How to Get Your Own Customizable Showcase on eBay
Having an eBay store gives your business its own website address (e.g. ). Your customers can bookmark your site and so will be able to find you easily when they want to buy from you again. Once at your store, they will be searching through just YOUR listings for what they want, NOT everyone else’s listings in the category they are interested in.
With an eBay store you can use the Store Inventory listing category which reduces your listing fees so you can fill your store with multiple items for much less than it would cost to list the same number of items as auctions. Your eBay store gives you an identity and increases your credibility and legitimacy as a business which improves customer confidence in you.
As your store has its own web address, it can appear in internet search engine results – so people searching on Google for your product can find you, even if they aren’t searching on eBay!
You can add links to your eBay store to all your listings. And you can encourage people to visit your store in all correspondence that you send, e.g. winning bidder confirmation, invoices, when answering queries, etc. Write something like “Visit my eBay store for more quality (name of your niche) items at bargain prices” and provide a clickable link to your store’s website address.
Even if people don’t buy what you are selling in your auction listing, they may visit your store and buy something from there. The more people who visit your store – the more sales you will make.
You can add posts to discussion groups and forums that are relevant to your niche. Make useful comments and give good advice in your posts and include a link to your eBay store after your name (if this doesn’t break the forum’s rules).
Once at your store, they may opt to receive your store newsletter. So even if they haven’t bought from you, you can build an eBay database so you can contact them on an ad hoc or regular automated basis – as often as every 2 weeks if you want. So even if they don’t buy from you initially, they may do so in future. But don’t become a spammer – you will just annoy your potential customers who will unsubscribe from your list. Only send relevant information or offers that will be of interest to your niche.
It’s very easy to set up an eBay store. Just go to your country’s eBay homepage, click on the Stores (Shops in the UK and Ireland) tab near the top of the page, then click on Open a Store (Shop) under Stores (Shops) on the right hand side. There are three levels of store. Start with the lowest and cheapest (Basic Store) and upgrade as your business expands.
Your eBay store subscription includes eBay’s Selling Manager tool to help you manage your eBay business.
Ideally it’s best to brand your store with your own logo to appear more professional. Your store should have a similar appearance to your listings to increase brand awareness and generate familiarity which instils confidence.
You can get valuable feedback from eBay not only about how many people visited your store but also which of your items are of most interest to them and which keyword search terms they used that drove them to your store. You can use this valuable feedback to improve your marketing and drive more traffic to your store.
So having an eBay store can take your eBay business to the next level.