New Seller Tips and Advice?

[Anonymous]

Hello everybody!

I'm 5 days new to the sellers community on eBay. I've been thinking about doing this off and on for the better part of 2 years, and this past Wednesday, 9/11, I decided to launch my store! It's been 5 days and I still haven't made a sale, and few views on my products. I've revised my listing titles and that helped a bit it seemed, but still pretty slow. I'm offering free shipping and very competitive prices compared to the market for my items. I even had an idea today to bundle some things for a great price. Understanding I may break even for a lot of them (factoring in shipping) and maybe take a small loss on some- I'm okay with that just to build my name and get myself out there. Is there anything more I can be doing? Please feel free to look over my store and share your feedback, thanks guys!! 💛

[chapeau-noir]

Hi, @Anonymous  and welcome!

Two things:

1. You are in an over-saturated category, so it's going to be hard to compete.

2. You really need more items to be seen - for example, press-on nails has close to 60,000 competing listings. Other sites also compete with this market.

So just keep adding to your listings, optimizing, use social media to get the word out and be very consistent.

[fbusoni]

@Anonymous 

You are offering free shipping on $3.99, $4.99 and $5.99 items.

I understand your desire to get noticed, and your willingness to take a loss, but buyers may be skeptical, especially with no feedback.

And if the buyer is unhappy with the purchase and files an INAD (look it up), you will be on the hook for return shipping as well.

I would not use that approach, personally.

[ckimodog]

@Anonymous 

Make up items, cosmetics, etc is a very saturated venue here on eBay.  Think about lowering your prices and staying competitive with other sellers who are selling the same.  Here's another tip...start accepting returns because they will happen in the category you're selling in.  No returns does not mean no refunds here on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?

Good luck and Happy Selling

[soh.maryl]

Are you aware that offering free shipping on low-priced items means you will probably make no money and will even owe money to eBay?

When you offer free shipping, that means that the seller (you) is the one who pays for the shipping, not the buyer?

[golfingaddict]

You are not going to make any money selling items for $4.89 or $3.99,  with free shipping.

You live in Maine.  A 4 ounce item shipped to me would be about $4.36.

eBay fees on a $4.89 item would be about 95 cents for a net loss.

Those $3.99 items would be even a bigger loss.

You are paying eBay to sell items and you are going to lose money on almost all of the items you sell.  Your only hope is that buyers purchase multiple items that can be shipped together, but don't count on it.

Research shipping charges and eBay fees and take a look at listing things a different way so that you are not going in the hole with each

[kensgiftshop]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's been 5 days and I still haven't made a sale,

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It was a couple months before I sold my first item.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate your time in sharing that information. I don't have a scale as of yet so I don't know how much my items will weigh, and I haven't found any shipping cost information in the help sections yet. So I did a (apparently pretty wrong lol) guesstimate on what shipping such lightweight items would be. I will definitely reconsider. As stated in my original post, I'm prepared and willing to break even on some or even take a small loss just to get my name out there. I also got these products pretty cheap tbh, so it's mostly breaking even at this point with those shipping costs you shared. 

[Anonymous]

Hey there, thank you for replying! I am, somewhat sadly, aware that I'll take some losses and break even on a lot of my sales. I'm eager to get my name out there honestly, and I also have no idea what shipping costs look like, as I can't find any information regarding that on ebay. Per another sellers comment here, I'm definitely going to reconsider raising prices if I'm offering free shipping- at least until I figure out what shipping costs will look like. Thanks so much again!! 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this feedback. You're certainly not the first to notice/mention that and I'm definitely taking into consideration! I will be researching more and updating my products. Thanks again!! 

[golfingaddict]

Here is a shipping calculator from eBay.

Shipping Calculator | eBay

The items you have listed would go by ground advantage.  They are likely not eligible for letter rate (not flat)

Those small items are likely under 4 ounces in a small bubble mailer.

It is also important to note that shipping charges are more if you take them to the post office to mail.  You get a discount if you buy and print your postage online on eBay or other online shipping programs.

[ryry-jj]

Offering free shipping with items at your price point you are better off not having any sales.

Going with that business model, you need to create package deals with multiple items for sale that will total $50-75 to  offer anything close to free shipping.

Personally, always charge for shipping.   Not doing so just to get promoted is very expensive.   If you gave a way the product for free and just charged shipping and handling you'd lose less money.   Ever wonder why companies say, "wait there's more, we will send you a second one free, just pay separate shipping and handling cost"?  There are tons of ways to promote your business for far less these days than low cost free shipping.

And again, any on-line sales business is in the shipping and packaging business, don't give that part away for free

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much, that was really helpful "tough love" that I needed and you're certainly correct. I will be updating my listings ASAP. It's better to sit on some stuff for a little bit than to pay ebay and usps to sell my stuff and make nothing lol. I have much to learn. Thanks again!! 

[itsjustasprain]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey there, thank you for replying! I am, somewhat sadly, aware that I'll take some losses and break even on a lot of my sales. I'm eager to get my name out there honestly, and I also have no idea what shipping costs look like, as I can't find any information regarding that on ebay. 

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Okay - start by investing in an inexpensive digital scale so that you can weigh each of your packages. Ground Advantage below one pound is priced in 4-ounce increments - so a package of 7.8 ounces costs less in postage than that for a package of 8.2 ounces. Always round up to the next increment - so 7.8 ounces is the same as 8.0 ounces but once you get to 8.1 ounces in weight then you are into the next price increment.

If your printer is not in working order then get that working again. That way you can print your own postage  (and packing slips) at home and not pay Retail over the counter at the Post Office. (Worst-case scenario: you can download a QR code  to your phone and let the USPS scan it and print your label for you at the PO.)

[bdmh-enterprises]

Hello fellow Mainer! Use the calculator linked above but also keep in mind that Ground Advantage calculates distance as well as size and weight. So a package will be more to ship to the west coast than the east, and there are A LOT of buyers on the west coast. This price difference gets bigger the heavier the package too. I have started using calculated shipping for some heavier items because of this.

And get a scale! Like now. A $15 walmart food scale is good enough for what you're weighing. When you have the weight and dimensions of your package you will get the shipping cost shown to you when listing. Then you can best decide how to set your prices.