Are eBay Stores Really Worth the Money?

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.

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Prestashop Update

Image by music2work2 via Flickr

Well I have both some good news and some bad news to report about Prestashop. I unfortunately will not be using Prestashop. We got the whole storefront set up, I had all my pages complete. Uploaded all my products and categories using csv files. It looked good, I mean really good. Prestashop has a nice looking store template. Really professional and easy to set up. Some of the set up is not very intuitive but it takes a quick search on Google to find an answer to any how to questions.

So we have the site setup and ready to go. One last step till launch, shipping. That is where prestashop takes a nosedive for U.S. users. It is absolutely not UPS compatible and I have heard it is slightly USPS compatible but I didn't install that module. I tried installing a module that someone had created that was supposed to add UPS shipping to the shopping cart but it didn't work. My boyfriend is a computer programmer and he couldn't get it to work, so it really was a failure. I ship items that vary in weight greatly and I ship all over the world so I could not possibly make an accurate shipping chart myself. It would take me forever and everytime  prices changed I would have to redo the entire thing, no way.

With that being said I will be saying fairwell to my Prestashop store and trying another shopping cart software. Zen Cart is also a free software but unlike Prestashop it caters to users in the United States and has UPS and USPS shipping modules that are supposed to be functional. I will keep you updated on my findings.

I think I will try and do some eBay auctions in the near future just to make some money. I keep focusing on the longterm goal of having my own store but nothing can beat eBay for making some quick profits. I just wish the items I sold where more niche and then it could be quick and large profits. If you have a niche product, eBay is the best place to start developing your business. After you start getting a customer base and some regular profits, then branch out to a store, Amazon, or other auction sites.

Here are some of the books I found about this subject for further reading if you are interested. In fact I think I may need to purchase one of these this time around.
You can't beat a good euphonious

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OnlineAuction.com

Image via Wikipedia

I was doing a little research on alternative auction sites tonight and came across a site started right here in Southern Oregon. OnlineAuction.com is a modestly popular auction site. It certainly doesn't have the business that eBay enjoys but, it is only one of many auction sites popping up on the internet trying to win a piece of the frustrated eBay sellers who are looking for a better alternative. Some other auction sites are:

eBid

Swoopo 

Overstock.com Auction 

uBid 

Shopgoodwill.com 

Bid4Assets 

I don't receive anything for advertising these sites. Its just for your information. You should check out the other auction sites because you may find they offer more for the money and may fit your goals better than eBay can.

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PrestaShop

Image by Toban Black via Flickr

So I still haven't opened my store yet. It seems to be one thing after another. The storefront I was going to go with has so many bugs. The main site is down a lot and getting the csv feed to work has been a joke. I am now considering scraping the old store and starting my store using PrestaShop. PrestaShop is free Open-Source e-Commerce Software. So you have to provide the server and a domain. While that is a drawback, you get full control over how your store works and looks. I don't have to rely on someone else to fix a problem I am having with their product. If it is broken, I fix it. It does take some know how. Probably more for the moderately advanced user. Some html knowledge is probably helpful.

You should definitely check it out. If I decide to use it, I will let you know how it goes.

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Back in Business

So after taking a break for awhile I am going to venture back into the world of online sales. I am really debating on how much I am actually going to use eBay this time though. It seems like it is becoming increasingly difficult to make a profit on eBay selling regular products. eBay is so full of sellers, selling the same thing. Homemade and one of a kind items seem to be the ticket. I am opening my own store where I will be selling swords and blades. I will probably use eBay as a way to advertise and get business. I will also be relying on eBay to show myself as a reputable seller since I have a great feedback score there. I changed my eBay ID to Dantotsu (which is the name of my new store). Sounds more like a sword store than Toria's Treasures. I will again start updating this blog. I still believe a lot of good advice can be found in my previous posts if you are new to this blog.

Till next time...

Still Kickin

It has been awhile since I have written anything. I still have my eBay store but I have cut out most of my products for the time because I started having some problems around Christmas. Since I am primarily a drop-shipper I was having many orders that were back-ordered or even discontinued when I went to order them. I changed my strategy quite a bit. I have cut my suppliers down to two who I know are better at keeping items in stock and communication. They are also super quick shippers. I will be auctioning off all of my remaining stock that I have at my house in a couple of weeks. I will start all of these auctions for .99.

With the market slowing right now I am really trying to attract international orders as much as I can and PayPal just made it much easier to take international payments without putting yourself in danger of losing money. I will be posting more in the future but wanted anyone who follows my blog to know that I am still in business and while it has been tough the last couple of months, I am not planning on giving up, but instead I am rethinking my strategy.

Till next time...

Customer Troubles

I had the worst customer relations issue this week. It is the biggest problem I have had since I began my business. I had a customer buy an expensive item which I purchased through a drop-shipper. The said item did not arrive is satisfactory condition, which happens sometime. To make matters worse a third-party becomes involved through the customer and tells the customer that the item I sold them was in fact a fake! Well the item was not a fake and I had to end up contacting the manufacturer and having them verify that my distributor was an authorized distributor. This customer was about to ring me through the whole eBay, PayPal dispute system. It was a huge headache.

Honesty is such an important quality in business. You will never get far if you have dishonest business practices. Even though this week was stressful, in the end it worked out because I was honest with the customer. I can accept that an item arrived damaged and needs replaced. I am so willing to bend over backwards for customers in that instance. On the other hand, to be accused of selling fraud products hurts me because I am an honest person and the thought to buy cheap crap to resell on eBay has never crossed my mind.

When I decided to start my eBay business I went the legal route and obtained my tax id so I could work with real wholesalers and drop-shippers not those ones who say they are for real but don't require any special info from you. Those people are schemers and to sell the products listed you would have to mark them up way over retail and would be lucky if you made an occasional sale.

I am ranting today but my advice this week is, be honest. No matter what you think you can get if you aren't, it never works out in the end. Dishonesty in business will be the end of your business. If you are delayed in shipping be upfront with your customer. If you make a mistake, admit it. It may not be easy to do all the time but it is the best way to go.

Till next time...