An eBay store (or ‘shop’ on eBay.co.uk) is a subscription-based service that enables a seller to have a customisable ‘storefront’ on the website.

A store presents all of a seller’s listed items together in one place, offering a more ‘traditional’ online shopping experience to a buyer. Read on to learn about the advantages and drawbacks of eBay’s Store program.

eBay Store subscription fees

Becoming an eBay store owner is relatively easy, but certainly is not free. There are five types of Stores on eBay.com – Starter, Basic, Premium, Anchor and Enterprise. Each has their own benefits. 

Subscription fees range between $4.95 (Starter) and $2999.95 (Enterprise) a month. Prices quoted are for 1-year plans, though month by month is also available for every type of Store except Enterprise.

Features and benefits of having an eBay store

• Lower final value fees – For a lot of sellers, this will be the number one reason to upgrade to a store. Sellers without stores pay 12.55% final value fees for most items, with a $7,500 maximum. For Basic, Premium, Anchor, and Enterprise Store subscribers, final value fees for most items are 11.7% or less with a lower maximum (typically $2,000).
• Lower insertion fees. Insertion fees are lower too, being at least 5¢ less (and up to 20¢ cheaper) per listing for store owners. The Basic (second cheapest) store subscription also offers four times the amount of free insertion listings than without.
• Vacation/holiday mode – Vacation mode enables sellers to put their business on hold by making fixed price listings unavailable to view for a specified period of time. Vacation mode is the easiest way for eBay sellers to take a break without risking low feedback from buyers.
• Brand establishment – A store subscription offers a custom store home page with a personalised web address. The custom header and logo of the store also appear in listings, which can build brand recognition and credibility (and potentially repeat customers!)
• Seller Hub Promotions – Exclusive to sellers with a store subscription, this feature allows sellers to set up special offers, coupons, shipping discounts and more.
• Organization – A small feature with a potentially big effect. Having an eBay store enables sellers to bring their listings together in one place. Buyers can find all listings from a seller by clicking on the store icon next to their user ID. Within the store, sellers can also create custom categories to present their items better to browsing buyers.
• Search engine keyword management – Sellers who have stores can customise the keywords associated with each store page to help more buyers find their listings via search engines.
• Additional Terapeak features – All eBay sellers have free access to Terapeak Product Research. But store subscribers (above Starter level) also have free use of Terapeak Sourcing Insights

Disadvantages of eBay stores

• Excluded from special offers – eBay has regular promotions for sellers such as free insertion fees for a certain period of time. Store subscribers are typically not included in these promotions, which some sellers see as unfair.
• Subscription cost – For new sellers, the price of a store subscription can be off-putting when just starting out. The fee is taken every month whether the seller makes any sales or not.

The right time to open a store

Setting the special features and selling tools aside, for most sellers the question of when to upgrade to a store is based on whether it makes financial sense for their fledgeling business. Paying out a fixed amount every month regardless of sales numbers can be an intimidating prospect.

According to eBay, a seller who lists and sales a minimum of 1,000 items a month will save around $600 a month by subscribing to a Premium Store.

To work out whether it would be better value to have a store, eBay has a subscriber benefit table. It is not an all-encompassing application (it does not include listing upgrade fees for example) but it offers a good indication of the potential savings based on volume and category of sales.

Comparing subscriptions

The aforementioned fee table not only helps to indicate to sellers whether upgrading to a store may be worth it, but it also displays some of the main differences between a Basic, Premium and Anchor subscription.

In simple terms, the more a seller pays, the more free listings and lower final value/insertion fees. There are other benefits too, like a larger promotional email allowance and more sales management tools but for most sellers, these will not be the main reason to upgrade.

For each type of store subscription, there are recommendations (general guidelines for sellers) and requirements, with the latter being especially important for the Premium, Anchor and Enterprise variety.

For any subscription above ‘Basic,’ the seller must not have a ‘below standard’ performance rating. Eligibility is continually assessed, with sellers given 60 days to rectify the situation once notice has been given – if performance does not improve, the subscription will be automatically downgraded to a Basic subscription.

Becoming a store owner

Owning an eBay store is not a prerequisite to being a successful seller on eBay, however, it is clear that the lower fees and exclusive features could save high volume sellers both time and money in the long run.

The choice to upgrade to a store is not a cheap one, so some consideration and calculations should be made before making the leap.

Have you taken the plunge into setting up an eBay store? If so we’d love to hear about it – get in contact via the comment form below.