Best selling strategy as a newbie

[jusha-7343]

I was curious in your opinion is it more important to build feedback build your credibility and focus less on any type of profit or profit margins especially at the beginning, I was looking to focus on probably just several items that sell really well,I do not plan to store a lot of stock and really want to take my time and slowly learn how to do this successfully rather than making a quick buck, and well I know it’s not good business and maybe not everybody would do this,is it OK to even possibly consider maybe breaking even at the beginning on many of my potential sales taking into account that the feedback and just building my credibility as a seller outweighs that? and as I build all of that up and become more experienced than I can focus a little bit more on pricing and profit margins.

[fern*wood]

I think that's a good strategy.   I've read far too many horror stories of sellers starting out with high dollar items only to end up with heartache by not knowing how things work and making themselves a target for dishonest buyers.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Also know- regardless of what you sell:

1.) Be signed up and approved for Managed Payments FIRST!

2.) Know that if you sell many 'new' items, even if small $$, ebay may require 'receipts' etc. and shut you down until they are satisfied

3.) know that ebay may hold your money for 30 days as a new seller

4.) New sellers are a magnet for scammers. Don't buy 'gift cards' for anyone; don't give emails or phone numbers. 

5.) Best to list items as Buy It Now with Immediate Payment Required

6.) Be sure that 'best offer' is toggled off and not on your listings

[onlinecentral]

My childhood friend and I started selling around the same time. We both waited until we had 100 feedback as a buyer before creating our first listing.

Potential buyers who looked at our feedback profiles could figure out it was all as a buyer. But not everyone will research that. Having the 3 digits with the number 100 showed some level of experience.

[m60driver]

A lot depends on what category you want to sell.  Definitely helps to accept lower margins in the beginning to build up feedback.  But if you have very competitive prices then there are buyers who will buy from a low feedback seller knowing the Ebay money back guarantee.  As others mentioned, just don't start by selling high priced items regardless of how competitive your prices are.

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

Also know- regardless of what you sell:

1.) Be signed up and approved for Managed Payments FIRST!

2.) Know that if you sell many 'new' items, even if small $$, ebay may require 'receipts' etc. and shut you down until they are satisfied

3.) know that ebay may hold your money for 30 days as a new seller

4.) New sellers are a magnet for scammers. Don't buy 'gift cards' for anyone; don't give emails or phone numbers. 

5.) Best to list items as Buy It Now with Immediate Payment Required

6.) Be sure that 'best offer' is toggled off and not on your listings

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Additionally:

7.) Don't respond to any communications outside eBay messaging.
8.) All transacting of items listed at eBay must be kept within eBay, no email sharing, phone #'s etc.
9.) Try focus initial items you want sell are not prone to "Not as Described" or "Functional" items.  Aka: Don't start with electronics or such things.  Go low ticket items where its difficult for buyer(s) to say, "Its doesn't work" or "Its not as described."
10.) I'd say you want establish 30-50 positive feedbacks w/ no negatives or neutrals before stepping it up.  The reason simple, most buyers dont read feedback UNLESS the feedback percentile shows reason to.  That is to say a seller with 100% or 99%, 98% etc down to perhaps 95% thereabouts folks dont read feedbacks.  But once an account gets into the "Hmmm?" zone, many will.  That said, lets say you've 10 sales and all went well until last one, all of a sudden you're at a 90% feedback overall rating which literally take a year for that negative to fall off. 

11.)  (Some sellers will say dont do this) -> Initially track packages to buyers and note them in  say a spreadsheet (Libre Office is free for your computer).  After a few days if you've not received a feedback check that users account and "Feedback left for sellers" to see if said buyer is frequent giver of Negatives or Neutrals.  If not, then consider sending a message through eBay basically with a "Greetings, I see that you have received you're parcel I sent for "xxxxx" blah... blah... blah... Please consider leaving a positive rating and I will reciprocate accordingly"

[bamorris]

Great advice in this thread already.

I'd just add that you're initially going to have a difficult go of it without any feedback and a fairly new account. eBay has been around so long that your fresh account will quickly be a red flag for potential customers.

You might focus on selling items you already own. Declutter a little bit. Do you have old XBOX 360 or PlayStation 2 or 3 games? Those generally sell and are easy to ship out as First Class. And if you encounter dishonest buyers who bag you with fraudulent claims, you're not out much money.

I'd start with items that are 5-10 dollars shipped. Build up a little feedback and work hard. Communicate to your customers that you're new and if they were happy, to please leave you a note of positive feedback.

Customer communication is almost non-existent as eBay has automated tasks we used to communicate with buyers on. Even today, customers will leave notes of positive feedback that say "Great communication" when we never communicated outside of eBay's automated messages.

Doing my best "old man" voice. "Back in my day..." I remember selling on eBay and requiring USPS Money Orders to be snail mailed to me to ship items.

Best of luck to you. Start small. Don't be afraid to start selling low priced items right away, even with low/no feedback. That's only temporary and your efforts will be rewarded if you put in the work, put the customer first, and understand it's not a perfect system.

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

Now all that said I don't know what other sellers might say to start with, I'd say look for say a few lots of decent blu-ray DVD's on say FB Marketplace CHEAP...  Like 40 or 50 blu rays for $100 or something.  Sell them for dirt and use media mail to ship em' as be like $3.50 shipping up to a pound of them and dont sell any w/ scratches!

Goal is not to make profit, goal is to make sales and feedback.  So ya' like list em' at $2 or $3 each and setup shipping to so they can buy say 2 or 3 of em' and still be under a pound.  The Postal Service has made selling low ticket items that would ship via normal means very expensive.  Buyers look at the stuff!

"Why would I spend $10 on this thing when it costs $15 to ship it to me" unless that $10 thing is actually like a $40 or $50 thing.  In others words, you have to think like a "Frugal" consumer.  Once you get established then you have to think like a smart seller, NEVER overreact.  Think.  That is to say when a customer approaches you be it pre or post purchase DONT be reactionary... Think before you communicate.

[jusha-7343]

Thank you for all the advice and helpful tips, I am definitely going to start small I was thinking something like candles or there are several items that are regionally  available in my area that people clamor for across the country and talk about all the time once they move away I rarely see them online listed surprisingly and when I do see them people want ridiculous amounts of money for them considering locally I can buy them for a fraction of that, I am always looking to get a deal I shop sales and I Google everything before i buy anything and I’ve learned very well how to do price matching I am always fascinated on sites like eBay just how much some people are willing to pay for certain items, I mean even the buy it now price is typically more than I think I’ve ever paid for the majority of items I’ve ever looked for on eBay for example my Nike Pegasus 39 running sneakers I paid $60 for I see routinely on eBay they go anywhere from $80 all the way up to the $130 retail price, especially around the holidays and of course after new year when everybody has their gym resolutions

[bamorris]

You can find'em even cheaper at Goodwill outlets if they have them in your area. They sell everything by the pound (~5 dollars per pound of "stuff").

Knowing your market is also important. Music DVDs or Blu-Rays can do well (Prince, Kiss, etc) and some eclectic choices. As for movies, it's a craps shoot for me. I don't know the market as well as I should to dabble in it. All the Blu-Rays I come across from my primary source of merchandise tend not to sell well. They might if I took a loss on them, but I'd rather toss them than take a L.

I never understood why console games aren't accepted as media mail. Don't they pass the test?

[janet9988]

Another thing to consider is buying some items to gain some feedback as a buyer.

Then once you are more established you should open a second account strictly for buying.

This will prevent  seller retaliation if you have a problem with an item or seller as that seller could buy from you just to leave negative feedback or cause problems.

[jusha-7343]

No unfortunately no Goodwill around here we have several thrifty shoppers and a  Salvation Army store several consignment shops and we also have a Saturday’s farmers market year around and a Sunday flea market with hundreds of sellers in my neighborhood, surprisingly not a lot of media outside of video games at the flea market.

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

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@jusha-7343 wrote:

No unfortunately no Goodwill around here we have several thrifty shoppers and a  Salvation Army store several consignment shops and we also have a Saturday’s farmers market year around and a Sunday flea market with hundreds of sellers in my neighborhood, surprisingly not a lot of media outside of video games at the flea market.

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I'm not a big fan of Goodwill, numerous mainstream media reports on "Fat Cats" salaries and I witnessed it myself locally listening to two local Goodwill execs talking quite poorly about folks who donate whilst the lady drove a BMW and the other a Mercedes.  They put the Volunteers of America Thrifts out of business, an entity who did great good in the community, same with two Veteran's thrifts and several Salvations Army Thrifts also closed and they too do great community work, Goodwill?  Not so much.

Flea Markets can be good place find good stuff but often many sellers know what they have or other sellers know what they have LOL.  So before the places open to the general public the resellers are wandering looking for things.  Been there done that.

You mentioned candles, not my forte but shipping cost could be issue if trying to actually swing profit.  Ultimately if you can create via self something(s) people want, that's best and no need hold inventories.  Or you can come and buy everything I have LOL.  99.99% everything I have was sittin' in secure storage for 10+ years so I decided I probably ought address it.

[bamorris]

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@retro_entertainment_collectibles wrote:

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I'm not a big fan of Goodwill, numerous mainstream media reports on "Fat Cats" salaries and I witnessed it myself locally listening to two local Goodwill execs talking quite poorly about folks who donate whilst the lady drove a BMW and the other a Mercedes.  They put the Volunteers of America Thrifts out of business, an entity who did great good in the community, same with two Veteran's thrifts and several Salvations Army Thrifts also closed and they too do great community work, Goodwill?  Not so much.

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They do some good in the community. I am not a Goodwill superfan by any stretch of the imagination, but their "outlet" junk can sometimes be a goldmine. I'm not doing well enough that I can be choosy based on who drives a Mercedes. Most "successful" non-profits work hard to not make a profit. Sometimes that means the perception of an overpaid executive suite.

When I donate my used items, I won't donate to Goodwill. Mainly because they've burned me too many times with a carload of stuff only to find out they've closed their donation drop-off for the day. Sometimes longer.

There's another big thrift store in my neighborhood that never closes their donation centers.

But again. It's nothing personal. I'm only there to find stuff people want to buy. I don't care about their business practices. Most of the stuff people donate is already trash (broken, dirty, unusable, undesirable). But I occasionally find some picked over gold that people are unaware of. One that comes to mind was a vintage HP calculator. I had to rummage through the bin to find the carrying case and AC adapter. But I found it all.

But to each his own. If you're doing well enough with your other merch sources, I'm happy for you. I hope to be there someday.