Selling on eBay – Tips, Tricks and Secrets That Make Or Break an eBay Business
Contrary to popular belief, eBay will not make you rich overnight. However, veteran eBay sellers know that with hard work and dedication, eBay can be a source of consistent profits. Most eBay education takes place through trial and error with few sellers coming out on top. Whether it be luck or determination, there are some eBay tips and tricks to the trade. Learning from the experience of others who have successfully braved the unforgiving eBay landscape, will give you a leg up on the competition
The first rule of selling on eBay: do your research
Any successful eBay seller knows that the secret to a profit or loss is made long before you list your items. Experienced sellers due a great deal of research in order to find out what products to sell in the first place. While many believe that garage sales are a great source of products to sell on eBay, they actually offer a limited, inconsistent and difficult to price group of items. In order to know what will sell today and in the future, you have to look to the past. One of the most successful tricks is to use eBay’s completed auctions tool. Found under “advanced search” this tool allows you to find out the price and number of bids of items that have already sold. A product that will sell for predictable profits on eBay will have both a high number of bids and a large selling price. Having both of these characteristics ensures that there is high demand and a willingness to pay a premium for the item.
All auction listings are not created equal
Many new to eBay believe that by just writing a couple sentences about an item and starting the auction, it will receive the same price as the same item sold by a veteran. In fact, your auction listing itself can make or break an eBay sale. The title should be very descriptive and give and specific model numbers that will likely be in the bidders search term. Including other words that are related to your item may bring additional visitors to your auction. The text inside your eBay auction listing should be well organized with all of the information the bidder needs to be sure they have found the item they are looking for. Since the auction is actually your storefront, typos or grammatical errors can be devastating to your listing’s success. Take your time to thoroughly proofread your auction before it is listed.
Selling with negative eBay feedback: give up now
The feedback you receive when an auction closes means everything. With any item you are listing on eBay, there are likely other listings of that same product elsewhere on eBay. Even if your product is selling for a lower price, bidders will go to the seller who has the better feedback. These days eBay bidders are more and more afraid of fraud and are willing to pay extra to avoid it. In order to keep your eBay rating high, make sure to answer bidders questions promptly. When the auction ends, don’t wait a week to contact the buyer. New bidders to eBay sometimes need reminders that they have an item to pay for. Most of all, ship the item on time and in good condition. There is nothing that will ruin a customer’s experience more than receiving their item damaged and a week late.
Selling successfully on eBay is not an easy feat. Taking the time to do the work before the auction will pay great dividends. Look at other successful auctions to find out how they hooked their bidders. Finally, those that are willing to go to the ends of the earth for their customers will find themselves rewarded with return business. Using these eBay tips and tricks to your advantage is the first step to building a successful eBay business empire.
By: Michael E Cohen
About the Author:
The author has been selling successfully on eBay for over 10 years and is the founder of http://www.SellandProfit.com, the premier blog on dropshipping and starting an eBay business