Of course, selling on eBay is quick and convenient. It does not require much thought and can be done within a day. However, once your orders become more regular, you will soon find that Seller Fees quickly add up. If you are at that point, you may be surprised to hear that setting up your own eCommerce store can save you money!

Although it may sound scary at first, there are many benefits to taking that crucial next step.

When selling on eBay, you will encounter fees for using the platform. At the most basic level, there are Listing Fees (upgrades ranging from £0.10 to £150) and Final Value Fees in the form of a percentage (ranging from 5% to 12.9%), as well as £0.30 per order. Apart from the fact that this can get very confusing when selling different types of items, what does that look like in practice? For better understanding, we have put together high value and a low value examples below.

Item: Smart Watch

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Price: £650

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Variable percentage fee: £62.05

Fixed fee: £0.30

Buy it now: £0.50 (optional)

Subtitle: £2 (optional)

Gallery plus: £2.5 (optional)

TOTAL FEES: £67.36 (incl. optional)

Above example clearly shows how high the fees really are. Now we take a look at the fees when selling a low value item to understand the cost involved.

We are not going to hide the fact that there are also disadvantages to setting up your own store and website. It can be particularly daunting if you don't quite know where to start. There are a lot of items to think of, things like domain names, landing pages, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), card payment providers, plugins and the list goes on. In addition to the basics, there are a few other points that are worth mentioning, too.

It will require time to research and understand the sheer number of options available. Once you have found the right solution, you will need to build your store and website. It can take up a big chunk of your time, especially if your not familiar with the tools and everything that needs to be considered.

Apart from investing time, there is also an initial monetary investment required to get everything set up and subsequent annual fees that will need to be paid. You can check out our Savings Calculator below. It will calculate your possible monthly saving of running your own eCommerce shop, considering the fees compared to running a shop on eBay.

As you start selling through your own shop, you will have to jump the hurdle of getting your name out there. It can be done by advertising, which can get costly very quickly or by strategically promoting it through social media and the right setup for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). You could even start by letting your existing customers know that you have opened your online shop and offer them an incentive for buying from you directly. You could offer them a discount that reflects your saving in fees you would have paid to another platform, a win-win for you and your customers.

One point we mentioned as being a disadvantage to setting up your own store was the lack of a brand people recognise. However, this is also an opportunity that should be seized to start building it! It will certainly not happen overnight and take some attention. We always recommend running both your eBay shop and your new eCommerce store in parallel, at least until established. This will broaden your reach and you can also use it to target different audiences.

There is a possibility of using your own store to market your brand in ways you will not be able to by only selling through your shop on eBay. It might be that you want to branch out into offering courses or even promote other channels like your social media presence. Having your own website with a shop attached can work in harmony with all of your other presences, bringing them together in one place for your audience and your customers.

Ever wondered how much you could save in fees by setting up your own eCommerce store?

We have put together a calculator, so you can find out for yourself.

Just enter your average order value and number of monthly orders below to find out!

*Does not include savings on eBay listing upgrades, which are in addition to the saving already calculated above!

Are you ready to take the next step and get your online shop ready but need help getting there?