eBay

copper.boom · ‎07-04-2017

Anybody else here tired of reading about slow sales? Since we can't control eBay's systems or their search engine, let's post about what we CAN do as sellers to have a better and more profitable sales experience. Even if they are things we all know about and incorporate into our regular business model, a little reminder never hurt anyone. Maybe in the process some of us can pick up new tips.

- Do regular research on your category(ies) to see if there are any new trends in price, shipping or demand.

- Do regular research on competitive pricing based on item condition and availability. Look at solds, not just actives, and do research across the 'net, not solely on eBay.

- If you are stuck with your category then add some variety to your inventory. You may even discover a new category you love & do well with in the process!

- If you have old, stale inventory that's just not moving experiment with different listing types (auction vs BIN), utilize markdown and promotional tools if you have a store subscription, and bundle things into lots. If you have to, sell at a break-even price just to move old items and use the funds towards fresh inventory (that you have hopefully researched before acquiring).

- Do a refresh of your listings from photos to description to keywords in your title.

Your turn! Share a tip if you've got one and let's encourage and motivate each other. What can I say? I'm having a Polyanna moment.

retrose1 · ‎07-05-2017

@goodluckselling wrote:
@retrose1 wrote:
I remember about 10 - 15 years ago when there were well over a million beanies listed on ebay - not 110,000. And considering that ONLY 26,000 of them sold, I'd hardly say they were hot sellers.
Yes I knew you would comeback with this exact same exception to the facts. No facts but still making statements you can not support.

I showed actual true data. Where is your data to support your claim? You can pull up old data. A smart person like yourself should be able to supply this data.

The fact is that this item must be a very good seller because if you search Beanie Baby you get the new cataloged view that all of eBay is going to in the near future.

Good Luck!

I used the very information that you gave me!!!! To post the facts that I posted.

I clicked on your link which shows the confusing catalog page that ebay thinks is so great and ditched that by clicking on the see regular search results in order to get the numbers. 110,816 listed and 21,177 sold - how is that not facts????,

Just because ebay made a catalog page, does not mean the item is a hot seller or that it is trending. In fact since only 1/5 of the ones listed are showing sold, that is a poor seller to most major businesses. AND ebay realizes that something is wrong since the cat page is filled with other franchises like Hello Kitty (another that is on last legs), Pooh, Polemon, Shrek, Garfield, and so on.

(*Bleep*)

retrose1 · ‎07-05-2017

@sharingtheland wrote:
I would think someone with your brilliance ...

The mod said we had to be courteous and respectful. I'm going to tell on you unless you give me your lunch money.

(*Bleep*)

retrose1 · ‎07-05-2017

@goodluckselling wrote:
@sharingtheland wrote:
I would think someone with your brilliance ...

The mod said we had to be courteous and respectful. I'm going to tell on you unless you give me your lunch money.
I have to confess, although I do not agree with much retrose says, I do think she is brilliant in the way she handles some issues that she speaks about. I would never go down the paths I am speaking about, but her solutions to the issues are brilliant like a single handed holder of six beers!

Good Luck Selling!

And you get some too....

But i did make a comeback on your comment.

(*Bleep*)

goodluckselling · ‎07-05-2017

@retrose1 wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:
@retrose1 wrote:
I remember about 10 - 15 years ago when there were well over a million beanies listed on ebay - not 110,000. And considering that ONLY 26,000 of them sold, I'd hardly say they were hot sellers.
Yes I knew you would comeback with this exact same exception to the facts. No facts but still making statements you can not support.

I showed actual true data. Where is your data to support your claim? You can pull up old data. A smart person like yourself should be able to supply this data.

The fact is that this item must be a very good seller because if you search Beanie Baby you get the new cataloged view that all of eBay is going to in the near future.

Good Luck!

I used the very information that you gave me!!!! To post the facts that I posted.

I clicked on your link which shows the confusing catalog page that ebay thinks is so great and ditched that by clicking on the see regular search results in order to get the numbers. 110,816 listed and 21,177 sold - how is that not facts????,

Just because ebay made a catalog page, does not mean the item is a hot seller or that it is trending. In fact since only 1/5 of the ones listed are showing sold, that is a poor seller to most major businesses. AND ebay realizes that something is wrong since the cat page is filled with other franchises like Hello Kitty (another that is on last legs), Pooh, Polemon, Shrek, Garfield, and so on.

Fairly typical of you to change the subject from solds (not very popular any longer) to number of items actively listed. But lets take the numbers and see how they pan out.

100K average active listings per month X 3 months = 300K active listings for a total 90 day time frame

21K to 26K sold in 90 days as detailed in the sold items for Beanie baby,

equal to a minimum, of about 7% of all Beanie baby listings get sold that are listed on eBay. but lets be honest with each other here. We both know multiples of beanie babys (bulk lots) are sold in a single listing all of time in the 90 day time frame posted.

And the fact that ebay already made a cataloged page does speak volumns about where this items is going with the new eBay moving forward.

Good Luck Selling!

frock_my_world · ‎07-05-2017

I gave up trying to figure out why some days or weeks are better than others after Cassini went into play. I was making myself crazy.

Even the one "for sure" thing proved itself wrong this past Spring; I travel a lot and whenever my traveling took me out of the US my sales would ALWAYS all but completely stop.

Didnt matter if I had stuff lined up and launched new listings every day while gone, sales were pitiful.

Then I went to Japan in March and decided to not make myself crazy trying to have stuff to launch while away and just did Sell Similar for Unsold items as they ended each day (once a day) and I had fantastic sales for the entire time I was away.

As long as I am making a reasonable profit month in, month out, then I try not to freak out on the slow days or even a slow week.

Of course that doesn't stop me from checking every thirty minutes to see if there has been any action on days like today when I've had not a Sale, not a Question, not an Offer...after a really nice extended holiday weekend of sales up through yesterday...sigh.

frock_my_world · ‎07-05-2017

Lol, had to post again because right after my initial long post I, of course, checked my Seller Hub and low and behold I had at least a Message....from eBay with Top Tips for selling....bwahah

sharingtheland · ‎07-05-2017

::jumps up and down and waves to frock::

(pretend like there is a gif of that here; I dunno how to do it)

Sherry

=^.^= =^.^=
( ) ( )
" " =^.^= " "

sharingtheland · ‎07-05-2017

Mr. Lincoln, I've been sourcing quite a bit from local/national auctions and I learned very, very quickly that I can't compete with the collectors. They're crazy !!

I always lose those lots, after hours and hours of research on identifying, prices, completeds, etc. Although I am very glad when the crazies find, here and other places, the few that I do win.

I will also never buy cast iron; ebay already has me sending every 2+ pound package to SeaTac and every 3 oz package to the next county over.

Yes, that ^^^ is deliberate on ebay's part.

Sherry

=^.^= =^.^=
( ) ( )
" " =^.^= " "

a_c_green · ‎07-05-2017

@sharingtheland wrote:
::jumps up and down and waves to frock::

(pretend like there is a gif of that here; I dunno how to do it)

Me neither... I've got a waving .gif above, but it's not displaying properly. It used to work just fine here... Sigh...

siayan · ‎07-05-2017

@mr_lincoln wrote:
@siayan
@siayan wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:
-Cast Iron pots - skillets
-Vintage model kits planes and cars
-Silverplate flatware - Sterling if you can get it cheap OR, like I've found a few times, several pieces of Sterling mixed in with Silvperlate once they get cleaned up is a real bonus
-Cereal premiums (toys)
-Vintage games if complete (these are pay the light bill type sales but move consistently over time)

Good ones. Cast Iron has gone crazy the last few months. I did well with models I purchased, esp. the high end ones. The idea is to know different things so there is more of a chance of not having competition when buying. I usually do well at auctions but the last Estate sales did me right. If they have all good stuff the 50% day is best for me. This is a change from the past where I only went to estate sales to waste time.
Then you will get a kick out of this one ... I am watching a local online estate Auction and they have some Sterling Silver lots ... so yours truly was hoping to maybe "scoop" some deals and resell for some nice profit ... errrnt ... I put up some bids (the Max bid column) ... needless to say, some serious Buyers are competing ... and actually, right now it is the same bidder winning all three Sterling lots!!!!

@mr_lincoln The sterling silver sets cross the $1000 mark and go up at the auctions around here. There just aren't many out there either. Last time I saw sterling silverware they were selling mixed patterns by the spoon and getting $25 to 40 each. I keep away from that.

____________________________________________________________________
Prov 20:14 It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎07-05-2017

The reason categories are important (too lazy to see who argued) is that eBay is now defaulting the category on many searches. If the buyer doesn't notic they are now seeing items in the ne category only. For me the default is losing 2/3rds of the items I could be seeing. If you don't use The category eBay does you're out of luck.

tunicaslot · ‎07-05-2017

@goodluckselling wrote:
@tunicaslot wrote:
I don't have stats on sales - but can tell you I was one of the ones caught in the Beanie Baby craze as a collector and tho there were a lot listed - many more sold than has been reported. In fact many of us branched off and started to collect the Ty Attic Treasures as we couldn't afford the prices the Beanie Babies were going for on Ebay.
Just curious. What was the average price a buyer had to pay for an average beanie baby when they first hit the market?

Good Luck Selling!

Beanies started at $3.99 at stores near me - by the time I was interested in them they were $5 and most stores limited you to 3. We'd be in line at 7 AM waiting for the stores to open at 10 AM. Were we crazy - you bet - but we became a family and I'm still friends with many of them today!

Of course - instead of selling and making a profit - we held onto them and now can't give them away!

yuzuha · ‎07-05-2017

- Diversify, diversify, diversify. If you only sell in one niche, you're completely at the mercy of the market for that particular niche, which can be a disaster for you if it ends up tanking.

- Do constant research on prices to make sure yours are in line with the going prices for what you're selling. We've all seen them-- those items that are priced so ludicrously high that they make you wonder if the seller has bothered to look at what that item actually sells for lately. You don't want to be that person.

- Don't make the mistake of purchasing large amounts of a particular item for inventory unless you're 100% certain that you'll be able to sell it all. You don't want to get stuck with a pile of duds that you have to practically give away.

- If you have something that you've had listed for a long time with no sales, give it a "vacation" for a while. Take it down and don't relist it for a few weeks to a month. That will make it look new and fresh when you finally do relist it and (in my experience) can often lead to sales.

- DON'T use GTC for anything other than multi-quantity listings that get regular sales because otherwise it will hurt you, not help. The longer a listing goes without a sale, the further down it sinks in Best Match search, which is the exact opposite of what you want. Use 30-day fixed price and then just relist/sell similar when it ends to give it that "New Listing" search boost-- I find that the majority of my sales happen either right before an item ends or right after I relist it.

timemachine777 · ‎07-05-2017

@tunicaslot wrote:
@goodluckselling wrote:
@tunicaslot wrote:
I don't have stats on sales - but can tell you I was one of the ones caught in the Beanie Baby craze as a collector and tho there were a lot listed - many more sold than has been reported. In fact many of us branched off and started to collect the Ty Attic Treasures as we couldn't afford the prices the Beanie Babies were going for on Ebay.
Just curious. What was the average price a buyer had to pay for an average beanie baby when they first hit the market?

Good Luck Selling!
Beanies started at $3.99 at stores near me - by the time I was interested in them they were $5 and most stores limited you to 3. We'd be in line at 7 AM waiting for the stores to open at 10 AM. Were we crazy - you bet - but we became a family and I'm still friends with many of them today!

Of course - instead of selling and making a profit - we held onto them and now can't give them away!

That's for sure. I've never purchased a beanie baby for the actual beanie baby. I acquired all of mine from lots that I bought and the beanies just happened to be in them. I have totes of those things in Mint cond with their little tag protectors on them.

One day I need to sort through them and sell the ones that still have a little value left in them. I do know that I have about 100 errors all in their own little plastic display case and marked for what type of error. I ended up with those from a recent house lot.

timemachine777 · ‎07-05-2017

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
The reason categories are important (too lazy to see who argued) is that eBay is now defaulting the category on many searches. If the buyer doesn't notic they are now seeing items in the ne category only. For me the default is losing 2/3rds of the items I could be seeing. If you don't use The category eBay does you're out of luck.

I agree, and it's most likely the biggest reason for sellers to complain about their items being hidden. Most seller probably don't realize that eBay is driving their search results in an eBay selected category vs the all category that is appearing in the drop menu. The same goes for buyers. That's the first thing that I check when I search my own items.