any handy tips for ebay selling?

soolin

I've noticed on various forums people asking for tips on how to get more sales or better prices on ebay and thought that perhaps if anyone has tips to add them on here. I'll start with a few that might help a little, but please add more,

1) despite ebay saying that GTC is the best way to sell things, I don't believe this is always the case if you have something unique or unusual. I sell in some collectable/vintage/antique categories and find that I can often trigger sales by ending an item and using the 'sell similar' option to relist rather than just allow things to relist and get stale. I have often had things listed for 3 or 4 months, but when I end the listing and use sell similar it sells within a few days. I suspect this won't work as well for business sellers who sell new items with MVL listings.

2) Check your postage, yes a lot of sellers like the reassurance of signed for even on sub £20 items but that is eating into your profit. Look at what postage services offer, look at delivery confirmation options which are now free on parcels, and choose your postage to be competitive.

3) Buy postage online - for parcels there is a considerable saving over buying from a PO or using stamps (there is no saving on LLs). For instance a small parcel up to 2KG is 50 p cheaper online, and a medium parcel £1 cheaper.

4) Cut out any silly terms and conditions from your listings, forget all the nonsense about not being liable for losses etc, it just makes you look naive as a seller and can put off potential buyers.

5) Check your prices, if looking for previous sale history use 'completed' lisitngs, not items currently listed as they can often be speculative.

6) Choose keywords in title carefully, but beware of spamming  - put the important information first in the title , remember the basics especially with clothes- I can see a lot of shoes and clothing items with no indication in the title as to size.

7) proper descriptions, 'see photos' is not enough , if you are selling something second hand then list any and all faults , sizes heights measurements etc.

8) decent photos- no stock images for second hand items, make sure you photograph the actual item you are selling.

9) my own spelling is terrible and not helped by clumsy fingers - but if you are unsure of a spelling- look it up. Ebay search can be tempremental and lisitng a broac instead of brooch for instance might lose you a bidder.

Spoonie_Turtle

As a buyer I would add that relevant item specifics (e.g. measurements, fabric composition, etc.) often don't show up on mobile, so including them in the description is helpful too.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

soolin said:

I've noticed on various forums people asking for tips on how to get more sales or better prices on ebay and thought that perhaps if anyone has tips to add them on here. I'll start with a few that might help a little, but please add more,

1) despite ebay saying that GTC is the best way to sell things, I don't believe this is always the case if you have something unique or unusual. I sell in some collectable/vintage/antique categories and find that I can often trigger sales by ending an item and using the 'sell similar' option to relist rather than just allow things to relist and get stale. I have often had things listed for 3 or 4 months, but when I end the listing and use sell similar it sells within a few days. I suspect this won't work as well for business sellers who sell new items with MVL listings.

I agree with this, eBay switched all BIN to GTC so more listings stay on site, even if they sink to the bottom of the results they create competition and reduce prices, particularly with barcoded products and sellers using automated pricing tools.

The problem is they do indeed go stale and the search likes things that are fresh, depending upon how much time you want to invest and how your listings fees are applied, ending listings are putting them back up again with Sell Similar is certainly a benefit, every 2 weeks is a good idea.

Factoring times is important, if you sell mainly at weekends around 7pm then putting new listings up on Wednesday at 1pm in the afternoon isn't going to help as the boost from a new listing is around 48 hours and tappers off over that period.

It's not just listings either, your promotions are the same and pausing and restarting a few hours later can help. 

The other thing to note is eBay think all their ideas are great and when they have a new idea the search pushes it (and they often forget their previous great ideas) so they had order discount, then multi-buy and then coupons. By embracing these features into your selling as they happen your listings will be favoured in search. 

eBay have made it so that rather than stick stuff up and allow sales to impressions to do the job and save you time micro managing you need to put effort into keeping things fresh. You'd think 5000+ sold on a listing would inspire confidence and create sales but it's important to remember a lot of people buy what eBay (or anyone else) shoves in front of them. 

I still think price is key and eBay will favour this above all else (which doesn't always give the buyer the best results to pick from) but for private sellers selling second hand there will be buyers who don't want to pick a "mega seller" and these buyers do this so they get what is advertised which goes back to Soolin's other good points about decent photos, detailing faults and having clean listings without terms (no need for any at all really), multi coloured fonts and poor presentation. 

RFW

Use the correct category. Items can get suppressed if they're not in the correct category.

Be honest with pictures and descriptions. Clear pictures without any background clutter. And make sure the picture is the right way up!

Be friendly to customers and potential customers. Some sellers think that being strict and aloof is a good idea, it isn't.

Post your items as soon as possible after being paid. No one likes a message 3 days after you expected something to arrive saying "I'm just on my way to the Post Office after I've taken my cat to the vet".

Item title, as Soolin says, is usually the most important. That's what usually gets your item found. So make sure all the words in the title are important.

"L@@k Red Coat for Sale Bargain Price Buy Now Best On Ebay" is relatively useless. The only useful words in there is "red coat". Anyone who uses "l@@k" doesn't deserve to sell anything! Unless you're selling Ebay memorabilia there's no need to have Ebay in the title. "For sale" isn't necessary either, we know it is. As for bargain, let the customer decide.

kalsha

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Factoring times is important, if you sell mainly at weekends around 7pm then putting new listings up on Wednesday at 1pm in the afternoon isn't going to help as the boost from a new listing is around 48 hours and tappers off over that period.

Very useful thread.   Thank you.   I am not sure what you mean by the above.  Can you explain further please?    Boost from new listing is around 48 hours??

Pollycat

soolin said:

5) Check your prices, if looking for previous sale history use 'completed' lisitngs, not items currently listed as they can often be speculative.

Great thread, Soolin.

Re pricing, I always change the suggested price but I do look to see 'how others priced it' as these are 'sold' prices.

I sell just to get rid of stuff that I rarely wear/use but I won't let it go for peanuts.
I price it fairly (imho).

If it's silver or maybe a pair of Doctor Martens, if it doesn't sell, it just goes back into my jewellery box or wardrobe.

I've noticed some odd starting prices recently, like £3.11.

TripleH

The odd pricing may also be to factor in postage costs. So add the start price plus postage together to see what you get?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

kalsha said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Factoring times is important, if you sell mainly at weekends around 7pm then putting new listings up on Wednesday at 1pm in the afternoon isn't going to help as the boost from a new listing is around 48 hours and tappers off over that period.

Very useful thread.   Thank you.   I am not sure what you mean by the above.  Can you explain further please?    Boost from new listing is around 48 hours??

eBay uses a host of things to determine which items are ranked highest in Best Match, when you create a new listing it will be placed higher in the search results than it would naturally sit but this is only temporary so over time the effect of the "new listing boost" will wear off and other factors will take over meaning your listing may move down the search results if other positive factors aren't pushing it up. 

Pollycat

TripleH said:

The odd pricing may also be to factor in postage costs. So add the start price plus postage together to see what you get?

No, it's not postage.

For example there's an item listed at £17.64 with postage at £2.89. £20.53 makes no more sense to me than the starting price of £17.64.
Another:
starting price £72.58, postage £10.70. Total £83.28.

A friend recently sold a dining table and chairs.
I asked why sh'e priced it at £73.50 instead of £75.00 and she said that is what eBay suggested.

Pollycat

More tips:

I have all my listings (currently only 42) ending around the same time (between 18:00 and 20:00 on Saturday evenings).
That gives the poster time to pay and me time to package up on Sunday before I post on Mondays.

When I have my proof of posting, I make a note of which item went to which address just in case of queries.

TripleH

@pollycat I admit it is what I do with the strange starting prices.

It must then be their algorithmic average starting price then. I suppose we might not factor that it could be global so exchange rate fluctuations can cause it.