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In fact, you might not even have heard of eBay stores. Read on to find out what you've been missing.

eBay stores come at three levels: Basic for $15.95 per month, Featured for $49.95 per month or Anchor for $499.95 per month (yes, that is typed correctly: almost $500). The best place to start out is with Basic (you can even get a month's free trial), but if you like what you find then you should upgrade to Featured quickly, simply because it has so many extra features. Note that you must have a feedback rating of at least 20 before you can get an eBay store.

But what is an eBay store? Basically, it lets you list a set of fixed price auctions together on one page for much longer than auctions usually last - and most sellers with eBay stores list the items at a slightly lower price. It's like a list of your special offers. You can put your logo on the store and write a little about your business and policies, and your customers can search your store for anything they might want. Buyers can click through to your store using the door symbol next to your name.

A good way to look at it is that it's a little like having your own e-commerce site outside eBay where you can list your items more long term - except it's all done for you without you having to learn a new system. Items in eBay stores can be listed for 30, 60, 90 or 120 days, or you can list items permanently, paying monthly for each one.

So you Want an eBay Store Now?

You can visit eBay stores at http://stores.ebay.com>http://stores.ebay.com. Go there now and click the 'Open a Store' button on the right of the screen to start signing up for the free trial. Then there are a few steps to go before your store can open for business.

Step 1: Pick a theme. You can have whatever design you want on your store, but to begin with pick something from eBay's options that you think would be appropriate.

Step 2: Add your store's name, description and logo. You can pick one of eBay's pictures for the logo or upload a logo of your own if you have one. Don't worry, you can always change this later.

Step 3: Choose your subscription level, and then click 'Start My Subscription Now'. Your store is ready! Remember that you can customise it more at any time.

Listing items in your store is just like listing items on normal eBay using 'Buy it Now', except that the durations you can choose from for the store are much longer.

By now, you've probably spent enough time in eBay that you're starting to get used to it - but then again, you also might have been a victim of fraud by now, or at least seen fraud happening to others. The next email will tell you how to fight eBay fraud.

About the author:

Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.