That is exactly what I am doing and you have great advice. I was going to do my own website but that takes so much time and effort and I had read somewhere about ecrater on one of the boards. At first, I didn't do it - I tried vendio - what a mess that was and it cost a few hundred for a few weeks. I pulled out of there quick and into ecrater.
I love it and have had sales since the beginning. I do exactly as you described, keep a few key items on ebay and put a business card (that I had printed for free) in each box and a huge note in red is typed on my invoice too.
You do have to self-promote - but if you do it right, you will have slow and steady sales along the way. You can lower your prices a bit too since there are no fees.
One thing I can't do tho, is cut Paypal out of the loop....I would LOVE too but unfortunately the majority of my buyers use it. I have to admit, I love when a sale comes through using Google Checkout - no money to feebay!
I also did get my own domain name, that way if along the way, something weird happens with ecrater, like they decided to charge, or were sold, etc....I can change to another venue and just transfer my domain and I don't lose my customers from all the previous information distributed. They would just see a new look, but never know that I changed.
Happy selling to everyone, hopes things pick up soon...end of the month is tough.
-Laura
www.wholesaleoutletwarehouse.com