Keeping vs. closing specialty eBay stores

I'm heading in the same direction!! :)

me too! usually i have bids but now - i have none - not sure if eBay's just slow or i don't have enough listed or it's because of the store nd the fixed prices...i found that when i listed auction listings, i would charge a low starting price to attract people away from the stores...seems to be backfiring on me though...good luck!

I'm right with all of you! I did much better just on auction listings, but I've put a ton of work into my store. Sighhh.

It's a hard call. Good luck :)

I looked at your listing, and most of your things are fairly expensive, it is hard to target a market that can pay upper end prices on ebay....You might consider doing less expensive things.

Having had an antique shop for 20 years, I found that while it was very nice to sell the big expensive furniture, the average person shopping did not have that kind of money, they needed to buy things that were less than $50.

I say this for everyone, if you try and be as diverse as possible, in other words if you are selling childrens clothes, you are going to only attract that buyer.

If you are only selling expensive things, most people that don't have spending dollars will click away as soon as they see your prices. That is not to say that the things you are selling are not worth the price, but you are having to appeal to a pocket book. Most of my friends cannot spend that kind of money and I live in an upper class neighborhood where homes are fairly expensive...but they are all watching their money.

I've brought down my store inventory drastically. I am looking for other venues for sales. Insertion fees on eBay are killing me. And I don't think I've had a store sale in months.

Ebay is and was started as Auction sales. There has never been an Ebay Store That paid much to have open. That's why when Ebay raised Store fees and Monthly charge, MANY Stores Closed and went to other sites or just started their own Website. Ebay is a Auction Site. Always will be.

I was thinking about opening a store later on, but nevermind. I will stick with auctions so that I wont waste so much money. Insertion fees are high though LOL. Some people nick named eBay FeeBay! Ooooooooooo! Tisk Tisk! I love eBay though!!!!!!

For your shop to really work you must also make sure you're listing auction items in the same categories. Make sure you put a template on all your auction listings to visit your eBay shop for similar items. Cheers & Good Luck.

The way I do it: I first list my new item as an auction. If it doesn't go the first time, it goes into the store. That way I always have some auctions going to drive people to the store. I sell about 50/50 auctions and store items. Sometimes I will pull an item out of the store that has been there awhile and auction it to attract some action. I found that I can't afford to list and relist everything as an auction since the fees went sky-high.

I am with bitplayer52. We do some of everything. Auctions, Buy It Nows, Store and Now Mark Downs in the Store. Seems to be working - just move things around - just like any store - they move different items to that front center table that you first see when you walk in the door.

You can't beat the store listings though!

I like my store. It hasn't been a month yet, but I've already sold from it more than a few times!

It's paid for itself this month...
LOL
BBB

I sold very little when I had an ebay store, so I shut it down when they raised their prices last year. Auctions work much better for me. I was running auctions and having a store too, but that was not successful. I am saving a lot more money now just running auctions. I have found another venue for my store which does not charge a monthly fee.

Keep addresses and send out vouchers and flyers to your best customers. There are no FEES! You should already have a reputation as an honest seller. My eBay auctions are for advertising and sometimes seem to be getting as expensive as Super Bowl Commercials. Use eBay as an oppurtunity to meet with the consuming public.

I think it all depends on what you are selling. I know personally, not all my items will sell the first go around in auction, then I have to reslist. When I relist, I pay those high fees. After two go arounds, sometimes it's just better to retire the product to the store and sell something in auction that will bring traffic to the store. I use auction items to attract traffic and cross promote as many of my store items as I can.

I have found for me that there are some items I sell that don't do well in auction. I get next to nothing for them if I auction it off, even starting at a very low price. But if I run it at buy-it-now, I have a greater chance of getting rid of it. But by selling similar items in my store I get a fair amount of traffic coming into the store and looking around. I have a fair balance of stuff sold from the store as well as auctions. What is great about the store is it's less to list.

I think it's all about how you sell and what you sell that will determine if you should open or close a store.

Just my thoughts. :)

I have also decided to buy and resell only high end things. I have found other sellers who are selling the expensive items, but they do not have a store. They are having great success with this. They all feel the same. Store listings do not generate sales. Auction format listings generate a lot more sales of the high end items. It's not the items or the price, people are competitive in nature and want to auction format listings, and the store listings are always at the bottom of every page when you do a search. This decreases the likelihood that someone will take the time to scroll down and look at your store listings.