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How To Sell Anything To Anyone on eBay… eBay Selling Secrets in a Nutshell
By Skip McGrath
As the publisher of eBay Sellers News and author of several books about selling on eBay I am often asked “What is the real secret to selling on eBay?” It turns out that is a really difficult question to answer, because there really isn’t just one secret –there are hundreds. But, there are what I like to call “The Seven Biggies.”
Secret # 1 – Find something to sell on eBay that people actually want and price it to sell.
Millions of auctions end every day that fail to get even one bid or fail to meet the seller’s reserve. Invariably when I look at these auctions the seller’s starting bid (or reserve) was too high. Starting auctions at 99-cents is a great way to get the bidding started but this can be dangerous if you are selling a high-priced item that is not in very high demand.
The trick(or the “secret” if you will) is to first research what your product has sold for in the past. You can use the eBay Completed Items search feature, or a third-party research service such as Terapeak: eBay Marketplace Research to determine the average selling price of the product you wish to sell. Then set a starting price 10% to 20% below that average price. The other tactic –one that I use every day, is to start your auctions at 99-cents, but use a reserve. A lot of people don’t like reserves, but I get more hits on my auction and more bids when I use a reserve with a low starting price, rather than a high starting price and no reserve. Sometimes I even tell the bidders what my reserve is. This doesn’t seem to hurt my results.
Secret # 2 – Write keyword-rich headlines and use all 55 characters.
You can’t sell anything on eBay unless you get potential bidders to look at your auctions. eBay’s internal research shows that over 68% of people find products by performing a specific product search. The terms they search can be very specific and include things such as color, model number, size and accessories.
When I was writing this article I did a search for Nikon 5100 camera. I found one headline that said New Nikon Digital Camera way at the bottom of the search results. When I clicked on the title it turned out to be for a Nikon 5100, but I probably would not have clicked on it except I was looking for an example for this article. The auction had no bids. When I read the item description, it was actually for a whole kit, not just the camera. Had the buyer put all the important information in the headline, it would have read:
Nikon 5100 Digital Camera kit w/ Tripod, & Bag NEW, NR
This headline is far more descriptive, has more keywords and uses 54 characters, just one short of the limit.
Secret # 3 – Write complete and easily readable item descriptions
One of the biggest mistakes sellers make on eBay every day is short, incomplete descriptions of the item being sold. The second biggest mistake I see is long run-on sentences in very small hard-to-read type.
If you want to sell on eBay you have to tell the bidder everything you know about the item you are selling. Be sure to include the size, weight, condition, age, specifications, list of accessories –anything that is included with the item or important to the buyer. If you leave an important piece of information out one buyer out of ten will email you with a question –the other nine will go looking for the same item being sold by someone else.
Write short sentences. Use bullets to list the features or specifications and always include the shipping information and cost. Also use several short paragraphs separated by a space instead of one long paragraph. Anything you do to make your description easier to read will increase your bids and final values.
Here is a big tip: Use a fixed shipping rate instead of calculated shipping. When you perform a search on eBay, the search results show the shipping cost next to the current bid or asking price of the item, if you specified a shipping price. When you use calculated shipping, the shipping price is blank. I have tried this both ways. When I use fixed shipping I get almost 20% more hits to an auction than when I don’t.
Secret # 4 – Take Good –and Relevant Photos That Sell
A good photograph of the item you are selling on eBay is critical to the success of your auction, but more important is the right kind of photo. I like to use at least 3 photos of anything I am trying to sell. This way I can show both the front and back of an object and a close-up of any important information such as a maker’s mark on a piece of silver or pottery, a price tag on an item I am selling as new with tag, any very nice details or even a shortcoming such as a crack or a wear spot.
The four most common photo mistakes I see on eBay are:
1. Photo is too small. Too many pictures on eBay are taken from too far away. The object only fills up about 30% of the frame instead of 90%. Get close to your subject.
2. The photo is blurry. Digital cameras auto focus often uses slow shutter speeds so you must use a tripod to get sharp photos if you are shooting indoors.
3. Hot spots and reflections. This is usually caused by using your flash or shooting in direct sunlight. Take your photos near a window with indirect light or outside in bright –but open shade or use lights indoors.
4. Cluttered background. Clean up the background so anything behind the object you are shooting doesn’t distract from it. I saw a photo one day of an antique nautical sextant. The seller put the sextant on his dining room table and took the photo. He apparently did this right after breakfast because you could still see the dirty dishes on the table behind the sextant.
Taking good digital photos is not that hard. It just takes a little practice. I don’t have the space here to cover all the details, but your can read my Digital Photo Tips for free at www.ezauctiontools.com. I also have a great book, Snappy Auction Photos by David Steiner for sale on our web site.
Secret # 5 – Take All Forms of Payment
First of all you must take PayPal if you are going to sell on eBay. Over 80% of auction buyers now use PayPal and a very high percentage of buyers including myself will not bid on an auction that doesn’t take PayPal. However, there are many new eBay members who don’t yet have a PayPal account, can’t seem to figure out how to set it up or just don’t like PayPal. So for these buyers you also have to take checks and/or money orders.
This may surprise you but I don’t hold checks until they clear for any item under $100. Banks now charge their customers up to $25 for writing a check with insufficient funds. Most people will not write a bad check for a small amount for that reason. When I get a personal check, I first look at the buyer’s feedback. If they have been on eBay at least a few months and their feedback is over 10 I will usually ship right away without waiting for the check to clear.
I also take Western Union’s BidPay. Very few US Buyers use BidPay, but it is very popular overseas. So, if you sell on eBay internationally –and you should, then you will want to take BidPay.
Secret # 6 – Explain your shipping and payment policies in a clear, friendly manner
Always tell the potential bidder how much it will cost to ship the item, how you will ship it and if you require or offer optional insurance. You should also spell out the forms of payment you will accept and your return policy or any type of guarantee you offer.
All of this is important to a buyer –but it is also important that you spell this out in a very friendly way. I often see written shipping and return policies on eBay that read like a government regulation or that sound like a Drill Sergeant giving orders.
Lastly, don’t make threats. Here is an actual quote from an eBay seller’s auction: “If you aren’t going to pay, don’t bid or I will report you to eBay and leave you really bad feedback.” Another statement I saw said: “I don’t deal with eBay newbies. Don’t bid unless your feedback is at least 10. If you do, I will cancel your bid.” I was actually very interested in the item this seller had, but there was no way I was going to do business with that person. Interestingly when I looked at his feedback it was below 95%.
Secret # 7 – Build –and Defend Your Feedback Rating
If you are going to sell on eBay everyone knows it is important to build up a good feedback rating –but do you know how to defend it? I will explain how to defend your rating, but let’s look at how to build it first.
The best way to build a good feedback rating is simply to give everyone great customer service. Here are the keys to great customer service:
Write complete and accurate item descriptions that represent exactly what you are selling with no exaggeration. There should be no surprises when the buyer receives their item
Communicate quickly with your buyers
Pack and ship your goods properly so they arrive safely
Post feedback for your buyer quickly. Don’t hold someone’s feedback hostage until they leave you feedback. This is called “wimp feedback.”
If something goes wrong, contact the buyer immediately and let them know the problem. Most people are reasonable and will respond to unexpected events if you are open and honest, apologize and take responsibility.
OK, so how do you defend your feedback?
The last bullet in the above paragraph is the first thing to remember. If you take responsibility for your mistakes and offer a full refund or give the buyer something to make up for the problem, in most cases they will not leave you negative feedback.
For example, I recently sold a collectible coffee mug that we discovered had a crack in it just as we were about to ship. I explained this to the buyer and offered her two choices: I would send an immediate refund, or if she didn’t mind waiting a couple of extra days, I could get a replacement and send it to her and refund the shipping charge. She really wanted the mug and said she would be very unhappy if I just refunded her money. She took the free shipping offer and ended up leaving me glowing feedback.
The next issue is refunds. Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the product or your service but the buyer is just unhappy. When this happens I always offer a full refund if they will return the product. I even refund the shipping cost they paid both ways. A lot of people think this is extreme. If you have thousands of feedback comments, then an occasional negative isn’t that important. But if you are trying to build an eBay business and your feedback total is less than 500, I would do everything within your power to keep it 100% positive. In the past year I refunded three purchasers in situations where there was nothing wrong with my product. I look at giving refunds as a cost of doing business, much like a retail store owner looks at shoplifting. If you describe all your products honestly and give good service, refund requests will be rare.
Lastly, if you get a negative feedback go through the eBay process to have it removed. eBay will remove feedback if both parties agree. You can read how the process works by < href=http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-abuse-withdrawal.html> Clicking Here.
Well that is my seven secrets to selling on eBay. As I said at the beginning, there are a lot more than just seven secrets to selling successfully on eBay. I cover hundreds more in The Complete eBay Marketing System, my 240 + Page, printed business manual for professional eBay sellers.
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the eBay Seller’s News while it is still free. Starting in January 2006 I will start charging $97 a year, but existing subscribers will get a lifetime 50% discount.
About the author:
Skip McGrath is the publisher of the eBay Seller's News, the largest online newsletter for professional eBay sellers and author of The complete eBay Marketing System.
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