For those of you that have an eBay store, I believe it is time to start thinking about what you will do if eBay decides to eliminate the store format. They have done so already in Italy, and more recently in the UK, as reported today on AuctionBytes.I am leaning toward the idea that this is coming to eBay in the US - we all know that eBay is all about making changes that benefit eBay, and getting rid of stores would do that in a couple of ways:
Higher Fees
As with most of their changes, the fees will probably work out to be higher for most sellers. Sorry if I sound like a pessimist, after the last 8 months I just can't help it.
Less Ability to Brand
Having a store on eBay allows you to establish your own brand, in essence it gives you your own URL where all of your eBay items can be seen, in a category structure and design format that you choose. You can also send newsletters, allowing you to keep in touch and continually re-establish your business as its own entity in the mind of your buyers who subscribe.
I think eBay is looking to limit the ability of individual sellers to make themselves stand out from the crowd - they want buyers to think "I got it on eBay" not "I got it from XX Business on eBay".
They also want to make it as difficult as possible for sellers to move their eBay buyers off site - they tried changing the outside links policy but had to retract it, and this looks like another option that they could try to achieve similar results.
As a seller who relies on their eBay store for a good chunk of income, I'm worried. I am already in the process of backing up my store items on the new Bonanzle selling platform... It has an importer for your eBay listings and feedback, it's free to list, the final value fees are reasonable, and it has a lot of fun features and an overall friendly vibe that I really like.
So we'll see what happens - I just thought it was important to put this possibility out there, so that hopefully at least us vintage sellers won't be caught off guard if/when this huge change comes!
11 comments:
I am delighted to see you are giving Bonanzle a try. I really think it is a breath of fresh air. There is something liberating about deleting the pages of threats and begging from TOS in listings needed to survive on eBay.
Do share your booth name.
I like it so far too! I am still trying to figure everything out, I have listings imported but I need to edit them before I make the booth live. I will definitely post when it is!
Hi Mitzi,
Thanks for the post. I agree, and am surprised it's taken them this long...not that I'm in a rush to see them go!
Since the moment they purchased ProStores I've expected they'd be the eventual replacement to eBay Stores.
It seems like a natural to me...again, not that it's something I'd like to see happen!
Of course I've been waiting all along for them to integrate StumbleUpon, which seemed just as natural of a fit (Stumble listings by keyword, why not?), and it looks like that'll never come to pass, so what do I know.
Hi Cliff, yeah I've been worried about it for a while too, especially since I heard the head of Stores left! I mean what bigger clue do you want than that? lol
We will just have to see how they work it when they do it, either it will be a disaster or it will be workable, but I don't really have my hopes up! ;)
I was actually about to close mine. For how much stuff I have listed, it would be cheaper to do the new 30 day listing format. My sales have dropped so much with all ebay changes, I'm not even sure I will be selling anything there once Christmas is over. It used to be such a good way to sell things, but all these changes are getting out of hand.
Thanks for the heads up Mitzi!!
Hi Mitzi,
I sure hope this does not happen. That would be awful. I just signed up for Bonanzle a few days ago. I still have not figured out the whole site. Have you had any sales there yet?
I've heard the rumors and feel your pain. An option if you wish to stay on ebay and use their new 30 day listing formati is to do all your listing through auctiva - NO FEES WHATSOEVER :) your listings can all be posted in a store format, hundreds of templates, 3rd party international shipping insurance, photo hosting, tracks buyers by email & purchases and you can make your own templates for email marketing. I use 'em and love 'em! Definitely worth checking out. parkerhawn vintage
Bonanzle is a fun site and I have heard of people having some sales there, though I would imagine it is mostly sellers buying from other sellers at this point since the site is so new. I haven't made my booth live yet, I haven't had time to edit all the listings I imported...
I do use Auctiva to list on eBay, I love it too! So many great features, and I do feel some sense of security that at least my listings are saved somewhere off of eBay, in case something bad happens over there I still have all my info available to me!
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