eBay

subet-3 · ‎10-29-2023

Or so it seems. And they never bite, out of the dozens of watchers I did have. I used to sell on EBay back in 2020, and business was never this slow. Is there something I’m missing, as in, is there a better time of day or of the week to send offers? Supposedly Sundays are supposed to be the busiest day of the week on the site, and I had one very small sale today, made even smaller by EBay’s fee increase for sellers.

ajs_coins_and_alchemy · ‎10-29-2023

I send tons of offers, I get some sales from them. Often I send offers and seem to get full price sales shortly thereafter. Go figure.

You could argue its best to send offers immediately, because the buyer may be actively comparing your item to others so you have a small window to close the deal, but also, if you wait, they may buy it at full price. I don't believe there is any "right" answer.

Editted to add a note: Personally, I don't look at offers as better to go out on a certain day of the week, I look at offers specifically in terms time from when the buyer became interested or became eligible for offers. They either added to watchlist or they viewed it multiple times or they added to cart. Multiple ways for buyer to be "interested" and eligible for offers. I just see it as the time they first showed interest in my item, there is a ticking clock. The longer you wait to send an offer, the longer other sellers have to send the buyer an offer and the more chanced they have to buy from someone else

A buyer is interested in BUYING. Buyers usually want to BUY and BUY it NOW. Watchers like to window shop. They're not totally committed or they're just browsing. Window shoppers don't generally close deals. I'm interested in BUYERS

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One piece of random, off topic and totally unsolicited advice. I guess this is me personally, I don't buy any of what you sell, but looking through your listings quick, I'm pretty turned off by your pics of you holding the items. Personally, I'd say find a nice way to stage them with a nice mono-chromatic background and maybe a stand, and photograph them.

Seeing your hand in the pics, and you holding the items, as well as your constantly changing and very "busy" backgrounds, both those things scream "unprofessional" to me. I literally went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and paid $5 for some clean nice black velvet for a backdrop for my coins. I like it. Everyone is different. But your hands as well as your computer/desk/table/counter or whatever I see in the backgrounds don't seem to be helpful.

annadryl · ‎10-29-2023

It's very possible, in fact it may have been a reminder of something they forgot was even on the list. I got an offer for some shipping supplies I was watching (I forgot, no longer needed) and it was time to get in there and clean up that list. Don't take it personally. Very few watchers are actually buyers, even with discount offers. Good luck~

ajs_coins_and_alchemy · ‎10-29-2023

@annadryl wrote:
It's very possible, in fact it may have been a reminder of something they forgot was even on the list. I got an offer for some shipping supplies I was watching (I forgot, no longer needed) and it was time to get in there and clean up that list. Don't take it personally. Very few watchers are actually buyers, even with discount offers. Good luck~

This is so key.

subet-3 · ‎10-29-2023

Oh, yes. I know about the issue with my hands being there. I have to get a mini easel from the craft store so they can be held up still. If I lay them down on something, the lighting is terrible anywhere in the house and you can see the shadow of my phone if it’s on its back. That’s been on my mind for the past week, haha. I completely understand what you are saying about that. Unfortunately, that desk is the only place where the lighting is actually decent, and the only place where my back doesn’t hurt.

That’s another thing I wasn’t sure about that you cleared up for me. I didn’t know what made someone a “watcher.” Obviously I know they can add the item to the watchlist, but sometimes the item will have so many views and no watchers and it will still notify me to send someone an offer on that particular item. I just send out the offers because with cards, people are usually looking for a little discount. However, that’s only worked less than a handful of times this time around.

albertabrightalberta · ‎10-29-2023

It's not just watchers who get offers. If I open one of your listings, that can make it so you can send an offer to me. I get lots of offers for items in listings I merely opened and looked at. I wasn't interested in the item and may have just looked to see why it was priced so high, so low, or if it was indeed "rare" as the seller may have stated in the title.

My point is that merely opening a listing can make it open to receiving an offer.

When you see "send offer eligible," you have no idea whether those people have the item on their watch list, if they just opened it to look at it or if they removed it.

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

soh.maryl · ‎10-30-2023

If you have sold here before, then I am certain you know that not all watchers are potential buyers.

Some are other sellers waiting to see if your item sells so they decide on whether they want to sell a similar item they have. Others may be like me -- item is really odd and I am just curious to see if it sells.

What fee increase for sellers?

palmetto_unlimited · ‎10-30-2023

Everyone has answered the watcher question pretty well, so I'll just throw this out there.

If you're planning to be selling cards, and going to stick with it I'd recommend getting a scanner for pictures of these. They're not super pricey these days, and especially with Refractors and the like, can really get you better pictures and up close when you crop them.

If that's not an option at the moment, make sure you're cropping the photos so that potential customers can see better up close views of the cards, and that will also reduce a lot of the background noise you've got going on. (you can do this when you upload the photos while making the listing)

You've got some cool cards, so just hang in there and the buyers will come as your feedback total rises. Good luck!

ittybitnot · ‎10-30-2023

And they never bite, out of the dozens of watchers I did have.

@subet-3

What sort of "offers" are you sending? For example, $2 off a $40 item? or something more enticing? You are also using a new seller ID, and it may take some time for you to develop a "following" so to speak. As suggested, you do not know who you are sending offers to be they a buyer, someone who is interested, or someone who just looked at your item as either a fellow seller or buyer.

I am only a buyer here now. As a buyer who likes to "make offers" on multiple listings from the same seller for a combined order, I refrain from making offers anymore since that is no longer available to me when the seller retains the default preferences eBay awarded to all sellers. I will put the items on my watch list instead, or I will put items on my watch list to read carefully later. Oftentimes, I will get seller generated offers (which do not require forced buyer auto-pay yet), and I can accept, request a combined invoice, and use the payment method of my choosing.

Surprisingly enough, often the seller generated offers are for less than I was willing to spend anyway. That happened for a jewelry piece I wanted the other day. I missed the original listing in "auction" format, and it was relisted as BIN/Make offer. Had I actually succumbed to the forced participation in the "New Smoother Checkout" scheme, I would have offered $75, Seller sent offer to me for $45 which I accepted and paid for in a few minutes.

redlinear · ‎10-30-2023

Friday (payday). And usually just 5% which is enough to be "something". BUT, it's more of a reminder than anything.

buyselljack2016 · ‎10-30-2023

I use a rock, block of wood, or most anything that I can find to prop up my items (without them showing) for a photo op so that my hands are not in the photo 😊

A folded piece of cardboard, or posterboard would make a fine easel, and the rest of the cardboard/posterboard would provide a backdrop. I stay away from white as I don't have the greatest photography skills.

luckythewinner · ‎10-30-2023

People remove my items from their watch list after I send them offers

That makes sense. I suspect some buyers do not actively curate their watch list, so your offer may remind them to go clean it up.

Is there something I’m missing

I don't think so. Sometimes I send offers and get no response, and sometimes it spurs a flurry of sales.

ckimodog · ‎10-30-2023

@subet-3

As others have pointed out, offers can be hits or misses. Sometimes they bite, sometimes they don't. Perhaps they found what ever you were selling from a seller who had a better price. Hard to say.

I personally don't provide the best offer option as in the past they had accepted & then didn't pay me. Lesson learned. Now they have to provide a payment method, as there are so many non paying bidders who sport bid and waste a hard working sellers time. Some like that feature, others do not. Again...hit or miss.

Hey!! Congrats on your sale! You're doing better then a lot! Keep up the good work!

Happy Selling!

subet-3 · ‎10-30-2023

These are really good improvisations and I have no idea why I didn’t think of that. As long as I can get the darn things in a standing position, the light will hit them correctly lol. Thank you!