how to get good sales without auctions?

[keziak]

I took myself off "vacation" here and on Amazon because I feel up to it after surgery.  I have help to get the packages to the P.O. Due to weight restrictions unless I can find light items, auctions are off the table for the next few weeks. Books/AV = heavy boxes.  In a way it's a preview of retirement when I expect to end auctions to a large degree. I don't really sell a whole lot of single books from my store.

If you don't run auctions how do you make much here? Large inventory in your store? Items in lots in your store, just not at auction? I see zillions of lots sold at Fixed Price and I always wonder if the sellers have a warehouse to store the stuff until it sells.

[chapeau-noir]

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@yuzuha wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Given my track record I think that if I gave up auctions permanently it will be bye-bye ebay but this makes me curious about how sellers who do not run auctions make a satisfactory profit here.

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By focusing on items that tend to have a fairly rapid turnover rate. I may win multiple new crane game prizes per month, but they also sell steadily, so I'm shipping them out just about as quickly as I'm bringing them in. My actual net inventory increase works out to be close to zero in that sense.

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@yuzuhaYOU HAVE A BADTZ-MARU WATER BOTTLE!!!!!!   😄

[yuzuha]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@yuzuhaYOU HAVE A BADTZ-MARU WATER BOTTLE!!!!!!   😄

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I DO, haha-- I find Sanrio stuff sells well. That's actually a perfect example of stuff that (for the most part) turns over fairly quickly.

[calntom]

@keziak 

"If you don't run auctions how do you make much here? Large inventory in your store? Items in lots in your store, just not at auction? I see zillions of lots sold at Fixed Price and I always wonder if the sellers have a warehouse to store the stuff until it sells."

Sounds like trying lots sold at a fixed price is good. I know you have access to inventory as I have read your posts over the years.

Just a suggestion:

You have to get product in and product out. The key is product going out to buyers.

Put together lots you know will sell. Have them ready to ship. No messing around. Figure out what to do with the non selling books. Just keep stuff moving. Don't allow yourself to get buried in dead inventory.

And of course sellers have space to store inventory.  Sellers could have space in numerous places. At their homes, warehouse space. Could be anywhere.

[keziak]

thanks for your input! I normally run plenty of lots. Just not right  now. It will be  a chance to see if my Ebay business amounts to much without the auctions.

[keziak]

It's for Priority mail. I use mostly media mail.

[keziak]

Thank you for your input. I discarded a lot of my single books recently because I asked myself if they would actually sell. Or are they just going to sell first on Amazon, not ebay. 

A lot of features of my business point to the probability in the future of getting out of heavy lots, ebay won't amount enough to me. Makes me sad, been here a long time.

[keziak]

thanks for your input. Normally I have a lot of "lots" for sale but not right now due to weight restrictions. I put up some light things this evening.

Do you find that listing lots at fixed price means they take of a lot of space?

[femmefan1946]

I don't have many books anymore, but when I was selling them I had 10 Billy bookcases in an enclosed porch, each with six shelves. That was enough room for about 1200 + titles.

I started using Stores (and Fixed Price) as soon as they became available, even before Stores were in Search, and still found them more popular than auctions.

EBay and most sellers seem to agree since over 85% of transactions are Fixed Price and even Auctions may opt to include Buy It Now or Best Offer, either of which would stop an auction in favour of an immediate sale.

Nowadays most of my stock and my sales is in sewing patterns which take up five bankers boxes .

I occasionally run auctions when DH insists and then when they don't sell, relist them at Fixed Price. And usually they don't sell, because they don't stick around long enough to find a buyer.  Seven days is too short unless the customer is actively looking RIGHT NOW, and too long if the buyer finds it while browsing and has to wait to be outbid at the last nano-second.

Also Auctions have more UIDs than Fixed Price or Best Offer.

[femmefan1946]

This is my current book storage. Photo taken before we removed the carpet and put down hardwood.

[evry1nositswindy]

 I want to go to your house!! @Anonymous  Fantastic!

[tree*fern]

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@keziak wrote:

It's for Priority mail. I use mostly media mail.

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First Class Package too now.  And if you have at least 1 Priority or First Class for pickup, then you can schedule and include Media Mail for the same pickup.

I sell FP, mostly books but also misc. items that ship Priority or First Class.

[varebelrose]

"All are fixed price because with a store, they charge me to run an auction"

Honestly just curious, do stores not come with an allotment of auctions any more? When I had my store, I think it was 250 Fixed price and 250 auctions every month.

[evry1nositswindy]

@varebelrose Yes, but in select categories only, mostly collectibles.  Books category is not one of those.  I have always wanted auctions to be allowed for books>antiquarian and collectible.  

[creativecrisis]

@jewelbiz 

I love your books too! 😊

[soh.maryl]

Why would listing lots at FP mean they take up a lot of space?

Why would a 3 book lot listed at FP take up more space than a 3 book lot listed at auction?