Ebay Profile: An Ebay Store Owner Adapts to Survive
I began by asking Michael to describe his business and products; “The business is based in Manchester, UK. It’s called Chici, pronounced she-key, and we retail Boho and Ethnic costume and silver jewellery. Our own website has been up for just about a month now at Chici.co.uk“
I wanted to know the factors that contributed to Michaels ‘go it alone’ decision. He told me; “We began on eBay as they solved most of the headaches for us to get our products online. The store concept was ideal as we could concentrate on attracting customers and look to build relationships. We looked professional and the costs were about right.”
It was obvious to me from discussion that Michael was a disciplined, intelligent and focused person. Good qualities for a small business. He had a clear understanding of his market, his margins, the turnover targets, budgets are in place as are future plans.
He continued; “I began to think about my own website in May this year thinking it was the next logical step in the progression of my business. However, the fee increases and search changes announced by eBay in July made my mind up to get the idea off the drawing board and in to reality. And do it quickly.”
What in particular made you decide to move from the eBay store? “It wasn’t the obvious. Yes I could have coped with the new fee structure and I am capable of finding customers and getting them to my store despite the non-inclusion in eBay searches. But why should I? For me it was the overall value I perceived I was receiving from eBay that didn’t add up.”
Michael elaborated; “Although eBay try to make the fees appear small, they aren’t. From the word go they will take a little bite at each stage of the sales process. You pay them to put the item on a shelf. You may pay eBay again if it stays on the shelf for more than 30 days and, once a buyer is found, you pay a further percentage. Even after the sale, as Paypal is the most often used payment method, you lose another significant percentage. When you analyse it carefully, the model doesn’t work now unless you are happy to work very long hours for little more than a minimum wage hourly rate.”
I could see his point. Did Michael consider using core auction or Buy It Now formats which charge lower final value fees? “A few core format listings can help as drivers to an eBay store but they are often buried among all kinds of listings. Eventually I found the higher listing fees, non payers and the relisting of short duration items a real problem. It wasn’t viable for me to switch to the core formats. An eBay store was the right format for me.”
So looking forward, how has your first month gone? “I can honestly say it has been fantastic! The only complaint I’ve had about the website has been about a small font size. But then they still purchased something from me. I’ve made sure my former eBay store customers are aware of the new site, so I was lucky to get customers in the door fairly quickly.”
Michael had raised a pet subject of mine. So how will you be attracting new customers to Chici I asked; “I’m testing Google Adwords as we speak, made sure my site is optimised for search engines, listed the site with online shopping directories and even an old fashioned paper mailshot to previous customers. Then of course, I’m talking to everyone that will listen.” He winked, letting me know he considered our talk all part of his promotion; “It’s no coincidence celebrities do chat shows when they have a book to sell” he added.
I had to admire his honesty with me, not to mention his grasp of the marketing subject. It was time to ask the million dollar question. How much was this website costing? “I did the actual design work and employed a local whiz kid to do the technical stuff. It was basically a time expense rather than financial. I use 123Connect.co.uk to host the site. Having used them before, I knew I would get excellent personal service and they’ve never let me down. At Ã?£50 a year to host the site, my margins aren’t being squeezed either. I still have some payment processing overhead but, overall, the cost of sales has greatly reduced from even the old eBay fee scales. I can now spend money on site promotion and still have change from the fees I was going to be paying eBay.”
Before we finished I couldn’t resist one last question about eBay. What did he think of them now he’s closing his eBay store and cutting the cord he’s had for so long? “It would be very easy to dismiss eBay and be ultra critical now I’ve moved on. But in all honesty I have a sense of gratitude in me. Chici would not be in business if it hadn’t been for eBay. They solved my original problems in getting established online. I doubt anything would have happened without eBay. In a way I’m also grateful they gave me the kick in July to make me take the next step as it would have been easy to stay without it. Now I know I can live without eBay. Yes I will have good days and bad, but I am now fully in control of my business. The one sad feeling I have is I’m not so sure eBay as it is now can continue to prosper much in future without the Chici type of customer.”
Before we parted Michael gave me a look around his website. I found it attractive, simple to use and inviting. If you are also considering the move from eBay take a look for yourself what can be achieved on a remarkably small budget.
As I finish writing this piece I am asking myself once again if Michael is the type of customer eBay wanted to discourage with the recent changes. He hasn’t been switched to supporting the core listing formats which was one of the stated eBay aims. In fact he’s hardly likely to return to eBay for anything in future. No, I just can’t believe they had this intelligent, forward thinking and potentially lucrative type of eBay customer in mind.
The other bad news for eBay sellers is, having spent a few minutes looking at the Chici website, I may not be spending so much on eBay this coming holiday season!
