Selling longtrail items.

[sentimentalsightsandsounds]

Hi, I've been selling for a few years and enjoy it besides making extra bucks. I have quite a few  long tail items (over 6 months )and have come down a little on prices (20-25%) and not much change. Better to relist item so it starts at the top or lower $ even more. Would appreciate a comment.

Thanks

[dhbookds · Accepted solution]

"Long" tail stuff has to wait for the buyer that wants a purple cow.......  I've had that kind of stuff sell after 3 yrs....

I don't relist as I'm not expecting the search position to matter.......i.e. my "Dodge City" Plate isn't going to sell because it's in 4th place on newly listed in a plate search.  It's going to sell because someone searches for Dodge City/Kansas/western and that may take some time.

Having said that.......I do use promoted listings since those can show up in places other than search and may attract a buyer who doesn't "know" they want a Dodge City Plate.  In other words, they may see it and suddenly think......that would go well with my "western" decor. 

just my reasoning.........

[kensgiftshop]

@sentimentalsightsandsounds 

I just let them run.

Some items, it takes longer to find the right buyer.

I might edit the title or description every few months, but that's about it.

[b86fiero]

I no longer bother to end and relist.  Did that for years and found my time would be better spent sourcing and listing new items.  The more items you have listed the better your chance of selling something.  Given eBay's funky search engine, more sellers than buyers on the site and lack of eBay paid advertising to the general public to bring in new buyers it seems these days almost all listings might be considered long-tail.

I do spend money for Promoted Listings, volume discounts and multiple item purchase discounts.  eBay is getting quite a bit for underperforming and constantly declining sales.  Paying more for fewer sales is a reality.

eBay Pay Per View (per click) - Never!  No way!  No how!  

[jayjaspersgarage]

I call them shelf protectors or my "kids" that never leave the nest.  I've been selling on ebay for ten years now and have several ten year olds and wouldn't be surprised if I have a brood of teenagers in three years.

Funny things is that we never know when something will go.  Out of the blue a customer will bundle up a dozen items with four or five of them being long tailed as you describe them.  

[vintage-camerastuff]

I am always surprised at some of my stuff that has been sitting around for years all of a sudden find a home.  I don't relist anything as it seems to be a waste of time.  You may want to consider running sales every so often, by discounting a certain a percentage,  to get rid of old merchandise.

[little*blackdog]

If I have no reason not to, I "let it ride".  So often a buyer will come out of nowhere, even after the item's been listed for several years !  That's especially true of collectibles. 

If it's not something unique, but more of an everyday item, and I have others like it, I'd group them into lots and they might sell faster then, simply because the price per item is less than it was originally.  You just never know...

Getting 250 free listings a month with MP, it's easy to play with listings and try different things at no risk (re listing costs).

[sentimentalsightsandsounds]

Thanks for the reply. Never realized that promoted listings could do that. I'll have to try it. Then there's the ones with 10 fairly new watchers (went 4 to 10 watchers in a few days), think you got a upcoming sale, lower the price a little and .....nothing. It' OK though, I enjoy the show!

[sentimentalsightsandsounds]

Took me a few years to realize that lots of items are "shots in the dark" so to speak.  After a few months though, I feel like I need to change something (different wording, better photo, etc) but as my wife and you said, you never know. Thanks so much for replying.