My FIRST EVER auctions - Critique Please

One thing I noticed -- the description says to check out the matching footstool but it's nowhere to be found! Oh, I just figured it out -- it's another auction..

I'm intrigued by your suggestion that the buyer should bid their maximum upfront in order to ensure their chances of winning.

Obviously, that's smart bidding but what are the advantages of this kind of encouragement? Do you think it's likely to increase the closing price (as opposed to last-minute bidding wars)? Or do you just particularly oppose sniping?

I'm genuinely curious. I'm surprised just how many people don't bid this way but I usually don't mind as they help the final value to creep up throughout the week...

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm hijacking your thread -- that bit just really stood out. The listing itself, though, looks good to me!

Hi Rick,
You've got to keep in mind that is all new to me. I do however, know a little bit about marketing (just enough to get me in trouble).

Sniping? Absolutely love it! Every auction I have ever won I sniped! But now I'm selling not buying.

My thought pattern - if I can get some people to enter their maximum bid, that hopefully will continue to raise the target & snipers will be prone to raise their bid as well when they see they can't win with a lowball bid.

Will it work out that way? I'll let you know in a few weeks. I am starting small then I have a lot of high $ cameras & notebooks to sell.

Anyone else have some thoughts on this?
Make it a Great Day!

My thoughts...

(Trivial) The font on the "Don't lose this auction to last minute snipers" is different than the rest of the font.

I would put your guarantees immediately after the description. Emphasize the positive!

I would put your "before bidding" section last, and put it in small font.

You may also want to try small font on the "snipers" section, leaving the title large.

Thanks Cakethings
Don't know what happened on that one font, all the rest of the auctions were correct.

Thanks for all your valuable input.

Make it a Great Day!
Clickman

quote:

My thought pattern - if I can get some people to enter their maximum bid, that hopefully will continue to raise the target & snipers will be prone to raise their bid as well when they see they can't win with a lowball bid.

Will it work out that way? I'll let you know in a few weeks.

Yes, please do! I think you're right -- it probably is a good strategy because it (theoretically) will make the target amount higher for the snipers.

Of course, a lot of smart bidders will do this but within the last hour, which should still work just fine.

Be sure to let us know how it goes!

Hi, you asked for honest opinions about your listing, and as a long time powerseller, and buyer, these are my thoughts. Your template is way too dark. You are trying to sell miniature doll furniture. The chair looks like an antique, so you might want to find a softer vintage looking template - somehting with women it it. The browns and oranges against the pink chair is blah. As a buyer, if you want buyers to place their highest bid, then you have to make them want the item. A brief description as to what makes your item a must have, would work better then telling them to just enter their maximum bid to avoid being out bid at the end of the auction. This trick is not going to work with old timers on ebay as they know the ins and outs of how to snipe, but for a newbie, the above suggestion, along with the mention of placing your maximum bid might prove to be a better selling tactic. Also, I find the use of EXTREMELY LARGE fonts offensive. It looks as if you are screaming at your potential buyer. Buyers want to feel comfortable when viewing your listings, it helps them to make up their mind to trust you as a seller. LARGE FONTS is definetely not the way to go. That is just my opinion. I am sure that others will differ. I would suggest, making better use of smaller fonts, and emphasize your key points by making those words BOLD, and using a slightly bigger font then the one that proceeded it. Also, even though we as sellers want to be paid for our listings, I think it is very rude to mention in your listing that you will report the potential buyer to ebay for non-payment and post negative feedback if your selling requirements are not met. Most of the ebay community are committed to the process. Newbies are learing, but we want them to stick around and to keep buying. Things happen in life. Give your potential customers the benefit of making good on their intentions to purchase from you. If they feel like they are being treated like a valued customer, then they will come back for more of your items. Besides, now that ebay has instituted credits for FVF for non-paying bidders, adding those comments to your listing is unncessary. Look to the listings in the past that you have brought. Ask yourself what about the listing made you purchase the item. Product alone does not make you want it, it was something about the listing, or what the seller said, that made you make up your mind to buy. If you created your lisiting with these thoughts in mind, then good luck with your listing. If any of the comments I made are helpful, please let me know. By the way, I've been selling on ebay since 2000, and I learned a few tricks along the way. I know the above things work for me, I hope they will work for you.

Here is my input ...

I would put the "Check out the matching footstool" under "Price on box was 20 years ago, today" Then I would add a link to your other auctions and say you can view it by clicking this link.

Put "Reduced shipping on multiple items" under the shipping description.

I would delete the sniper line and explaining about max bidding, etc.

I agree with maternaleexpressions .. change the template to a softer color and get rid of leaving negative feedback comments

I would also move your pictures to the top of the auction and put them in the slide show

Even though there is a link at the top of the page where ebayers can contact you I would put a link at the bottom with your statement about contacting you if they have questions.

Other than that is nice, neat, short and to the point.

Also if you plan on selling more then I would definitely open up an ebay store. It has really helped my sales. It will help you keep your records straight as well. You can read up on the benefits on ebay.

Here is the link for that ...

http://pages.ebay.com/help/stores/questions/open-store.html

Check mine out and remember you can make yours look any way you want it as you can edit it to your satisfaction.

http://stores.ebay.com/ALS-BARGAINS-GALORE_W0QQssPageNameZl2QQtZkm

Good luck with your sales

Al

Wow! You guys took some time to really check things out and have given me some great input.

I will definately be making some adjustments before posting my next group of items. Have about $10M worth of camera gear to sell & I wanted to start small so I could "tune up" for the big stuff.

Again, many thanks!
Make it a Great Day!
Clickman

With that much inventory it won't take you long to get your Powerseller status.

You will definitley need to open an ebay store when you start that project

One thing that glares at me are the items you have sitting on a box with their pictures. The price tag is still on the box. I don't know anything about miniature doll furniture, but if the price showing on the box is the retail and not the cost to you, I would certainly not bid any more than that price. I would assume I could get it most places for around that price. For example, if the price showing on the box is $9.00, why would I up my bid to 15, 18, 21 dollars....unless of course, the merchandise is no longer made, which you don't mention in your listings. One followup about something someone else said about non payers. I NEVER leave negative feedback to ANYONE! Even if they are a non-payer. They will only come back and drop a negative on you and there goes your 100% feedback for something you didn't even do. Let those losers just fade away. Forget them. Any problem bidders or buyers I have, I put on the locked out list so they can't bid again on my stuff. Good luck and welcome to selling.

It's mentioned in the description (and in this thread, actually) that the price is from 20 years ago.

quote:

I NEVER leave negative feedback to ANYONE! Even if they are a non-payer. They will only come back and drop a negative on you and there goes your 100% feedback for something you didn't even do.

Which is why the feedback system is a joke. However, in the case of a non-paying bidder, at least you can file a UPI and that can do them some damage.

quote:

Originally posted by rootbeer:
I NEVER leave negative feedback to ANYONE! Even if they are a non-payer. They will only come back and drop a negative on you and there goes your 100% feedback for something you didn't even do.

I think this is bad practice.

I have only left a negative once, maybe twice. It was the absolute last thing that I did with the buyer, after going through with UPI and giving plenty of time for things to be resolved.

But if you don't leave a negative when it is truly deserved, you are just setting other sellers up to go through the same hassles as you. When I am having problems with a buyer, I always go to their feedback to see if other sellers experienced problems. It's important for us to keep each other informed.