A La Carte eBay Stores Under Consideration

It appears eBay is considering replacing its Store tiered subscription model in favor of an “a la carte” model. Rather than different tiers of eBay Store subscriptions as it currently offers, eBay would offer a basic Store for a fixed fee, with optional add-ons available at an additional cost.

In other words, a build-your-own eBay Store package.

eBay is also considering keeping the tiered model but making significant changes to it. Currently it offers the following plans (monthly fees listed require an annual commitment):

Starter eBay Store: $4.95
Basic eBay Store: $21.95
Premium eBay Store: $59.95
Anchor eBay Store: $299.95
Enterprise eBay Store: $2,999.95

EcommerceBytes learned of eBay’s latest considerations around Stores in a survey forwarded by a reader.

The eBay survey presented the seller with various combinations of Store packages, each with its own set of features, discounts, and benefits, and each showing a different monthly subscription fee.

You can read more about the different offerings described in the survey on the EcommerceBytes Blog.

It’s important to note that a survey only indicates what is under consideration. eBay surveyed sellers in February about its Stores model, but the only changes since then was an increase in the number of free listings available to sellers, described in the EcommerceBytes “Online Sellers Guide to eBay Fall Seller Update 2020 Part 2.”

Build-a-Store Package
This week’s survey showed eBay’s thinking on a build-your-own-Store package. Sellers would pay a fixed shop subscription fee that would provide a basic amount of free listings and promotions, and sellers would then be able to pay extra for benefits, such as “extra fixed listings for $xx per month,” or “1-to-1 personal account management $xx per month,” or “Selling Manager Pro for $xx per month.”

Under the build-your-own Store model, sellers would have the option of including more add-ons whenever they wished for an additional monthly cost.

For more information and to weigh in with your thoughts, visit the EcommerceBytes Blog.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.