AFTER you've settled on your template(s) & logos, you may want to consider opening a Store!  It's an awesome way to store items out of season, but still keep them available for people who live in, or will be visiting different climates... and are searching for your item!  (Think winter cruises, our friends *Down Under*, and trips to Hawaii!)

Here's the breakdown of fees for your store,

Subscription Fees
Store Level	Fee
Basic	$15.95 / month
Featured	$49.95 / month
Anchor	$499.95 / month

 

and also listing fees for the items in your store:

Insertion Fees Price 30 days Good 'Til Cancelled* $1.00 - $24.99** $0.03 $0.03 / 30 days $25.00 - $199.99 $0.05 $0.05 / 30 days $200.00 and above $0.10 $0.10 / 30 days

 

Final Value Fees Price Final Value Fee Item not sold No Fee $1.00 - $25.00 12.00% of the closing price $25.01 - $100.00 12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the remaining closing value balance $100.01 - $1,000.00 12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial $25.01 – $100.00 ($6.00), plus 4.00% of the remaining closing value balance $100.01 – $1,000.00 Over $1,000.01 12.00% of the initial $25.00 ($3.00), plus 8.00% of the initial $25.01 – $100.00 ($6.00), plus 4.00% of the initial $100.01 – $1,000.00 ($36.00), plus 2.00% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01-closing value)

If you'd like to start SMALL:

Here's the *scoop* on the *Basic* Store!

A BASIC Store costs $15.95 per month.

Insertion Fees are as follows:
Starting Price - US $0.01 - US $24.99 30 days - US $0.03
US $25.00 - US $199.99 30 days - US $0.05
US $200.00 and above 30 days - US $0.10

With a basic store you get a few *extras* you might not know about!
You'll get a FREE Subscription to *Selling Manager* which is regularly $4.99 per month.

You will get 5 CUSTOM Pages ~ Use customizable pages to boost your brand, communicated store policies, and connect with your customers!
A Customized Web Address! (www.stores.ebay.com/yourstorename)
Promotion Boxes ~ Where you can highlight featured merchandise in your Store to trigger sales!
Store Catagories ~ Help buyers browse your Store with up to 300 Custom Catagories.
Custom Store Header ~ Create a customized, BRANDED header with merchandising and featured product links!
Markdown Manager ~ Attract more buyers by offering discounted pricing on your items!
Vacation Hold ~ Put your listings and Store "on hold" while you're away.
Picture Manager ~ Includes hosting for your Store logos and custom page images (1 MB Free)
Email Marketing ~ Keep your customers coming back with customized e-newsletters and promotional emails. (5,000 emails per month)
Promotional Flyers ~ Create promotional flyers and include them with your shipments to drive repeat business.
Search Engine Keyword Management ~ Optimize your Store for Search engines and increase your exposure on the Web.
Listing Feeds ~ Automatically publsh and send product data to customers or comparison shopping sites via RSS Feeds.
Store Referral Credit ~ Refer customers to your Store from printed flyers, emails, and other Web Sites and get a 75% rebate on Final Value Fees.
Traffic Reports ~ Review and analyze your Store traffic to improve your merchandising and listing strategy.
Accounting Assistant ~ Speed through bookkeeping-great for QuickBooks users!

 

Or, if you're more of a GO-GETTER
type of person... "GO BIG ~ Go ProStores!"

 

Pro Stores... give you all of the above... PLUS MORE!  You'll also get your First Month FREE!!

 

If you notice the final value fees above... that can be DRASTICALLY reduced by doing just a few simple things!

#1 - Purchase your eBay store name as a *.com* web domain.  Don't worry if it's already taken, you could always get a *.net* or *.biz* (and there's others too!), which will work just the same.

#2 - After you've purchased your domain name, you're going to want to *forward* your domain to your store... it's a pretty simple thing to do... your host should have directions on how to do it... (on GoDaddy - it's EXTREMELY easy, and I can give you step by step instructions, if you'd like!)

#3 - Don't forget to add the special *Store Referral Credit Code* to your *forwarded* eBay address.  If you need help, please don't hesitate to email me!  I'll be happy to help!

Now you're ready to start saving 75% off of your final value fees from your store!  You're going to want to ADVERTISE your new domain name... ANYWHERE you can!

One Great idea is:

~BUSINESS CARDS~

 

 

Some other things to consider:

Categories are your FRIEND! lol Make it as easy as possible for your customer to find what they're looking for in your store. Don't forget about Sub-Categories, as well.

BRAND yourself... repeat the same color scheme, graphics and *slogans*. You want your *Brand* to stick with your customer.

*I* like getting matching business cards, post cards & magnets - to add to my packages... again, it's that *name recognition* that you're after!

Make sure you put several links to your store in your auction templates... also links to add you to their favorites... those really come in handy...

Make use of the Store mailing lists, and newsletters... offer incentives (like $1.00 off shipping) to get those costumers back to into your store!

Grab a domain name that matches (or as close as possible!) your store name... and at the VERY least, have it direct your customer back to your eBay store - making sure you use the special FVF link discount code... You'll get 75% off your FVF's if you use it.

Use that same link in your emails, and other places on the WWW (MySpace, Webrings, etc.) so you get that discount!