Once you have at least 30 days of eBay selling under your belt you can start thinking about selling smart!
– Use something like ‘Terapeak‘ to research each of your product types (this is something you should do really before you start selling properly) Terapeak can tell you the best selling times, the best categories and the average prices of the items sold in the last 30 days.
– Note your ‘seasonal’ changes, and predict the adjustments you will need to make, be it either price, product type or listing times. July and August are low ‘summer months’ and just before this time people will be buying holiday items. Seasonal changes do not just include, summer and Christmas. Events such as the World Cup and the Olympics will effect sales.
-Get down with the ebay fee break points
– Analyse your competition, note their trends, prices and listing times. Take a look at their usability, do they have a payment option you don’t take? Do they have a customer service number?
– Take a look at your traffic reports on eBay (you will need to sign up for it, through your manage my shop section in ebay), when is your traffic greatest? Do you have any international traffic? What listing times would be best for international ebay users?
– Take a look at your ebay shop and listings. Is there extra functionality or information you could add? What about an FAQ page?
– Take a look at the extra promotional bits and bobs that come with your eBay shop. Have you enabled your ‘listing feeds’ or used the newsletter function?
– Sort out the bad listings from the good listings. Take a look what has sold and what has not in the last 30 days. Move the not to good items (under 10% sell through rate) into your eBay shop and keep the good sellers on the core marketplace in fixed price or auction listings.
This is a basic listing strategy:
Low throughput items: 0-10% success rate. Run a trial listing in your eBay shop for 30days. Test the item from time to time, to see if the sales increase in eBay or if you notice increased sales on the marketplace as a whole.
Medium throughput items: 10-50% success rate. Keep 90 days auctions in your eBay shop. Place on 7 day normal auctions, once a day, 5 days a week (missing out Fri. and Sat.) Key finishing time 7-11pm
Most Popular Items: 50-75% Success rate. Think about putting these items on TWICE a day, 5 days a week on 7 day normal auction listings. Trial some Fixed price listings for a Friday and Saturday finish. You can mix auctions and fixed price listings as you see fit, they will cost the same. Key Finishing times 7pm then 11pm
Super Sellers! 75%+ Success rate. Normal auctions 5 days a week but finishing 3 times a day. Key times 9.30am, 7pm and 11pm, keep an eye on these times, as times will vary according to market. Think about your international customers, finishing at 1am UK time catches the US customers at 9pm etc.
Utilise the low cost listings offered in your eBay Shop.Make sure ALL your stock in your ebay shop, and keep a check on your success rate. Do not use the Auction Buy It Now feature. It costs more to list an item under these conditions than in an ordinary auction OR fixed price listing. If you have a declining item, withdraw it from eBay. The product may have not yet finished its life cycle and may become popular again.
Every week, do a snapshot report of how your items are doing. When you deal in volume it is hard to keep track. Every month, create a detailed report for more ruthless analysis. Save every penny you can on listing fees, final value fees on eBay can not be changed.
Take note of how your items are selling:
- To whom and where?
- For what price?
- What day/time?
- What format?
Review this data on a regular basis to keep your strategy relevant. Markets change and its the flexibility you need to keep ahead of the game.
Reducing your eBay fees:
So you can see that a 90 day shop listing for the bulk of your items is the cheapest way to sell on eBay, if you want to avoid the basic auction format.
Auctions and Fixed price listing appear better in the searches so its best to have a healthy mixture:
50% on a 90 day Shop Listing
25% Fixed Price 7 Day Listing
25% on a 10 day auction finishing on a Tuesday/Thursday or Sunday evening, at a slightly reduced price, increase the velocity by adding a second auction in the morning maybe?
I always recommend starting with 7 day listings for the core marketplace. But you might find that 3 day listings increase your selling velocity once you are more established on the marketplace or have a limited range of products.
