Ebay and Paypal - Opinions needed

panzerg · 20-10-2006, 02:29 PM

I am looking at a few different scenarios. I currently have a store on there and sell around 200-300 items a month, mostly through 7day BIN auctions. I also have a merchant account.

1) I'm thinking of dropping the store, because it seems close to useless at times. I'm almost done coding the permanent website. Should I:

a) Drop the store altogether currently?
b) Drop the store once the website is complete?
c) Keep the store and run both that and the website?

2) I'm not happy with paypal. I find their rates to be high and since they are not a bank, are not government regulated. I've heard too many horror stories about people having their accounts frozen. I don't have time to play phone tag with them 150 times a day. Do you think I will get a severe drop-off in clients if I drop paypal as a payment mechanism and use my merchant account?

**YNWA** · 20-10-2006, 02:41 PM

I hink you should keep your ebay store if you are making money from it. And use that to promote your new website in some way.

I also would say to keep paypal as an option but also promote your mearchant account payment system more than paypal. At the end of the day is your merchant account cheaper on fees?

panzerg · 20-10-2006, 02:45 PM

Yes, I have been doing business with my account rep for about 6 years now and they get better every year.

bennetts · 20-10-2006, 04:12 PM

This is what i would do
As YNWA says keep the ebay store an your website until your making enough money from your website.
Then close the shop but still sell some stuff on ebay to drive traffic to your website.
But if your selling 200-300 stuff a month it would take a while to catch up with that.

The thing is aswell alot of people i direct to my website through ebay usually carry on buying from me on ebay.

I think its to do with feedback

AuctionCUT · 21-10-2006, 03:32 PM

A lot of people treat the balance of their paypal account as spare money, as they normally only see it on screen and it's not direct in their hands. So, people don't have to wrestle with their conscience to spent the money. I've bought many things with paypal and had no problems paying, whereas if I had to pull out my debit card and buy the item I might give it a little more thought. If you drop paypal, your sales WILL drop

The best option is to offer paypal and get a merchant account as well. It will also add a certain amount of credibility that your business is secure enough to get a merchant account.