eBay selling tips

If anyone has any handy little selling tips for sellers on eBay, or any online selling platform really, here is the spot to post them.

I'm going to kick this off with a little tip about getting traffic to your item to start with.

Now I know there are some that prefer to save the few cents it costs to include a small pic in the search results, but those few cents saved can cost you far more in lost sales.

It's hard enough competing against the other sellers once the customer is looking at your listing, but at least you're in the game at that point. Getting them there to start with is the very first step in converting a sale!

So a search pic is important, and it's important that your pic is doing the job as best it can. By that I mean it needs to catch the customer's eye in amongst all the other pics in the search results.

A really effective way of doing this is to flash up your display image. You don't need an expensive graphics program, plenty of free ones on the market that will enable you to create something a little unique.

Make a small border around the pic. Use your eBay branding in the image, that not only relays a professional image to the customer, it makes it easy for repeat business to find you again when simply browsing.

Now eBay policy is that the display image must contain a pic of the actual item you are selling, however there is no limitations at to what else you are allowed to display with that pic (within the confinds of good taste of course)

Bare in mind that the pic isn't that big to start with, but if you get creative you will be able to develop an image that will catch the eye, and serve as a marketing tool for your eBay platform.

Give it a try, and see if you can increase your page visits with this simply little marketing trick!

: )

This is going to be a very handy thread fudjj! :)

I'd like to share this article from the ebaysellingcoach blog which I think some members will find quite interestingly helpful especially those using Terapeak.

When researching a product to sell on eBay, one factor you should always look at is the sell through rate, or STR. This is also called the listing success rate, or LSR. This information can only be found on a research tool such as Terapeak - it is not available in the completed listings search.

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I also recommend keeping in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter for daily wholesale and eBay selling tips:

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All the best! =D

Nice tip Richelle, Terapeak is a great eBay tool for serious sellers, no doubt about it.

: )

OK, another quick tip.

Keep it lean and keep them keen!

No matter how many of one item you have available for sale, it's often a very good idea to hold your cards very close to your chest. If you list 10 available, you aren't forcing the customers hand.

You need to be giving the customer as many reasons to buy right then and there, because once they leave your listing your chances start to rapidly decrease of them coming back and purchasing.

Buy keeping the available count to a minimum (I work on 2-3 depending on the item) you can create a sense of urgency for the customer. O' no, only two available, if I don't buy it now I may well miss out altogether!

If you list 10, the customer can feel quite confident in putting it on the watch list as it shouldn't sell out overnight, then drift off to buy from someone else.

It's not a 100% fail safe way of getting the sale, but when used as part of an over all solid marketing strategy, it can be extremely effective!

Wow, this is going to be a useful thread! :) My tips will be based on what I wouldn’t want to see on an eBay listing, things that usually hold me back from buying. I feel anxious reading seller posted lines as “re-listed due to a non-paying bidder, please don't waste my time”, or “I will leave negative feedback, will report you to eBay if unsettled within 7days". I guess all the buyers really need to see is an honest and accurate description of the item being auctioned. They will also feel secure to be told that questions are welcome. It is important to set your policies firmly, like in shipping costs and insurance, but state it in a friendly manner. To read “I will not be responsible for items lost in the post” will set me back, thinking it WILL get lost and it’s not the seller's responsibility (lol). Pictures play a big part, and the right words that go with them will strengthen their potential.:)

Cheers!

Some really good points there Irene.

The art of good effective marketing is to highlight the positives and down play the negatives. I'm with Irene here, when I see a listing with some disclaimer (usually written in big red letters) I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ITEMS LOST IN THE POST, AND WILL NOT REFUND, or some other type of thing, the very first thing that says to me as a buyer is ..... this sellers has problems with items going missing in the post, and if mine happens to be one of them, then the seller is not going to be of any assistance at all!

That all adds up to a BIG no sale from me!

It's a good idea when writing your listing copy to write from the perspective of a buyer, not as a seller. Ask yourself what sort of information you would like to know if you were buying the product, then ask yourself what would put you off buying the product.

As Irene has said, you need to set your conditions out clearly, but make them professional, and don't dress them up as something that amounts to nothing more than a threat.

Another thing to keep in mind when contemplating your conditions is to be sure that your conditions are within eBay's own policy guidelines. For example, it takes 96 hours after the auction has closed till you are able to file a non-payment dispute against a rogue buyer. Therefore it is a little crazy to have payment terms where full payment is required within 48 hours of an auctions close.

Work to eBay's own guidelines, if you want to ensure cash flow, then set your payment terms at 96 hours, it's not like you can file action against them to recover fees before then anyway, and it creates a more flexible payment term for buyers.

Make sue you are able to enforce any terms and conditions that you do set, for example: Stating that you will not be responsible for items going missing in the post is a little crazy if you are taking PayPal payments. You have no choice if you are not sending the items with tracking to begin with.

All the customer has to do of course of file a claim with PayPal, they will ask the seller for proof of postage, and if a seller can't provide them with a tracking number as proof, they will find in the buyers favour and award them their money back anyway. All you are doing is putting buyers off to start with by listing that sort of rubbish warning!

: )

Exactly! Encore to Irene and fudjj for the great tips :D

Speaking of well written descriptions - do you ever wonder how powersellers land sales after sales? It's in the way they write their item descriptions. I know that words will often just run out of our minds and when we finally get them keyed in they don't appear/sound quite as they did when we initially thought about them :) In case you guys missed this one, check out this blog post that has essential tips to getting those descriptions written right!

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Like Irene said

Pictures play a big part, and the right words that go with them will strengthen their potential.:)

So I hope the tips you find in this article will help you look like a Pro when it comes to taking product pictures:

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Cheers!

Here are 9 tips from an actual eBay Top rated seller, which some may find quite helpful especially for those who are just starting out.

I just read this a few minutes ago and I thought I'd like to re-post this post from the eBaysellingcoach's blog.

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Cheers! :)