eBay

dww25921 · ‎12-05-2018

It's been a rough last couple of months. I've been paying out more than I'm taking in. This can't be normal. This time last year I was doing much better. Where are all the buyers?

juststuffisell · ‎12-06-2018

I feel ya. Lots of sellers feel ya.

I love the paper currency, usually auctions well in the coin section. not a ton of money in it, but usually doesn't cost much to pick up.

Love patches, you are under pricing yours. Easy to list. Easy to store. Easy to handle. Can buy lots of 50 or more vintage ones for cheap. The speedway/race car patches sell best and bring good money. Right buyer will pay 7 bucks or so for the average vintage patch depending on condition etc. Easy money, easy ship. Check your category make sure you are using the best one to sell it in. People still like the retro jackets with the patches on them. Matter of fact, was trying to buy a lot today but daughter distracted me with school talk and I missed the lot.... was salty...lol

Work on bringing in some higher dollar items to increase your net margins.

Figure out how to balance costs and what people are buying on eBay.

Cheers

disneyshopper · ‎12-06-2018

I try not to list anything under $20.00 unless I get a really good deal when purchasing.

It takes the same amount of time to photograph a $5.00 item as it does a $50.00 item, and typing out the listing is probably about the same amount of time. Preparing the shipping might take about the same amount of time. Therefore, why spin your wheels on low priced items when you can make more money with higher priced items?

disneyshopper
Volunteer Community Member

membersinceaug2001 · ‎12-06-2018

Dump the store if it is too costly. Regular accounts get 50 free listings per month plus tons of free promos.

baantiques · ‎12-08-2018

baantiques · ‎12-08-2018

@baantiques wrote:
@dww25921 wrote:
It's been a rough last couple of months. I've been paying out more than I'm taking in. This can't be normal. This time last year I was doing much better. Where are all the buyers?
Seems like Ebay is putting more emphasis on NEW listings.

I've started putting a lot of new listings into my Shopify store. From there I send them over to Ebay. But my aim is to have 5-6x the number of listings on Shopify that I do in my Ebay store. That way, if they don;t sell in 30 days, I can end them and replace them with fresh listings, and by the time I've gotten around to the beginning again, enough timne will have passed that Ebay will treat them as new.

So far it seems to be working out, but the mrs likened Ebay to an abusive boyfriend, so it's only a matter of time before Ebay punches me in the face again for no reason.

Yesterday and the two days previous, my sales exhibited the classic Ebay "step down" sales phenomenon - $210 to $100 to $20 - that I've seen repeatedly over the last 5 years. About 70% of the time, it's followed by at least one, but often more, days of no sales.

Watch.

fern*wood · ‎12-08-2018

As a fellow WV seller I agree with the previous tips---probably need to drop the store whenever possible and fix some of those titles (patches).

The Astros are not an NFL team---that is a Houston Astros pro baseball team.

The bull head with a star is a Houston Texans logo ---an NFL team

Diamondbacks should be Arizona Diamondbacks--a pro baseball team

Good luck, the key is to price everything so that selling it gives me a profit, otherwise I don't bother.

@dww25921

baantiques · ‎12-08-2018

@disneyshopper wrote:
I try not to list anything under $20.00 unless I get a really good deal when purchasing.

It takes the same amount of time to photograph a $5.00 item as it does a $50.00 item, and typing out the listing is probably about the same amount of time. Preparing the shipping might take about the same amount of time. Therefore, why spin your wheels on low priced items when you can make more money with higher priced items?

I will list items as low as $3-5 +ship if I have many of them. Normally I wouldn't bother with crankshaft oil slingers, but I had 300 of them, and even at $5 each that adds up :cool:

totoro470 · ‎12-08-2018

@baantiques wrote:
@disneyshopper wrote:
I try not to list anything under $20.00 unless I get a really good deal when purchasing.

It takes the same amount of time to photograph a $5.00 item as it does a $50.00 item, and typing out the listing is probably about the same amount of time. Preparing the shipping might take about the same amount of time. Therefore, why spin your wheels on low priced items when you can make more money with higher priced items?
I will list items as low as $3-5 +ship if I have many of them. Normally I wouldn't bother with crankshaft oil slingers, but I had 300 of them, and even at $5 each that adds up :cool:

That's true, cheap commodity items are great for fluffing up your feedback ratings too. I tried them a few times but I found them more of an annoyance than they're worth. I have too much to ship as it is, I don't want ebay consuming my entire life.

The only time I list cheap items is when I can lot them together. Lotting doesn't work for every type of item and it takes some expertise to know what people might actually want lotted together but if you can do it well, you can actually make as much profit or more because the cheaper shipping and convenience for the buyers.

dougfromcanada · ‎12-08-2018

I have yet to sell, but those were my thoughts exactly!

dougfromcanada · ‎12-08-2018

If there was a "LIKE" button, I would "LIKE" your comments.

cherry*fizz · ‎12-08-2018

It's so hard to make money with low priced items. I have made my cut off at $6.99. That is the absolute least I will sell something for, and even that is barely worth my time. These items are usually things I have around the house that I just want to get rid of, so I don't take into account the cost I paid for the item, since it's usually long gone. I pay $2.66 for shipping plus my eBay and PP fees, so I make what, like $3 on those items? Honestly when things are going for around that price I weigh heavily on whether I want to toss them or list them. If they were something I could donate to ARC I would do that instead.