Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
Hi. Look at it this way. If you'd bought an item off someone's website and then a week later you discovered that they were selling it for $5 cheaper on EBay, would you be happy.
EBay charges fees that are far from cheap. As well as paying for the listings that sell, you also have to cover the cost of the listings that don't sell. Your pricing has to take all those potential fees into account.
I've seen stores do it both ways: charge more on eBay to cover fees, or less on eBay because it's the expected thing to do. As Will said, as a customer I sometimes find it extremely annoying.
Personally I wouldn't recommend charging less on eBay, as it's not a sustainable practice. More isn't ideal either, but it's sometimes necessary.
what kind of benefits do the power sellers get on ebay? i just started selling on ebay like 3 weeks ago and i have 88 sales until now. some one told me that if you sell more than 100 and keep the rating above 98%, you are awarded power seller status.
i want to know what are their benefits, i am really hoping that they give some listing/final fees discount as you guyz are so right... their commissions are very high...
I suppose a lot depends on how you quantify success?
You can sell tees on EBay, but it's paying the fees for all the listings that don't sell that dramatically reduce your profits.
With your own site you only pay out for your yearly hosting fees, plus transaction charges for the items that sell.
If you analyse tee sales on Ebay, you will see some sellers only sell one tee for every ten that they list. That means they are selling an item for little, or no profit.
I offer nearly 200 designs on my website. I figured I'd put a handful up on E-BAY just to see what the response is, perhaps BEFORE I list them on my website, and also to help generate traffic to my site. After all, there are always going to be people who will go to E-BAY who never heard of my site, and those shirts won't always be available on E-BAY. So 3 months or 3 years down the line, at least those people know about my website. Small "advertising investment" if you ask me.
Ebay is just another marketing tool to get your items out there. Unless you are just really good at keeping your website search engine friendly you will find that not very many people will find your website.
However, Ebay can be a very good way to get people to know your brand because a lot of people shop ebay who won't surf the web just to find something they want. So, they just go to ebay, type in a search, boom instantly have what they want, click buy now, pay with paypal, and get it in the mail in a couple of days.
I'm finding more and more big companies who also have some merchandise listed on ebay. Most you will find do not offer them very much if any below normal price due to the ebay fees. But they have found out that it is a great way to get business and then they cross promote with their regular website and gain loyal customers.
Not everyone is going to agree that ebay is a viable option for a "BIG NAME BRAND" but I'm just saying I've been seeing alot of very successful businesses adding ebay to their list of ways to sell.
And to answer you question now that I've gotten off my soapbox, don't list for anything less than what you would on your website. Just be aware that you will make less selling the same item on ebay because of the fees.
If you sell to stores, than your retailers would not be very happy about "sell for less on ebay".
Try to brand your line accordingly. Do you want to build a brand or you want just a quick sale? It's up to you.
I am very disappointed that folks think of eBay as a "bad" neighborhood. I use eBay to prove that I am a good seller, I proudly link to my ebay store for the 100% rating that I have worked so hard to achieve. I keep prices on inventory items similar, but auctions can start lower to stimulate interest. I have gotten some huge business from eBay folks looking for unique items that are similar to what I have, they inquire and I am usually able to fix them up with exactly what they need. eBay is a great marketing tool, even if business there is overall slow for me.
__________________ www.stuffnthingz.com - "You can never have too much stuff", however, "The best things in life aren't things" is also true. XPS1530 | DK20 | Mighty Press 15 |Chinese hat press | Oki5800 | 88+ | LP24
I am very disappointed that folks think of eBay as a "bad" neighborhood. I use eBay to prove that I am a good seller, I proudly link to my ebay store for the 100% rating that I have worked so hard to achieve. I keep prices on inventory items similar, but auctions can start lower to stimulate interest. I have gotten some huge business from eBay folks looking for unique items that are similar to what I have, they inquire and I am usually able to fix them up with exactly what they need. eBay is a great marketing tool, even if business there is overall slow for me.
It all depends
Not everyone here is in the same market or demographic.
For an upscale line, exclusive, boutique type fashion t-shirt line, selling on eBay may not give the best impression of your brand.
If you are selling more general t-shirts, funny t-shirts, printing services, etc, then your target market may not view selling on eBay as a bad thing.
Remember, not everyone here is doing the same exact thing, so they are only speaking from their experience in their specific markets.
one more note. I believe that the TOU at ebay is that you cannot sell an item for a lower price on your own website. This is third party information that I have read on various forums, so take it with a grain of salt... I know that their TOU for their "ME" pages has no tightened down to not allowing your own web site URL, where before this month it was allowed. Without having any direct linking from my store to my own website how would ebay even know this? So it might be a moot point these days.
__________________ www.stuffnthingz.com - "You can never have too much stuff", however, "The best things in life aren't things" is also true. XPS1530 | DK20 | Mighty Press 15 |Chinese hat press | Oki5800 | 88+ | LP24
pricing for e-bay vs our websites 
Daniel Slatkin 
