Selling on eBay - Tips?

DylanW · #1 (**permalink**) 08-07-2003, 01:08 PM

We've been selling on eBay in addition to our website for a few years now. As such it hasn't really been a primary focus, but we have started changing the way we're doing things after researching some competitors.

We're selling what is essentially an impulse-buy luxury item, and our retail prices are comparatively low--in the $10-$40 range.

We had been starting auctions at just under retail price, but we've now tried auctions starting at 50% retail price and at $1 with reserve. In addition, I've recently been trying to add more precise information about our product--materials used, size, etc. It doesn't really seem like people are willing to bid up anywhere near our retail price, except in the case of a few items here and there.

Does anyone have more experience selling on eBay that could give us some suggestions as to how to increase bids?

acornwebworks · #2 (**permalink**) 08-07-2003, 02:40 PM

I'll admit that I haven't sold THAT much on eBay. I've certainly bought more than I've sold. However, I do have a friend who makes her entire living from selling on eBay so I just talked to her.

Her response was the same as my thoughts...people don't go to eBay to buy at retail prices. They go to find bargains or to find hard-to-find items or to just browse around in their favorite areas...but they want bargains even on those hard-to-find or impulse items.

This certainly doesn't mean that people won't overpay...they sometimes do, just like at real world auctions. But your expectation of selling at retail prices in auctions doesn't seem realistic, particularly since people will then have to pay shipping and handling on top of the winning bid.

Adding detailed descriptions is certainly a start in the right direction of getting more bids. I almost never bid on anything without detailed specifics. I usually can't be bothered contacting the seller unless I REALLY, REALLY want the item. Since you say your items are impulse buys, give folks all the info they need...including s/h. Otherwise the impulse will pass.

Speaking of shipping/handling, that will turn off tons of potential buyers if 1) it's too high or 2) you don't provide it. I just bought something on eBay. No s/h price was provided but I REALLY, REALLY wanted it as I had been looking for a while, and the auction was about to close. The seller only provided the UPS site to check for approx. what it would cost to ship. He didn't even bother including what the item weighed. The s/h ended up being not only more than the item itself, but twice as much as the UPS site said it would cost. I won't ever use that seller again, even if he's the only person who has an item. I'm happy with the item, but not with the seller.

Also, my friend says that this is the slow time of the year for buyers AND she has noticed a significant drop-off due to the economy. I have another friend who makes $$$ on eBay and she has said the same thing.

Couple of more points: eBay Stores are an alternative way to go if you want to avoid the bidding aspects.

Also, you can view eBay auctions as part of your advertising. Your auctions are "loss leaders" that get people to your website store, where the real money is made. That may be what your competitors are doing.

Hope this helps! Good luck.

vfaulkner · #3 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 02:47 AM

It depends a lot what you are trying to sell/ auction. If the items aren't HTF/collectible/etc., you might have better response using Half.com for your merchandise, especially for the price points mentioned.

TheAuctionBoard · #4 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 01:02 PM

It would be really hard to give you much advice without seeing some of your listings. Do you have anything running now?

carbonize · #5 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 03:12 PM

Instead of making them auctions why not put them as Buy Nows? This is how I sell all of my items.

All you need is 20 feedback to be able to sell multiple Items in a Buy Now auction.

maniactive · #6 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 04:21 PM

For a low cost item, sure, you can put it up and expect to sell it for under retail. That's what people expect at Ebay.

But think of using Ebay as a part of your advertising strategy, instead of just straight sales. Use your detailed eBay listings and seller reputation to advertise your e-commerce site.

For example, use the "About Me" part of Ebay to get people to visit your web site, so that they can get an instant gratification purchase, in case they're not the auction winner, or don't want to wait the auction out.

Personally, I can't tell you how many times I saw what I wanted at eBay, and didn't want to wait, so I went to the auctioneer's website. In other words, I saw the product I wanted, felt comfy with the descriptions of the product and the reputation of the seller, did the math, and decided it wasn't worth $2-$5 to wait a week. I bought directly, after clicking through to the "About Me".

I have a client who religiously puts up 3-4 items a week at eBay, which he almost always sells. BUT, he gets over 1,400 visitors per week from the eBay "About Me" section, and about 5% end up converting. . .at his full retail.

Something to think about.

zbatia · #7 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 04:35 PM

Make sure you will show the potential buyer that you are the person/company they can TRUST!

I just had 2 dishonest sellers who tried to fool me. One of them just put dirty water in the parfume bottle and my wife was very upset discovering it.

I usually provide the link to the web site where people can read everything about the company as well as an address and telephone number. If people trust you they will want to buy.

DylanW · #8 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 04:47 PM

Quote:

It would be really hard to give you much advice without seeing some of your listings. Do you have anything running now?

Yes. Our eBay ID is shavonnetn.

We've got an About Me profile; it's basically the "About Our Company" page from our website, so I think it works pretty well to establish trust. As part of that, we have links to our website. In addition, if anyone asks for something we don't have on an auction (different sizes, etc.) we'll refer them to our website.

We haven't tried Buy It Now to any great extent (only when they offered a Free Buy It Now day), or Stores fixed-price listings (though we do have an eBay storefront). That may be something we'll have to look into.

Thanks for all the replies.

lmims · #9 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 05:13 PM

Hi,

For starters here an ebook that has lots of good ideas to help you out http://www.armchairmarketer.com/ebaymoneymachine.exe-- you may distribute this freely.

** If you tried this earlier there was an error with my link try again **
I have had success selling certain ebooks on ebay, because no one else is sleiing them or selling if them in the package I am. Anything that can differentiate yourself from your competitors can make a difference.

Logan

lmims · #10 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 05:14 PM

error in posting

Latinusa · #11 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 06:12 PM

Well, I am not a political guy and Im getting headaches on the stock market as a trader and eBay seller. I have seen a HECK of less eBUYERS month after month and the only tip i have to you is to replace this ineffective goverment full of corporate cronies who protect big business. This is history, the Bush Sr. had a worse time with the economy and his son is worst. History shows Economy is better with ABR (Anything But Republicans) as more jobs keep more people buying which is the contrary to what is happening now. I even had a greater listing fees costs than my actual eBay sales for the 1st time. Think of that for a moment. I dont care If Im lambasted but I love this country and I am telling the TRUTH and worry the US losing wealth as has happened in these last 3 years. I have never seen hard times like these before among friends/colleagues/family/etc...I guess ALL the money is wasted in weapons overseas with a record history $500++++ billion military spending and huge deficit coming from a surplus from the last administration. Care to comment with real words??.

TheAuctionBoard · #12 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 06:16 PM

I've viewed your products and your ME page.

It appears that you have a very well done ME page and your auction listings are pretty good. They're a little heavy on the info because you repeat information at times, but all in all, the listings are great.

I noticed you have a lot of feedback. That means you have access to email addresses of everyone who has paid you--if you used PayPal as your payment processor. I am going to suggest a very creative way to stimulate sales: Thank you notes. Businesses do it all the time.

Now, eBay has this strict policy against generating sales outside eBay using eBay's resources--and we all know why. They lose their cut of the sale. It's not about SPAM at all (although we hate SPAM). But, here's how you can generate sales and avoid SPAM complaints.

Send all your customers a Thank You note or an "I'm Just Checking In" to see if you're satisfied with your product note. Make it quick, don't waste their time with long notes. Don't push the sale of anything in the body of the note. That's unsolicited commercial email: SPAM. When you do your closing, sign it:

Sincerely,
John Doe
Company Name
http://companywebsite.com (or you can out your ME page here)
Fine silver jewelery at excellent prices.

Signature tags are an excellent way to generate sales. Not enough e-business owners use them. Not enough eBay sellers keep in touch with their customers to generate sales during a slump.

I hope this helps or at least helps you come up with some ideas.

Genia

TheAuctionBoard · #13 (**permalink**) 08-08-2003, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Latinusa

Well, I am not a political guy and Im getting headaches on the stock market as a trader and eBay seller. I have seen a HECK of less eBUYERS month after month and the only tip i have to you is to replace this ineffective goverment full of corporate cronies who protect big business. This is history, the Bush Sr. had a worse time with the economy and his son is worst. History shows Economy is better with ABR (Anything But Republicans) as more jobs keep more people buying which is the contrary to what is happening now. I even had a greater listing fees costs than my actual eBay sales for the 1st time. Think of that for a moment. I dont care If Im lambasted but I love this country and I am telling the TRUTH and worry the US losing wealth as has happened in these last 3 years. I have never seen hard times like these before among friends/colleagues/family/etc...I guess ALL the money is wasted in weapons overseas with a record history $500++++ billion military spending and huge deficit coming from a surplus from the last administration. Care to comment with real words??.

We'd love to have that spirit over on The Auction Board!

Genia

Tel · #14 (**permalink**) 08-09-2003, 06:13 AM

I make a very good living from eBay, the majority of our company turnover is generated somewhere down the line from eBay.
Like anything it takes time to learn and a lot of statistics. Firstly you cannot operate seriously on eBay without Shooting Star http://www.foodogsoftware.com/ this enables you to manage the thousands of auctions you need in place at any one time, it also collects all the information you need.
The main money to be made from eBay is by driving traffic to your website this as mentioned earlier is done through the 'aboutme' page but also through all your ads. Now you are not allowed to place a link to your website on eBay but there is nothing to stop you placing your site address on your photos. For example put the photo of your product in the ad and put the text on the photo " for our full range visit our website at www.givemeyourcash.com"
You need to build up an excellent feedback rating and also join Squaretrade to build up credibility.
Then it is simply down to statistics Ruby Lane helps a bit with this, Squaretrade offer a lot of information, Shooting Star gives you a really valuable mailing list of addresses. Then just trial and error, test the categories, test the pricing levels, test the time of day, day of the week etc. KEEP ALL THIS INFORMATION, Graph it, record it, study it. Within a few weeks you will have all the answers to your questions then just keep refining.
Like I said we have a healthy turnover at extremely good profit levels, a great level of repeat business and a constant flow of qualified traffic to our website - ALL through eBay. But it didn't happen overnight.

TheAuctionBoard · #15 (**permalink**) 08-09-2003, 06:21 AM

Is this all people do--add plugs for their own products when people ask for advice?

Quote:

Firstly you cannot operate seriously on eBay without Shooting Star http://www.foodogsoftware.com/ this enables you to manage the thousands of auctions you need in place at any one time, it also collects all the information you need.

Interesting. There's no other software out there that can do the same thing? This is it? Nothing else? Thousands of auctions in place at one time? Hmm... how much money are you spending on listing fees? wow!

Tel · #16 (**permalink**) 08-09-2003, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheAuctionBoard

Is this all people do--add plugs for their own products when people ask for advice?

Quote:

Firstly you cannot operate seriously on eBay without Shooting Star http://www.foodogsoftware.com/ this enables you to manage the thousands of auctions you need in place at any one time, it also collects all the information you need.

Interesting. There's no other software out there that can do the same thing? This is it? Nothing else? Thousands of auctions in place at one time? Hmm... how much money are you spending on listing fees? wow!

THIS WAS NOT A PLUG!
I am nothing to do with this company, don't know who they are and don't live in the same continent let alone the same country.
I thought I was being helpful but instead I just get some narrow minded prat casting doubt on my honesty. If you don't want to believe what I say - fine. I couldn't give a toss but don't accuse me of promoting my own products. Also before you cast doubt on the validity of peoples statements check them out first and then the facts might enlighten you.
NOTE: There was NO link to me, my site or anything to do with my business. One link was to what I truly believe to be the best auction management software out there and the other link was a false example.

My spending on eBay keeps 6 people in work, this is not uncommon but I suppose anything outside of your experience must be wrong eh?

TheAuctionBoard · #17 (**permalink**) 08-09-2003, 06:39 AM

Quote:

I thought I was being helpful but instead I just get some narrow minded prat casting doubt on my honesty.

What exactly is a prat?

carbonize · #18 (**permalink**) 08-09-2003, 07:19 AM

Prat is an English term for an idiot.

And yes I to thought it was funny that there was only one program available. Funny but I could of sworn ebay actually offered a bulk uploader program which even has a built in HTML editor.

But what has this program got to do with this thread? They asked how they could make money on ebay.

As I said try doing a few Buy Now auctions with multiple items in the auction. I sell Katana's on ebay in batches of 5 as buy now's as it only costs me £2 for the auction.

The other way is to try and sell the item better. Make the auction stand out, use a gallery picture, make the viewer think "wow, I could really do with some of that!"

Just as an experiment put one of your auctions links in here or your ebay ID so we can have a look. Maybe a few of use could give you ideas. The linking back to your site in your auctions idea is definately one of the better ones.

Just read your id in a previous post. Will teach me to speed read forums :|

ps. I just looked at Whelks site. It says

Quote:

My monthly progress report will be on here when the site is established. I've only been up and running for a day or two.

Site launch is 5th of November 2002.

Almost a year and the sites still not established?
Anybody else looked at his site and thought "What a retard" ?

cjmaziarz · #19 (**permalink**) 08-10-2003, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Just read your id in a previous post. Will teach me to speed read forums :|

ps. I just looked at Whelks site. It says
Quote:
My monthly progress report will be on here when the site is established. I've only been up and running for a day or two.

Site launch is 5th of November 2002.

Almost a year and the sites still not established?
Anybody else looked at his site and thought "What a retard" ?

Guess you should go back and read it again. Whelk very cleary says . . .

Quote:

One link was to what I truly believe to be the best auction management software out there and the other link was a false example.

So that isn't even his site. Duh! I don't see a link to Whelk's site anywhere. Not in his profile. Not in any of his posts. Perhaps we could go back to the original topic of this thread - ebay selling.

carbonize · #20 (**permalink**) 08-10-2003, 11:17 AM

I think 99% of my posts are on the subject of the thread, even that one gave the helpful hint regarding ebays bulk uploader :D.

Anyway I had a look at one of the the auctions and they look professional. You may wish to lose the picture with a lot of rings in it from the bottom as that looks tacky to me.

My tips are:
1 - Do multiple items in a buy now auction
2 - Use ebay as an advertisement and include a link to your site in there.
3 - If losing money bothers you then place a reserve of enough to cover the item and ebay fees.

I always sell my swords in groups of 5 and always sell atleast 3 of them.

davetherave · #21 (**permalink**) 08-10-2003, 10:59 PM

I thought Whelk offered some very good advice, specifically:

"Then it is simply down to statistics... Then just trial and error, test the categories, test the pricing levels, test the time of day, day of the week etc. KEEP ALL THIS INFORMATION, Graph it, record it, study it. Within a few weeks you will have all the answers to your questions then just keep refining."

This is excellent advice for any business and is exactly the kind of nuts and bolts, if not downright boring, work that assures success in nearly any enterprise.

I've long been intrigued with the idea of trying to profit on ebay and the question I can't seem to answer is: Where do you find good product to sell at a profit? I sometimes think I just must be unimaginative as I draw a total blank on that one. Educate me please!

And by the way, what's so wrong about promoting your business anyway?