So my boyfriend who is my sidekick in setting up my
online store has been super busy with his own online projects for the past few months. Needless to say, I am still store-less and still considering my options. I decided to go and check out the
eBay Store situation. I used to have an eBay store back in 2007 and it didn't seem to bring the traffic or sales I was looking for. They claim they have improved the exposure given to those selling in an eBay store. I almost fainted when I calculated how much it would cost for me to open a store up. I have been looking at the free
shopping cart software programs before now because I don't need a host. My boyfriend has plenty of space on his
server for my little site.
So here is the cost of an eBay Store:
Subscription fees
Store level | Fee |
Basic | $15.95 / month |
Premium | $49.95 / month |
Anchor | $299.95 / month |
|
This is to just have the store. Here is what you get for each one:
http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/Subscriptions.html
But then...
Insertion fees
Price | 30-day duration | Good 'Til Cancelled* |
$1.00 - $24.99** | $0.03 | $0.03 / 30 days |
$25.00 - $199.99 | $0.05 | $0.05 / 30 days |
$200.00 and above | $0.10 | $0.10 / 30 days |
|
You pay for each item every month. Yes it may not be much but what if you have a thousand items! Oh but that is not all. When you sell your product you then pay:
Final value fees
Price | Final value fee |
Item not sold | No fee |
$1.00 - $25.00 | 12.00% of the closing price |
$25.01 - $100.00 | 12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the remaining closing value balance |
$100.01 - $1,000.00 | 12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial $25.01 – $100.00 ($6.00), plus 4.00% of the remaining closing value balance $100.01 – $1,000.00 |
Over $1,000.01 | 12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial $25.01 – $100.00 ($6.00), plus 4.00% of the initial $100.01 – $1,000.00 ($36.00), plus 2.00% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01-closing value) |
|
In conclusion, I feel that an eBay Store is kinda a rip-off unless you have an already established customer base and guaranteed sales or have a few items you sell and they have a large profit margin.
If you don't you would be better off paying for a shopping cart software like
3-D Cart and getting automatic exposure all over the internet for your products.
Wow I wish I would have known about this site before my garage sale! If you are one of those people who always has to have the latest gadget then eBay's new electronics buying site may be your new best friend. The time and effort it takes to sell your used electronics on eBay or Craigslist typically does not make it very profitable. How nice is it to go to the Instant Sale Site and select a few options, see the price you are being offered and sell. Yes, you aren't going to get rich selling your used electronics this way but unless you are a neat nick with a lot of spare time, it beats the alternatives.
