Having an eBay store is by no means mandatory, as plenty of successful sellers have built their businesses without it.
However, the financial weight of insertion and final value fees, the lack of branding options, and promotional tools are some of the obstacles private and business sellers face if they choose to operate on their domestic marketplace without a store.
The number of free listings sellers can create without the insertion fee on different eBay marketplaces varies from 250 to 300, except the Australian market, where sellers can create up to a quarter of a million product listings per month.
Opting for one of the eBay store subscription plans lifts this limit and unlocks various benefits for sellers in their domestic markets, including additional listings they can create without insertion fees.
Still, the question is whether sellers considering expanding internationally need additional stores in new marketplaces to support their business’s growth.
Let’s find out!
Key takeaways
- Sellers on eBay don’t need their own online store to sell their products internationally.
- Choosing one of the eBay store subscription options reduces the fees sellers pay monthly.
- Launching an eBay store in a foreign marketplace increases the visibility of product listings, but it also presents sellers with numerous challenges.
- The available eBay store subscription levels vary from one eBay marketplace to another.
- Localizing listings can be challenging for sellers who create all listings from a single eBay store.
- Webinterpret enables sellers to list products on international marketplaces, eliminating the need for multiple storefronts.
A glance at available eBay store subscription options
Casual and business sellers face a broad range of restrictions if they sell their products without an eBay store monthly subscription.
These restrictions range from monthly sales limits to limited access to the analytics tools, often slowing down the seller’s growth.
It’s also worth adding that on some eBay domains, like eBay.de, sellers with private accounts aren’t eligible for eBay store subscription plans, and they must upgrade to a business account to subscribe to one of the four available plans.
Still, having an eBay business account isn’t a prerequisite for getting a store subscription on all eBay domains, so whether a seller with a Private account can create a store depends on their location.
Subscribing to one of the eBay store plans enables merchants to avoid these restrictions, pay lower fees, and enjoy a broader spectrum of features.
Still, it’s important to remember that the available subscription plans vary from one domain to the next. For example, sellers on eBay.com can choose from more plans than sellers on eBay.uk or eBay.fr.
However, sellers can set up a store on eBay.com regardless of their location, and they can choose from the following five store subscription plans available on the eBay.com domain:
- Starter Store – Best for hobbyist sellers who want to lower the eBay fees they pay monthly and add fewer than 250 new products to their product catalog each month.
- Basic Store – This subscription plan is best for SMBs that want to add up to 1,000 new product listings without insertion fees and 250 free auction listings monthly. It also includes lower final value fees, access to the Sourcing Insights tool that allows them to promote their items more efficiently, and $25 worth of eBay-branded shipping supplies every quarter.
- Premium Store – This subscription plan includes all benefits from the Basic Store package and enables sellers to add up to 10,000 new listings without insertion fees. Sellers who exceed the monthly limit must pay $0.15 insertion fee per additional listing.
- Anchor Store – Best for advanced business sellers with vast product portfolios that want to add up to 25.000 new items to their store each month without covering insertion fees.
- Enterprise Store – Reserved for high-volume sellers with an extensive product catalog, this subscription plan includes benefits like a fixed price listing allowance with zero insertion fee listings and dedicated customer support, among others.
Subscription fees for these plans range from less than $10 to over $2,000, and sellers can choose between monthly and annual subscription options.
Selling on domestic and international marketplaces without a store
Sellers with Private and Business eBay accounts don’t need a store subscription to list their products in their domestic or international marketplaces.
Even though sellers can manage all aspects of their operations on eBay without a store subscription, doing so can be challenging, especially for merchants with an extensive product assortment.
Let’s go through some of the downsides of selling on eBay without a store subscription.
- Higher insertion and final value fees: Although sellers with Private and Business accounts can create a few hundred listings without covering insertion fees, they must pay relatively steep final value fees. Opting for one of the eBay store subscription packages allows sellers to create more free listings per month.
- No branding options: eBay seller accounts, both Private and Business, are not customizable, so merchants cannot use them to establish brand identity, create a store name, and showcase their best-selling products.
- Restricted access to business tools: Sellers who don’t subscribe to one of the eBay store plans cannot access features like the Discounts Manager, Store homepage, Markdown Manager, or Subscriber discounts.
- Lack of inventory management tools: Merchants with Private and Business accounts cannot use bulk editing tools, set up custom product categories, and other options with an eBay store subscription that make managing inventory easier, as they’re only included with certain store levels.
The benefits and downsides of having multiple eBay stores
Private and Business sellers can see all their listings in the Seller Hub.
Still, they cannot organize them into different categories, which makes it more difficult to keep track of the items that need restocking or navigate through the inventory to check which items need to be updated.
Opting for one of the available eBay store subscriptions streamlines the process of managing the online business by enabling sellers to create new product listings quickly, select categories they want to include in their store, apply bulk edits, or increase the volume of items they offer on their domestic or international marketplaces.
Additionally, eBay store subscribers have access to powerful tools that allow them to create bundled deals, offer limited-time discounts, and run store-wide sales.
Even though opening a store in a seller’s domestic market is highly beneficial, setting up a store in an international marketplace can be challenging and even unnecessary due to various factors.
It’s important to remember that you can create a store from your existing eBay account, but you’ll need a new user name and email address for each international store you create.
The complexities don’t stop there, as you must pay the subscription fee on the new eBay domain, localize each listing you want to feature outside your domestic marketplace, and ensure you follow the local legal and tax obligations.
Key factors to consider before launching an eBay store in a new marketplace
Store subscription plans are domain-specific, so the plans available to sellers depend on their location.
As mentioned, merchants offering their products on eBay.com can choose from five subscription plans. Still, opting for the right plan is essential, since overpaying for a subscription plan offering more options than a seller intends to use is expensive and unnecessary.
So, when choosing the plan, sellers must determine how many new products they want to add to their eBay store every month.
It’s also advisable to check eBay’s final value fees for the product categories you feature in your store. These fees vary from one eBay domain to another and depend on the item’s price, the subscription plan, and other factors.
What’s more, sellers must check which benefits are included in the plan they’re considering since dedicated customer support or advanced analytics tools aren’t included in all plans.
Alternatives to running eBay stores on multiple marketplaces
Setting up a storefront for a new marketplace isn’t the only way to sell products internationally. Technically speaking, sellers can list their products throughout eBay marketplaces with a single account, but doing so is challenging for several reasons.
Most importantly, all listings should be localized, meaning sellers must adjust their titles, product descriptions, prices, and sizes to the specific market.
Localization goes far beyond literal translation because sellers must also ensure that their listings are SEO optimized, prices are converted to the local currency accurately, and that item sizes match the local standards.
Solutions like Webinterpret enable sellers to list their products on international marketplaces while automating these repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
Hence, instead of starting a new store on each new eBay marketplace you’d like to enter, sellers can utilize Webinterpret or similar solutions that reduce the time they need to start selling to a new market and save money.
The challenges of managing multiple eBay stores
Aside from creating an email address and username for an eBay store subscription on each new marketplace, sellers also have to create a listing for each product they want to offer to potential customers.
Starting a store on a new eBay marketplace can increase sellers’ costs, as they must expand their teams in order to localize listings, provide excellent customer service, or manage the reverse logistics.
Moreover, running multiple eBay stores means that sellers cannot monitor their activities across eBay marketplaces from a single dashboard, as they must log in to each store to see how their listings are performing.
A solution like Webinterpret solves these issues by enabling sellers to localize their listings automatically and monitor their performance from a single dashboard.
This solution simplifies the process of marketplace expansion on eBay, reduces sellers’ costs, and helps them improve sales.
Growing your business one international eBay market at a time
Subscribing to one of eBay’s store plans can positively impact your business even if you’re only a casual seller with a handful of products, and help you expand your inventory, reach more customers, and spend less on insertion and final value fees.
However, you don’t necessarily need multiple stores to sell your products outside your domestic marketplace.
An active Private or Business seller account is all you need to list your products on different eBay marketplaces. Still, each listing you create on a new marketplace must be adequately localized.
Do you need a simple and efficient solution that would allow you to scale your business across eBay marketplaces? We can help! Schedule a call to learn more about Webinterpret’s eBay localization solution.
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on eBay.
Our AI-based solutions enable more effective selling through automated listing localization, advertising, and returns and ensure all products placed on EU markets are GPSR-compliant.
By giving your international customers a full, end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion and helps establish your business globally.
