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Hello-

I am just getting started with an ebay business. I have been doing tons of research and have used many of the tips on the auctiva message boards. -Thanks to all who post.

My issue is this:
I lost money on the first two auctions and I just listed 10 more items. I am starting out the bidding for less than what I put into the items and I have set no reserve so if it sells it
sells.

How do I get more bids? I think that may items are at a good value. I am looking for a price around $50-$60 an outfit. I have researched major discount chains and except for Walmart $50-$60 would be less than you could get an entire outfit for at Target, Old Navy, Forever 21, etc.

I am considering opening an ebay store so I can do Buy It Now but wasn't ready to invest the money until I found out if I have a viable business.

I am gettin somewhere around 80 hits per outfit for a 7 day period.

Here is my auctiva store so you can check it out.

www.outfitkit.com www.outfitkit.com

Thanks for any help.
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Thanks for the feedback.

The idea was trying to differentiate myself from other sellers. So far, I have not seen anyone auctioning complete outfits (it could be because it doesn't work!). I have gotten great feedback from people that love the outfit concept.

I offer the ability to choose alternate shoes if they are not in the right size as this was a limiting factor. I think possibly it got left off some of the listings and I need to go back through them.

So far, I have had a couple of people ask about alternative shoes but not one person has taken me up on the offer. I try to pick average sizes which are somewhere between a 7 1/2 to 9. I am assuming that covers a lot of buyers.

I could be completely off base on this.
Hello - here's my thought - I agree with showing accessories with the "out fit" - I personally think it shows better in the pictures - but I also agree with the other post to sell them separately. People may have a problem with not being able to try these items on - all manufacturers cut differently. My other thought would be is to RAISE your price. This is a pyschological (sp) thing and lots of types of manufacturers use this ploy. By listing at .99 cents this implies that your item is of lessor quality when in reality it isn't - Just my thoughts - Dawn
Thanks for the suggestions.

Mmm.... I am just not sure what to think about the starting bid. I have read just about everywhere to start your bid price low and trust the market. They say people will bid if it is .99 and then get invested in it so they keep bidding and they may not bid at all if the starting price is too high. However, it also stated that .99 isn't the starting bid for everyone and that you play around a little bit. The first items I listed I started them at $15.00, and $10.00. I only got 1 bid on the $10.00 and 4 on the 15.00 but it only reached 20.00.

I guess I will just keep playing around until I figure out the right equation. You guys are right that it might be smarter to sell the shoes seperately from the outfit.

Thanks.
quote:
They say people will bid if it is .99 and then get invested in it so they keep bidding and they may not bid at all if the starting price is too high.
That works great for items with high demand. Such as xBox 360's or Playstations. I sell almost all my used stuff that way and I always get a better price than say someone who starts theirs off at say 50% of what it's worth. It's because you get those early people invested and bidding and it's in their watch list and they keep coming back.

One thing is there are probably 10-20 bidders though. I would image for an outfit you may have 3 bidders going against eachother and I think it's harder for those to get bid up.

I also liked seeing the accessories with the outfit, but I could see where the shoes might not fit. I was thinking the same thing when I saw the listings. Everything looked great.

One other thing I'd do is try to complete some more transactions to get your feedback higher. Perhaps you could find some dvd's that you'd like to watch. You can purchase most for around $10 for pretty new movies. Then watch them and put them back up used and you'd probably get $7-10 again. So it may cost you $1-3 a feeback and a few weeks time but you'll get your feedback up higher. Of course I've read before that some people buy like 99 cent eBooks and get feedback that way too. I'm not sure if eBay still allows that or not. It just always struck me as people buying feedback for 99 cents.
Again, thanks to everyone.

I did check out mpire. It is a little difficult to check because know one is selling outfits. I tried to do some searches on individual items but none of my stuff is name brand.

Do you have any advice on how to search mpire with the above constraints.

I think opening a fixec price/buy it now might be the way to go since nothing has a brand name.
I had another thought - since you are in New York the Fashion Hub of it all - why not play that up in your description a bit??? I was looking at what you had listed and I don't remember seeing that you mentioned the items as being new? I'm sure it's there somewhere - I just probably missed it - Love those shoes!!!! Good Luck and keep us posted - Dawn a/k/a Ms. Alien

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