How to improve my sales ?

[your_daily_bargain]

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting here.

wanted to share my situation and ask for an advice from experienced sellers  on how to perform better.

Around September  last year i decided to start selling again on eBay.

Everything went beyond expectation sale skyrocketed, my limits were  increased and  with time I've purchased  more inventory for my store..  During  December eBay restriction came out of nowhere ( i guess  because I've sold a Louis Vuitton handbag  and it was the trigger for the restriction,  but i might be wrong ) 

it took me about a week to prove them i have everything in stock, legit, authenticated and etc... the biggest issue for me  is that after being unrestricted they lowered my selling  limits from 1k to 100 items... while i have an inventory of 1k + items.. i tried to contact eBay several times and all i managed to get is additional 50 items  so now my total limit is 150 items per month.

since the restriction  my sales went downhill, items are not getting views even if promoted and i get 2-5 sales a week.. before restriction i had 3-5 sales every day with million of impressions and good % of conversion.

most of my items are  in 10-20$ range, quick math if i list 150 10$ items best case scenario  its maximum  1.5k$ in month before fees and shipping... with the amount of sales i have it just doesn't worth the hustle..

that's why for now  I've picked most expensive items in my inventory  hoping to  maximize profit ..   

i don't see a solution  in lowering price because 1. there will be almost no profit and 2. sometime when i do the opposite and increase the price item sells faster then it was with lower price.

so my main question is what would you advice me to do to maximize the sales? 

any alternative platforms that worth trying ? 

Thank you all in advance .

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

That's an interesting situation. eBay has been tightening up security on high value, high fraud items/categories and it appears you got caught in that. Good news that you got everything reinstated.

I'd guess the lower limits are because your risk as a seller is higher when you sell LV and such.

There are other venues where you can sell designer handbags, though we're not allowed to suggest you leave eBay and can't name those venues, suggesting you go there. So this is my advice:

First, take down the artwork. It's typically a slower seller. What you want to do now is sell more, not sell less.

Sell the lower priced stuff. If you can turn and burn, it's worth taking some time with lower profits in order to lessen the timeframe before your next listing limit increase. Plus selling lower priced items means your risk (to eBay) as a seller is lower.

This advice may sound surprising since you've opted for the opposite strategy of listing higher value items, but as long as your lower priced items are desirable and will sell quickly, it's a solid option for getting your account in good standing at a quicker pace. Build up your seller performance, build up your sales and your listing limits will keep increasing. Work your way up to the expensive items and leave the long-tail items on the shelf for a while.

[your_daily_bargain]

Thank you for quick reply, i do understand the point behind your advice, probably its better to sell 10-20$ items than keep a 3$k artwork listed.. the most upset part is that eBay told me they are ready to review my next listing limit increase only at the end of February.. 

The other venues you were talking about starts with E ands with Y ? 

[wastingtime101]

eBay will review listing limits no more than once every 30 days. That's standard for all sellers on the platform.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@your_daily_bargain wrote:

Thank you for quick reply, i do understand the point behind your advice, probably its better to sell 10-20$ items than keep a 3$k artwork listed.. the most upset part is that eBay told me they are ready to review my next listing limit increase only at the end of February.. 

The other venues you were talking about starts with E ands with Y ? 

---

That's Etsy and they're supposedly handmade and vintage only (though they're loaded with dropshipped print stuff and Ali-Express).  The other big players will pop up with a bit of searching, then you can decide where you want to go with these items, but be aware, most active platforms have new seller restrictions of some kind or other.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Wasting gives you great advice, sell low price items now.   Under $50 or better yet under $30, use that to establish yourself & you'll make more sales too.  The high price items are going to have more scrutiny.  Also, be aware that you cannot say things like "probably" or "maybe" in your title (probably Hopi doll), you need to know what you're selling or not use the keyword at all.  Your listing may get pulled.  Also, in regards to Native American art, be aware that there is US law, (I see you're not in the US, but you are selling there & eBay is located there) that has much more stringent requirements about listing anything with the words "Native American or Indian".   I would suggest you familiarize yourself with the policy,  the law & also eBay has a Native American item policy as that listing is likely to get pulled & you could get suspended, which is the last thing you need right now.   The eBay policy should have come up when you listed it.  That listing is an invitation to be pulled. 

[wifetrained]

If you have high value items to sell, I'd think twice before listing them on this platform. Rule of thumb here is that you never list anything you can't afford to lose. Ebay's policies favor buyers and scammers and fraudsters are rampant, so seller beware.

[your_daily_bargain]

yeah..  I've had a  return request case resolved in my favor but this morning ive got a message that buyer applied for appeal and eBay's decides in his favor now, lost 100$ and the item...