Do You Compare Yourself to Other Sellers? Why or Why Not?

[getitright1234]

Do You Compare Yourself to Other Sellers? Why or Why Not?

Yes, I do compare myself to other Sellers.  There are Sellers out here with some great and unique products and when I see those products, I look for those things when I am sourcing. There are also Sellers who have great presentation of their listings.  Reviewing those listings has helped me to better present my product.

So, yes I do compare myself to other Sellers and I have learned a lot.    

[a_c_green]

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@getitright1234 wrote:

Do You Compare Yourself to Other Sellers? Why or Why Not?

Yes, I do compare myself to other Sellers.    

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Me too. My conclusions after extensive study are that I have a manly profile, prominent chin, a look of husky reassurance, smoldering eyes that look deep into your soul, and a portly but distinguished physique. Wanna buy a duck?

[iamonourside]

More seriously, yes, all the time. eBay is a challenge. Learning from the experience of others is common sense - what is said, such as on these boards, and what is actually done, as in their listings. 

On the other hand, I don't "devote" time to it, because "always be listing" is the first and best use of my selling time, imo.

[kim_y_buran]

Yes.  If I did not I would have been asking 50% of the current going prices.

[gwzcomps]

I compare myself by price and even that I don't care so much about anymore. I have found over the years that regardless of the feedback score most sellers are amateurs at best. Overall I focus on what makes me the best seller possible and leave the rest to fate.

[drinkwine1204]

yes, compare price, # of items sold, photos, keywords in title, descriptions.  Have learned quite a bit.

[slippinjimmy]

I've been a merchant for 50 years, I don't think "compare" is the right word.  I study what other merchants are doing and learn from that. It's not just merchants nor it just merchants in a similar field, I study the actions of all others in a very wide range of business models and industries.

While I like to think I'm smarter than most and know more than just about anyone I realize that is VERY far from the truth. I'm not big on book learning, I think careful and considered observation of others is the best way to learn.

[monster-deals]

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@getitright1234 wrote:

So, yes I do compare myself to other Sellers and I have learned a lot.    

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I've been doing ebay full time for a decade and part time for 20 years, there isn't much left for me to learn from except how to make more with less which I have had to teach myself and get incrementally better at.

Right now I am teaching an assistant how to source, he'll be ready for rolling without training wheels about 2028.

[chapeau-noir]

I don't compare so much as I'm always learning.

[iart]

We even sometimes buy items from competitors to check out their handling time, condition honesty and packing materials.

Then we try to offer more photos, better descriptions, faster shipping, better packing and more honest condition notes than most of the other sellers.

Unfortunately, these qualities don't seem to be high up on ebay's search visibility scale.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Nope, not since I quit selling candles and started selling old books and paper. I gave up comparing prices since they can be all over the place, even if I can find a listing to compare it to.  My TOS is simple and Ebay sets it for me - payment within 48 hours, free returns for any reason, that's it . I don't have endless paragraphs about policies and feedback and other irrelevant stuff, so no need to compare that. My photos are what they are, and they're not going to get any better, so no need to compare those. Good cameras and techniques can't help a bad photographer lol

If anything, I compare other sellers to myself.  Simple listings, actual product descriptions and geared toward customer service, without being a doormat. Those are the sellers I look for, because those will give you the best items hands down.

[bigdeals.etc]

The only seller I cannot even compare myself to is @inhawaii .

You know... being the #1 best ebay seller and all.

[bigdeals.etc]

What you call "compare", others may call "stalking."

I call it "research".

If I find something new to try to sell, I'll see how others are doing with it (on average, and avoid the outliers). Then I'll put myself out there and price it slightly higher than the average price. No sense in contributing to the race to the bottom. My listings and CS will outshine the competition.

[maros9416]

I don't want my business to be comparable to others. I try my best to use my experience in hospitality to focus totally on what the buyer sees and what their immediate impression and questions they could have. I don't find it useful to model myself after others because it's the same as what I noticed in the flea market business; The people that get the most for certain items they ' talk the talk, and walk the walk '. Saying, someone who is a life-long rocker who dresses the part will develop a groovy following and he will get the highest price for his rock records. Same goes for all other categories. I'm just a squirrel trying to get a nut, my model is we constantly get tons of merch and everyone gets a deal, so check back often.

  I think everyone checks comps, because it is prudent to do so. However, I don't look to other sellers for ways to improve my strategies. It is nice to look at large sellers and see what makes them tick, but as another poster said, even with 1000's of feedback's, they still have many holes of mistakes that could be misleading.         

[inhawaii]

I would like to compare myself to other sellers (like bigdeals.etc)  but i'm not worthy. I'm small potatoes. He sells more in a day than i sell all week.   *bow*