I'm confused as to try to figure out which way would give me the worst outcome. In Stores, are the listing fees still going to be 20c & 5c as they are now? Without a store, & after the 30 free x 10 day listings are used up, what is the listing fee? Can you list for 30 days? How much do pics cost? I think I read somewhere it's not possible to have listings with variations. Where can I find this information?

It seems insertion fees will remain unchaged for the time being, so 20c and 5c for store owners.

Listing fees without a store are 50 cents for start prices up to $19.99, $1.50 for start prices up to $99.99 and $3.00 for start prices $100 or more.

Listing duration is for a maximum of 10 days without a store,  and you can only have multiple quantity or variant listings if you are a Power Seller or registered as a business (which disqualifies you from the 30 free listings). Anyone can upload up to 12 images for free on any listing.

Information about fees is here: http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/fees.html