SEO Tips by Steve

Opening an eBay store is the easiest way to get started. You pay a monthly subscription fee of $15.95 for a basic store front and a $0.05 to $0.10 insertion fee per product you wish to list. The “Insertion Fee” is for a listing duration of 30 days. Once an item sells you pay a “Final Value Fee” based on the selling price of the item. An eBay store is the lowest maintenance method of selling on eBay but should be used in conjunction with Auction Style or Fixed Priced listing methods for maximum product exposure. EBay store listings will also be displayed on eBay Express once a feedback score of 100 has been achieved. Owners of a store also have access to Omniture traffic reporting which is an extremely useful tool to analyze your listings.

eBay Auction Style or Fixed Priced Listings

Listing products in this format maximizes store exposure on the eBay marketplace. You have the option of allowing visitors to bid on your items or setting a “Buy It Now” price to allow immediate purchasing. Listings of this type can be posted for durations of 3, 5, 7 or 10 days. Once an item is purchased or the listing duration has passed the item must be re-listed on eBay. This method of selling requires a bit more maintenance to run efficiently but ensures maximum traffic to your listings. Fixed Price listings also show up on eBay Express once a feedback score of 100 has been achieved.

FEEDBACK

eBay allows buyers and sellers to leave feedback on each other that can be viewed by any eBay user. In a basic transaction the seller would leave a feedback for the buyer about how quickly they paid or how hassle-free the purchase was, and the buyer would leave feedback for the seller about communication, how quickly they shipped the item, quality of the product, description/image accuracy, etc. In addition to a one-line comment there are three feedback ratings eBay users can give to each other, Positive, Neutral, and Negative. EBay keeps track of feedback and gives each user a score based on how many positive and negative comments they have received. They also display the percentage of positive feedback comments a user has received. Practicing good business ethics and taking care of all customers promptly will raise your positive feedback rating and ultimately raise orders and revenue as more and more visitors feel comfortable buying from you.

PAYPAL

PayPal is thoroughly integrated into eBay and is the fastest, easiest, most secure way to accept payments online. Customers can pay you from an available balance in their PayPal account or from any major credit card or checking account. Funds deposited into your account can then be withdrawn to your own bank account. PayPal also provides a debit MasterCard that can be used anywhere and subtracts the funds from your account balance.