Having more than one Ebay store

[earthmother]

Hello all

I am wondering if one user id on ebay can have more than one ebay store associated with it or would I need to create a second user id to have a second store?

Thanks for your assistance.

[*smee*]

why would you want 2 stores ... and pay twice as much monthly store fees ?

is there a reason why you dont want to have all the stuff in one store ?


bear in mind all store listings are now incorporated into the normal listing searches anyway

[*wheels*]

Hello earthmother,

You can have 2 stores but you would need to open a second ID. Each store needs to be linked to a unique selling ID. I think you also need to have a feedback of 5 to open a new store. If you need to get some quick feedback you could list some items for 1c and then you just need 5 friendly buyers.

[*CountessA*]

As far as I am aware, you can have only one eBay store associated with that one eBay ID/account.

However, you can of course (as you've suggested) create a second store using a second eBay ID.

[*wheels*]

I just checked eBay help, you need to have the ID registered for 14 days as well.

To become an eBay Store owner you must:

    * Have an eBay seller's account with your credit card placed on file
    * Be registered with eBay for at least 14 days
    * Have a feedback score of at least 5



How do those scammers get away with selling on brand new IDs with a store and zero feedback?

[*CountessA*]

Wheels, the rules are different for Chinese sellers, aren't they? That might be one way in which scammers manage it.

[low-enghooi]

Wheels, the rules are different for Chinese sellers, aren't they?

Sorry but are Chinese sellers the only scammers in ebay?

Of course that depends on how you define a Chinese people. As far as I am concerned, I am a Chinese. That will never change.

[low-enghooi]

How do those scammers get away with selling on brand new IDs with a store and zero feedback?

http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/id-verify.html

[*wheels*]

Low, I think the scammers come from everywhere.

I was reading that the UK also has different rules about stores. I'm not sure why some scammers open a store. Maybe they think it will give them some credibility and buyers will be more trusting? I would never buy off a seller with zero feedback who has only been registered on eBay for a day or two, store or no store.

[*wheels*]

So the rules are different in the US as well.

Still, how does it work when the seller's location is listed as Australia like the sellers in this thread? Could they have opened a store on eBay.com or eBay.co.uk with an Australian account?

http://www.ozroundtable.com/index.php?topic=3204.0

[*CountessA*]

It's not a comment about the Chinese people (whom I find lovely), Low - but about the situation for Chinese sellers on eBay. The rules are different for Chinese sellers; not only that, but the Chinese government has different perceptions about frauds and copies than I, for instance, do.

[earthmother]

Hi there and thanks for all the feedback and information - greatly appreciated. 
I tried doing a search on this topic on ozrountable but didn't find anything.  I must say I was loathe to even try on ebay for fear of losing the next 4 hours navigating useless and/or broken links. So thanks again for the swift and helpful replies.

The reason I would like two stores is because the products I am selling are only moderatly related.  I don't perceive that it helps my marketing to have both listed in the same store.

Cheers

[*smee*]

The reason I would like two stores is because the products I am selling are only moderatly related.  I don't perceive that it helps my marketing to have both listed in the same store

fair enough ... but B&M stores for example K-mart sell womens lingerie and fishing rods .... hardly related items but they dont build 2 seperate shops ...
anyway however you choose to go about it , I wish you all the very best for success , you are giving it thought and that is always a good start

[*wheels*]

earthmother,

We sell products that are totally unrelated within the one store and buyers seem to be able to find them ok. Most buyers search by a brand name or product keywords. I don't think a lot look for a store and then check to see what products that store is selling.

If a buyer searches for a product and looks at one of your listings then wants to browse your store for similar products - as long as you have your store categories set up they'll easily be able to choose which category they want to look through and probably ignore the others.

[*smee*]

what Wheels said .... much better than how I explained it ... but same thought line , thanks for tidying up for me wheels

in my opinion having more than one line in a store is actually a much better marketing strategy than restricting to one line ....again an exampl e who often have to gone to a shop to buy a widget and come home with a widget and a thingiemebob .... or stoped at BP for petrol and got back in the car chomping on a mars bar ...but if they didnt sell mars bars at the servo you wouldnt have made an extra stop at a deli to get one

or when you go to Coles to do the weekly grocery shopping , I would bet London to a brick that most people end up with more in the trolley than was on the list ... or if like me everything in the trolley except what was on the list

[*wheels*]

No problems Mr Smee.

Having said that, if the wheels empire was to experience extraordinary growth on eBay then I would split it into two stores.

[*Ubbie Max*]

Hey Smee, I thought you went fishing in lingerie. I must have been mis-informed.

[*smee*]

I do go fishing in lingerie yes ( doesnt everyone?)thats exactly why its convenient to get both lots of gear from the same store

[earthmother]

Thanks again - valid points all round.
My current store focuses on a lead brand with several products within that brand - other related products are also sold in that store - the lead brand is doing the widget, the other lines in the same brand are doing the thingiemebob thing and the content description often has them adding a gizmo too.

I was more thinking about google searches rather than ebay searches... my current store name is geared towards the brand which ranks well for a google search on the brand... which at this stage is worth maintaining...

So then my next question would be: if I kept both brands in the one store and I used appropriate keywords for the particular categories for brand 2, would they rank in google as well?
Hence my consideration for a second store...

[*wheels*]

Store categories should be found in google searches. I have noticed lately though that eBay listings and stores etc don't get the prominence that they used to in google searches.

[*smee*]

I am not sure about google searches , but perhaps changing the name of the store from say Earthmothers widgets to
widgets , gizmos and thingamebobs may have the desired result not sure



actually that probably wouldnt help as the way I understand it the google search looks for the keywords in the ebay listing title so it wouldnt matter what your store name was or how many stores you had , it primarily  matches keywords in item title I think via a link to the ebay search engine  

[*wheels*]

    How long did it take you to find a pic linking lingerie and fishing?

[*wheels*]

No Smee, google does find eBay store names and user IDs.

I just googled our user ID and the second result was our old website and the third result was our eBay store.
And a google search of our "store name" resulted in second place.

And our username and store name don't have any keywords associated with any particular product.

[earthmother]

No Smee, google does find eBay store names and user IDs.

I just googled our user ID and the second result was our old website and the third result was our eBay store.
And a google search of our "store name" resulted in second place.

And our username and store name don't have any keywords associated with any particular product.

My point is that to get ranking with Google, when my store name features a widely searched for brand or key word, then for less than $500 per year I can have page 1 google ranking 
Does this make sense?

[*wheels*]

Yes of course, if the username or store name improves sales then that has to be the best choice.

Is there any problem with you using a brand name in your store name? I have seen some eBay store names where they've obviously had to alter the brand names slightly.

[*smee*]

it would need to improve sales to the extent that it brings in an extra $500 worth of profit not an extra $500 worth of sales though to make it worthwhile if thats what the extra annual store fee is and as I said you may find you actually lose some business because of the multiple item purchaser factor I have already mentioned ... I would doubt that google searches would generate that much extra in ebay sales but I may well be incorrect there , but I would think the overwhelming majority of your ebay sales would come through the ebay search engine

but its one of those things where you need to weigh up the pros and cons and go with what you think is wrong ....you can always change your plan of attack down the track if the chosen strategy isnt performing

[*wheels*]

Smee, a basic store costs $20 a month, $240 a year.

[earthmother]

Yes of course, if the username or store name improves sales then that has to be the best choice.

Is there any problem with you using a brand name in your store name? I have seen some eBay store names where they've obviously had to alter the brand names slightly.

Yes there can be copyright issues with the use of the brand name in the store and indeed any URL.
In a recent case, Toyota took one of it's dealers to court for copyright infringement because the dealer had a site called www.ilovelexus.com (or something like that).  Toyota did not win the case because there was no confusion about the site being a dealer site selling lexus brand cars.

So in using brand names or variations one should treat lightly.

[earthmother]

Smee, a basic store costs $20 a month, $240 a year.

yes sorry - head math is not a strong point but am pretty good with excel... 
so $240 front page google listing I think is worth it - IF IT WORKS!!

[*smee*]

Smee, a basic store costs $20 a month, $240 a year.

yes I know Wheels , I got the $500 figure from here

My point is that to get ranking with Google, when my store name features a widely searched for brand or key word, then for less than $500 per year I can have page 1 google ranking 
Does this make sense?

so assumed that Earthmother was thinking of a store type other than the basic one

[Roo]

Would advertising on various sites such as Twitter or Facebook give you a Google advantage?

There are some Ebay sellers that do this...and seem to do well.

[*wheels*]

Yes Roo, any internet backlinks will help improve your google ranking.