eBay: The Missing Manual

Setting Up Shop with an eBay Store

Imagine a marketplace lined with tables, each stall piled high with carpets for sale. Somewhere in the midst is your table—also piled high with carpets. As a shopper strolls down the street, the merchants all cry, "Carpets for sale!" "Beautiful carpets!" "Buy my carpets!" "No, buy mine!" With all that shouting, it's hard to make your voice heard above the din.

Now imagine you sell your carpets from your very own shop. When someone walks in, you don't have to clamor for her attention. As she looks around, she's examining your merchandise, and if she buys, she buys from you.

eBay is like the marketplace; when a shopper searches or browses for an item, your auction is crowded among many others in the search results list, each vying for attention. But if you open an eBay Store, a page on eBay that contains your listings, and only yours, you have a virtual shop where buyers can look around, search your inventory, compare your products—and buy from you.

eBay stores feature all your listings: both regular auctions and fixed-price BIN listings. In addition, you can create long-term and even nonexpiring listings for your store. A store costs $15. 95 to $499. 99 a month, depending on the level of service and prominence on eBay you want. But after you've been selling for a while, there's a bunch of good reasons to open your own eBay Store:

• You get your own e-commerce Web site, right within eBay. Your eBay store has a name and a Web address of its own—