The Basics of eBay Inventory Management

eBay Shopify Integration Options

eBay Shopify Integration Options

Reasons to Integrate eBay and Shopify

One of the top benefits of integrating eBay and Shopify is that it makes your online storefront accessible to a new base of potential customers. Marketplaces are the new malls - complete with shoppers looking to buy things. In some cases, a customer might order something from you on eBay, realize you have a website of your own running Shopify, and later make additional purchases from you directly instead of using eBay or another marketplace site.

A secondary benefit that is very appealing is that you can outwit your competition. While there may be other sellers who offer products like the ones you sell, the SEO and exposure that eBay offers give you a leg up in marketing the items that you stock. If you sell your products on an international basis, the integration of eBay and Shopify also has benefits. Your real-time inventory can be seen and payments can be collected at any time of day in any country you're authorized for.

What to Consider When Integrating eBay and Shopify

Sellers who are considering integrating eBay and Shopify should be aware of several things. The first important consideration is that not all sellers have access to eBay. Depending on your category, it may require special authorization or items you sell may not be permitted. If you plan to sell to individuals outside of eBay’s range, integration may not be as successful as you had hoped for.

In addition, when you make a new listing for a product using a Shopify storefront, it has to be published on eBay manually. When you initially set up your Shopify inventory, you can load it all into eBay at once. However, when adding new items for your customers on your Shopify store, each of these products will require individual publishing.

Keep in mind that the eBay listings made in Shopify will also have to be edited from within Shopify. Making changes from the eBay seller hub or other locations on eBay will not update the items in Shopify, which can create inaccurate inventory levels when customers are shopping for items from your Shopify storefront.

Limitations on integrating eBay and Shopify

Make sure you're aware of Shopify and eBay integration limits and issues before making the decision to use Shopify for eBay integration vs. a dedicated multichannel e-commerce software solution.

Shopify can cost a lot to integrate with eBay. First, you must have an eBay stores account to integrate with Shopify. This can range in cost from $24.95 per month to $349.95 per month. Next, Shopify will take a percentage of net revenue on every eBay sale. This can add up quickly - especially when combined with eBay final value fees.
If you use a lot of variations (for example, selling a pair of shoes in 15 different sizes with 8 different colors for each size), Shopify has limitations on the number of variations you can have per product and how many you can upload in a day - unless you spend the extra money for Shopify Plus.
If you have an older eBay account, eBay may place limits on this account when you first connect it to Shopify. These limits can include the dollar value of all of your combined listings and also the number of listings you can make per month.
Not all eBay features are supported. For example, if you are an automotive, motorsports or powersports seller, you won't be able to set fitment on your eBay products using your Shopify integration.

The Process of Integrating eBay with Your Shopify Account

Create an eBay Sales Channel in Shopify

The first step to integrate eBay with Shopify is logging into your Shopify account. Navigate to the menu for “sales channels” and press on the plus sign to see all available options. Choose eBay, which will add the marketplace as one of your sales channels.

Make sure you look at the privileges that you are allowing eBay to ensure you are comfortable with them. Many of these are included as a way to let eBay receive and send orders for you. However, eBay cannot otherwise modify the online store in any way. The permissions that you allow give eBay the option to manage your products in various ways, including processing orders, displaying stock, collecting information about customers, and retrieving other data related to your store.

Link Your eBay and Shopify Accounts

Once eBay is added to your Shopify account, it’s also required to link Shopify within your eBay account. Access your eBay dashboard and click on the link that says “connect” to link the Shopify store with your eBay account. Going through this process gives Shopify the option to acquire data about customers, sales, and messages in eBay that pertain to your online storefront.

The next step is to click on “add sales channel.” After doing so, you will be prompted to log into your eBay account. For those who do not have an eBay account, you can create one instead. During the process, make sure you have your browser set up to allow pop-ups to ensure all of the information you need is displayed.

If this is a new business account or you haven’t set up your eBay account as a business, various details about your business may be asked for, along with information about your inventory and your contact information. All of these items are required to ensure that the companies on eBay are legitimate. It also serves to ensure your store can access various marketing initiatives. The more information you provide, the better eBay can help you connect with customers.

The last part of this step is granting Shopify access to eBay. This allows you to manage and create inventory listings in Shopify to add additional items to eBay. It also provides the option to send and receive messages within eBay to shoppers.

Set Up Appropriate eBay Policies

When you start a storefront on eBay, the default policies will fall under the platform’s Best Practices. In many cases, these recommendations create the best possible selling experience for you and potential customers. However, you can make changes to the policies to meet your specific needs. Four pages are included, so make sure you read through them, make any required changes, and move on to the next page.

Choose Products to List on eBay

When you offer items for sale on eBay, they are called listings. You can hit “choose individual products” if you only want to place some of your items on eBay. The other option is clicking “review and publish all products” to have your entire Shopify inventory posted on eBay. These settings can be changed in the future. For sellers who choose individual items, you’ll be prompted by eBay to select which ones to publish. Choose them and click on “save and publish” to move forward.

Adjust Your eBay Product Listings

Once you have the right products up for sale, eBay will pull up a table representing the listing for a product. As a seller, you can change the way the products are displayed to shoppers. This can be done as a bulk process or you can choose to adjust each one individually to create a listing that appeals to customers.

Adding SEO keywords in your descriptions for products will make it more likely that customers interested in your product are shown your listing. After customization, hit “save and publish all products” to make your eBay listings go live.

Grow your eBay Business with Top eBay Inventory Management Software

While Shopify offers integration with eBay, SureDone offers a singular simple solution for growing your brand on eBay, Shopify and many other channels through a unified interface - and supports many more eBay features without requiring an eBay store or taking a percentage of your revenue. You can sync, sell, and ship your products on Amazon, eBay, and other platforms. Our software offers order management for all channels you use, a centralized inventory and product data source, and much more.

eBay can be integrated with many platforms, including Amazon, BigCommerce , and more. By adding integrations to your eBay storefront, you can reach more customers, sell more products, and streamline your operations process.

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