Monday, October 20, 2008

How to Avoid Failure on Your eBay Auctions

Many first time sellers have one thing in common –
they fail. Many of them fail time and time again,
never understanding what is going wrong. They do
hours of research looking for the perfect item to sell,
get the auction set up, and wait for the bidding to
begin. Hours go by and no bids are placed. Days go
by, and there are still no bids – or there are very low
bids. Finally the auction ends, and it turns out to be
a total failure. Considering the huge number of sellers
who run eBay auctions, there are specific things you
must do, and specific things you must not do if you
are to be successful.

There are many reasons why auctions fail. The most
common reason is that the item is not in high
demand. This problem can be avoided by doing the
necessary research to determine which items sell
well, and which items should be avoided. This
research takes a great deal of time – but in the end,
you will find that it is time well spent.

Another reason for eBay failure is pricing. No matter
what your reserve price is, your opening bid price
should never be more than $50 or so. This is how you
will attract potential bidders to your auction. If you
set that opening bid too high, most people won’t
even click the link to read the description for your
item. Another pricing problem is lack of research.
Before you set your reserve price, you must
determine what the item is really worth, and the price
similar items have sold for in past eBay auctions.

Poorly written descriptions are another cause of
failed auctions. Poor grammar and misspelled words
drive people away. Failing to post a picture of the
item will also keep people from visiting your auction
page. Make sure that your description is well written.
This is essentially your ‘sales copy.’

Shipping prices scare people away from auctions if
they are too high. Find the lowest shipping prices
that you can find, and consider paying for the
shipping yourself if it won’t cut into your profits too
much. Do not charge handling fees.

Offer great ‘customer service’ for all of your auctions,
and ask your buyers to give you feedback. If the
items that you sell are everything that you said they
would be, and you offer great customer service, you
can expect wonderful feedback – and this
feedback will help a great deal in your future auctions.

eBay Success

eBay Success - How to Price Your Items

Many new sellers don’t realize how important pricing
is when it comes to eBay auctions. Many don’t even
realize that ‘pricing’ needs to be done. eBay is an
auction site after all! But eBay auctions are not quite
the same as the auctions you attend in the offline
world. In fact, quite a bit of work goes into
determining and setting prices.

Essentially, there are only three prices that can be
set for an eBay auction: the ‘buy it now’ price, the
reserve price, and the starting bid price. Of these
three, the starting bid price is the only one that is
required for an eBay auction. The reserve price and
the ‘buy it now’ price are optional. The starting bid
price is fairly simple – never set it higher than $50 or
so – no matter what your item is really worth. This
low opening price will get bidders to your auction.

Setting low starting bid prices creates the need for a
reserve price. A reserve price is the absolute lowest
price that you want to get for your item. You may sell
the item below the reserve price, but you will not be
required to. In other words, if you set your reserve
price at $100, and your highest bid is only $50, you
do not have to sell the item to the highest bidder.
You can close the auction without any negative
feedback or repercussions. Set your reserve price
at the absolute lowest price you are willing to sell
your item for. Keep what the item is worth, as well
as what it cost you in mind.

The ‘buy it now’ option will allow you to set a price,
and buyers can buy the item immediately, without
bidding, for that set price. This option can be used
for any type of item, and it should be set to match
your reserve, give or take a few dollars. This option
is great if you have multiple identical items to sell.

Shipping has a price, and potential buyers take this
into consideration when they are looking at an
auction. If you can see your way clear to offer free
shipping, you will find that people are placing more
bids. Make sure that your potential buyers realize
that you are offering free shipping!

Before setting any prices, you need to determine
what the item is really worth. The value of the item in
different markets might be quite high. However, you
are selling on eBay, and it is a different world
altogether! Find out the price that similar items sold
for on eBay before setting any prices. If it is a
collectable, or a high ticket item, have the item
evaluated to ensure that you aren’t going to lose
money!