eBay has evolved in the last several years into not only a place to sell your unwanted junk but into a massive platform that hosts just as many mom & pop sellers as it does major online businesses. Companies & individuals who want to run tests on items to see their marketability are also more often turning to eBay, its far cheaper than normal marketing campaigns & is a very grass roots way of connecting with the people. So whether you sell for pleasure or business, whether its for small or big companies here are 6 hot tips for selling on eBay.
1. Sell Hot Items: as often as possible try to keep an inventory of ‘hot’ items in your eBay store. If your mainstay is decorative plates this may be harder to do… but it never hurts to ‘cross’ promote auctions & offer a variety of different items for sale in different categories. It is as simple as searching google or a tech blog like engadget.com to see what items (usually electronics or children’s toys) are selling really well in the world at large. Now all you have to do is figure out how to get them for cheaper & resell these kinds of ‘hot’ commodities for a nice little profit.
2. Paypal, paypal, paypal. All I can say if you don’t implement paypal as an option (or the only option in most cases) then you are falling far behind in the eBay rat race. Paypal takes credit cards, allows buyers a feeling of security & allows you the buyer to get your hands on your money faster. Its as easy as a few simple steps to sign up for either a personal or business account & costs nothing. Sign up for paypal now & you’ll thank yourself later.
3. Use Systems. Any business person will tell you the key to great success in the world of product pushing is systems. Whether you use something more complex like terapeak to track your competition & what sells on eBay or just do the leg work yourself & keep it all neatly collected in a notebook, make sure to implement systems in all your eBay goings ons. Track sales prices of items, then subtract the cost of the item & listing fees. This will show you whether you are really profitable or not, you’d be surprised how many ‘major’ eBay powersellers barely make a profit because of their lack of good systems that show them how to cut costs & optimize their success.
4. Invest in a Great Camera. Easy as it sounds, do some research, pick a brand & get a good digital camera so you can take amazing pictures. Because in this business the photos really sell the item. My personal favorites are the Sony cyber-shot line of cameras or the Canon Powershot brand, they take amazing photos, have a lot of extra features & are relatively inexpensive.
5. Push that 100% Guarantee. Always, always, always offer your customers a 100% guarantee. It inspires buyer confidence & leads to much more click throughs to your auction listing. I’ve noticed return rates when you offer a 100% guarantee actually go down! The biggest percentage of customers returning items you will have to worry about (if you sell a good product) is between 3-5%. That is worth the boost in sales the 100% guarantee will give you.
6. Ship Well. Thats right, this is not the place to skrimp. When you ship, make sure you pack it tight & pack it right. This motto will get you far in eBay business when your customers happily unwrap their well packaged and attractive items instead of opening a beat up box full of broken parts. Also don’t wrap in toilet paper, paper towls or rags… I’m not joking alot of sellers do this to save on packing costs. Use bubble wrap, tissue paper or packing peanuts when shipping items. Also double check shipping addresses & offer tracking for free if it is a higher end item so nothing gets “lost in the mail”.
Implement these Hot Tips & I promise you will see a boost in your sales & a jump in customer satisfaction. Remember, selling on eBay is like a game… so play it right & you’ll go home with the most monopoly bucks.
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