Any other eBay retailers?

Neko_3

Hello everyone.

This is my first post so if I've put it in the wrong place or if this isn't appropriate then please let me know and I'll move/ delete it

My partner and I set up a small eBay business last July, because we were skint and wanted to supplement our incomes. We'd also love ultimately to be our own bosses. It's gone pretty well and we've really enjoyed the experience so far but we've hit a plateau in terms of how much we're selling and, in fact, with the credit crunch, etc., we've seen sales falling - not good when you're still, very definitely, small!!

Do any of you have eBay businesses and has this happened to you? Do you have suggestions for ways in which to boost sales?

Again, I hope this isn't inappropriate and if it is, I'll happily delete the post.

Thank you!

Al

Maysie

hi, i think most people who have ebay businesses are in the same boat at the moment. I just sell the odd personal bits and use auctiva to help my listings look abit better. I used to use their free templates but i have decided they look to fussy so leave it blank. There scrolling free gallery certainly seems to boost sales. I dont have lost of terms and conditions but as you can save a master profile with them i find it saves me lots of time. https://www.auctiva.com .

LindsayO

I'm just getting ready to start selling stuff on ebay, and wondered if this might be happening. My goal is partly to declutter, so as long as I can shift the stuff, and make even a very little money I'm not bothered. but its interesting to hear you say this

f1re_cr4cker

i do sell stuff on ebay and i have certainly noticed a decline in bidders this year!

ANDY597

I have been a regular ebayer for a number of years now, my feedback is currently 1630 items for 100% positive feedback.

Im going to be blunt and say that its really hard to be your own boss on ebay.

Its very time consuming, the ebay and paypal costs are now rather debilitating and its very hard to stay competitive when there are generally so many people selling the same item as you.

I found myself having to constantly re-invent myself with the type of items that i was selling, I started off simply by selling my junk, but since then I have sold everything from bird tables to car parts.

I even went down the route of buying off ebay and reselling teh same items at a higher price. Some you win and some you loose.

I'm not saying that its impossible to do well out of ebay, but its hard going.

My top tips.
Work out your fees and charges accurately, consider whether your time is worth listing the item.

Go view quidco to interparcel for some of the best courier costs available, also read the money saving thread here on courier costs.

If you use royal mail ALWAYS get proof of postage for 1st class items as its insured.

Dont use recorded delivery its worth nothing but a signature, Use SPECIAL

Also send the customer the item the following working day from their payment. Dont underestimate the value of prompt delivery, it can often make a better impression that you give it credit for. Ie. Item just OK, but service was tremendous.

Always answer emails, even if its a crap enquiry. Also reply to paypal payments that you have received their payment and you will be posting soon.

Learn to use html if possible for funky listings.

Learn to implant pictures into your HTML listing so you can save on picture fees.

Listings and pictures sell items, no question about it.

Realise that sometimes its better to sell buy it now or best offer for a quick sale turnaround rather than auction for a bit more over a longer period of time. Time is money, the quicker you can turn around items the better.

Always shop around for the best postal items, envelopes etc. Buy in bulk, usually ebay is the best bet.

soolin

There is a dedicated ebay board on MSE that you might find useful, just follow the link in my signature.

There does appear to be a downturn on sales and I think it is because there is a recession, regardless of what we keep being told to the contrary. making a full time living on ebay is getting hard, most of use on the ebay board sell mainly for pin money now althtough there are still some full time sellers.

The new requirements for business registration also hasn't helped with refunds freely available when a buyer changes their mind, and of course the problems with sellers no longer being able to leave negative feedback.

Just remember to keep declaring everything to the tax man though, regardless of how little you make in the business.

Neko_3

Thank you all - it's useful to know it's not just us!!!

Andy - thanks for all those tips! Some of those we'd been doing anyway (we're pretty good on next day or even same day delivery) but the HTML pictures in listings thing and the quidco on courier is very interesting... every little helps on eBay fees

Typically after I left this post I started exploring more of the forums and discovered the eBay forum proper - doh! Will post in there in future