Running several eBay stores: the workload, the performance trade-off and eBay's account rules

Is running several eBay stores a good idea?

Running several eBay stores is a good idea in a narrow set of cases: when each store has its own clear buyer, brand or marketplace, and when you already have the records and routines to run one store well. It is a poor idea when it is a way to list more of the same thing, to start again after problems, or to get round a limit. eBay allows more than one account, but every account must meet the same standards, and problems on one can follow you to the others.

This guide covers what eBay's policy says, the real costs of a second, third or fourth store, and a simple test to decide. If you are only weighing a second store, our article on opening a second eBay store goes into that first step in more depth.

What does eBay's multiple accounts policy allow?

eBay's multiple accounts policy says users may have multiple accounts on eBay, for example one for buying and one for selling, or separate accounts for different product lines, and that you can use them in whatever way works best for you as long as each meets the buyer and seller standards.

The policy also sets the limit. It does not allow registering new accounts, or using other existing accounts, to avoid buying and selling restrictions or limits. If eBay restricts one account, it says similar restrictions or limits may be applied to the member's other linked accounts. Possible actions include removing listings, warnings, restricting activity or suspension. If you believe accounts were linked in error, eBay says you can contact it to appeal.

• Allowed: a separate store for a different product line, brand or audience, each run to eBay's standards.
• Not allowed: a new account to keep selling after a restriction, or to get round a selling limit on another account.

When do several stores help?

Clearly different buyers

A store that sells vintage camera parts and another that sells children's party supplies serve buyers who never overlap. Separate stores let each have its own name, shop categories, descriptions and return terms that suit that buyer.

Different brands

If you make or import your own brand, a store under that brand name can look more coherent to buyers than a mixed store that also sells unrelated goods.

Different marketplaces or business entities

Some sellers keep separate accounts for different eBay sites, or because two businesses with different owners or tax registrations should not share one account. Keeping the money and records apart is easier with separate accounts.

Separate risk by product line

Where one product line carries more returns or more questions, keeping it apart stops its problems from affecting the performance record of a calm, steady line. This works only if both stores are run properly; eBay can still link accounts.

When do several stores hurt?

They split your sales record

Seller performance is measured per account. On eBay UK, Top Rated needs, among other things, an account active for 90 days, at least 100 transactions and £1,000 of sales with UK and Irish buyers in the last 12 months, plus a defect rate of no more than 0.5%, as eBay's seller performance policy sets out. Split 150 sales a year across three stores and none of them may reach the transaction count. Smaller accounts also have fewer transactions to absorb each defect, so a single problem order moves the rate further.

They multiply fixed costs

Each store may carry its own shop subscription, its own software seats and its own time for setup. Our guide to whether an eBay shop subscription is worth it shows how to test one; with several stores you run that test for each one.

They multiply admin

Every account has its own messages, returns, cases, policies, payouts and limits. The checks you do daily for one store you now do for each. Missed messages and late responses are the most common way a second store damages its own performance.

They do not add search reach on their own

eBay's Best Match ranks each listing on its relevance, popularity, price, quality, completeness, terms and the seller's track record. Listing the same item from two of your accounts does not double its chances; it puts a weaker, newer account in competition with your stronger one.

What does a second or third store really cost?

Example: suppose your main store makes a profit of £1,500 a month from 200 sales. You plan a second store for a new product line and expect 60 sales a month at £6 profit each, so £360. Against that, list the extra costs: a shop subscription if you take one, any extra software, and your time. If the store takes 8 hours a week to run and you value your time at £15 an hour, that is about £520 a month, more than the profit. In this hypothetical case, the second store only makes sense if the line grows, or if it runs inside the same routines as the first so the extra time falls.

How do you run several stores without mixing them up?

1. Name things by store. Prefix SKUs, policy names and folders with a short store code.
2. Keep one product sheet with a store column, so you can see which account sells what.
3. Never list the same item in two of your stores unless there is a clear reason, such as different marketplaces.
4. Run one routine for all stores: messages, orders and returns at fixed times, store by store.
5. Check each store's performance and limits monthly in Seller Hub, not only the main one.
6. Keep the money apart in your records, but remember your tax is based on the whole business. Check your position with HMRC or an accountant.

Tools that switch between accounts in one dashboard help, as long as each store's data stays visibly separate. Our guide to managing multiple eBay stores with one tool covers what to look for.

What about selling limits on a new store?

A new account starts with its own selling limits, and eBay may also limit how much you can sell in a category you are new to. eBay's selling limits page says that if you have a second seller account, you may be able to raise its limits by linking it to your other, more established seller account, where the accounts qualify, through the request for higher selling limits in My eBay. That is the proper route. Listing items in the wrong category to avoid a category cap breaks eBay's search and browse manipulation policy, and using one account to carry on what another account is limited from doing breaks the multiple accounts policy.

Plan the first months of a new store around its limits: start with the products most likely to sell, keep dispatch and messages fast, and request an increase once the store has a clean record.

A quick test before you open another store

• Can you describe the new store's buyer in one sentence, and is it different from your current store's buyer?
• Is your current store at Above Standard or better, with a routine that runs without you thinking about it?
• Will the new store reach enough sales to build its own record within a year?
• Have you worked out the extra monthly costs, including your time?
• Is the reason anything to do with a restriction, a limit or a problem on another account? If yes, stop: eBay's policy does not allow it.

If every answer except the last is yes, a separate store is likely to help. If not, growing the store you already have is usually the better use of the same hours.