Giving eBay another go - your tips needed

I have decided to give ebay another chance and have a few questions.

I was reading on the forum and came across terapeak and I also have read some reviews on the site. There are some positive reviews but a lot of the reviews are bad. It has a 7 day trial and there are reviews that the customer service is extremely bad including people have not been able to cancel at all and have had to put holds on their money/credit.

Should I get a store right away?
Should I get a business checking account?
Should I get a tax i.d etc?
Can you have the same paypal account for different ebay accounts?
Can you sell a broad selection of items or should you have separate accounts?
Any advice on how to make listings more professional?

Thank you for your time and responses
Merrie

Hi Merrie,

In regards to Terapeak, I would suggest you use the SaleHoo Research Labs tool before even considering Terapeak. You'll find the Research Lab link in the red title bat above.

To tick off your other questions.

Whether you get a store will usually revolve around the volume of stock you list. Not much stock, no need for a store whatsoever.

No need for a business checking account, unless you want to use it to pay suppliers course.

A Tax id will be required if you purchase through wholesalers, but not for drop shippers or liquidators.

Yes, you can use the same PayPal account for multiple eBay accounts.

Yes, you can sell a broad selection of items from the single site if you want, in fact from a cross marketing stand point, it's the best option. Cross marketing is what shopping centres are based on, each shop get's the advantage of other shop's customers walking past their front door.

This is in fact where I would suggest a store as being the best option, and the then the trick is to set your store out well.

Define your categories and sub categories well, make it as easy for the customer to navigate as possible. Use listings to market other products from other genres, just because someone buys a ring, it doesn't mean that they won't also buy a hand bag or at least know someone they can point in your direction.

That's the whole idea of cross marketing. Sure, marketing products similar is talking to your immediate audience, but always leave plenty of crumbs to lead people in other directions as well or your not maximising your marketing efforts.

In regards to making your listings professional, I would suggest getting a template developed to give your store a uniform image. The essentials of the template should always remain the same, but you can change it up a little to define between product ranges.

For example, if you walk into a massive store, something like a big hardware warehouse. You will find the store remains the same essential layout, no matter what part you are in, but they may have different sections with different colours to define areas.

Building a professional online store uses the same techniques as building a professional offline store, so just think how you would layout your items if you had floor space to display. Think how you would define areas and so on, then take those ideas into your online store.

: )

Hi Merrie,

Marc's given you pretty solid advice and helpful answers to your questions. I just have a few points to add -

Should I get a store right away?

eBay's official recommendation on this is that sellers should not even think about opening a store until they have at least 25 or more listings on eBay at all times, but I would venture to go a bit further. Based on my 8 1/2 years of experience working at eBay and being an eBay Powerseller, I recommend that new sellers wait until they have been selling for at least 3-6 months on eBay as well, and until they are already generating at least $500 a month in sales.

Additionally, once you have met all of the above requirements, if you're still struggling with obtaining enough exposure for your listings and/or getting enough sales, you should hold off opening a store until you've made more progress in these areas.

This Link hidden: Login to view might help :)

Should I get a tax i.d etc?

It's not generally required but having one will play to your advantage as it will give you access to more suppliers.

Can you sell a broad selection of items or should you have separate accounts?

It's should be fine to offer various types or items falling under different product categories. Like Marc said it all depends on how you are able to give your listings a general 'connected' feel for buyers to know that they are all yours.

I think offering various items gives you a sort of advantage since you're able to offer a wide variety and you get the chance to generate additional sales - like your customer who bought a mobile phone from you may also be looking for it's accessories so if you've got them that same customer may end up buying both the phone and the accessories he needs.

Any advice on how to make listings more professional?

Your listing (title, description and photo) are your way of bringing your products to your customers and you have to it the right way to be able to convince them to buy from you!

Here are guides that might help you come up with professional and effective listings -

Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps you off to a better start on eBay :) All the best!

I'm confused based on Marc's reply dropshippers do not need a tax ID, but you say it is beneficial to me so that I have access to more supplier's. I will be dropshipping, do I or do I not need a tax ID?

I think you will find that Richelle was speaking to the fact that a tax id would give you a wider access to suppliers in general, for example to wholesale as well as drop shipping.

The only area where you may find that you require a tax id to do business with a drop shipper is with what I call a crossover supplier!

My definition of a crossover supplier is a genuine wholesaler who has changed up their core business model to cater for the increase in drop shipping business. They essentially add on a drop shipping service to cater for that market, while still servicing their core wholesale business.

In those cases, and just depending whether or not they operate as a single business or not, you might find the need for a tax id, but they are still quite rare.

I'm confused based on Marc's reply dropshippers do not need a tax ID, but you say it is beneficial to me so that I have access to more supplier's. I will be dropshipping, do I or do I not need a tax ID?

@homeatlastgirl: Sorry for the confusion, but as Marc pointed out - It is NOT required but having one will give you more access to various types of suppliers. Many new online sellers will eventually start via dropshipping and slowly progress to wholesale/bulk buying, so when they do, a sales tax ID will definitely come in handy as many wholesalers may require that you have one!

Cheers :)

Thank you Mark & Richelle.

You're welcome, homeatlastgirl :) We're glad to be of help!

Cheers

Could you lead me in the direction for some good places for loose gemstones. Would wholesale or drop shipping be best for this? Is there a more appropriate place to request for good suppliers? Thanks again for your help.

Merrie