EBay started as an online auction site, but with the addition of the ‘Buy Now’ option many traders started using it as an online shopfront. EBay then expanded this to allow businesses to have their own area on the site which was still part of the whole system, so items would still appear in the searches that users were doing to find items that interested them. This area is called ‘eBay Shops’ and we’re going to show you what’s involved in setting one up.
Choose your level
After setting up your PayPal and eBay accounts, decide which level of shop you want. The more expensive monthly rate does result in lower fees per item. Start with Basic; you can always upgrade later.
Choose additional products
Selling Manager and Sales Reports Plus are very useful and as these versions are free then select these. Again they can be upgraded later but that costs an extra monthly fee.
Check user agreement
A final check on what you are committing to plus a confirmation that you accept the user agreement, which you have read of course. Remember that there are certain items that can’t be sold on eBay, so make sure you read the restrictions.
Customise your shop
Your shop is now set up and you are ready to start selling. But in reality you will want to customise things before you go live. Even the basic shop option gives you a fair degree of choice and flexibility here.
Select a theme
Here you select the basic theme and template that your shop will use. Once selected you can change the colours and add a graphic logo.
Prepare your listings
You decide how the items that you are selling are going to be displayed as well as the default sort order of the listing. “Ending soonest” is the recommended order, but if your items are all “Buy It Now” products you might want to change this.
Add promo boxes
Promotion Boxes enable you to bring other items to your customers’ attention. New items, ending auction items, carriage details and newsletter sign-up are all optional items.
Alter layout
The layout of the pages that list your items can be changed, but it is probably best to go for the default unless you have good reason not to.
Manage My Shop
With the ‘Manage My Shop’ administration page you can upgrade your shop and also manage any email marketing you wish to send to your customers who have opted in to receive your emails.
Send HTML emails
A great feature for building a customer base is the ability to send emails in HTML, with a look similar to that of your shop. It’s very important to build brand awareness, so that your customers recognise your company.
Create email campaigns
With this screen there are lots of options to set, such as which emails are sent to whom, so that hopefully prospective customers don’t become annoyed at repeated and irrelevant emails from you.
Your finished store
And there you have it, one live shop with stock all ready to sell. It’s a highly efficient means of getting yourself set up in the world of retailing without any of the usual obstacles.
Shopping trolley
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