eBay
Shops have much in common with retail outlets operating on high streets in
villages, towns and cities all over the country, all over the world, the most
obvious difference being that high street sellers typically work face-to-face
with customers, while on eBay all the buying and selling is done online.
But in
reality there's a world of difference between how eBay's virtual shops operate
compared to their high street counterparts.
And for most retailers, the difference is significant and eBay is almost
always the best option.
For
example:
* On
eBay you’ll be paying a tiny fraction of most offline sellers’ running costs,
allowing you to undercut their prices considerably. And no one will ever guess you are a one man
or one woman operation or that you work entirely from home.
*
eBay's heavy insistence on fair play for customers and sellers and urgency to
remove rogue traders and troublesome buyers, represents credibility that's rarely
found elsewhere, even in the biggest of high street companies. That allows you to generate customer
confidence much faster than most high street sellers.
* On
the high street, customers expect to pay for and pick up goods the same day and
most would leave a shop empty handed than wait for replacement stock or choose
an alternative product. And that’s why
most offline retailers have to stock multiple units of numerous different
products which is not only expensive but requires a major investment in storage
space. Not forgetting that stock may not
sell and will have to be disposed of at a loss. On eBay, although you must only list items
you already possess or can quickly obtain, you can order stock after orders
arrive or have dropshippers fulfil direct to your buyers. So you never have to stock items until an
order is placed.
*
Because you don't have to stock duplicate products of all shapes and sizes,
you'll rarely have valuable space eaten up by outdated, old-fashioned and
damaged goods.
On eBay
you can sell worldwide from a corner of your living room, take time off when
you want to, you can even ban undesirable people from bidding or buying in your
eBay Shop and you can earn money 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Compare that to being always available in a
high street shop and working 9 to 5 even when it's pouring down and the high
street's empty, as well as having to tackle difficult customers, and you’ll see
why so many first time and veteran retailers are choosing that best of all
trading models ... eBay!
