Like to live clutter—free? Want to turn the books, DVDs, and electronics that you no longer use into cash? If so, you need to get smart about eBay, the world’s largest marketplace for individuals who want to buy and sell from one another.
To get the most out of the items you offer for sale on eBay, you need to strategise a bit about how to make your items stand out among the sea of offerings that potential buyers see. Read on for some tips.
* Cultivate a reputation – The biggest fear of buyers on eBay is that they’ll be ripped off by an unscrupulous seller who either misrepresents the condition of an item or fails to deliver at all.
There are a number of ways to lessen those fears, and you should adopt as many as you can. First, be meticulous and completely honest when describing the condition of an item. It’s better to err on the side of overstating flaws than to hide the condition of something.
Let pictures tell the story, too. Take sharp, clear photos of your goods, and post them at sizes that are easy for buyers to see.
Spend time, too, cultivating a persona of honesty. eBay has made that easier of late by allowing sellers to complete an online profile, complete with photograph and a personal statement. Make yourself human, and you’ll inspire confidence — and generate sales.
Finally, go out of your way to make those who do buy from you happy. You can do that by communicating at every stage. Send your buyer a congratulatory note when an auction concludes, reminding him or her to pay. Once payment is received, send another note acknowledging as much and explaining when the item has been shipped.
Once you have shipped the item, tell the buyer, and provide any package tracking information as well.
* Know how much to charge – Before you list an item for sale, click eBay’s Advanced link, to the right of the normal search button, and then click the “completed listings” check box in order to search for concluded auctions for items identical to yours.
That way, you’ll know how much to expect to receive once your item has sold. With this information, you can get a better idea of what price to start the bidding at and whether it’s even worth your time to list the item. If others have been unable to sell the same thing you want to sell, you may instead just want to concentrate on selling something else.
* Schedule your listings – The time of day that you post your auction is important, for it determines when the auction will conclude. Set up your auctions so that they end at a time of day when your target audience is most likely to be online. Many veteran eBay sellers start their auctions so that they end on Sunday evening, while others swear by Monday evening endings.
Download eBay’s free TurboLister program (http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister), which gives you the ability both to queue up auctions so that you can start them at a specific times with the click of a mouse and offers an optional scheduling feature, which allows you to schedule an auction to begin when you’re away.
* Offer free shipping – Bidders are wary of paying too much for shipping, as they know that some people try to pad the price that auction winners pay by charging excessive fees for shipping and handling. Remove that worry entirely by offering free shipping, and you’re likely to be rewarded by a higher sales price that will more than cover what you would have made by charging a higher shipping fee than normal.
* Know when to use “buy it now” – When you’re creating a listing in eBay, you’ll have the option to offer your potential customers a “buy it now” button, along with an associated price. There’s a fee for using the “buy it now” option, so you’ll want to choose it wisely. For popular, coveted items in which there’s likely to be a lot of bidding, you could offer a “buy it now” option for the bidder who is willing to pay more in order to quash the competition. You might also use “buy it now” when you’d like the opportunity to sell something quickly. However, for that, a better option may be an auction of a shorter duration, such as five days.
For sellers on eBay, a little know—how can mean the difference between no sale and a price that will make you smile. Implement these strategies, and you’ll have a shot at being successful where others are not.
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