Do I need an eBay store subscription?
Listing items on eBay using XpressLister has the same requirements as listing products manually directly on eBay except that it's much faster to list items and keep them updated.
eBay Account Requirements
To list on eBay you just need an eBay account in good standing with Seller account enabled.
Reasons to consider a store
Although a store subscription is not required, it can often be a good idea.
The store subscriptions vary between regional eBay sites. Using eBay Australia as an example (data from eBay Store Packages in June 2015):
| No Store | Basic Store | Featured Store | Anchor Store | |
| Monthly subscription fee | n/a | $19.95 | $49.95 | $499.95 |
| Monthly free Fixed Price listings | 40 | 200 | 500 | Unlimited |
| Fixed Price insertion fee |
$1.50 (under $100) $3.50 (over $100) |
$0.50 | $0.20 | Free |
| Final value fee | 9.9% | 8% | 7% | 6% |
| Listing duration | 10 days | GTC* | GTC* | GTC* |
*GTC = Good Till Cancelled
Example Scenarios
| No Store | Basic Store | Featured Store | Anchor Store | Conclusion | |
| 10 products / $1000 per month eBay Sales |
No store fee No listing fees $99 final value fees $99 total cost |
$19.95 store fee No listing fees $80 final value fees $99.95 total cost |
$49.95 store fee No listing fees $70 final value fees $119.95 total cost |
$499.95 store fee No listing fees $60 final value fees $559.95 total cost |
No Store is marginally cheaper than Basic Store but even a slight increase in sales will make Basic Store the best option. |
|
250 products* / $1000 per month eBay Sales * Assuming all products under $100 |
No store fee $1065listing fees *1 $99 final value fees $1164 total cost |
$19.95 store fee $25.00 listing fees *2 $80 final value fees $124.95 total cost |
$49.95 store fee No listing fees $70 final value fees $119.95 total cost |
$499.95 store fee No listing fees $60 final value fees $559.95 total cost |
Featured Store is the best option. No Store is by far the most expensive. If you have more than 12 products at least a Basic Store is usually vital |
|
250 products* / $5000 per month eBay Sales * Assuming all products over $100 |
No store fee $2485listing fees *3 $495 final value fees $2980 total cost |
$19.95 store fee $25.00 listing fees *4 $400 final value fees $444.95 total cost |
$49.95 store fee No listing fees $350 final value fees $399.95 total cost |
$499.95 store fee No listing fees $300 final value fees $799.95 total cost |
Featured Store is the best option. No Store is by far the most expensive. If you have more than 12 products at least a Basic Store is usually vital |
|
2000 products* / $5000 per month eBay Sales * Assuming all products over $100 |
No store fee $20860listing fees *5 $495 final value fees $23840 total cost |
$19.95 store fee $900 listing fees *6 $400 final value fees $1319.95 total cost |
$49.95 store fee $750 listing fees *7 $350 final value fees $1189.90 total cost |
$499.95 store fee No listing fees $300 final value fees $799.95 total cost |
Anchor Store is the best option because the listing fees on the lower store packages are higher than the Anchor Store subscription fee when listing 1500 items or more. |
Listing fee calculations
*1 10 day listing duration means each item is listed 3 times a month (on average), so 250 items is 750 listings. Deduct the 40 free that's 710 at $1.50 giving us the result of $1065
*2 GTC gets counted as a listing once a month. 250 listings. Deduct the 200 free that's 50 at $0.50 giving us the result of $25
*3 10 day listing duration means each item is listed 3 times a month (on average), so 250 items is 750 listings. Deduct the 40 free that's 710 at $3.50 giving us the result of $2485
*4 GTC gets counted as a listing once a month. 250 listings. Deduct the 200 free that's 50 at $0.50 giving us the result of $25
*5 10 day listing duration means each item is listed 3 times a month (on average), so 2000 items is 6000 listings. Deduct the 40 free that's 5960 at $3.50 giving us the result of $20860
*6 GTC gets counted as a listing once a month. 2000 listings. Deduct the 200 free that's 1800 at $0.50 giving us the result of $900
*7 GTC gets counted as a listing once a month. 2000 listings. Deduct the 500 free that's 1500 at $0.50 giving us the result of $750
You can use eBay's Fee Illustrator (Australia) to run your own calculations.
Conclusion
A store subscription can make the difference between an eBay business being viable or not. Some of the example scenarios listed above had higher fees than sales if the correct store wasn't selected.
Either listing counts because of the listing fees or sales volume because of the reduced Final Value fee can justify the cost of a store subscription.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this article is general in nature and does not take into account your circumstances. It is important that you do your own research.