Does anyone really shop on Ebay?

[tinmanausoz]

Opened a store 3 weeks ago. Have had 3 sales. At $20.00 per month for store, I figure will go broke real soon.

[davewil1964]

You have 35 items listed and are coming off a zero base.

You have to allow time for buyers to see you are legit. And it is post-Christmas; the B&Ms have been running sales for the last week. That's where the $ are going.

If you close your store you can still list 40 free per month, which is 13 on 10 day cycles. Plus there are often additional free listings available.

[tinmanausoz]

Thankyou Dave,

Like the pine trees linin' the windin' road.

[chameleon54]

Ebay for all of its faults, still has the the biggest client base for regular sellers in the world. It can take a number of months ( even years ) to start building up a client base, getting feedback scores up etc. but if you are willing to persavere it can be a great way to earn a living. ( no boss, work from home to your own hours etc. ). Buyers tend to be a bit shy of new stores untill they have a track record, but once you have 30 or 40 good feedbacks they tend to loosen up a little bit. I started a second store as an offshoot from my main one around eight months ago. It took 4-5 months before it took off, but now is going very well. I ran a few auctions of cheap items I was willing to let go for next to nothing to get the feedback score up quickly. This worked for me.  I also put a fair bit of time into getting my listing numbers up. Once I got over 200 listings, things really started to move even though there was not a lot of feedback score. I had a couple of buyers comment that the number of listings made it look more proffessional. Approx. 18,000 sellers make a full time living from selling on ebay in Australia so some-one must be selling something.

[tinmanausoz]

Thankyou Chameleon54.

I have no intention of losing money for 4 to 5 months to build up a feedback. I have sold items and buyers do not leave feedback at present. But I understand that it takes time. Thankyou for your insight.

[tstore]

I recommend closing the store and just use the 40 free listings per month. See things around the house to build up feedback quickly

[shoptilludroptara]

hi

i dont use a store just the 40 free listing and any other free listing i get offered

only sell what we dont use anymore or new items i brought but changed my mind about or wrong colour or size

i normally only sell on here to pay for my buying on here

and i do quite well i usually sell at least 10 items per month plus a few more with the extra listings offered

and then i go buy alot lol

so yes people do shop on ebay

tara

[springyzone]

I shop on here sometimes.

I guess it depends on what people are after.

To be truthful, I am a bit wary of buying from shops for some items. They are great for supplies & multiple type items-cake bags, diamantes, ribbon, that sort of thing. Sometimes the ebay shops have stuff you just can't find in the real stores (just try buying coral ribbon anywhere, you'll wear out a set of shoes). So ebay shops are good for those types of purchases.

On the other hand, if i wanted to buy more one off items-maybe furniture or clothes or what have you, I would probably prefer a private seller.

So... it comes down to what items you sell, I guess but don't feel you have to have an ebay shop before anyone will buy off you.

[emeraldtarpon]

No...not anymore.

[putney32]

Kerry I see your main problem is trying to sell items under $10 with high postage.

that doubles the price of the item to the buyer.

you need to offer items that would be value for money at the TOTAL price the seller needs to pay.