How to sell more?

[stacimorri-0]

I was just wondering how do I get to the point where my items are selling everyday.

[musicforyoureyes]

If you find out, let us know!  (Smiles!)

It's slow right now: last of the vacations, beginning of schooltime.  Sales should pick up for the holidays, though, so stay alert!  

It takes time to build a reputation and a customer base, as with any business, so hang in there and ship fast, pack well and attractively, and reply to questions politely and quickly.  

You'll be great!

[nowthatsjustducky]

There is no one size fits all method.  The best advice I can offer is to try to get some stuff listed daily so there is constant activity on your account.  Also, working fresh material into the mix helps, as well as having a variety of product types to sell instead of limiting yourself to a single category or a super narrow range of categories.

Also, nowadays, it is mostly luck of the draw.  If for some reason your items are not being seen (a phenomenon that we often have little control over), or there is no one actually shopping for any given item you may have at any given time, then those things won't sell.  For vintage and collectibles (I haven't looked at your listings to see what you deal in), those things just require the right person to come along and see it at the right time.

[musicforyoureyes]

P.S.!  Also, NEVER sell to lose or break even.  Do the math: your item's cost, the packing, all the fees---all the fees.  Lots of people forget there's a price to selling and drop out when they find out they didn't make a cent.  

Best of luck and welcome!

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

Good question . . . I haven't had a sale in almost 3 months.

That said, I suggest you start with 80-character titles that include searchable keywords.  Brand, generic product name, color, size (numbers), materials, unique details, etc.  Most important words first, avoid extraneous punctuation.

Add sharp, clear, well-lighted, frame-filling photos; detailed Item Specifics, and precise but concise product descriptions.

Sell what people want to buy at a price they are willing to pay.

Good luck!

~~C~~

[mistwomandancing]

Most of the sellers I know here who are having sales come in every day with packages going out on a regular daily basis are running listings that number in the hundreds and hundreds and even thousands. 

Obviously they have built up to the numbers they are running, but part of that is creating new listings daily (with very few days that go by without putting up those new listings!) so there are constantly some of their listings that show up in the *Newly Listed* searches, which will occasionally bring buyers in to look over the rest of what they have for sale as well. 

To a big extent, sales here and most everywhere is a Numbers Game.   (Certainly no guarantees, but overall.. the more merchandise you have for sale, the more sales you will make.)  And if you want DAILY sales in any numbers, you usually need to be running the number of listings here that might be comparable to the number of items offered in inventory in a Real Store out at the mall. 

When you realize that the competition here (and online in general) for nearly everything is as great as it is, you quickly realize that you need to make all of your listings compete strongly against what the other sellers are offering!  Which means, top notch listing titles, TOP NOTCH photos, great descriptions, and excellent pricing.  When YOUR listings are the most enticing ones that pop up in a buyer's search, it will be much more likely that YOU will be the seller who gets the sale.

(You need to photograph your items against a white (or appropriate color) PLAIN background...  half of your items can't be seen very well against the backgrounds you have photographed them against.  Bad, bad for sales.)

[nowthatsjustducky]

I've fallen behind on getting the new listings up regularly lately myself.  That is because I typically only do at most 8 per day on each store account, to spread the monthly 250 out across the entire month (2 per day on my "overflow" 50 items per month accounts).

Lately though, the majority of the fresh material I have been getting is old enough to where they get awarded to Etsy first for a 4 month listing cycle, so most of what is going up this month are second chancers (second time on a given account for items) or inventory transfers between accounts.

Still, we have more than enough old product to cycle through the accounts to where a significant amount does sell each month.  Probably about time to get another 8 pieces ready to go up sometime next week now...after I finish my backlog of Etsy listings and process the stuff we got at Salvation Army a couple days ago (again, most of which are going to Etsy first).

Oh, and I just realized, I have very little prepared Turbo Lister entries that are currently not listed anywhere.  That 50 free listings promo recently ate up most of what was waiting their next turn (had enough to fully utilize the promo on the two overflow accounts with very little left over).

[mistwomandancing]

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nowthatsjustducky wrote:

I've fallen behind on getting the new listings up regularly lately myself. 

When that happens to me (often enough) I tell myself it's No Biggie.  lol

One thing I will say for being a seller here on eBay for so many of us, it is a site where you can gear up and give it all you've got when the fever hits you, and ease back off a bit when you're pooped/bored/facing pain issues/dealing with other outside demands/etc.

We see folks here who use selling on eBay as their main financial support and those who just supplement their incomes with eBay sales.  BUT..

I do notice a lot of (likely newer & less experienced) sellers who come here thinking they will make Big Bucks selling stuff on eBay, but they fall very, very short in putting in the full work week of hours it takes to make your living in sales.  I think because it is so easy to do, some translate that in their thinking that it will result (somehow) into Easy Money... like into a LOT of Easy Money, but they aren't here long before they are dissuaded of that notion.  

[luckythewinner]

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@stacimorri-0 wrote:

I was just wondering how do I get to the point where my items are selling everyday.

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Offer items that people want everyday. 

[nowthatsjustducky]

Looking back at my first post in this thread, I am totally shocked that I did not also go the smartarse angle as well and suggest moving to China and selling from there.  😄

[luckythewinner]

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@nowthatsjustducky wrote:

Looking back at my first post in this thread, I am totally shocked that I did not also go the smartarse angle as well and suggest moving to China and selling from there.  😄

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I was not being a smartass. The best way to sell a lot of items on eBay is to list a lot of items that people want to buy. 

But unfortunately, finding those items means locating high-demand items at a cost that allows you to offer the best price - and that is very hard to do.  

If it were easy, everyone here would be rich. 

[southernfriedbelle]

I agree with what everyone else has already said. One thing I would encourage you to do is describe as fully as you can what you're selling in the listing title. The keywords in your titles are what will get results when someone is doing a search. For example, those gorgeous Nine West heels you have listed are not going to stand out in a search. You should put more details in the listing title such as:

Nine West Black Suede Strappy Caged High Heel  Booties Gold Back Zipper 5.5 M

That's just  off the top of my head. You can search sold listings for ideas on similar items that sold well and use them as a guide. Also, utilize more item specifics and bullet point details In your decription

[nowthatsjustducky]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@nowthatsjustducky wrote:

Looking back at my first post in this thread, I am totally shocked that I did not also go the smartarse angle as well and suggest moving to China and selling from there.  😄

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I was not being a smartass.

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I wasn't implying that.  This was just a case of your post being where I hit reply instead of further back up.

[lemarcheaupuces]

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@stacimorri-0 wrote:

I was just wondering how do I get to the point where my items are selling everyday.

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do a lot of research...

today is a buyer's market.

what works?

rare, desirable, current fad, niche (tools, electronics, clothing, shoes), volume (start everything at 99 cents plus shipping (if you have the $ to buy huge inventory).

also check what every poster on this board sells.

quite a few of them post with their selling names.

one i checked recently received;

close to 200 FB within the last month and 2000 for the whole year.

these are FB, not transactions. Transaction count could be double that.

but you will have to spend hours researching.

in order to do good in clothing, 1 has to have a niche within clothing; Designers, sports themed etc...

not all clothes sellers do go...

it is the same for every category.

electronics might be more prone to scams.

some have a very specific niche.

check shipping supplies sellers.

i buy all mine on ebay.

others sell tools (but specific ones); check seller Z com (or something like that).

i know he won't mind me bragging about his success...

others do very well with cheap cosmetics...

but that success probably comes with a lot of headaches too.

have an acquaintance that makes a killing selling sterling silver jewelry;

he starts most at 99 cents plus shipping.

of course he has the $ to buy huge inventory, travels all over the states to find inventory and has employees to do the listing.

don't let others tell you it is not possible.

make your own experience.

don't look at my sales.

i do ok overall (not just with ebay).

i could do a lot better.

but other personal issues are in the way.

i just know that with the right recipe, one could do very well on ebay.

[beautybylynn]

Between three sites I didnt sell ANYTHING for the previous week ,  then sold three things in the past 24 hrs. Go figure!!!!!!!! Good Luck Use this time to redo, tweak your listings etc....... It will eventually pick up