EBay is a useful tool to sell just about anything. In order to make the most of EBay it is helpful to establish a store. Let’s take a look at the steps to set up an EBay store that sells well.

Step 1. Register with EBay.

A basic account is free and will provide a wealth of getting started type information.

Step 2. Understand the basic layout of a store.

• Store Logo – This helps with brand recognition.
• Store Description – A couple sentences that describe the store including keywords which help potential customers find the store.
• Promotion boxes – Highlights any current promotions the store has. For example, free shipping through the holidays or buy two get one for free.
• Search box – This gives customers the opportunity to search for a specific item.
• Store categories – A list of the types of items the store sells. For example, if a store sells jewelry then the categories may be: necklaces, earrings, and bracelets etc…EBay offers more than 300 categories. It will be helpful to review the categories before sitting down to build your store.
• Gallery View. Inside the gallery view are pictures of the products and a brief description.

Step 3. Decide which level of store to build.

• Basic Store – $15.95 a month
• Premium Store $49.95 month. Offers advanced business tools to increase sales.
• Anchor Store $299.95 per month. Designed for high volume stores and offers advanced business tools.

Step 4. Custom Pages.

EBay stores packages provide the option of creating a virtual store with a home page, an about us page, sizing and selection page – what ever you think will help represent your store and assist customers best.

Take a look at other stores to research the custom pages they offer. Before sitting down to design pages, plan them on a piece of paper. It’s often much easier to get an idea of what you want and how you want it to look on paper first.

Step 5. Consider using the design services offered by EBay.

They offer templates, tips, a directory of certified designers and a list of before and after web stores. These are handy to help in the planning process. EBay also offers a quick store setup option which operates like a web design wizard. This may be the easiest way to get a store up and running.

Once you have registered for an eBay account, researched stores and your competition, decided what level you want to start at and paid for your monthly subscription it is time to build the store. EBay offers tools to walk each store owner through the process and they make it easy to do it yourself.

Headlines are the first thing any prospective customer will see and a decision to read further or click away is made in less than 20 seconds. This makes the headline a make or break item for most sellers. Here’s how to write attention getting headlines for your auctions:

Step 1. Log on to your eBay seller’s account. If you don’t have an account, gather the necessary information, a credit card number, business name and information, and address.

Step 2. Research items in your category to see how they’re presented. Some items will stand out, others will be completely ignorable. Write down a list of the words you see that catch your attention.

Step 3. Click the “Sell” link at the top of the page. A “Sell Your Item” form will appear.

Step 4. Select the appropriate category for your item. For example, if you’re selling jewelry then click jewelry. There are often sub-categories like bracelet, earrings, necklace etc… Decide where you want your item positioned.

Step 5. Write your description on paper first to see how it looks and sounds. Adjectives, words that describe like blue, sleek, lush, etc add interest and benefit to the headline.

Step 6. Less is more. A headline that overwhelms is just as effective as one that under whelms. Try to keep your headline to 8-10 words. Be accurate, succinct and compelling all at the same time.

Step 7. Test your headline. Not all headlines will receive the same response. Test two headlines for the same product and see which one receives more bids and sells for a higher price. This will help with headline creation the next time.

Consider writing a few headlines and testing them with friends and family before posting them online. Ask them which headline stands out and would compel them to bid and which headlines fall short. You may be surprised which ones they choose.

Often the key to a high selling price and many bidders is a strong headline. Be creative, be descriptive and test headlines for optimal results.

Owning and operating a successful eBay store requires careful tracking of sales, payments, inventory and even store visitors. Fortunately eBay makes it easy with their helpful tracking tools. Here’s how to make the most of EBay tracking tools and information.

Traffic reports. Knowing how many people visit an eBay store is powerful information. It can be compared to the number of purchases made and help store owners make promotion decisions, product placement decisions and even pricing decisions.

EBay offers three store levels and each level provides different traffic reporting features.

The basic storefront provides the following information:
The number of page views
The number of unique visitors
How visitors are coming to your store. For example are they finding your store via search engines.
Number of page views.

The premium storefront provides the basic information and:
Search terms people use inside your store
How people move through your store, aka Path analysis
Bid/BIN tracking
Number of returning customers.
The Anchor account offers all of the above and information on How visitors see the pages inside your store. This is helpful in making store design decisions.

The second level of tracking information offered by EBay is what is called “marketplace research” This is a separate subscription based service for basic stores. It is included in the premium and anchor store subscriptions.

For basic store owners, the levels include a one time option where owners can pay a fee each time they want to analyze their information or monthly fee options depending on how frequently store owners access their information.

The information provided via MarketPlace research offers store owners an inside view at just about every statistic available including demographic information on customers, shipping costs per item, per month, per category, beginning price levels broken down by specific item, category, or date.

It will also tell you how items are paid for, when items are sold and so on. This information can be tremendously useful in predicting inventory levels, budgeting, and marketing and promotion decisions.

Tracking information and statistics can be an eBay store owners best friend, giving them the inside information necessary to make optimal business decisions.