« Back in the Game | Main | AC ties the knot »
I Opened up a Store!
by acdickson
That's right folks, AC Dickson is now the proud owner of a store! Not a "bricks and mortar" store, folks. A "hits and clicks" on-line emporium. Where? on eBay of course.
Right now, eBay is running a special where you can open a eBay store and the first month is free.
Personally, old AC is kicking himself for not opening one sooner. For a relentless promoter like myself, having a store is a synch. See, the main drawback with a store is that you have to steer a lot of the traffic to your store yourself.
For instance, if you search the eBay search engine for "AC Dickson." You'll find my How to PowerSell DVD and PowerSeller Zine. But that's only because no one else on eBay is selling something with "AC Dickson" in the title. If on the other hand you search for "zine", you're going to find dozens of zines for sale, but no listing of the zines for sale in eBay stores like mine. Sure you can click down on the lower left side on and see what's in the stores, but most people just aren't going to bother.
Thusly, for most folks generating store traffic is squarely on their own shoulders. But let's watch AC in action do just that! See, storeowners like myself need to get members like yourself to click here and add my store to your favorites. That way you'll get a periodic email from either AC himself or eBay telling you all the wonderful things I'm selling. And don't think that I'm above asking my friends, fans and kin to do that same. I'll have a steady stable of customers in no time, just you watch.
The other nice thing about a store if you can fold over anything that doesn't sell at auction into the store. Personally, I sell about 60% of what I post. Sometimes I relist them, but often times I lose the time it spent to scan or photograph, describe and post them. Not to mention the 35 cent (at least) insertion fees. That adds up when you're selling, or not selling, a thousand or so auctions a years. From here on out, and I can relist the unsold items in my store. The best part? It's only 2 cents a month to have them there. 2 cents!?! That's nothing. Plus a gallery picture is only another penny!
The other catch? eBay will take a little bit more of your sales compared to auctions, 8% instead of 5.25% for the first $25. Still, over the long haul, I think this is the only way to have a sustained eBay presence. Gone are the days of having empty cupboards, AC is from here on out a lean, mean, selling machine.
Now, what's store going to cost? Assuming you're just looking to get your feet wet, only $15.95 a month (first month free!). They have what they call a featured store for $49.95 a month and an anchor store for $500 a month, but there's no real reason to get into the extra space and bells and whistles they offer unless you're really hitting paydirt with basic store.
Truth be told, folks, my interest in eBay has been on the wane lately. July is historically one of the worst eBay months, and the constant need to make new listings to keep my selling page full has put me under a strain as my various other interests have taken off as of late.
But brothers and sisters, opening a store has put the pep back in my step. The general store is open for business, and no superstore is putting me out of business.
