I've been a ebay seller for 6+ years now & I was just promoted to Power Seller.
I agree totally, Auctiva is a great (& free) service when it comes to picture hosting & templates. Another site that is also helpful
Zoicks.com - Helpful Links, Hints, Tips and Tricks for eBay Buyers and Sellers
My only question to you is why would you want to start with an anchor store? Ebay is offering a 30-day free trial offer through the end of July, but is only good on Basic or Premium to first time subscribers. You can read about it at
What's an eBay Store &
eBay Stores FAQ
Oh, and yes, you can always design your own pages in html. They are a bit picky about some java scripts, but you can always tweek them to work as you can see by my About Me page...
eBay View About Me for debz1959