Need advice on eBay pricing strategies

How important is it to be the absolute lowest price? I'm thinking of one item which I want to price about 10 dollars higher than the lowest listing, which would make me at the 3rd lowest price.

Any suggestions?

It would really depend. Are you talking about an item where the lowest listing is only $20-30 or something that's hundreds of dollars?

Being the lowest doesn't always matter, just remember to fill up your title using product keywords (if it doesn't have something to do with the product you're selling, don't put it in), even if it doesn't make sense when you read it. I don't see the point in putting things like 'Act now..' 'Look at this...', and a huge pet peeve of mine is using all the !@#$%^&* in the title, it's just a waste of valuable space. I've sold items at $50 where others had it at $40. Most people will use the search feature and go from there. Very seldom will they actually go category by category. Using the title effectively and writing a great description will go a long way.

Just remember one of my favorite phrases I heard a long time ago and it will apply to almost anything you do:
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Sometimes less is more.

always try to make a good margin, otherwise you will not be selling online next year.

always try to make a good margin, otherwise you will not be selling online next year.

That's obvious, but what would be considered a good margin? In this instance the product I am looking to sell can be bought at 202 and in order to stay competitive I have to sell it around 250-260.

One thing you should note. The biggest powersellers make between $2.00 and $10,00 on average per item sold on ebay. This includes the sellers that sell electronics This is where the majority of new sellers think they can become millionares just by finding a specific supplier. One titanium powerseller I know of sells 25,000 items per month. All of his items are dropshipped by dbldistributing and 2 other suppliers . He never touches the product. But he makes about $2-$4 dollars per item. He just quit ebay completely because the new changes has completely killed his profit margins.

Ebays recent changes will add about $11.00 to every transaction he closes. Meaning they will bankrupt his company in only a few months if he continues to sell with them.

So in order to figure a good margin you must consider what will a fee increase do to your bottom line. What works today can be lost tomorrow. There is so much to consider when deciding profit.

Overhead( Warehouse bills.power,gas,trash,internet, supplies, boxes,shipping costs, fuel for company driving)
Listing Fees
Final Value Fees
Relisting Fees
Extras ( gallery plus, and other options you add to each listing)
CC processing Fees

I would recommend if you are not knowlegable in this area to visit Link hidden: Login to view where you can try the courses and learn from the top powersellers.

I understand the fee increase is going to be a major obstacle, but don't you think every seller will just adjust their prices to reflect the change?

Quitting eBay altogether seems like a drastic move.

I understand the fee increase is going to be a major obstacle, but don't you think every seller will just adjust their prices to reflect the change?

Quitting eBay altogether seems like a drastic move.

Many will raise thier prices. But the buyers on ebay have become so spoiled that Its going to be harder on sellers. Most buyers expect to goto ebay and get all thier items for 1/4 of thier wholesale value. Buyers themselves have become so cheap over the last year its really getting bad.. I myself am finding many of my items that normally sell for 50 bucks on ebay only selling for $25 and sometimes less.

Many will raise thier prices. But the buyers on ebay have become so spoiled that Its going to be harder on sellers. Most buyers expect to goto ebay and get all thier items for 1/4 of thier wholesale value. Buyers themselves have become so cheap over the last year its really getting bad.. I myself am finding many of my items that normally sell for 50 bucks on ebay only selling for $25 and sometimes less.

That's the problem, sellers lowered their prices too much, and now we are paying for it in slim profits and picky buyers. In sales the easy way out is to always lower prices.

You do have to account that a good percentage of ebayers are now small businesses trying to buy items cheap to resell. There are several stories of people buying a last minute good on ebay for cheap and relisting to sell on ebay for cheap. Ebay has such restrictions on everything else, they should monitor the people who do this or have the watchdogs lookout for this....But everyone is getting picky and somewhat of a recession has jumpstarted and stocks falling, this is happening everywhere you look. Consumers are not spending the money they used to for items and the sellers got nervous and started lowering their prices and renegotiating with the suppliers and now everyone expects to stay at a low rate!

Sorry to disagree, but there are a few growing areas,

#1 people wanting to know how to get out of debt is a HUGE market...just look at the US housing crisis.