Which level eBay shop? Shop Name to match your User ID!

This guide is intended to answer questions raised from the Setting up Shop on eBay and Advanced Shops eBay guidesWhich level shop to choose (Basic/Featured/Anchor)?Many people ask which level shop they should subscribe to.A basic shop (6.00/mth) gives you all of the functionality that you need.There are good reasons for upgrading to a Featured Shop (30.00/mth), not all of the benefits of a featured shop are listed on eBay in one place but they are:-Free SMP (Sales Manager Pro) (Subscribing to SMP gives you free Scheduling!)Free SR (Sales Reports Plus)Priority Placement in Search and Browse Results ("Shop eBay Shops" Section)Better Placement in the Shops DirectoryMore in Depth Omniture Statistics (Traffic Reports)More Free eMail Marketing (Basic 100/mth, Featured 1000/mth)10 Custom Shop pages (5 with the Basic Shop)Option of Minimal eBay Header StyleIf you make use of SMP (4.99/mth) and SR (3.00/mth) along with the 6.00 you'd pay anyway for a basic shop then a Featured shop will only cost you an additional 16.01/mth. The additional Omniture statistics on their own are probably worth this!An Anchor Shop (300.00/mth) is a serious investment in comparison. The additional benefits are:-15 Custom Shop Pages (5 with Basic, 10 with Featured Shop)Premium Placement in Search and Browse Results ("Shop eBay Shops" Section)Showcase Placement of your logo in Shops Directory Pages (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/)More Free eMail Marketing (4000/mth)An Anchor shop is not recommended for the vast majority of sellers and is outside the scope of this workshop.Cost Justify your shopWhich ever level of shop you choose budget it against your sales and the number of listings you have on the site.If you make 30 sales a month then a Basic shop will cost you 6.00/30 = 20p per saleIf you make 200 sales a month then a Featured shop will cost you 30.00/200 = 15p per saleIf you make 5000 sales a month then an Anchor shop will cost you 300.00/5000 = 6p per saleCheck your margins, work out the cost of your shop averaged across your sales, and decide what's an affordable cost for your business.Do not make the mistake of thinking that paying for the most expensive shop will increase your sales significantly, as the chances are that it won't.Naming your shop to match your User IDAnother frequently asked question is how to name your shop the same as your User ID. If you wish to do this then you need to choose your User ID first and THEN change your shop name to match. You can not name your shop and then change your User ID to be the same as your shop name. Many people don't mind having a different Shop Name and User ID and in fact if your shop name is long then it's better to have a shorter but memorable User ID (mountcomp is a shortened form of Mount Road Computers). However as eBay provide you with a unique URL for marketing your shop (e.g. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Mount-Road-Computers) there is a lot to be said for marketing it with the name people will know you by - your User ID!