5000 free store listings

[mydazzling]

Looking to find out a few things about the 5000 free store listings that have been happening recently to figure out how viable stores are currently.
Any help would be much appreciated and hopefully we can all use this resource to take advantage of this feature in the best way possible!

How often are the 5000 free store listings available?
I read previously they were roughly each month or so, and the listings could be done over a week.
If each month are they roughly the same time each month? end or start of month etc.

Is this offer available to all store categories?
Basic, featured, anchored

Are they consistently available across or format listings or for some months do they vary?
Such as BIN, auction, GTC etc.

Are there any features that are not free when using this promotion? Best offer, gallery etc

Is this offer available using apps? Turbolister etc

Any catches? Need to offer free shipping, higher sales fees etc?

[*sparklz*]

They are an invitation only offer.

If you have 5000 items to sell then having a store would be the way to go.

If you are only a casual seller then it is not worth having even the basic $19.95 store unless you have at 80+ items to be listed in the store.

Store and the 5000 free listing offer is for 30 day buy now store listings ONLY not for auctions.

[mydazzling]

great. thanks for that! does every store owner get the invite? or are they restricted to basic or featured stores or other criteria or randomness?

i do have more than 5000 items could list & ive done all the calculations. so its a matter of figuring out if the 5000 free listings make a store more viable or if i should just take my time with the casual seller free lsitings.  

[digital*ghost]

Only listings that are created during the promotion are free - if you create 5000 listings one month and get the promotion again the next month, only 5000 new listings will be free and the 5000 from the previous month will incur insertion fees (unlike the basic free listings you get with a store package).

Generally, all additional features incur the same fees, although the current promotion includes half price subtitles ($1 instead of $2), which is valid for the initial duration and will be charged at full price when it ticks over if not removed before the 30 days is up. 

TBH I don't think this particular promotion is all that beneficial to many store holders. The first one I received included auctions, but none of the other ones have. 

I'm pretty sure not all store holders get the promo,  and I know when I got the one that included auctions, some other sellers just got BINs. It would be pointless for anchored store holders to get 5000 free BIN listings as they're already free with that package (@$499.95 subscription fee p/m, but with reduced FVF). 

If you have 5000 items, personally I think you would be better off basing the decision to open a store or not based on all the known applicable fees rather than a possible (seemingly random) reduction / promotion. Try the fee illustrator to see if a store package would benefit you: http://www.fees.ebay.com.au/feeweb/feeillustrator

[bigbrickshop]

Also, new sellers are subject to listing limits with restrictions on the number of monthly listings until you build up a sales and feedback history.

[mydazzling]

thanks all. alot of useful info and suggestions there  

anyone with a basic store being offered the 5000 free listings?

[davewil1964]

Lots. I've had them all.

But I don't have restrictions on my store account.

No point in subscribing to a store to use 5000 free listings if you can only list 100.

[mydazzling]

thats true. my listings limits are going up very quickly currently, but since youve got the same small feedback as i have, how did you get them to become unlimited so quickly?

[davewil1964]

Because I have another account that I sell on. And there were no restrictions when I opened it.

[curraone]

I got the offer but it says only for GOOD TILL CANCELLED listings and I have gone away from that, on the advice of some of the posters