Introduction1
Part I Store Basics
1 Why You Need an eBay Store
Control and Monitor Your Inventory
Showcase Your Merchandise
Get Your Own Private Search Engine
Cross-promote Your Items on eBay
Reduce eBay Selling Fees
Become Visible to Search Engines
Learn from Store Reports
Save Time Listing and Relisting
Get Marketing Help from eBay
Improve Your Image
2 Examples of Stores, Plain and Fancy
A No-frills Store
Easy, Popular Store Features
Advanced Store Features
Design and Window Options
Turning Landing Pages into Catalog Covers
Store Listing and Final Value Fees
Saving Final Value Fees with Your Store
3 Types of Store Selling Formats
The Importance of Mixing Selling Formats
Auction Items
Fixed-price Items
Store Inventory Format
Good ’Til Cancelled
4 Sources of Items to Sell
Traditional eBay Auctions
Buy It Now, Especially in Lots
eBay’s Wholesale Lots Categories
eBay’s New Reseller Marketplace
Direct from the Manufacturer
Local Retail Stores
Wholesale Lots Warehouses
Online Wholesale Lot Sellers
Local Auctions
Storage Company Auctions
Law Enforcement Auctions
With a Little Help from Your Friends
Direct Solicitation
Want It Now
5 Designing and Building a Brand
Your Company Name
Your eBay ID(s)
Don’t Get Sued!
Do a URL Search
The “Look and Feel” of Your Store
Use Color and Style to Identify Your Store
Pay for a Logo
Follow Through
Your Store Has Its Own URL–Use It!
Your Reputation Is Part of Your Brand
Consider Opening More Than One Store
6 Setting Up Your Store
Store Prerequisites
Opening a Seller’s Account
Be Sure You Have a Store Plan
Creating Your Store
Choose a Theme and Color Scheme
Store Header
Navigation Bar
Custom Page Navigation
Store Footers
Predesigned vs. Customizable Themes
Store Name, Description, and Logo
Store Name
Store Description
Logo
Picking a Subscription Level
Custom Headers
Creating and Editing Listing Headers
Header Options
7 Defining Store Categories
Departments, Aisles, and Shelves
Organizing Narrow Inventories
Organizing Diverse Inventories
What’s Right for You?
Setting Up Your Store Categories
Rearranging Categories
Only Stocked Categories Show
Store Category Referrals in New Listings
Listings Can Appear in Two Store Categories
Changing a Listing’s Category
Modifying Category Names
Overcoming Category Limits
8 Custom Store Pages
Why Use Custom Store Pages?
Elements of a Custom Page
Creating a Custom Page
Providing Custom Page Content
Managing Custom Pages
Editing Custom Pages
Deactivating Custom Pages
Activating Custom Pages
Reordering Custom Pages
Deleting Custom Pages
Creating a “Landing” or Home Page
Creating a “Category Pointer” Page
Using Fancy Search Filters
Consider Hidden Search Codes
Part II Managing Your Store
9 Automating with Selling Manager Pro (SMP)
Selling Manager Pro Features
Your Store at a Glance
Inventory Wrangling
Inventory and Template Creation
Automation Preferences
Other Helpful Links
SMP Integrated Shipping Tools
Customizing SMP Views
Filtering Views in Selling Manager Pro
Viewing Reports Through SMP
10 Creating Listings and Templates
Creating Basic Store Listings
Selecting an eBay Selling Category
Specifying Store Categories
Adding a Title, Photos, and Description
Specifying the Condition of the Item
Entering and Formatting Descriptions
Creating Description Inserts
Using Inserts
Using the Spelling Checker
Specifying Themes and Counters
Setting the Price
Donating a Percentage of Proceeds to Charity
Payment Options
Buyer Requirements, Sales Tax, and Return Policy
Search Result Appearance Options
Double-checking Your Work
Revising Live Listings
Seeing New Items in Your Store
Creating New Listings with Selling Manager Pro
Products vs. Listings
Templates
Organizing with Folders
Creating a New Product Record in SMP
Renaming Templates
Creating Different Selling Formats for the Same Item
11 Managing Your Inventory and Auctions
Launching Items
Activating SMP Inventory (Start Selling)
Scheduled Launches
Monitoring Bidders, Sales, Payments, and Shipments
Monitoring Sales
Viewing the Correct Period
Using the Awaiting Payment Lists
Shipments, Invoices, and Emails
Saving Changes
Adjusting Inventory Counts
Inventory Control and Automated Relisting Options
Automating Emails and Feedback
Automating Feedback
Automating Emails
Suspending Automated Listings
12 Store Bookkeeping and QuickBooks
The Tools at Hand
We Need to Do What?
QuickBooks
Setting Up Your Chart of Accounts
eBay Accounting Assistant
Getting Started with eBay Accounting Assistant
Downloading the Accounting Assistant
Getting QuickBooks Ready for the Accounting Assistant
Installing the Accounting Assistant
Alternatives and Embellishments
Downloading eBay Invoice Data
13 Shipping
Shipping with SMP
Printing Address Labels Alone
Printing an Address Label and Invoice/Packing Slip Combo
Printing an Invoice/Packing Slip
Printing Invoices for Your Records
Automating USPS and UPS Labels with PayPal
Printing Domestic USPS Mail Labels with Postage
Package and Address Particulars
Signature Confirmation
Showing/Hiding Postage Amounts (Stealth Printing)
USPS Insurance
Confirming and Printing the Label
Print a Sample First!
Reprinting a Label or Requesting a Refund
Confirming/Changing Shipped Status
International Shipping
Entering International Shipping Details
Review the Shipping Rates and Agree (or Don’t)
Creating Customs Documents
Entering International Customs Package Information
Confirming and Printing International Labels
Printing International Postage
Shipping Via UPS Using PayPal
Third-party Shipping Solutions
Automated Shipping Emails
Part III Promoting Your Store
14 Cross-promoting Your Store on eBay
Promotional Boxes in Active Listings
Creating Cross-promotion Boxes in Listings
Changing Cross-promotion Rules and Setting Preferences
Manually Specifying Cross-promotions for Items
Promotional Boxes in Store Pages
Cross-promotion Appearance Options
Quick-and-Dirty Predesigned Store Promotional Box Setup
Controlling/Modifying Cross-Promotions
Promotion Box Sizes
Promotion Box Contents
Creating a Custom Promotion Box
Cross-promoting with Other Stores (Connections)
Getting Connected
15 More Promotional Help from eBay
eBay Store Directory
How Shoppers Find Your Store in the Directory
Your Store Description Should Be Compelling
Using eBay’s Opt-in Email Marketing
Setting Up Your Newsletter Campaign
Creating a Mailing List
Getting Subscribers
Creating Emails
Item Showcases
Previewing and Launching the Email
Measuring Newsletter Progress
Blocking Subscribers
Printing eBay’s Promotional Flyers and Other Inserts
Selecting Highlighted Items
Buying eBay Keywords
Creating a Keywords Campaign
Specifying Maximum Click Costs
Selecting Keywords and Phrases
Adding Long, Specific Lists of Keywords
Determining Click Costs
Managing and Monitoring Keyword Campaigns
Writing eBay Guides and Reviews
16 Promoting Your Store Outside of eBay
Your Own Website(s)
Blogs and Enthusiasts Sites
Build External Links with eBay’s HTML Builder
Creating Simple Links
Text Links to an Item
Text Links to a Store Page
Text Links to Search Results
Making Advanced Links
Building Off-eBay Links
Use HTML in Your Emails
Promoting Your Store in Printed Materials and Elsewhere
Put Your Store URL on Everything!
Printed Material Design Help from eBay
Swag
eBay Co-op Advertising
17 Store Referral Credits (eBay Fee Discounts)
What’s “Outside of eBay”?
Where Should You Send Shoppers
The Importance of Adding “refid=store” to Links
Store Landing or Home Page Links
Store Item Listings Links
Custom Category or Subcategory Links
About Me Links
Custom Searches You Create .
x Launching a Successful eBay Store
Confirming Referral Credits .
When Won’t You Get Credit?
18 Getting Noticed by Search Engines
About Page Titles and Meta Tags
How Are Shoppers Searching Your Store?
Changing Keywords
Keyword Tips and Cautions
19 eBay Express and Other Comparison Shopping Sites
Froogle and Google
Yahoo! Shopping
ShopWiki
Shopping.com
eBay Express
Experience and Feedback Requirements for eBay Express
PayPal Requirements for eBay Express
Meeting the eBay Express Listing Criteria
Meeting the Category Criteria
Viewing Your Listings on eBay Express
Other Comparison Sites
20 Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
What Do You Need?
Creating RSS Feeds for Your eBay Listings
Seeing and Promoting Your RSS Feeds
Getting News about eBay with RSS
Using RSS to Help Buy Inventory
Part IV Reports
21 Selling Manager Pro Summaries
Selling Manager Pro Reports
Printing Selling Manager Pro Reports
Downloading Reports
22 Using Store Sales Reports Plus
Sales Reports Plus
Important Concepts
Other Reporting Limitations
Paralysis by Analysis
Subscribing to Reports Plus
Categories of Reports
Sales Summary
Sales by Category
Sales by Format
Marketplace Data
Viewing Prior (Archived) Reports
Printing Reports
Printing from Internet Explorer
Printing from Netscape Navigator
Downloading Sales Report Data
Report Preference Settings
Unsubscribing
23 Using eBay Store Traffic Reports
Enabling and Viewing Traffic Reports
Page Views and Visits Graphs
Specifying Date Ranges
Visits, Visitors, and Views
Another Way to Navigate the Reports
Finding Methods
Search Engines Reports
Search Keywords Reports
Return Frequency Reports
Visitor Profile
Technology Used
Custom Traffic Reports
Storefront Homepage Views Report
Store Search Terms Report
Path Reports
Time Spent Reports
Previous and Next Page Reports
Bidding/Buying Reports
Downloading Reports
Downloading PDF Reports
Downloading Microsoft Word Reports
Downloading CSV Reports 42
Downloading Microsoft Excel Reports 44
Downloading HTML Reports
Index