBay to also list their e-books in this way as it will lead to huge cost savings for you. If you list your full inventory as eBay store listings, and then your most popular items on the main eBay site as either buy it now or auction style listings you can save money and promote your eBay store (I will discuss this promotion aspect further in the next edition of the newsletter).
2) Longer Listing Duration: - The maximum listing duration of a buy it now or auction style listing is ten days. With a store inventory listing you can list for 30 days, 90 days, or Good till Cancelled (the listing renews every 30 days till you cancel it). Not only does this provide the benefit of added value for money, but it also saves you a lot of time. Instead of relisting an ebook every ten days you can simply list it in your store as Good till Cancelled and not worry about it again.
3) Unlimited Inventory:- When you list an ebook as an auction or buy it now the insertion fee goes up depending how many items you want to list. When you list in your eBay store the insertion fee remains at 3p whether you list 1 item or 1000 items. This is a huge benefit to ebook sellers because as you already know, you can sell infinite copies of the same ebook, since it is digital. Therefore, if you list 1000 copies of your ebook (or even more if you wish) as a Good till Cancelled listing you will hardly every have to maintain it. This will not only save you time but also money.
4) Custom Store Pages:- With a basic eBay store you get 5 custom pages (and even more with anchor and featured stores). These custom pages are useful ways of conveying extra information to your customers. I use my custom pages for; a Disclaimer page, a Privacy Policy page, a SPAM Policy page, a Terms and Conditions page, and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. However, they can also be used to convey other important information to your customers or to promote one of your products or websites. Having these custom pages available in your eBay store makes you look more professional which in turn generates increased customer trust.
5) Store Categories:- With an eBay store you get 20 custom categories which you can assign your listings to. This is extremely useful because customers who are looking for a certain type of ebook will be able to browse by category. Some of the categories I use include; "Gambling Guides and Systems," "Email and Autoresponder" and "Wholesale and Dropshipping." If a customer visits my eBay store and only has a general idea of the ebook that they want, these categories should guide them in the right direction, and then hopefully lead to a sale. Since many people who buy ebooks will be merely browsing, these categories should increase sales and also make your store easier to navigate, meaning customers are more likely to return.
6) Store Cross Promotion:- With an eBay store you can cross-promote your items. This involves a small box appearing at the bottom of your listings promoting some of your other listings. You can do this manually, automatically, or via store category. I prefer to do it by category as then the most relevant listings appear and so there is more chance of a customer making a repeat purchase.
Hopefully this article has shown you that for the low monthly fee of ?6 you can save time and money, look like a more professional business, and increase your traffic and sales. You even get your first month of having an eBay store free so there really is nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.
Ebay has this selling thing down to a fine art. You are provided with tools to help promote your eBay store. These tools have been well thought out and are very effective when used. You wouldnt open a store on Main Street in your home town and not promote it, would you? You need to promote your eBay store as well. Ebay has much experience in promotion. You will be wise to make use of all of the tools they provide.
1.Customized Header: To turn on this feature, click on the checkbox, Show my custom listing header in all of my listings. The header will then appear at the top of the item description on all of your listings and in your item descriptions. The Custom Header will help promote your Store and bring more traffic to your store.
2.If you always have items for sale in all of your categories, you will want to include in your Store logo, a search box that allows buyers to search your Store and links to your custom categories, custom pages, and About Me page.
Note: Do Not use this feature unless you always have items for sale in every category.
3.Use customized e-mail feature to promote your store and the items you have for sale to customers on your mailing list. To create a mailing list, go to the, Manage My Store page in My eBay, and click on the Email Marketing link in the Stores Marketing section in the left column.
4.Print and distribute flyers to advertise your eBay Store and specific items in your store. To create your stores promotional flyer, first go to the Manage My Store page in My eBay and click the Promotional Flyers link in the marketing section. Then click Create Promotional Flyer.
RESTRICTED ACCESS EBAY AUCTIONS: Believe it or not there is a mature audience only section of eBay. The items that are offered are of the adult nature and are not suitable for general audience viewing. Frankly, it is rather shocking to find out that eBay allows this kind of material on its otherwise family oriented site.
Ebay did go to the trouble to limit access to these adult items. Advertisement of the items is not allowed on the regular eBay pages. They cannot be listed in the gallery or featured anywhere on the site.
The listings and advertisements for these items are restricted to the mature audience only section of eBay. In order to view or bid on items that are listed in the mature audience only section of eBay, a user must be eighteen years of age or older.
(That is some comfort...at least the kids cant see this stuff...or at least they arent supposed to be able to see it.) Bidders must also produce credit card information prior to bidding on items in this section as well.
The theory behind this is that those under eighteen dont have access to a credit card....which is certainly questionable. Anybody with a social security number (whether it is their own number or not) and a fake ID can get a credit card in this day and age.
Its reported all the time that even a dog can be issued a credit card so this doesnt seem like much proof of age. It is mostly left up to the parents to supervise their teenagers closely enough to insure that they are not viewing or bidding on items that are listed in the mature section of eBay just as they are responsible for keeping their children from watching X rated movies.
Both Geetanjali Sharma & Stephen Campbell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.