Are you an eBay seller like me? If so, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of an eBay store before. In fact, you may even have your own eBay store like me. eBay stores are increasing in popularity. For that reason, if you don’t currently have an eBay store, you may be wondering whether or not you should open one. To determine whether or not you should open an eBay store, you may want to examine the good and bad points of having one.

Before we look at the advantages and disadvantages of having an eBay store, you may be wondering what exactly it is. In a way, having your own eBay store can be compared to having your own retail store. By paying a small monthly fee, you can create your own custom store. This storefront is what customers will see when they visit your eBay store. For example, you can make your own logo, create your own eBay store, and do much more. As mentioned above, you have to pay a small monthly fee to have an eBay store; however, you must also pay traditional final value and insertion fees. Despite having to pay traditional eBay fees, they are much lower than normal if you have an eBay store. Recently, the fee structure changed again on eBay, making listing items as an eBay store owner even more affordable. It’s also important to note that there are three levels of eBay stores, and each level has different things included.

Probably the biggest reason to have an eBay store is eBay’s cheapest rates. If you only sell a few items a month on eBay, it may not be worth it to open an eBay store, but if you are a medium or high volume seller, you can save a considerable amount of money by opening your own eBay store. It is also important to mention the ease of use. Creating your own eBay storefront page is easy to do, as is creating your own eBay listing. Despite being listed in your eBay store, you create all your eBay listings the same way you did before, with eBay’s step-by-step guide.

The second biggest advantage of an eBay store is that you can list multiple items in the same store listing for one insertion fee. For example, in my eBay store I sell e-books. I can list up to 1000 copies of the same eBook for a monthly fee. Currently, that fee is only $0.03!

Although there are a number of advantages to having an eBay store, there are also a number of downsides or downsides to doing so. One of those disadvantages is marketing. Unlike many traditional auction listings and Buy It Now listings, which appear in eBay searches, items within eBay stores will appear further down the list. Essentially, this means that it is your responsibility to drive traffic to your eBay store. Without traffic, items in your eBay store won’t sell. One method I use is to list an item in a traditional 7 day auction. This way, it will show up during normal eBay searches. In that auction listing, I will link to my eBay store to purchase the same item without waiting for the auction to end.

As you can see, opening an eBay store has a number of advantages and disadvantages. The decision as to whether or not you want to open an eBay store is yours, but it is recommended that you at least try to do so. Take the time to examine the different benefits that come with each level of an eBay store. While having an eBay store isn’t for everyone, there are a number of eBay sellers who have noticed increased profits since opening their own eBay stores.

Would you like to learn more? Take a look at my eBay store where I sell eBooks, software and website scripts at great prices with instant downloads. http://stores.eBay.com/MBCarterBooks