Thinking about setting up a store front on eBay? If so, are you ready and willing to commit many hours to the store's setup and maintenance, while realizing a profit margin of only between 20 and 30% after eBay and PayPal fees and non-paying bidders get done with your wished-for income? Don't get me wrong. You CAN make good money on eBay, but you have to get involved!

Setting up an eBay store is fast and easy. However, getting people to LOOK at your tiny little store and buy from you is a whole different ball of wax.   You have to be very creative!  Writing reviews and guides can help direct traffic to your store.  Selling an occasional online auction can pull customers to your store, as well.  I usually try to put up at least three regular auctions in different categories even if they don't sell, because people will always click on "See Seller's Other Items", which leads them to your store.

Here are a few "DO"s:

Now, from bitter experience, I'll give you the Do-NOT's.

• DO NOT expect to make a lot of money overnight.
• DO NOT expect to sell your items for a good price. (People who shop on eBay are looking for bargains, folks, and are not interested in paying fair market value.)
• DO NOT get upset when out of every dollar you sell on eBay, you end up with about 25 to 50 cents. (If your buyers prefer PayPal, there is a fee. Then there is the set monthly store fee. And, while eBay charges only 5 to 6 cents to list your item in your store, when and if your item sells, they collect a final value fee, as well.)
• DO NOT expect your store to get noticed without shelling out some major time to work on your store!  It takes time and practice to get a great store up and running.
• DO NOT treat buyers with rudeness or dishonesty.  Good repeat customers keep your store going.
  

Most Power Sellers on eBay make a full time business of selling. It's very difficult to hold a regular job and still expect to put in 80 hours or more maintaining a decent store on eBay. Those who dabble end up dumping all the work they have done to set up and sell within the first six months. That's just about enough time for PayPal and eBay to make more money off your store than you do.

But, if you are really gung-ho to get involved, and you don't mind losing money to get going, you can make big bucks on eBay.  First, you have to be pro-active on eBay to get your store in the limelight.  I have found that putting some high end items up for auction on regular eBay auction listings gets people browsing your store, as well. 

Making certain that you place correct, accurate key words and phrases also helps.  When buyers are looking for a specific title or item, they use search engines.  If you have a batch of playset items, you should add the manufacturer names if you know them, but don't just stick in "Marx" or "Auburn" if there are no such items in your lot. 

When I first opened a store on eBay, I sold paperback books. Books in mint condition. Books that were read only once. Books that the original collector bought for $4.95 or more a book. I sold them for 99 cents each. I charged exact shipping costs, about $1.75, plus 35 cents extra for additional books. However, nobody wanted to buy them for 99 cents when other sellers were selling them for 25 cents apiece! (Nobody really cared that to get that 25 cent book, they were spending $5.00 or more in SH.) So what was the difference? It was the idea of getting a $4.00 book for a quarter! 

eBay discourages overcharging for SH, but a great many sellers find out very quickly that they have no choice but to list an item for a penny and charge the extra $1.00 the item would normally sell for as "handling" charges.  People who buy on eBay don't want to pay that $1.00 for a book, but they adore getting the book for 1 cent and paying an extra buck SH!  Go figure! :(

Be creative, but be honest!  If you have a bunch of cheap things and you want to sell them fast, give one item as a freebie when a buyer purchases from you.  A lot of eBay sellers get business from past customers, and people who get freebies always come back for more.

So get a store and try it out.  Have fun, but keep in mind that it takes a while to build a customer base, and you HAVE TO BE ethical and honest to do that.