eBay Store Referral Credit Program

eBay fees are one of the largest expenses of my business behind postage and cost of goods sold.

I can't do much to reduce my USPS charges or get my items any cheaper, but there is a way I can help reduce my eBay fees, and that is to take full advantage of the eBay Store Referral Code program. Many eBay sellers may not be aware of this simple yet powerful tool which can help you to save 75% off of your Final Value Fees on your ebay Store Inventory transactions.

Yep, you heard me right - 75%!

There is an FAQ on the eBay site explaining how it works, but I thought I would create a lens to translate the eBay-speak into plain English so more people can take advantage of this program.

A few important things to understand about how the program works.

First of all, the 75% discount is only good on Store Inventory Format listings, and the buyer must come from off-eBay to your store or your listing to make the purchase.

Second, there are different codes that you need to use depending on what kind of landing page your link is going to be (details are down below).

Third, the credit will appear on your Activity Status page at the same time the Final Value Fee appears, so you'll be able to tell right away if you qualified or not.

One other thing to keep in mind - if you participate in the eBay Affiliate Program, you will lose the ability to get the 75% off of the FVF on that link. So if you participate in both programs, you'll need to decide which option is most advantageous for you. You might find in different situations, the answer is different - so you will end up using both programs at different times.

In other words, you can use both the Referral Credit program and the Affiliate Program - you just can't use them together on the same link and try to get BOTH kinds of payments. You have to pick one or the other.

Finally, you can do everything right, and still not receive your credit. This could be because the buyer has cookies disabled on their computer, for example, it's not always in your control. What you can do to increase your opportunities to get the credit is to use the proper format at every opportunity.

There are two formats for the Referral Credit Coding

?refid=store and &refid=store

The rule of thumb I generally use to remember which format I should use is to look at the URL before I add the code to it. If the URL already includes a "?" somewhere within it, then I should add the "&refid=store" coding to the end. Otherwise, use the "?refid=store" version.

EXCEPTION: (there is always an EXCEPTION, isn't there?) Searches within your store do not have a ? in the URL, but should use the &refid=store format.

Either one of these additional coding snippets should be added to the END of the URL, not inserted somewhere in the middle. They should be used in any online medium (on a website, on a Squidoo lens, within an email, in your signature line in an email or in forums that you particpate in that allow linking in your signature).

If you are promoting your store on a written promotional piece like a business card or a brochure, you can leave off the referral code and eBay's system will be able to recognize the buyer typed in your store URL in to get to your store, and give you the credits. But this will ONLY work for your eBay Store's home page URL - not to individual listings, or custom pages. So for written promotional materials like you might purchase from Vistaprint or produce yourself - always use your store's Home Page URL.

Examples of pages where you would use the "?refid=store" code: Your Store's Home Page, the Item Page for a Store Inventory Format listing, a Custom Category within your store, a Custom Page within your store
Examples of pages where you would use the "&refid=store" code: Your About Me Page, links to a search within your store
Examples of pages where you wouldn't use any code: Any written promotional materials such as on business cards, magnets, calendars, brochures, or postcards.

If you need a source for these materials, I would recommend Vistaprint. They have a large variety of designs & products available at very reasonable prices. You can use the link below to check them out for yourself.

Here are example URL's you can use to make sure you understand the concept

My eBay Store is located at http://stores.ebay.com/katiyanas-collectibles - and the links below use the correct formatting going to different places within my store.

You could use the same links, just edit the references to my store & user ID and use your own. Otherwise you'll be sending traffic to my store instead of yours (which is very nice of you, but not necessary *grin*).

Katiyana's Collectibles - eBay Store Home Page: This is the Home Page for my eBay Store
My About Me Page: This is my About Me Page
A Custom Page within my store: This is one of the Custom Pages I use in my store.
eBay Store: Search results for "Snowman": This is a search within my eBay store for the term "Snowman"
Handmade Christmas Snowman Sweater American Girl Doll - (eBay item 230126524732 end time Dec-02-07 08:40:57 PST): This is a link to a Store Inventory Format Item in my store
Handmade American Girl Doll Clothes: This is a link to one of the custom categories I use in my store.

Here is your chance to test your new found linking skills

Add a link to your eBay store here - and make sure to include the ?refid=store coding to the URL. After you click on "Done Adding", change the name to your Store Name, and use the description box to add keywords describing what you sell in your store. I've already added my store to show you how!

Make sure you start with the http:// otherwise your link will not work properly.

If you don't get it quite right - don't worry, I'll come back and fix it up for you :)

eBay Store Referral Credit Program

eBay fees are one of the largest expenses of my business behind postage and cost of goods sold.

A few important things to understand about how the program works.

There are two formats for the Referral Credit Coding

?refid=store and &refid=store

Here are example URL's you can use to make sure you understand the concept

Here is your chance to test your new found linking skills

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Please pick your widget size and display. Then click "Make the Widget" to get the code that's just right for you.

Voila: Just copy and paste this code into your own site. Have fun!

Oopsey! Please login to Squidoo in order to add this module to your lens.

Testimonials

Did you find my lens helpful in showing you how to use the Store Referral program?

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Then you should join the OSI Rock Stars Community!

by katiyana

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