eBay listings are not selling as expected - help needed


spryadki
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4 Mar 12 05:33:49 am
Could somebody explain to me why out of 100 listed on eBay items I was able to sell only 1 with a profit of $1.85 after all listing and tax fees? I am following all best listing practices, such as free shipping, Buy it now, even suggested by Alice magic number "7";I spent hundreds hours to create a new each listing. Unfortunately, I am using drop shipping method due to my "0" available funds and listing items with $1-2 (very rear $5) profit after all surcharges. Can somebody with success stories look at my listing and tell what is so negative about my items that people afraid to by them. All feed back will be greatly appreciated. My eBay ID is "spryadki"


fudjj
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4 Mar 12 11:21:53 pm
Could be any number of things spryadki. Just post a link to one or a couple of your listings here and we'll take a look for you.

Cheers


Mark (fudjj)

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spryadki
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4 Mar 12 11:57:47 pm
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Thank you,fudjj, for your response


richelle_salehoo1
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5 Mar 12 03:30:58 am
Hi spryadki,

Welcome to SaleHoo! Congratulations on your first sale :)

Don't worry too much you're not not the only seller faced with this type of problem. With the increased competition, it is definitely getting more difficult landing a sale on eBay.

After viewing your listings here's what I have too say (and please don't get offended I just want to help make your listings much better) and hopefully these will help -

Link hidden: Login to view - Your listing title just doesn't have a smooth flow of keywords rather it seems like you are keyword spamming instead of selecting the most appropriate keyword/s for your product you have jumbled a whole bunch of them in your title. Also you might consider revising your item description and work on your grammar and phrase or idea flow.

Link hidden: Login to view - You might consider adding a few more sentences to your description, you can add specific measurements to help sellers know exactly how big the shirt and skirt are, for example you can mention the length of the waist line when stretched (in cm/inches). Also you might consider adding better photos, like if you have mannequin or use a hanger instead of putting them on a flat surface.

Link hidden: Login to view - Among the three listings this one seems to be far better than the other two. Although you might consider adding more details to your description like dimensions. Also you might consider adding a note of a slight difference in color due to lighting or photo effects.

I think you'll find additional tips on this thread - Link hidden: Login to view

Hope this helps :)


Richelle

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SaleHoo Group Limited

spryadki
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5 Mar 12 06:18:45 am
Thank you,richellemonfort, I'll try to revise my descriptions


fudjj
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5 Mar 12 06:21:12 am
Hi spryadji,

Uniformity is the first thing that sticks out, as Richelle as touched on above. I look at three different listings and I see three completely different design layouts. Bare in mind that a customer may well look at your other items when initially drawn to one, in fact when you are listing in the volume you have been, you need to be cross marketing your other products to ensure that no matter what product someone is looking at, they know that you have plenty more to offer.

OK, cross marketing is a definite area where you can improve, but back to the difference in design for a moment. Put yourself in a customer's position for a moment. They do look at your other items when visiting a listing, and what they see is a miss match of layouts that gives a really bad impression of overall quality.

When you are trying to sell a product, you need to be giving the customer as many reasons to purchase from you as possible, not giving them an excuse to go and purchase elsewhere, marketing 101!

Not only are the descriptions lacking in informative content, but some are quite badly worded. Case in point below;

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This gets back to giving a customer as many reasons to buy as possible, so you need to ensure your descriptions are as informative as possible and worded well.

Did you do any research in regards to sell through rates on any of the products listed? Did you in fact do any research into other sellers selling the same items or types there of? Did you do any price comparisons to see if you were competitively placed in the market place?

I get the felling that you jumped right into the deep end without really knowing how deep the water was or in fact how hard it could be to swim once in there.

Research is king, and when you think you've done enough research, you need to do more and more and more. Research is what keeps your head afloat, the moment you stop researching in this game, the game is over!

In regards to your eBay invoice, yes, unfortunately I knew that shock was coming when I first read your post this morning, but that's the reality of it.

Do I think you should give up, well that's a choice you have to make. Making money with drop shipping on eBay alone is super competitive and getting more competitive every day, but it's doable if you do it correctly.

The correctly bit gets me back to the research lol. Understand your market, that's absolute key to any success. I think you need to take a deep breath and take on board the feedback you are getting. If you follow this advice and feel confident enough to take another shot, then start small next time.

6 or 10 items is plenty, and you wont feel like jumping of a jetty if they don't sell. In essence that is listing in test marketing number amounts. 6 listings of products that you have researched well is the perfect way to test your research data when it all looks positive.

If your test marketing confirms the positive research data you get, then you can look at building up your product numbers, but not before : )


Mark (fudjj)

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spryadki
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5 Mar 12 10:36:52 am
Thank you, fudjj, very much for your advice; hard to understand why the same titles and descriptions work great for top sellers( I built my titles and descriptions following top sellers' already sold items)


fudjj
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5 Mar 12 10:02:10 pm
I see that you've made some changes to the listing I highlighted yesterday, so let me just run through this listing now and give you some ideas on your description layout.

Firstly let me say that it's good to see you drop the sub title, I think that was a waste of money. Sure, it's only 50 odd cents, but doesn't really serve any purpose and all those 50 cents add up when you are listing a lot of times over time.

After all, better to have the money in your pocket, rather than give it to eBay when you don't have :)

Now looking at your header, much better, but I would drop off the "for business man" at the end. That space could be better used by perhaps slotting in some keyword friendly descriptive terms.

Note the description itself. I'll paste yours here, then redo under that to show you how that could be improved even more.

Are you trying to impress your next big client? We've got you covered! Have a look at this very stylish men's fashionable bag.
This Bag in particular may be used as a laptop bag, a messenger bag or as a briefcase for a businessmen.
It features:
- a zipper compartment,
- a laptop/notebook computer compartment,
- a certificate holder,
- a cell phone/Smartphone holder,
- 2 pen holders.
This Men's shoulder bag can add more style and fashion to your appearance.
Product Content: Leather Shoulder Briefcase Bag for Business Men.
Condition:New
Material:Hard Leather Imports + Napa Leather

Dimensions: 15.2" x 11.2" x 4.75"

-----------------------end----------------------------

I like the bullet point style you have adopted above, however lets look how much more effective we can make that with just a quick rewrite and better of spacing. Now, you seem to be wanting to aim this at the professional business man, so I am going to slant my rewrite at that market, but make it more unisex based to increase my chances of a sale

Listing follows;

Presenting a professional image in business is everything, and first impressions really count. Make the right impression at your next meeting with this high quality, stylish and desirable 100% pure leather shoulder bag from (insert makers name here)

This Brand New, 100% pure leather shoulder bag is absolutely perfect for carrying your laptop, using as a messenger bag or as a very fashionable briefcase. In fact you can use it for just about anything as its design provides true carrying flexibility, with an extremely strong focus on style and professionalisim!

Features;

- Secure zipper compartment,
- Convenient laptop/notebook computer compartment,
- Handy certificate holder,
- Cell phone/Smartphone holder,
- 2 pen holders.

Bag Dimensions
Dimensions: 15.2" x 11.2" x 4.75"

Making the right impression in your business starts right here!

---------------------------end-------------------------

OK, take a look at that rewrite and see what you think. What I have done is not just described the product, but I am trying to sell it by creating a desire, by making buyers believe that this is something they absolutely need.

Sales is all about selling, online or offline. Now you can do it one on one when you are involved with more traditional sales as offline, so you have to use what ever you can to sell the product when you're selling online.

Remember, most buyers won't even realize that this is a product they need. It's your job as a sales person to convince them that they do. The more convincing you are, the better sales person you are and that equals more sales!

Getting back to the Point Of Difference from my last post. While a well worded and targeted description isn't really a POD, it's about building up points over and above your competition. Every time you do something better than your competition, you're one point closer to making a sale before them.

I make this point as I read that you used the wording of a competitor for your description. By all means look at what someone else has written, but then you have to find ways to out do their description, not just rely on what they have done.

Build enough of those points and you are building a POD.

Cheers


Mark (fudjj)

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hpygolkyone
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5 Mar 12 11:31:23 pm
This thread and the answers given were once again worth the price of admission.

I wish I could sticky this so it doesn't get lost with all my other "critical to life" stickies?!

IDEA! I will print it and make space on my bulletin board. :)

John


fudjj
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6 Mar 12 12:22:38 am
Stickied up for you John, glad you got something out of reading it :)


Mark (fudjj)

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spryadki
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6 Mar 12 01:28:20 am
Thank you, fudjj, for your very best (for me) description. Now I have an idea what I will look for


fudjj
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6 Mar 12 01:39:38 am
Np, good luck with it all : )


Mark (fudjj)

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