Auction or Buy it now with extended time?

Hi guys,

I have several items of the same thing to sell on ebay.

What is the best way to set this up?

If I do it individually as auction, then I have to put insertion fee every time I insert each one, and its quite lengthy to do it each time.

I want to put a buy it now price always on there, so almost have it like a store where they can purchase any time.
What is the length of time I should be putting the listing on for? I don't have an ebay store, just a normal account.

Any help would be really appreciated. ..

My advice would be to get the best bang for your buck, and the more you have a product in front of buyers, the more chances you have of converting sales, so I would be going the MAX!

Just be mindful of your starting time, you don't want auctions finishing at 3.30am, not great for business.

Hello duraid,

You might want to try listing your items as Multi-quantity Fixed Price listings with variations

Ideally you will save time compared to adding each variation individually and you'll save money on the fees as well.

Here's a previous Link hidden: Login to view I made about multiple variations listing.

Hope this helps :)

Thanks for your help..

Here are the issues I am encountering.

If I put my listing as an auction, I get visitors and make a sale.
If I put as a fixed price listing, with multiple quantities (no variations), I get few visitors and no sales. Which probably means that I am not ranking.

So how to overcome this hurdle?

With fixed priced listing, I am pricing it the same as others with the same product as me (they are power sellers). Maybe that is why I am not competing with them.

- Is there a way to to bring visitors to your fixed price listing?
- Should I price it less than the competition (I know my product is just as good as theirs, but how do I communicate that to the customer)

I had a bit of shock yesterday when I found out that ebay charges 10% of final sale price. Really squeezing my profits. :(

I am only accepting paypal as form of payment. Is this wise to do?

I really want to differentiate myself from the competition doing the same thing as me..question is how..

I will look into multiple variation listing. I am just waiting for ebay to increase my selling allowance as I am restricted at the moment.

Thanks for the advice.

Hello duraid,

I'm not really sure about the traffic flow difference between the different types of listings. But why don't you work at driving traffic to your listing regardless of the format you use.

Here's something you might find helpful - Link hidden: Login to view

Also, I've asked Marc to help you out :)

Cheers!

Thanks for your help..

Here are the issues I am encountering.

If I put my listing as an auction, I get visitors and make a sale.
If I put as a fixed price listing, with multiple quantities (no variations), I get few visitors and no sales. Which probably means that I am not ranking.

So how to overcome this hurdle?

With fixed priced listing, I am pricing it the same as others with the same product as me (they are power sellers). Maybe that is why I am not competing with them.

- Is there a way to to bring visitors to your fixed price listing?
- Should I price it less than the competition (I know my product is just as good as theirs, but how do I communicate that to the customer)

I had a bit of shock yesterday when I found out that ebay charges 10% of final sale price. Really squeezing my profits. :(

I am only accepting paypal as form of payment. Is this wise to do?

I really want to differentiate myself from the competition doing the same thing as me..question is how..

I will look into multiple variation listing. I am just waiting for ebay to increase my selling allowance as I am restricted at the moment.

Thanks for the advice.

Hi duraid,

In regards to your auctions in relation to your set prices, I know this is an obvious question, but is there any price difference between the two formats?

I mean if your auction format is selling for less that the set price, then of course the chances are that they will have stronger traffic flow of course. This is ebay after all and everyone loves a bargain.

It could also be if your auctions are starting at a low price, relying on bidders to bring the price up. That in itself is of course part of the different marketing strategies, so a low starting auction will usually have increased traffic over a set price format.

In regards to your competition, there is no defined answer I could give you. You would need to look at your competition closely and see if you can find any areas, no matter how small, where you can offer something better. That could be quicker shipping times, better value on price, better customer service. It can even be a better looking ebay template.

There are a multitude of ways to find an edge over competition, but sometimes you really do have to look hard.

In regards to payment options, most buyers will be happy to process payments through PayPal, but my suggestion would be to stay has flexible as you can with payment options.

If you would like to upload a link to one of your listings, also to one of your biggest competitors, happy to give you more pointed feedback in areas where you may be able to improve.

Cheers




Thanks Richelle :)