ONE OF A KIND SELLERS - What can we do that will help us compete?

[vintageista]

I am basically a OAK seller, do not purchase in bulk, almost never have even 2 of the same item. For quite awhile now eBay has been concentrating on sellers who have multiple NEW items, so that sellers like myself are the dinosaurs of the site!

I do not have the capital, nor the space to store bulk buys. Personally, I find no creativity in selecting wholesale items and attempting to sell lots of the same thing, the first ones may sell well, but when someone jumps in and undercuts you in price, or the next best thing comes along, you will probably eat the rest, at least that has been my experience the few times I have tried it in the past!

Is there anyone here, that may also be an OAK seller found any successful tips they would care to share that can be helpful to other seller's in this position. I've been here a long-time (20 years) and tried to weather all the changes, not doing as well as times past, but surviving. If things get any worse, I can't survive much longer, this is the worse November I have ever had, started about Oct 15 and still happening!

Management at eBay seems to largely favor seller's of NEW & MULTIPLE items at the expense of OAK sellers, everything in their algorithms is set up to favor that kind of seller, are there any ways we can gain even a tiny advantage in this environment?

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

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@vintageista wrote:

I am basically a OAK seller, do not purchase in bulk, almost never have even 2 of the same item. For quite awhile now eBay has been concentrating on sellers who have multiple NEW items, so that sellers like myself are the dinosaurs of the site!

I do not have the capital, nor the space to store bulk buys. Personally, I find no creativity in selecting wholesale items and attempting to sell lots of the same thing, the first ones may sell well, but when someone jumps in and undercuts you in price, or the next best thing comes along, you will probably eat the rest, at least that has been my experience the few times I have tried it in the past!

Is there anyone here, that may also be an OAK seller found any successful tips they would care to share that can be helpful to other seller's in this position. I've been here a long-time (20 years) and tried to weather all the changes, not doing as well as times past, but surviving. If things get any worse, I can't survive much longer, this is the worse November I have ever had, started about Oct 15 and still happening!

Management at eBay seems to largely favor seller's of NEW & MULTIPLE items at the expense of OAK sellers, everything in their algorithms is set up to favor that kind of seller, are there any ways we can gain even a tiny advantage in this environment?

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If you are selling ONE OF A KIND who are you competing against?? One of a kind usually only means there is one and no others....no competition for that item...which means if there is a buyer for it they would and could only buy yours

[dhbookds]

If a buyer wants the older stuff, he will find it and buy it.......as far as I'm concerned I'm not in competition with the sellers of new stuff.    I do know that I'd never stop selling on the basis of a month/2/3 months of bad sales...........sales can turn on a dime, and I've made enough over the years to cushion a few slow months.  I also know what sold last year, may not sell well this year.....so watching solds is something I do constantly....

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Many sellers use the term "one of a kind" as a shorthand way to say "I usually sell single quantity listings, rather than multi quantity listings." It also generally means they are selling used, antique or collectibles, rather than new. "I sell One offs" is another phrase , meaning the same thing. Hope this clarifies.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:
Many sellers use the term "one of a kind" as a shorthand way to say "I usually sell single quantity listings, rather than multi quantity listings." It also generally means they are selling used, antique or collectibles, rather than new. "I sell One offs" is another phrase , meaning the same thing. Hope this clarifies.

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One of a kind is exactly what it says it is....either it is or it isn't. And I do sell in those categories. As a general rule we do not claim our items are someting they are not. And doing such, claiming one of a kind, rare, etc when it is not is also a great way to lose sales....or get disputes etc

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

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@everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures wrote:

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If you are selling ONE OF A KIND who are you competing against?? One of a kind usually only means there is one and no others....no competition for that item...which means if there is a buyer for it they would and could only buy yours

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OOAK is usually used (colloquially on the boards) to denote the SELLER only has one of each kind not an "actual" rare unique OOAK widget

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

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@everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures wrote:

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One of a kind is exactly what it says it is....either it is or it isn't. And I do sell in those categories. As a general rule we do not claim our items are someting they are not. And doing such, claiming one of a kind, rare, etc when it is not is also a great way to lose sales....or get disputes etc

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I doubt very much the OP is claiming in her listings that her items are "OOAK".

[bubbleman2010]

Trying to increase marketshare on a venue that is saturated and is struggling to lure and engage new buyers is next to impossible. You can only look at ROI and if you considered ebay a huge source of your living income from years past it will only get worst as time moves ahead...

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

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@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:

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@everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures wrote:

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If you are selling ONE OF A KIND who are you competing against?? One of a kind usually only means there is one and no others....no competition for that item...which means if there is a buyer for it they would and could only buy yours

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OOAK is usually used (colloquially on the boards) to denote the SELLER only has one of each kind not an "actual" rare unique OOAK widget

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It doesn't matter if a few people on a forum misuse a term or list their items incorrectly...it is not the norm for any such thing or sellers in those categories.
If there are others of those items listed they are not one of a kind no matter how badly someone wants them to be and only selling one of multiples in existance als doesn't make them oneof a kind...it only makes the item misrepresnted and not as described.
There are more sellers out there, which would be the majority, that accurately state what they are selling and what their items are. We would never misrepresent what we sell.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Please read my second post.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

It was clear from the OP what she meant. The OP usually sells used clothing, I thought the question was pretty clear. 

You can be on here to to help people or you can nitpick their questions.

[ten_o_nine]

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@vintageista wrote:

I am basically a OAK seller, do not purchase in bulk, almost never have even 2 of the same item. For quite awhile now eBay has been concentrating on sellers who have multiple NEW items, so that sellers like myself are the dinosaurs of the site!

I do not have the capital, nor the space to store bulk buys. Personally, I find no creativity in selecting wholesale items and attempting to sell lots of the same thing, the first ones may sell well, but when someone jumps in and undercuts you in price, or the next best thing comes along, you will probably eat the rest, at least that has been my experience the few times I have tried it in the past!

Is there anyone here, that may also be an OAK seller found any successful tips they would care to share that can be helpful to other seller's in this position. I've been here a long-time (20 years) and tried to weather all the changes, not doing as well as times past, but surviving. If things get any worse, I can't survive much longer, this is the worse November I have ever had, started about Oct 15 and still happening!

Management at eBay seems to largely favor seller's of NEW & MULTIPLE items at the expense of OAK sellers, everything in their algorithms is set up to favor that kind of seller, are there any ways we can gain even a tiny advantage in this environment?

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Most of my items are new and in multiples but few are buying, their algorithms is set to favor products that sell and new listings.

[lovefindingtreasures2]

I sell OOAK too, in several categories and in 4 stores. Here are a couple of things that have helped my sales. I do not sell clothes though, so not sure if this would cross over for you.

First: Social Media. Pinterest everything and make several boards. I have probably a dozen Pinterest groups. Have a look around Pinterest to see how people name boards. You could have a several clothing pages, all a little different aiming at a certain type of buyer, then post everything you put up across as many of your boards as possible. I am getting sales that way, people are coming on as guests and buying.

Second: I found that when I took out every - or ~ or other separator words, my listings went up. I used to use them as well, no longer. Take out all the dashes and slashes etc.,

Third: This I think really helps me, as buyers have written to me saying how much they like my listings. Take a paragraph and wax poetic about the item. Make it first person like you are speaking just to them. "This gorgeous red dress thingy would be great for your next blah blah blah. It does xyzzy to your figure (slimming, sexy, whatever), write a little blurb that tells them why they have to buy this item. When I changed and started using you and your, sales went up.

Your photos are super, great descriptions and all the info they want. Make them want it, give them ideas on how to use, how to accessorize, how the material feels (they love 'this feels silky smooth in your hands"), or (This dress is so soft and silky, pamper yourself), you deserve it, men love this, women love this, I don't sell clothes but you probably know the things people want in clothes. Push that along with the description. Fun is a good word. Sexy. Provocative, slim, taller, men will notice, whatever 🙂

Put a little story, short and sweet, that has helped me. I hear you on OOAK, it's all I do too. These things have helped me.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

It was clear from the OP what she meant. The OP usually sells used clothing, I thought the question was pretty clear. 

You can be on here to to help people or you can nitpick their questions.

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One of a kind sellers actually sell one of a kind...there are hundreds of them on ebay....and that is a fact and those sellers have the right to the term one of a kind. Do not minimize those sellers and their merchadise....and do not devalue them.

Used cothing unless handmade usually not even close to being one of a kind and is production/factory pieces...millions of pieces made.

It may actually help sales if they do not misrepresent them to anyone...there is enough of that that goes on with counterfeits and everything else.

[reallynicestamps]

This ID sells collectible postage stamps.

These were originally printed by the million, but finding comparables on eBay rarely shows identical items.

So I guess I could call them One Of A Kind.

Basically, we compete with clear pictures, careful titles, thorough descriptions, friendly Terms of Sale, and decent feedback that encourages trust in our buyers.

Most of your vintage clothing is well described (although I might put makers and sizes earlier in the titles)  and very well pictured.

Have you looked at your listings on a smartphone? Have you ever asked your customers why they chose your products?

Have you considered using Free Shipping? Which is just putting your cost of shipping into the asking price of the item on the basis that $39.99 +$7.70 shipping is the same as $47.69?  Or for that matter $49.99 with Free Shipping?

But our customers, yours and mine, are collectors. And they don't want the mass market stuff.

The biggest problem with OOAK is counterfeits and replicas.