First post in community..multiple questions

[verasplace]

HI ALL...

New to posting, was a silent buyer/off and on seller for a few years. I am an ex engineer and currently a stay at home mommy for 2 toddlers.  I started selling on ebay because I wanted to feel like I am doing something for me and to convince myself that I have a "job" that I can do at my own time (when it exists that is). Sales have not been good. So I started thinking of buying a new high end camera instead of my smart phone camera.  I keep thinking there has to be an algorithem to this ebay. I am really wanting to reach a steady sales of 10 items a day. Whats the secret?. I just cant imagine that over 150 million users/buyers on ebay and my items are only getting 5 views in a month time....what am I missing?..advice needed here...really want to feel more successful doing this and want steady sales. Is there a magic number of items to list in order to get more sales?...

Thanks in advance.

[castlemagicmemories]

Many are complaining of no or low sales right now, so don't feel alone.

You don't have to buy a high end camera; search the Board for a thread on cameras.  I started one last fall when I broke my camera; judging from that thread, most sellers don't use a high end camera.  After reading that thread, I just bought a replacement of the one that I broke, LOL.

But good quality pictures do help.

They say listing a few listings every day helps bump up your visibility.

Be sure your titles reflect all the terms a buyer could use to search for your item.

Don't use GTC listings; they lower visibility.

[partial*eclipse]

Many members will not consider purchasing from a seller whose feedback is below 98%.   What did you do when the buyer said you shipped shoes in 2 different sizes?  You need to get that percentage up, even if it means purchasing a few cheap things.  Have you done thorough research about pricing your items?   Who is giong to bid $49.99 for a $50 gift card?

[verasplace]

What is" gtc" listing?

[mistwomandancing]

New sellers here rarely realize just HOW competitive eBay is in every category.  Ebay runs about a billion listings every day.  I'll repeat that number... a BILLION, each day.  It's like hoping your grain of sand gets noticed in amongst all the other grains that make up the beach!

Categories do seem to vary in what sellers now are experiencing in sales, but for many sellers, a good solid 10% of their listed number of items, sold each month, would be good and a solid result for eBay in this day and age, in competition with all the bazillion other online retail options out there for buyers!

So you want to sell an average of about 10 per day, so times a 30-day month, we'll say 300 sales per month.  Easy Peasy.  Run a fairly constant 3,000 listings at all times, being sure to keep new offerings appearing daily.  As you sell, make sure you're constantly getting those replacements up and running.

Some sellers have a much higher sell rate than just 10% of listing inventory each month.  Some aren't even there.  And as I said above, this varies by category, but also a LOT by the quality of the seller, the listings put up (photos, description, price) and then...

It helps to sell in categories that focus on popular merchandise, and clothing is always popular, and then also categories where you don't have a lot of competition, and clothing is one of the most crammed, over-saturated categories there is to compete in.

From the outside looking in, you'd think it should be easy to sell stuff here, just based on the population out there!  Nothing could be further from the truth, since there are sooooooooooo many sellers here in competition with you, and since there are sooooooooooo many OTHER places for shoppers to go looking.  It's a hard way to make a living, but easy to DO, if that makes any sense.

[zzydny]

First off, welcome.  Asking questions is a good way to get your feet on firmer ground.  I'm just a small seller, too, so I'll tell you what strikes me immediately.

Don't buy  a new camera.  Or at least don't buy one until you're selling enough to justify a purchase.  I've visually scanned down your listings and your pictures seem reasonably good, so don't worry about that right now.

Next, I notice that you have Free Ship on some items but not on others; you might want to take a look at the items that are not Free Ship because Free Ship really does drive sales.  As I'm sure you already know, just fold the amount of shipping into the price of your item.

You have a lot of clothing listed.  Clothing is a fairly bloated category, unfortunately, and it's also a category with a high risk of return.  Make sure that your prices are competitive with other sellers.  Looks like you've got good details on measurements.  You might want to also consider snapping some pictures with a tape measure next to the item in the appropriate places where your buyer might be worried about fit.

Check your listings titles for appropriate capitalization.  When I see something as "NWt" instead of "NWT" that immediately signals that the seller might be lazy about details.  You've got some words capitalized and some not, and it seems really random and careless, especially when it's a matter of the brand name.  It's a small thing but remember that this is what your potential buyer sees first.   You can make or lose a sale in the first 5 seconds.

How are you listing?  30 Day or GTC?  30 Day is good.  GTC is not--if an item listed GTC goes unsold for a period of time, it falls lower and lower on the search index and people may not see it.

There really isn't any algorithm to eBay so far as I know.  Sometimes sales are good; other times, they inexpicably fall off.  What you've got to do is try and keep trying.  Change things up every so often--like re-wording your titles or changing your primary picture.  And a magic number of items?  Not really--just keep your stock fresh by rotating it if it doesn't sell.

Also, try watching eBay Webinars.  While everything won't necessarily apply, there are some good tips there.  And if you haven't read all of the seller information, do so--good tips there, too.

Rule number one:  never give up.   You can do this.

[verasplace]

I think that buyer was wrong leaving that feedback. They did not attempt to contact me at all and I was shocked with that feedback. Requested that they ship back and I would pay for return shipping but they didnt respond. I feel this feedback was not my product or not valid. I put photos of items I sell if they were 2 sizes it would have been in photos also since most of my items are 1 of each variation.

[zzydny]

---

@verasplace wrote:

What is" gtc" listing?

---

Good Til Cancelled.  It's a listing without an end date that will automatically re-list each month.  I don't advise using them.....but that's just me.

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@verasplace wrote:

What is" gtc" listing?

---

Good TIl Cancelled.

[bonjourami]

The last stats I saw was 300 million members..and a million new items posted every day..

[bonjourami]

And Ebay has always been cyclical..sales are up..sales are down..have to learn to go with the flow,and not make yourself crazy with it..

[doubledz-a2z]

Your shipping costs seem high  on some items when they would fit nicely into a USPS Padded Flat Rate Envelope for about $6.00.     Buyers are saavy and know when a seller is trying to make money off the shipping costs and that is a big turn off.    I would not invest a dime in a high end camera.  Buyers click on items from the title description so make sure you use all the characters allowed and yes proper spelling and grammer are a must.    

[mr_lincoln]

@verasplace  We started buying in 2007 then started Selling in 2015 when a family member passed and we decided to use eBay as one avenue to liquidate the estate which had accrued 3 generations of stuff in a home build in the 1880s ...

One thing I've learned is diversity really pays dividends and having a good half dozen or more solid selling categories pays off in the long run.  When some are slow there's a chance others are not and I've found its a rare occasion when all are dead.

As for where to go to get inventory to sell, I am sure others will mention thrift shops, yard sales, etc. but another source we use is online estate auctions.  Not sure what state you are in but if you type:

your state.hibid.com that will return the Hibid Portal in your state (if they are active there).  Once there you can sort by online auctions on the one pull down list.  Many Auction firms use the Auction Flex s.w. by Hibid and clear a house out prior to selling it with a localized online auction that runs up to 2-3 weeks before closing.  Most of them have a day to go and preview the items for sale prior to auction close and then they have one day where you pick up.  These occur every month.  You can get on the email list and get notifications of online auctions.

The nice thing with this approach is you can do it from your home and create a short list of things being sold and then research them prior to bidding.  That way you can figure out the absolute max you will pay for an item, throw your max bid up if you want and wait to see if you win ... or watch the day the items close and bid live.  What I find to be the best value is like "lots" of things ... like tool lots where you can break the lot down into multiple eBay listings, or models, or toy cars, etc. 

In any event, best wishes to you ...

[luckythewinner]

---

---

So I started thinking of buying a new high end camera instead of my smart phone camera

Do you think your pictures are the problem? As a buyer, how often did picture quality drive your buying decisions? 

I keep thinking there has to be an algorithem to this ebay. I am really wanting to reach a steady sales of 10 items a day. Whats the secret?

The secret is to sell items that:

• people want
• at a price they are willing to pay
• in a listing they will find
• are more attractive than the competition

[vintagecraze50]

Sell items in a niche category if you can. That can help because of the competition on so many run of the mill you can find it everywhere stuff. There is a multimillion dollar seller that was featured here a few weeks ago selling high end designer merchandise that she partners with others to sell on consignment. Doing something with consigned popular designer items can be a good start since there would be little up front money involved. Just a thought.