I want to graduate from ebay

Yours was the "excellent advice being given here" sir.

 

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Here are some pros and cons I came up with for eBay & an online storefront

Pros

• eBay is the largest marketplace for coins
• You don't have to invest much if any money into marketing
• eBay gives you deals on shipping charges
• becoming a top rated seller and/or powerseller decreases fees and increases profit margin

Cons

• an eBay store is taken as serious as a business with a storefront (B&M or online)
• PayPal can permanently limit your account without providing a reason and hold your PayPal balance for 180 days
• eBay is constantly increasing their fees as of this post they recently raised the price of a store subscription
• Some customers may jump right to the resolution center without contacting you first which may result in extra stress and/or anxiety on you.
• There are some customers who are actually competitors who will buy from you then leave you negative feedback. Too much of this, especially for a newer seller will result in eBay banning you

Online Storefront

Pros

• you control everything (design of website,how you get paid,shipping etc...)
• You can build a brand and become a reputable source in the industry
• people can write meaningful detailed reviews instead of the typical A+++ eBay seller feedback you get.
• you can lower your payment fees if you go with a merchant account instead of paypal

Cons

• you have to invest a significant amount in Marketing ideally in the form of a monthly budget for ads on various services
• Things may get more complicated for you if eBay isn't there to help with the resolution center
• You will need to hire a lawyer to help you file a corporation or LLC in your state or states of business as well as write your privacy policy,terms of service etc... and it is not going to be cheap but luckily a one time expense (usually)
• in order to keep our business afloat and promote growth you may need to make your company levered. Failure of proper management of finances will result in company bankruptcy
• As you expand your storefront you'll need to hire people. You'll need to learn how to hire the right people for the job and then learn how to manage/lead them
• When hiring employees you need to learn about their rights and other laws you're bound to such as affirmative action worker's compensation. You will also need an EIN, register with the department of labour, verify your employee is a U.S citizen, obtain worker's compensation insurance,file additional tax forms for your business, and create an employee handbook

There you have it. I just saved you years of research and experience in running a business.

 

Excellent research. I know that it is easy to sell in Ebay without any worries, they will help us if we had problems., But in my opinion we can't move forward to the next step of our business, when choosing only easy ways . Ebay doesn't allow us to grow up. Anyway, I want to thank you again for your valuable information and my post reply.

 

Laying it on a little thick there, are we not?

It was a fine post, yes, but saving "years of research and experience"? Not quite, my young friend....

 

to me, the biggest issue with trying to sell on your own website is getting traffic there. The masses are on ebay. There is no alternative to ebay, as much as I'd like to think there is. Getting your website in front of people is not easy. You can't advertise it on your ebay listings. Companies that say they can put you at the to of the search engines are usually incapable of doing so...beware. Social media like CoinTalk or FaceBook, Linkedin, etc are a great resource but requires a lot of attention and tons of posting to keep your name out there. Setting up at coin shows has helped me a lot and having a Brick and Mortar retail store helps tremendously too. It's not an easy task, for sure. Good luck and let us know how you're doing!

 

Yes, it's possible to sell on Facebook. Look for groups in your area. Out my way we have Berkshire County Tag Sale. You will have to request acceptance from a moderator first. If there is none you can start your own site similar to ours. By the way, I was not trying to discourage you or put a damper on your post with my reply about a web site, just relating what I found out when I tried to set one up. All is good if you want to invest the time and money. Best of luck to you in your endeavors.

 

If and when you do create your own site, it would not hurt to create a catchy link attached to your email. Not HTML but an icon of some sort with your company name to go with it.

 

Thank you Tommy, I will use every possible ways to improve my business. Thanks again for my post reply.

 

If you are on Facebook, there are several auction groups, that you should check out. I know several members here are members of some of those groups and many sell there. Most won't let you advertise your page on the group page, which is a good thing, but you can send all the advertising you want through PM's and the packages you send out. I don't sell much but sell an occasional duplicate in my collection. Most all the sellers take PayPal and give the option to pay with Postal Money Orders which many buyers prefer, the benefit to you is no PayPal fees but you have to wait on your money. There are some very good groups on there and there are some not so good. As with any social network, there is drama, but some have moderators that are really good at eliminating the bad guys.

 

And, no matter which route you take, a physical store or a virtual one...safety first! Once your address is out there it's out there for good. In my case, my good coins are at the bank, my minors in a fireproof safe bolted down with 24/7 cameras , inside and out, tied into a major company and accessible from my tablet wherever I go. And a couple of stealth cams in the yard for extra measure.

 

I just post pictures of my coins on here so no one will waste their time looking for my junk pile.

 

Ebay is huge, by far the biggest market for coin sales in the world.

 

I know ,eBay is a great online marketplace for coins, but have you ever think about your own business? I'm in eBay since 2010 and have lots of experience to sell and buy in that field, but it is not my business.

 

Thank you again for your valuable advices. You're correct, safety first. Our today's world has lots of junk people who use to own others ideas and hard work results.

 

Facebook, Instagram is good,Reddit

 

Lots of sales on eBay everyday. There's lots of different coin groups over there. I'm in over a dozen myself.

 

Coin groups on eBay? Or do you mean Facebook? I ask because if there are coin groups on eBay I'd like to look into joining some

 

Groups.ebay.com. I'm sure they have a group for pretty much everything, how active or good any of them are i have no idea

 

Yeah I meant Facebook.

 

May I ask what exactly a "Facebook coin group" is? Tis an honest question, and please pardon my ignorance.