Some Good Selling Practices on eBay
People who know I sell antiques on eBay ask me fairly often how to become a successful eBay dealer. In other words, what are some of the "best practices"for creating good listings on the site? Many of them ask because they also know I sell 99 % of what I list and none of my items ever have reserves or starting prices above $5.00.
My reply is always the same: "prepare good listings."It´s not magic and you don´t need to be particularly clever. Honestly, all it takes it some good, common business sense. eBay is a very efficient market place when you let it work for you. If you believe in auctions and can use or learn to use a camera, you can sell on eBay. You can also have a lot of fun along the way.
As a member of eBay member for over 10 years, I´ve seen more bad listing than I can or want to remember. After a while, it becomes pretty clear why some listings bomb.
Here are (in my humble opinion) the most basic reasons for failure on eBay when it comes to selling antiques. I say antiques because the other stuff that´s sold on here is a whole other game for the most part, and I wouldn´t presume to know what does and doesn´t work in other areas, though many things are probably consistent.
- Listing things in the wrong categories. I know this sounds silly and pretty basic but it happens all the time. Candlesticks in the porcelain section; chairs under accessories; circa 1800 paintings under modern prints - these are all good ways to have your listings go under the radar.
- Poor attention to photos. Not enough pictures; out of focus; too small and/or too far away; files that are too big and load much too slowly; bad composition. Hmm, is that a vase or a footstool?
- Bad descriptions. Don´t try to be slick. If you don´t know something just say so. If you do know, don´t play dumb. If it´s broken and has been repaired, say so! Unless you like getting negative feedback.
- Using bad templates and backgrounds. Setting up elaborate backgrounds and templates for your listings creates distractions for your buyers. Keep it very, very simple!
- Shipping limitations. The world is a big place! You´ll need to be willing to ship internationally in order to get the best prices.
- Short duration auctions. Short auctions are generally a waste of time. 7 days are OK, 10 days are even better.
- Auctions that end at the wrong time. Avoid having auctions that end on Friday and Saturday nights or during the day during the week. Start them on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights starting 7PM and 9PM Eastern Time
- High reserves and or minimums. Nothing kills interest in your stuff faster than high starting bids and reserves. People love to think they are getting a bargain and will be more willing to get in on the auction if the prices start low.
So what can you do to create good listings?
- Make sure you list in the right category or categories. Sometimes listing and object in more than one is an excellent approach. If you cannot figure out what category you should use, go to eBay and search for similar items to figure out where the bulk of items like yours are listed. Pay attention to which ones are getting the most attention are listed and list your items in the same categories. Make sure to check the completed listings to confirm which items sold for the most money!
- Photos are often more important than descriptions. People believe their eyes more than they believe your words. When you are taking photos, think like a buyer.
- What would you like to see? You probably want lots of well-sized, well-lit, and well-focused pictures that load quickly onto your computer.
- Buy a good camera with flexible features including a macro option for taking close-ups and manual white balance.
- Mega pixels are not as important as features!!
- Buy some decent photo lights- always use at least two, three are better-and a tripod. I personally like Alzo Digital. They sell great stuff of good quality and are also nice eBay sellers to boot.
- Use a simple background like a big piece of off white or light grey paper or better yet, go hog wild and buy a roll of photo paper that suits your needs. Don´t ever use bed sheets; they always end up looking like dirty laundry. I for one, don´t want to look at your laundry or what looks like your laundry and I think most people agree with me on that point.
- Use a decent photo editor and make sure your pictures are not file size heavy. Keep them under 120KB maximum and 800px by 800px. Photos under 60 KB load even faster and 500 by 700 pixels is {for me} an ideal size.
- Oh, please take an hour or two to read the camera´s Owner Manual! Canon, Nikon, Olympus, et. al. spend a fortune engineering these things and writing the manuals and you probably spent a few hundred bucks or more on it. Given the amount of time you´ll spend with the camera, why not read the instructions? You will save yourself a lot of time and get pictures you´ll be really happy with. If you cannot find the manual that came with the camera, go online and type in the camera model name and number with a plus sign and the word Manual on Google. You will get a nice PDF file of the manual courtesy of the camera maker-they know people toss the manuals and eventually need to get another one. Print it out and start reading.
- Write simple, brief, accurate and honest descriptions. "Just the facts ma´am". Who made it, when was it made, has been it ever been repaired, does it need to be fixed? Tell what you know and remind the viewer to look at the photos to see what you´re talking about. Don´t forget to include the dimensions. List it fairly and honestly and don´t try to sell it by overstating what it is with stuff like: &qote;It´s the greatest example known!&qote;, &qote;It´s rarity is un-measurable!&qote; , &qote;It´s museum quality&qote; and so on. If you can, tell people where it came from i.e. Live auction, Yard Sale, Parent´s House, wherever.
- Use very simple templates and backgrounds. Keep it all simple- no flowery backdrops, exploding fireworks, or confusing things moving around in the background. I know lots of people are selling templates like this to help you dress up your listings but honestly, they are a distraction and slow down the speed at which images load. If you want to express your decorative inner self re-do that spare bedroom you´ve been thinking about for the last 5 years, don´t clog your listing with overdone templates.
- Shipping: make sure you offer to ship everywhere around the world. With the USPS Clik-N-Ship, you can ship anywhere with 95% of the stuff you sell. Just shipping to the US cuts off a huge number of good customers, 30% of my business is international most of the time.
- The longer your auction lasts, the better. 7 Days Minimum, 10 Days are better, in my opinion. This way your item is guaranteed to get maximum exposure.
- Make sure your auctions are set to end at the right time. Try to start your auctions so that they don´t end on Friday or Saturday nights in the US. People aren´t generally tuned in to their computers on those evenings. I prefer ending mine on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights and I run 10 day listings.
- Start with a low starting bid and don´t set any reserves. I always laugh when I see a listing that says "Low Starting Bid"but the item has a reserve set between $500 and a $1000. There´s also the "No Reserve Auction"with minimum opening bid of $500 {and the item is probably worth $400}. Don´t treat your potential buyers like they are morons. Everything I sell pretty much starts at $5.00 and I never put on any reserves. Sure, you´re going take a few hits, expect it. But, on the flip side, you can also expect to build a following on your listings of good, steady buyers who will pay you for what your item is worth.
The reality is that people look on eBay for something they can have fun buying and for things that they might even get a great deal or a bargain on. If something ends up selling for less than you thought it should but you listed it properly, took good photos, provided good descriptions, and answered all inquiries promptly, the odds are that you were wrong about what it was worth in the first place. Hey, we´re all wrong from time to time; don´t sweat it too much. Lastly, when someone asks a question about a listing, answer them ASAP, don´t wait! Be sure to thank them for asking and be truthful with your answers. I truly do appreciate all my potential and regular customers and I like to let them know that.
In a nutshell:
- Make sure you list your item in the right category or categories!
- Take good, clear, big photos and make sure the file size is right for uploading on the web.
- Write simple, brief, accurate and honest descriptions.
- Use very simple templates and backgrounds.
- Offer to Ship Everywhere
- Run your auctions for the maximum duration of 10 days.
- Start them on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights so that they end on a Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday night.
- Start with low opening bids and no reserves.
- Oh, don´t forget to have fun.
- Pay attention to other sellers´ listings that get your attention and tempt you to buy. Try to analyze what they´ve done that makes you want to buy and use the same approach for your own listings.
Good luck and I hope this helps you in your quest to selling on the Web.
Peter Combs, www.plcombs.com