Expert: Rob James - 3/22/2008

Question
Hi Rob, I'm selling my work on Ebay too, would love to promote more of my work, do you think Ebay stores are worth pursuing?  Does it really genereate more sales and traffic?  I have my own site at www.joshualance.com.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Josh,

I think for your artwork, eBay stores may be a good place to try. While the upfront cost is obviously higher that a traditional auction format, you have the benefit of long term exposure for your items. For artwork I think this would be a plus. Especially if people are not very familiar with your work yet. Since there are different levels of stores, you can start with the basic plan and see how it goes. If you find that there is minimal traffic then you will only be out for a couple of months expenses if you decide to close. You would still be able to list as auctions of course.

As far as actually generating more traffic and sales is concerned, it's hard to say. If people know what they are looking for it's easy to get that traffic to your listings. If they are just browsing then odds are they may not see your goods. Ebay has set up the system in such a way that the standard auctions, obviously, get the priority so specific searches are definitely more beneficial.

I would suggest maybe running a couple of standard auctions first to see what kind of response you get. If you see that people are seeing your listings then you can determine if paying for a store would be worth a shot.

Hope this help,
Rob