| As an addition to her SCUBA vacation business, Cathy opened Visibility Unlimited, which specializes in equipment for everything H20-SCUBA and snorkel gear, kayaking equipment, and high-end swimming accessories for adults and kids.
When the economy took a sharp downturn, Cathy realized that no matter how professional and full-service Visibility Unlimited was, the Chicago suburbs she served simply couldn't provide the business she needed to keep her doors open.
So Cathy started selling on eBay
When Cathy started selling on eBay, she began reading the eBay Store discussion boards. "That's when I realized that an eBay Store was really a branded Web site within the eBay Community. The potential was just huge."
Cathy was further tempted because there's so little risk in opening an eBay Store-far less than what she'd
 |
"I change my eBay Store every day, as many times as I want, without it costing me any more money."
Cathy Aggelopoulos |
|
|
already lived through with her brick-and-mortar store. She did a little research and figured out that a Basic eBay Store would cost as little as $15.95 per month and a Premium Store would cost only $49.95 per month. She opened the eBay version of Visibility Unlimited in 2004.
Cathy's eBay Store takes off
"I'm not 25 years old, you know. I didn't know any HTML," quips Cathy between answering customers' questions and packing up eBay orders. To design the new, online Visibility Unlimited, Cathy was going to need some help. She was thrilled by easy-to-use Macromedia Contribute 3, available to eBay Stores merchants for only $99-$50 off its retail value.
Cathy quickly fell in love with how easily she could customize-and re-customize-her eBay Store's interface. "I change my eBay Store every day, as many times as I want, without it costing me any more money," says Cathy, who notes that she constantly rearranges items in her brick-and-mortar store, too.
We're excited to point out that Cathy, an HTML novice, was one of the finalists in the Best Looking Store category in eBay's Best in Stores 2005 contest. More >> |
