Most store owners are not aware of this valuble information.

This guide will show you how to get a 75% credit on your final value fees on your store listings. With the new fee increases beginning August 22, 2006 on store listings and final value fees, this information can help cut down eBay fees by promoting your store outside of eBay in emails and websites.

Store Referral Credit - FAQ

What is a Store Referral Credit?

Store Referral Credit is a credit that Store sellers are eligible to receive when they successfully drive buyers to their eBay Store directly from a location outside of eBay. With Store Referral Credit, eBay will give you a 75% credit on your Final Value Fees when your marketing efforts generate sales of your Store Inventory format listings. Here's how it works:

1. You promote your eBay Store or your Store Inventory items from locations outside of eBay, such as other Web sites, emails to buyers, print advertisements, and so forth.
2. A buyer sees your promotion and goes directly to your eBay Store or one of your Store Inventory items.
3. The buyer purchases one of your Store Inventory items.
4. On your monthly invoice, you are charged the regular Final Value Fee, but you also receive a Store Referral Credit. Like the Final Value Fee, the Store Referral Credit is based on the final value of the item. The Store Referral Credit is roughly equal to 75% of the standard Final Value Fee.

What are the requirements for the Store Referral Credit?

To qualify for the credit, a sale must meet all of these conditions:

The buyer must go to your eBay Store directly from a location outside of eBay
For Web sites, "outside of eBay" means that ebay.com does not appear in the URL.

You can direct buyers to any of the following parts of your Store:

• Your Store's main page
• Your About Me page
• Your internal search page
• A Store category page within your Store
• A search results page within your Store, based on keywords you've set
• A custom or landing page you have created within your Store

The buyer must go to your Store because of your promotion outside of eBay.
eBay's system interprets any of the following events as caused by your off-eBay promotion:

• Buyers type in the Web address (URL) to your Store in their Web browser.
• Buyers click a saved bookmark to your Store in their Web browser.
• Buyers click a link to your Store that you've placed on another Web site or in an email. To notify eBay's system that your link led the buyer to your Store, you must add a referralcode to the end of the URL (?refid=store or &refid=store, depending on which part of your Store you direct buyers to).

The buyer's Web browser must accept "cookies.
"A "cookie" is a small text file placed by a Web site on a buyer's computer. eBay's system  temporarily places a cookie on a buyer's computer to identify that the buyer came from an off-eBay promotion. However, some buyers configure their browsers not to accept cookies. In this case, eBay's system cannot track that a buyer came from an off-eBay promotion.

The buyer must purchase the item during the same Web browser session used to enter your Store
If a buyer enters your Store but then closes their Web browser, the "cookie" eBay uses to track a promotion-driven sale will be deleted. In this case, eBay's system can no longer track that a buyer came from an off-eBay promotion unless the buyer again enters your Store from outside of eBay.

The item sold must be in Store Inventory format
Sales of online auction and regular Fixed Price format items will not earn Store Referral Credits, even though these items appear in your Store.

Emailed links to buyers qualify for credit if there is a referring ID in the URL that you send to a prospective buyer
If a seller emails a buyer with a link to an item or search in a Store, you must add a referring ID code to the end of the URL (?refid=store or &refid=store, depending on which part of your Store you direct buyers to).

When you include a link to your eBay Store on other Web sites or anywhere online including emails, you must include a referral code at the end of the URL. The referral code tells eBay's system that a buyer came to your store from your Web site promotion outside of eBay. For example, if you include a link on another Web site to your Store's main page, the URL should include the referral code (shown in bold):

http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename?refid=store

Qualifying for the Store Referral Credit

As an eBay Store seller, here's what you need to do to become eligible for the Store Referral Credit:

Promoting your Store on the Web

To direct buyers to your Store by creating links on Web pages outside of eBay:

• Decide which part of your Store you'd like buyers to visit.  

In addition to your Store's home page, you can include links to these parts of your Store to become eligible for the credit:

• The item page of one of your Store Inventory items
• Your About the Seller page (your About Me page)
• A Store category within your Store
• A search results page within your Store, based on keywords you've specified
• A custom page you have created in your Store

Important: You must include a referring ID at the end of the URL that you send to prospective buyers. See help item below.

The area of your Store that you want buyers to visit should depend on what you think will be most effective. For example, if you know that buyers are particularly interested in one of your Store categories, you may want to promote that category and enable them to access the category page directly from an outside link.

• Obtain the Web address (URL) for the part of your Store that you'd like buyers to visit.

The URL of your Store's main page is based on your Store's name:

http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename

To obtain the URL for other parts of your Store, go to that part of your Store in your Web browser. Copy or write down the URL that appears in your Web browser's address box.

• Add a special referral code to the end of the URL you've obtained. The code is ?refid=store or &refid=store, depending on the area in your Store that you want to link.

When a potential buyer clicks the link you've created, the referral code in the URL will tell eBay's system that the buyer is entering your Store because of your promotion. If you do not include the referral code in your link, eBay will be unable to give you a Store Referral Credit, even if a sale meets all of the other requirements.
Here are some examples of how Store URLs with referral codes would look (referral code shown in bold):

• Your Store's home page
  Referral code: ?refid=store
  Examples:
  http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename?refid=store
  http://www.ebaystores.com/yourstorename?refid=store

• The item page of one of your Store Inventory items
  Referral code: ?refid=store
  Example:
  http://cgi.ebay.com/Name-Of-Item_W0QQitemZ4560088038QQcategoryZ378QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem?refid=store
• Your About the Seller page (your About Me page)
  Referral code: &refid=store
  Example:
  http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws2/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid= yourUserID&refid=store
• A Store category within your Store
  Referral code: ?refid=store
  Example:
  http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename_W0QQdptZ0QQsclZallQQtZkm?refid=store

Note: The structure of Store category URLs has recently changed. If you've previously created links to your Store categories using the old URL structure (such as http://www.stores.ebay.com/yourstorename/plistings/list/all/dept2/index.html?col=2&dir=1&refid=store), they will continue to qualify for the Store Referral Credit.

• A search results page within your Store, based on keywords you've specified
  Referral code: &refid=store
  Example: http://search.stores.ebay.com/search/search.dllMfcISAPICommand=GetResult&sid=41101180
  &store=Your+Store+Name&colorid=6&fp=0&query=keyword1+keyword2&srchdesc=y&refid=store

Note: To obtain the URL for a keyword search, conduct the search in your Store as if you were the buyer by entering the keywords.

• A custom page you have created within your Store
  Referral code: ?refid=store
  Example:
  http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename/pages/pagename?refid=store

Note: When adding a referral code, if a URL already has a "?", use "&" before "refid=store". Otherwise, use "?" before "refid=store". Also note that the referral code may not appear in the buyer's browser after clicking the link that included it. This is normal, and eBay can still track the visit for any eligible purchases.

Use the URL to create a link on a Web site outside of eBay.

Any Web site that does not have ebay.com in its URL is considered outside of eBay. For example, you could create a link on your own personal Web site:

Shop at my eBay Store!

The URL for the link would be:

http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename?refid=store

Promoting your Store in printed materials and in emails

If you promote your eBay Store in printed materials, such as business cards, packing slips, or printed advertisements, continue to show the URL of your Store's main page (www.stores.ebay.com/yourstorename).

Email communications with buyers are another great way to promote your Store and earn the Store Referral Credit. Follow the instructions above for promoting your Store on Web sites, including a link to your Store with the referring ID code in the URL you send to prospective buyers. (e.g. http://stores.ebay.com/yourstorename?refid=store).

Note: You will only receive the credit if buyers type your storefront URL in their Web browser.

Typed URLs to other pages in your Store or listings, will not qualify for the credit. You do not need to add the referral code described above. eBay's system automatically detects when this happens and interprets the buyer as coming from your off-eBay promotion, thus making you eligible for the Store Referral Credit. If buyers click a bookmark to your Store that they've saved in their Web browser, you will be eligible for the credit.

Qualifying for Store Referral Credit

Remember, all of the following conditions must be met to qualify for the credit:

• The buyer must enter your eBay Store or go to one of your Store Inventory listings directly from a location outside of eBay.
• The buyer must go to your Store because of your promotion.
• The buyer's Web browser must accept "cookies."
• The buyer must purchase the item during the same Web browser session used to enter your Store.
• The item sold must be in Store Inventory format.

Note: You will be eligible for the credit if buyers click bookmarks to your Store that they've saved in their Web browser.

This information was taken from these eBay help pages:

•  Store Referral Credit FAQ
• Qualifying for the Store Referral Credit