Which level eBay shop should I subscribe to?

Leaving aside the emotion of the increase in the cost of eBay shops, from a purely financial point of view which subscription level is best for you?

It all comes down to the money, pay for what you need based on the number of listings you expect to list each month. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’ll somehow get massively better exposure on eBay just because you opt for a higher level eBay shop (because you won’t!).

eBay Shop Subscription based on the number of fixed price listings you list each month

First are going to examine which eBay shop subscription is best for you purely based on how many fixed price listings you have.

No Shop

If you do not have an eBay shop then you will be paying 30p per fixed price listing. If you have 83 fixed price listings this will cost you £24.90 at which point you may wish to consider a basic eBay shop.

(83 listings @ 30p = £24.90)

Basic Shop £25/month

As soon as you regularly list 84 or more fixed price listings each month you’re better off with a Basic eBay shop and paying the £25 subscription.

(84 listings @ 30p = £25.20)

You won’t save much money (20p) for your 84th listing, but you can now list up to 250 listings for your £25 per month before you pay further insertion fees.

Featured Shop £69/month

If you find you’re listing 690 or more fixed price listings per month then it’s time to consider a Feature eBay shop.

(Basic Shop £25 plus 250 free listings plus 440 listings @ 10p = £69.00)

With a Featured eBay shop you can list up to 1,500 fixed price listings per month for the £69 per month fee.

You may wish to consider a Featured shop with fewer than 690 listings if you either list auction-style listings or if you wish to list on overseas eBay sites for free or reduced fees.

(Many thanks to Tamebay reader Joe for pointing out a slight error in the figures. The numbers have been updated)

Anchor Shop £269/month

You might think that this is a no brainer as it comes with unlimited free fixed price listings. That’s not the case however and it only cost justifies itself if you regularly have more than 5500 or more fixed price listings each month.

(Featured Shop £69 plus 1500 free listings plus 4000 listings @ 5p = £269)

You may wish to consider an Anchor shop with slightly fewer than 5500 listings if you either list auction-style listings or if you wish to list on overseas eBay sites for free or reduced fees.

What are the free auctions worth?

With a Basic eBay Shop you get 50 free auction listings. Without a shop these would cost you £15 so doesn’t justify the shop fees unless you use other features or also list in the fixed price format.

With a Featured Shop you get 300 free auction listings. Without an eBay shop this would cost you £90 so easily justifies the £69 of an eBay Featured shop. However, surprisingly it would work out cheaper for you to subscribe to a Basic eBay shop with 50 free auction listings and paying 15p for additional auctions.

(Basic Shop £25 plus 50 free auctions plus 250 auctions @ 15p = £62.50)

An Anchor store comes with 500 free auctions but that’s only 200 more than you’d get with a Featured shop of an increased value of 200 x 15p = £30. You can’t justify an Anchor shop based on the additional free auction listings alone.

Free Cross Border Fixed Price Listings

A Featured or Anchor shop enables you to list on 13 additional overseas eBay sites with the equivalent listing allowances as sellers with shops based in those countries.

If you’re looking to expand your eBay business overseas, then explore the cross border listings allowances for Featured and Anchor shops as this could add more value to your eBay UK shop subscription than any other included shop feature.

Why would I want an eBay shop?

There are plenty of reasons for having an eBay shop. Fees are a part of the equation, but an eBay shop also gives you:

1. A customised Shop front and a unique URL that you can use in your marketing.
2. The ability to create your own categories making it easier for you to organise your Shop and for buyers to find what they’re looking for.
3. An opportunity to build a mailing list of eBay buyers who you can legally market to with eBay email newsletters.
4. eBay Sales reporting and marketing tools including Promotions Manager, Markdown Manager, Promote your listings and holiday settings.