Setting up an ebay store to get started online, selling products, and earning an income, used to be a really low risk way of starting out. With all the changes that have happened over at ebay in the past few years, this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. You have to use the payment processor they own, and you pay fees on everything, even if you don’t sell anything, or you sell it for less than cost. That’s why so many sellers padded the shipping and handling fees. They were just passing on to consumers the fees ebay was passing on to them. So, the price of the auctions all went up, and the pool of buyers has diminished somewhat.

I think ultimately all serious businesses, or would-be entrepreneurs, should build a website instead of an ebay store to sell from, even if you’re just starting out. Prices are so cheap for hosting, and you can use a free website builder. Then, you don’t have to pay out 10% of every sale in ebay and associated costs.