eBay is the world’s online marketplace, the place to find virtually anything you want to buy or sell. Together with PayPal, it has created an environment where almost anyone can successfully set up an online store.
In fact, eBay reports that there are more than 200,000 active eBay Stores in the US alone.
Many sellers have found success on eBay by selling used items from around the house. Others have built entire businesses selling used cars and clothing. And still others have established multi-million dollar enterprises selling new goods from manufacturers who don’t have the resources or desire to build out their own eCommerce operations.
Truly, anyone can open an eBay store. All it takes is a few mouse clicks to register, which is free. And when you’re ready to list your first item, it’s about $1. There are no monthly fees; you just pay 10% of your final sale price when you make a sale.
If you’re thinking about opening your own eBay Store, here are 10 tips to help you start your own store on eBay.
Table of Contents
1: Describe your vision and types of eBay Stores
before start a store on eBay, think what you want to sell on eBay. For example, I like to sell shoes, clothes, and other items. Also, I have a lot of experience in this field. I have been working in this field for more than 15 years. This helped me gain experience and knowledge that will help me serve my customers professionally and with great quality.
The type of store you want to create will depend on the items you wish to sell.
There are five types of eBay Stores:
- Basic Store: For buyers who want a low-cost, low-frills selling solution.
- Featured Store: For buyers who want an array of eBay advertising tools and a professional storefront.
- Anchor Store: For larger sellers who need advanced inventory management and an even more robust selection of listing tools.
- Enterprise Store: For high-volume sellers who want a completely personalized, high-end store experience.
- Custom Store Design: If you want to set up your own personalized store, we offer custom store design services.
So what are you waiting for? Join the millions of other sellers who have created successful businesses selling on eBay.
2: Choose a store name
Your store name should be unique and easy to remember. It will appear in your listings, your store pages and your email communications with customers. It must also be relevant to the products you are about to sell. For instance, if you want to sell products like alienware aurora 2019, you should choose a store name related to gaming PCs or systems.
Your store name can’t be changed once you’ve chosen it, so take the time to pick the right one before setting up your store.
There are three main considerations:
- The first consideration is whether you want to use your own name or a business name. If you’re selling artwork or other handmade items, you may want to use your name because it will be part of your brand and help people identify you as the creator of those items. But if you’re going to be selling many different types of products from different sources, it might make more sense to decide a business name that’s not associated with any one person.
- The second consideration is whether you want your store name to reflect what you sell. You’ll probably want to add some keywords in order to get found more easily in search engines and on sites like eBay, but overdoing it can make your store name less memorable and less attractive. For example, listing “iPhone Accessories, Chargers and iPhone Cases” makes your store sound like a bargain bin rather than a carefully curated selection of cases and accessories for the iPhone.
- The third consideration is whether you want the store name to be permanent or temporary. If you’re starting out with just a few things to sell, and you have plans to expand into other areas later on, using a general name like “Ibex Outdoors” can be easier than coming up with something unique every time you decide to explore new product categories.
If possible, you want to leverage keywords where possible to help improve search rankings.
3: Choose a pricing plan
As an eBay Store subscriber, you have a choice of three pricing plans: Basic, Premium and Anchor. You can switch between plans at any time or even cancel your subscription without penalty
- Basic plan: The Basic plan is the most affordable option for those who want to get started with stores. It’s a great way to see if opening an eBay Store is right for you.
- Premium plan: If you’re ready to take your store to the next level and grow your sales, the Premium plan provides more features, like custom pages and exclusive promotions.
- Anchor plan: As your business grows, the Anchor plan gives you everything you need to build a successful online presence. In addition to all the features of our Premium plan, you’ll also receive unlimited listings and more promotional tools that help you get noticed.
If you don’t need a unique URL or any of the complex features offered by other plans, this option is for you. You also get a monthly discount of up to 20% on insertion fees (or your basic listing fees) when you list items for sale in your shop.
4: Pick your store theme
When you create an eBay store, we’ll automatically set up a default theme for you based on your business type and brand.
You can edit the theme later to personalize it. When you do, make sure your theme matches your brand image, so that your customers know they’ve come to the right place.
To change your Store theme:
- Click Marketing on the left side of the page.
- Click Manage Themes.
- Select a theme from the list.
- Click Apply theme to store.
You’ll only be able to change your Store theme once every 24 hours.
5: Get the right products to sell
Your ability to find the right products to sell on eBay depends entirely on you and your ability to spot trends and understand consumer needs.
The first step is to identify a product that you think has the potential to make money. Perhaps it’s something you’ve seen in magazines, online or in big-name stores. Once you’ve identified a product, you need to figure out if there are enough people looking for the item on eBay for it to be worth your while.
Use the eBay search bar located at the top of any eBay page. Type in the name of your product and click ‘search’. A page will appear showing how many listings there are on eBay for that item.
If there are lots of listings, this is a good sign as it shows other sellers have had success selling that product. If there aren’t many listings, after clicking Search, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look at Related Searches. If those searches show lots of listings, then this is also good news as it shows people are interested in buying similar products to what you want to sell.
When searching for completed listings, remember that:
- You can use the advanced search criteria drop-down menu to search by type or category (for example, antiques or clothing).
- You can filter your results by item condition (e.g., new or used).
- You can enter a product code or another identifier in the Keyword field (for example, ISBN or UPC) if known. For more information about product identifiers, see Using product identifiers in your listings.
Remember that people typically shop by brand name or category rather than by individual item number or description. So make sure your listings are easy for buyers to find when shopping for products similar to yours on eBay, and make them easy for potential customers to browse.
6: Take great photos of your products
The more people who see your item, the more bids you’ll get and the higher the final price of your item will be. A good photo is worth a thousand words, so make sure that your photo speaks volumes about what you’re selling!
- Take your photo in natural light or with a flash. Avoid using a flash for reflective items or highly textured surfaces.
- Shoot against a plain background in good lighting with no shadows.
- Use a tripod and a remote shutter release to keep your camera steady.
- Use the macro setting to get close up if you are shooting small items.
- Shoot extra photos showing any flaws or damage such as holes or stains that are not highlighted in the description.
Above tips for taking great product photos on this page, as well as advice for using your camera to take those photos.
7: Write product descriptions that sell
Product descriptions give a shopper a good idea of what they’re buying. They help shoppers find what they are looking for and make an informed decision when making a purchase.
- When writing your product descriptions, think about the following:
- 1. Keep your product descriptions short and sweet
- 2. Use bullet points to highlight benefits and features
- 3. Include the most relevant information first
- 4. Focus on the product’s benefits, not just the features
- 5. Add a call to action at the end of your description
- 6. Include keywords that buyers might use in their searches
- 7. Write in an active voice, not passive
By following the guidelines above, you can help make sure your listings are more effective and get more exposure on eBay.
8: Set up listing templates and shipping discounts
The template contains all the information in the Listing details section except for the item specifics. You can create your own template or use one of our recommended templates.
To apply standard shipping costs to all listings in your shop:
- 1. Select My eBay at the top of most pages, and then select All Selling from the Sell drop-down menu.
- 2. Click Shipping preferences on the left side of the page for your basic shop.
- 3. Under Set shipping discounts, select Standard Discounts (promotional pricing is not available to basic shops).
- 4. Select how you want to set up your discounts:
Apply a discount rate based on shipping cost: Enter a percentage value between 0% and 100%. The percentage rate will be applied to every eligible domestic order shipped using one of your listed shipping services, except Global Shipping Program orders. If you offer free shipping in some cases or waive postage fees for certain.
9: Set up other key features, like eBay checkout and payment processing
Once you have your product offering ready, it’s time to set up the key features that will allow your customers to check out and actually get their hands on the goods.
First, you’ll want to set up a checkout process for your customers. You can do this manually by entering each customer’s shipping address and payment method in the order management system of your choice, but there are several automated solutions available as well.
you can opt into eBay checkout, which allows customers to pay for multiple items through a single transaction. You can also integrate with third-party payment processors like PayPal or Google Checkout.
10: Launch your store
Congratulations! You are now ready to launch your store! You’re done! It’s time to launch your store. Your store is already live, You’ve worked hard to get online your store, and you should be proud of yourself for making it this far.
Conclusion
Stores on eBay offer an excellent opportunity to sell, whether you have items to unload or you want to start a business of your own. You can even use eBay Stores to get your existing business noticed. Overall, the experience is safe, efficient, and with all the advantages of online shopping. A store can also help bring in new customers who you may not have reached otherwise.
