Research is essential to finding your eBay Strategy. I use Terapeak for product research but you need clear and simple steps:
Strategy Report for a Company Selling Coffee Machines
eBay Keyword Suggestions:
Generic:
Coffee Machine
Drinks Machine
Coffee Maker
Drinks Station
Coffee StationCurrent Advertising Campaign: No press release since Nov 2006 USA
Terapeak Results:
Coffee Machine:
Top Days: Sunday, Monday and Thursday
Best Duration: 7 days
Format: Auctions 1875 sold in 90 days, Fixed Price: 470, Store: 66
Times of Day between 10am and 10 pm peaking between 7 and 10pm
Best Categories: Home and Garden, Business and Office
Essential Features: GalleryDrinks Machine:
Top Days: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday
Best Duration: 7 days
Best Format: Auctions 244, Fixed Price: 37, Store: 7
Times of day 9am and 11pm peaking between 7pm and 9pm
Category: Business and Office
Essential Features: GalleryJunes Statistics:
GMS: £349.27
eBay Fee: £95.95
Close Rate: 7%Price Comparison:
Coffee Machines Best Price and Availability for Brand £79.99 – £222
First I always use the power of Google. Googles external keyword tool will give you a set of keywords and you can check the search volume. I always trust in the fact we are creatures of habit and only really search in one way, so product trends on Google will be close to that of eBay. Unless anyone out there searches really differently on eBay and Google. I certainly don’t!
Once you have some basic keyword with a higher search volume, you can pop these into Terapeak. Now, Terapeak wil give you a nice summary, but make sure you expand the selections as sometimes the ‘average’ lies somewhat and you need to take a human view of the data.
Take a look at your pricing in relation to what has sold. Try to pick our items that are doing well, for examples Bathroom Stuff. Taps are ten a penny and the prices are low. Buy glass scales, bathroom mirrors and vanity basins are fetching decent prices and selling well. So if you were a bathroom retailer you would place your glass scales, mirrors and vanity basins on the core marketplace (auction and fixed price) and your other items in your eBay shop as cheap listings. It is very easy to loose money in fee’s on eBay if you don’t keep a tight watch on your marketplace.
