Some people who are eager to enter the online store industry have considered using an eBay store to hawk their wares. For a quick refresher, eBay stores allow sellers to feature their entire inventory, while giving members a limited opportunity to feature their store brand. Although, some have questioned if people have had “success marketing their goods or services through eBay?”
Ebay Stores and Small Businesses
Do You Use eBay Stores? Discuss at WebProWorld.
An administrator on the Small Business Computing forums, Pfusco, wondered whether or not developing an eBay store was worth the effort. Because of the costs involved ($9.95, $49.95, and $499.95 depending on the size), eBay stores can be a cheaper endeavor when compared to launching your own business from the ground up. A poster called 360true also mentioned this point. 360 stated:
“We started to use ebay six months ago as a way to move used boats and accessories with good success. The cost of doing business is very low, and you can expand your business slowly.”
Kensplace on the Cre8asite forums recommended something similar. Ken was answering a question about attracting customers and gave this advice: “You could try ebay, a basic listing would probably cost you what a few clicks on a ppc program would cost… One good thing about ebay is there are plenty of buyers.” In fact, ken’s advice rang true enough for the original poster that he commented about trying eBay before and that he was considering launching an eBay store.
Since justifying an eBay store for those with manageable inventory is fairly simple, there are some things that need to be considered when launching one. The first thing to be concerned with is the amount of fraud that can take place on eBay. Since the auction site started, it has always fought against non-payment, identity theft, and a litany of other complaints. A number of people who had reservations about eBay cited fraud and identity theft as reasons for their doubts.
In fact, ex-eBay employee Rajesh Navar, cited fraud as one of the three reasons he launched a competing site, aimed at offering effective local focus. In an article that appeared in ecommerece-guide.com, Navar said, “There are three problems with eBay — one is cost, two is fraud issues, and three, there are lots of items there that are not shippable.” However, if you are interested in using eBay as a marketing tool, you have to take the good with the bad. The type of fraud that occurs on eBay (non-payment, identity theft) is hard to combat until AFTER it happens.
But, like SBC forum member paid said, “The benefits out weigh the negatives” With that in mind, there are some pointers offered on a few forums that can help you make a store successful, as well as some steps to take to help your store with regards to search engines. Steve Windhaus, who also posts on SBC, says good communication is key to being a successful eBay storeowner:
“You must be a good communicator and provide the best of service. Make sure the content of the auction page is very well understood regarding the product and the terms of sale and delivery. Contact the winning bidder immediately. Deliver the product immediately after payment is received, and don’t hesitate to go the extra mile’ once in awhile, especially with your repeat customers. This may not be a brick ‘n mortar storefront, but all the good retail principals still apply.”
Steve and 360 also stress the importance of the seller-rating tool. Bad service leads to bad ratings leads to diminished customers. 360 said, “Bad ratings/comments will kill your business quickly on eBay.” Word of mouth travels fast, even if it appears in the form of user feedback. Steve adds, “Even an ocassional negative feedback can be harmful.”
Because Google and Froogle are featuring eBay stores in their indexes, there are SEO techniques that can be used to improve your SERP ranking as well. In a thread featured on the SearchEngineWatch forums, Murdok contributor Nacho Hernandez came across some tips to consider when optimizing your eBay store for the search engines:
– If you sell on ebay, submit your store but choose the store’s name carefully [because] it goes in your title tag.
– Having a few hundred items in your eBay store gives you a huge number of inbound links.
– Your store department names should be keywords.
– Build an “about me” page that has links to each major department of your website. Links from your “about me” page are allowed but you are not allowed to link out from your listings. If you have outbound Links in you’re E-Bay Store you will lose you’re PR! It’s [similar to] Geocities.
With all of these tips in mind, some of the logistics for a successful eBay store shouldn’t be as daunting. Just make sure you have a target audience for your products.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
