How do I open an eBay Store? How much does it cost?

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eBay stores are easy to set up and are a relatively inexpensive way to get started with an online store. You can sell your own products or dropship goods from a reliable 3rd party.

In general, the total fees work out to about 12-15% of sales, not counting Paypal processing fees. The more items you have listed in your store, the lower the individual final value fee is for each item. Final value fees in some categories are higher than in others.

Dropshipping is a whole other subject, but I’ll just say if you plan to go that route, be sure to do your research thoroughly on that subject before diving in. While it is possible to make money dropshipping, there is a lot of competition, and there are many pitfalls and many shysters out there that you need to learn about before going that route.

Before opening an eBay Store, make sure you meet the following requirements:

How do I open an eBay Store?

eBay StoresIf you meet the above requirements, you can open an eBay Store now. You’ll be taken through a step-by-step process to name your Store, describe your store, and choose a design. You can have your Store up and running in minutes. Well, you’ll still have to add your products.

All plans include these features:

 
  • An easy-to-create branded Store experience that aligns with the retail-standard.
  • Lower final value fees.
  • Up to 12 free photos per listing.
  • Access to an advanced listing tool.
  • Sales and marketing tools, including Markdown Manager.
  • Toll-free customer service from 5 am to 10 pm Pacific Time, 7 days per week.
  • Subscriber discounts on financial services, office and shipping supplies, graphic design, and more.

How much does it cost?

To help you figure out which Store plan best fits your needs, go to the Fee Illustrator  and enter some details about your expected selling activity. Keep in mind, if you are like most people, you will probably sell less than half of what you list on the first go-round. No store ever sells everything they have to offer.

In general, the total fees work out to about 12-15% of sales, plus Paypal fees for payment processing, depending on which store level you subscribe to.

The Basic Store gives you 250 free listings for $24.95/month, plus final value fees and Paypal processing fees, which you only pay if you sell something. 

So in a worst case scenario, you sell nothing (not likely), then the most you could lose for giving it a try is about $25-$45 bucks (depending on what day of the month you signed up) and your time. And even that would be tax deductible on next year’s taxes.

Final value fees are paid only when an item actually sells, and are a percentage of the price the item sold for. Different product categories have different rates of final value fees.

There are three levels of stores: Basic, Premium, and Anchor stores.

The base rate for a premium store is $74.95/month for up to 1,000 listings, and the anchor store is $349.95/month for up to 10,000 products.

You can pay the base rates monthly or yearly. If you pay yearly, you get a discount. The basic plan paid monthly is $24.95 a month, but if you pay yearly in advance, that drops to $19.95/month.

The cost for final value fees depends on the category your products are listed in, how many products you have listed, and the selling price. The cost goes down as you list more products above a certain level.

You can always start out with a Basic store to see if this system is right for you, and upgrade when you are ready to list more products.

If you list more products than are included in your store level, there is also a listing fee, which gets cheaper as you move up to the next store level. In the Basic store, there is no listing fee for the first 250 products, but you will pay $.20 for each additional listing above that. When you upgrade to a Premium store, then additional listings over 1,000 drop to $.10 per listing and an Anchor store drops to $.05 for listings over 10,000.

How much can I make?

There are a lot of variables that will determine your profit margin such as your cost for the goods you are selling, how much competition you have, whether you use paid advertising, cost of shipping supples, and more. But we will ignore those basic factors for now.

Here is a conservative example of how much you might have left of your gross sales after paying your store fees.

For example, if I purchased a Basic store, the days left in the month on the date I signed up would be prorated for the remainder of the current month.  I would have to pre-pay for the remainder of that month and an additional $24.95 for the next full month. After that, I would be charged on the 1st of each month until I cancelled my store.

If I listed 250 items in the Jewelry category as fixed price items, and I sold 100 of those items at an average price of $15.00 each, and charged $3.50 shipping for each item, my insertion fees would be zero and my fixed price final value fees would be $194.22. My gross earnings would be approximately:

$1,500.00 Gross Profit
     – 24.95 Store Fee
__- 194.22 Fixed price final value fees
$1280.83 Profit
  -Inventory Costs
  -Other Costs
= Net Profit