Do stores get enough traffic for low Final Value items?? What is PS about??

[keri1128]

Hi there.

I am fairly new to selling on eBay and my items do not have a high final value, therefore they are low profit as well. Fees from eBay and Paypal really eat into any profit I might be making, but I don't know that I could sell enough in a month to warrant opening an eBay store. Particularly with store items not appearing in general search results. The 20c insertion fee is appealing, but it would take a lot of them to make up the $49.95 in store fees per month.

It's a pity that eBay aren't able to offer lower fees for items that are recognised as having a genuine lower end price. It would certainly help me to compete with the sellers in China and Hong Kong who sell identical items at lower prices and with free postage!!

My only real drawcard to buyers is that my items do not take 4-6 weeks to arrive when travelling by regular mail, instead they take 1-7 days. Thankfully I am enjoying the eBay experience at the moment and will continue to test the waters and see if I can make myself some pocket money. But I won't be quitting my day job just yet.....lol.

And what is the real benefit of being a Powerseller? Do you get a reduction in any fees?? More prominent displays in searches?? Surely there is a reward for being a consistently good seller who manages their sales well and looks after their customers. After all, Powersellers are making more money for eBay aren't they?? I would have thought they deserved better discounts than casual sellers. Is Powerseller a name only? Is there any attraction for Buyers??

I'll look forward to any constructive comments that anyone can offer.

Regards, Keri.

[lyndal1838]

Hi Keri,

I am not a seller so can not answer all of your questions, but with the low number of listings that you have at the moment it would not be economically feasible for you to have a store.

You should be getting the 30 Free listings a month too, unless you usually have a lot more items listed than you have now.

[davewil1964]

It's been years since shop listings didn't appear in general searches. The recommended number of listings for a store is supposedly 100+.

Personally, I wouldn't try to compete with Chinese sellers on price. Try upping your prices. As you said, you have the advantage on postage times, so buyers should be prepared to pay a premium for that.

No idea about powerseller. A lot who get it come on the boards whinging because they don't get free listings anymore. As long as you tick all the boxes, PS will also give you Top Rated Seller status, which allegedly engenders trust with buyers.

[phorum_junkie*]

You are selling in a very oversubscribed category so unless you can offer something other buyers can't you are going to struggle.

Do you just buy the beads to sell or do you make things with them? If you do make things why not sell them. The more items you list the more exposure you will get.

The postage time is not really a great advantage, depending where you are there are always going to be buyers somewhere who will probably have to wait over to weeks for your things to arrive and quite often items from HK arrive fairly quickly.

I used to do a good trade in selling tee shirts which I embellished with beads and/or sequins. I advertised them as one of a kind items and never did two exactly the same. That was back in the days before I had a store when I just auctioned about 20  to 30 a week. Sadly I no longer have the time or the energy left to do that anymore.

[the-kazbar]

... Particularly with store items not appearing in general search results.

And what is the real benefit of being a Powerseller? Do you get a reduction in any fees?? More prominent displays in searches?? Surely there is a reward for being a consistently good seller who manages their sales well and looks after their customers. After all, Powersellers are making more money for eBay aren't they?? I would have thought they deserved better discounts than casual sellers. Is Powerseller a name only? Is there any attraction for Buyers??

Hi Keri,

Store item listings appear in searches exactly the same as any other listings now, and have done for a few years. In fact, an on-going multiple qty listing will move higher up the search rank once it has achieved some sales, compared to a once off listing.

As for being a PS, well ebay doesn't offer us anything except for another discussion board exactly the same as this one. To get Top Rated Seller status (TRS) you need to first be a powerseller and TRS is supposed to offer better search rankings (the jury is well and truely out on that though).

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/top-rated.html

Sadly, there are no fee discounts, special advantages or incentives to be a PS.

[putney32]

if you are new to selling you need to read the ebay rules about Keyword Spamming.

I'm pretty sure you are not allowed to say your beads 'compare to Swarovski,if they are NOT Swarovski beads !

[syrupsmummy]

Now cheapest store fee is $49.95 per month. It means, if you sell 100 items you pay 50c per item for store fee on top of 20c insertion fee plus 7% FVF.

So if you sold $3 item in store you pay $0.91 (50c + 20c + 21c) for fee when you sell 100 items per month.

If you only sell 50 items per month you pay $1 store fee per item. So for $3 item you pay $1.41 ($1.00 + 20c + 21c) for fee.

Insertion fee can be reduced if you are selling multiple quantity. If you list quantity 10 and sell all your insertion fee per item will be reduced to 2c per item.

You need to consider all factors to consider if a store is for you or not.

I think at this stage if you are not a powerseller yet using 30 free listing is better option. Once you become a powerseller you will lose 30 free listing. So you can thin about a store because you need to pay insertion fee 50 per item to list.

[digital*ghost]

I would personally take out the line in the description about not being able to compete on price with Chinese sellers - you want to market the advantages of buying from you without the first point being "you can get it cheaper elsewhere", if you know what I mean. So, highlight what those advantages are, eg local stock, fast shipping, quick delivery, maybe quality control if you cull the duds. 

With a small range in the beads category, I think it's going to be difficult to really make it worthwhile, in that only a limited number of people will find you, and they will probably buy only a couple of items at best.

I buy a lot of jewellery findings and to be honest, there's a limited number that I'm prepared to pay more for to get it faster etc. If you get to the point where you're considering having a store, aside from increasing your product range to cross promote your items, I would recommend having a really good range of more unique items - there are no tensha beads currently located in Australia on eBay (except in already made products), very few unique handmade lampwork beads (take a look at the current bid price of Magma Beads ~Vintage Lace~ Handmade Lampwork Beads), and just a couple of the more unusual Czech fire polish beads. There are also some absolutely beautiful semi-precious beads out there that will cost a little more to invest in, but at the same time, that's why there's fewer of them located in Australia. 

[flashback_deals]

If you list sheap mitems, don't forget payPal takes out 30c per transacton + a bit over 4% in fees too

If you list cheap items, the 30c fee is a killer

[keri1128]

Thanks everyone. There are some really great pieces of advice in your replies.

I do buy in bulk, but I am testing the waters to see what sells right now. I know that myself I was getting annoyed with ordering stock and then having to wait weeks for it to arrive. So I was hoping that being a genuine Aussie located seller would appeal to others. Especially if I was close to the overseas pricing.

With regards to the person who stated that I can't say 'Compares to Swarovski'. Well my beads do compare and they are exactly what the Chinese sellers list as genuine Swarovski. I figured that I was being honest and letting people know that whilst they aren't Swarovski, the quality is similar if not just as good. I get really annoyed that other sellers blatantly list their stock as Swarovski and trade on that good name when their item clearly isn't. You will note that my newer listings do not use the Swarovski name as I am hoping that the Positive Feedback I have received from Buyers will speak to the quality of the product I am selling.

I did all the calculations as to whether the quantities I have would be worth setting up a store for, and they would be, but only if everything sold. That's why I'm trying out some of the more unusual and less available shapes, as well as the tried and tested Rondelles. I have plenty of stock here, but I am selling it bag by bag until I decide whether to take the plunge with a store.

So thank you to those who shared some valuable insights with me. I really do appreciate the time you have taken to reply to my questions.

Regards, Keri.