There is no end to the advantages of having your own web server. You can practically store anything there for your buyers to download. It could be images, videos, audio files, and so on. There are different drawbacks for different free services, but having your own server does away with most of it. Lets see some advantages:

· Your Images can be in any dimention as you wish, and also you can add a link for a larger image for download should the buyer want to see a higher resolution image.

· Your past listings in eBay (or elsewhere) acts as your advertisement, however there is little gurentee that the they will leave your media online after some time has passed. At the time of writing eBay allowed 3 months for your listing to stay, but the images dissappear a lot sooner.

· You can allow your customers to download various kinds of files directly. For example, if you are selling a mobile phone that takes videos, and you want to show how good the video is, allow download of a video sample file directly from your server. You can upload the file in youtube, but then the quality will be altered and the video will no longer be original sample.

· Other usages - Online servers are more like a hard-drive in the air. You can upload files that you often need and go anywhere and you will have them there. Good example is when I travelled and my camera was full, I uploaded the whole thing and moved on. When I came back home, all those images were safely waiting for me to download back to my home computer.

· Majority of times different online services adds a watermark on your pictures. You are free from those when you have your own server.

· If you are working with your custom templates, it is an absolute must to have a your own server.

Apart from these, you can also allow viewers to download things related to your product, e.g. Product Manuals, drivers, image packs, videos, the list goes on....

Some of the web hosting companies that I can recomment are:

	IX Webhosting has been providing decent service since a long time. Generally they rank in top 10 web hosting services, and has a good track record. I have used their service in several occations and generally got very good value for money.
	Another rather good web hosting service. Practically everyone who has used their service have it the thumbs up with a smile. Lunar pages are known for faster service. Yet, they are offering (Dec, 2008) Unlimited Storage space and unlimited bandwidth for as low as USD 4.95.
	Simple and reliable services. The founders of this hosting service has been in the hosting business since 1996. Their package vale is equal if not better than all the others mentioned.

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