Ebay Selling Strategies...

When I first started listing on eBay a year ago...I didn't know a thing about it. But I didn't look at any guides, I just started listing things. Some things I found out:
1. Be clear & detailed in your description. Buyers don't like descriptions that just say for instance "52x32x52 CD-RW drive".
2. Get a good camera and take good pictures. Buyers appreciate good clear pictures. Take pictures at different angles. I've had people email me with compliments on my pictures.
3. Start your listings at .99. (Most of the time). I've found out that items get better exposure & thus sell better at a lower starting price. Plus it lowers your eBay fees.

quote:

Originally posted by kbalona:
3. Start your listings at .99. (Most of the time). I've found out that items get better exposure & thus sell better at a lower starting price. Plus it lowers your eBay fees.

I think it's important to note that it only makes sense to start at $.99 if you're reasonably sure that the item will get a lot of hits (IMO). My advice would be only to list items that historically get a lot of bidders for $.99.

For example, if I've got an item that I believe is worth $100, but has relatively narrow appeal, there's no way in hell that I'll start it at $.99. In theory, it could get hit by only a few potential buyers, only one of them that is willing to bid it up very high. That buyer might get it for $20, when he would have been willing to pay $100 for it. In a case such as this, I'd list as BIN for $100, or an auction with a starting price that's near my desired selling point.

True.

Check out the book "eBay Strategies" by Scot Wingo. It covers different pricing and timing strategies for listings.

Thanks for the responses. When I said listing strategies I was thinking more of when you are selling as a business.

For example I will be selling computer games, maybe only 15 different titles. I have seen other people list the same item multiple times (maybe to get more exposure?), but they never seem to list it once and put up the quantity value.

Also some people seem to have an ebay shop and then list items to draw people to there shop, where others seem to just do one day auctions and re-list the same items multiple times.

It is tricky to decide what to do as I have made my templates with auctiva, and am not really sure whether it is worth creating an ebay shop or not - the fees on the shop seem very steep.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Trial and error.

I've been selling since 98 and it's all still trial and error. (four eBay IDs which two are retired right now)

I still tweak my auctions with different keywords depending on fads, time of the year, changing template etc.

Every six months or so I pay for a one month subscription to Sellathon which shows me how customers find my auctions, key words, demographics, time of day, whether they bookmark auction, how many searches come directly to my store and how many via random searches on eBay, search engines etc.

All of these facts differ widely seller to seller. So it's hard to narrow down what works for me and my several IDs as versus your product.

I would highly recommend starting your own ecommerce site also and getting a free ecommerce store via ecrater.com.

I'd also highly recommend joining selling groups, ecommerce groups to be with others that are serious about successful online sellers also.

Good Luck,
Donna

quote:

I've been selling since 98 and it's all still trial and error.

Exactly, things change. Good advice from, say, a year ago is not necessarily good advice for right now. And, of course, a lot depends on what you sell.

I just came across a new site that gives you a report on other eBay sellers' sales. You can see how much they sell and how they list.

I checked out a few sellers and their prices are too low for me. I don't know how they can sell this low and stay in business.

I hope it helps. eSeller Street