If you have grown accustomed to using eBay and regularly sell goods on the website to make some extra money, then you may have started considering the possibility of opening an eBay shop.

At this stage you may be asking yourself, is it worth it?

Everyone will have a different opinion when it comes to making a decision on how to grow a business venture. When deciding whether or not an eBay shop is the correct strategy for your business, there are certain factors that you need to keep in mind. Not only will this exercise help you make an optimal decision, but it will also make the entire process of opening and running an eBay shop more effective.

• Evaluate the market. Before commencing with an eBay shop, it is important to determine the potential demand of your product. Is it a high-demand good? Is it a niche product? Could it be a so-called  “hot seller” in the near future? You can easily find out what people are looking for with the keyword search facility on eBay. This function will tell you the most popular searches carried out over a specific period of time: http://keyword-index.ebay.com/keyword-index.html

• Will you be able to offer the product consistently or is it prone to a supply shortage? In other words,  can it be easily replenished?

• If you have competitors who are selling the same or a similar product as you, can you keep your prices competitive? One of the reasons  eBay has become so popular is because its website provides users with many opportunities to pick up a bargain. Therefore, if it is at all feasible, make sure you keep your prices slightly below that of the competition. But not so low that people will start questioning the quality of you product.

• How is your feedback rating? Potential customers won’t feel comfortable buying from a seller who is unreliable, so you should only really consider opening an eBay shop if your rating score is 97% or higher.

These four factors are crucial to the success of your eBay shop. Having said that, a successful eBay shop can certainly make for a legitimate, alternative, and exciting way of making money, be it as an extra or full-time income.

eBay Shop Information

If you have seriously considered the possibility of opening an eBay shop but are still unsure of how your level of commitment, you’ll be delighted to know that there is a 30-day free trial for new users (for the basic and featured shop). This gives potential eBay shop owners the opportunity to become familiar with the service. And there is absolutely no obligation should you decide it is not for you.
You can choose from three main packages:

Basic Shop

The cost of this service (ideal for newcomers) is just £6.00 per month, the first 30 days are completely free. If you are new to eBay or are simply unaware of eBay’s services, then this would be a chance to try out your new business venture at a very low risk.

It would probably be wisest to start with a basic shop if you are new to the scene. With the basic shop, you can expect to receive:

• A fully customisable front page for your business
• Marketing tools
• Sales tools
 
Featured Shop

As with the basic shop, there is a 30-day free trial included in the package to allow for a test drive of the software. For the cost of £30 per month, you will receive all of the basic shop features as well as additional business tools that will help guide you through a sometimes unpredictable market. These include:

• Detailed and easy to understand marketing, sales and reporting tools
• 10 customisable pages

Anchor Shop

A smaller group of sellers use this service because it is only really designed for a fully established, popular business with an extremely high sales volume. At £300 a month, the Anchor Shop service may seem relatively expensive, but it comes with an uncapped earning potential.
Included in the monthly fee are all of the useful business tools from the Featured Shop as well as:

• Enhanced marketing, sales and reporting tools to evaluate how the market is performing
• Maximum visibility. This will often mean a front page link on eBay, which is known to be a major driver of potential customers.
• More flexible customisation option to ensure your shop front is fully adapted to your selling needs

Each of these services are designed for different types of sellers, from the occasional seller to the full-time eBay PowerSeller. No matter what tier you decide to begin with, upgrading to the next level is always possible. There are no limitations on how many goods can be displayed at one time, so as soon as you have signed up for any of the three services, it is just a case of advertising your products and enticing those precious customers. Once the word spreads across the eBay community about the high quality and quick delivery of the goods sold at your shop, you will start reaping the rewards of your successful online business venture.