What Should I Sell on eBay

What should I sell on eBay. This answer to this question is the key to any successful business. What do people want? Research, research, research. Think like a buyer. What would you be looking for? Then research "completed items" to see what has been selling and what has not. Selling in auction can become expensive, so we sell only our hottest sellers auction style and leave the rest in our store for buyers to find. Certain items will sell again and again in an auction because people want them and will bid on them if they are offered at a discounted price. People like to feel they have gotten a deal on eBay and rightfully so. People are shopping on eBay for 2 main reasons ~ to get a deal or to find something they cannot get in a store.

Second Chance Offers

eBay’s Second Chance Offer feature allows more than one item to be sold from a single listing, saving on the listing fee for each additional sale. This is a great feature if you have more than one of the item you are selling and they are identical. For example, if you are have 5 identical Barbie Dolls and several people bid on your doll in auction, you can offer losing bidders that doll at their highest losing bid. If the winning bidder won the doll for $20.00, yet there was a losing bid of $19.50 and another for $18, you can decide to offer those bidders your dolls for $19.50 and $18 respectively. This is to your advantage because the offer means you do not have to list the item again and pay listing fees to sell your remaining dolls. It does not make sense if those bids are below an acceptable price that you are willing to sell for. When using second chance offers, you should be aware that you are making a trade-off between price and sales volume, as second chance offers are inevitably lower than the item’s final price.

Great Photos Sell on eBay

On eBay, a picture is worth a thousand words. Always have an image or two of your item for potential bidders to view. Many people pass on bidding for an item they don't get to see first. This also helps limit the number of items you have returned to you or neutral/negative feedback because you failed to describe them accurately enough to please those tough customers out there. If your item has a defect, be sure to include a photo of that defect. For example, if you are selling a purse that has wear and tear on the strap, take a photo of the strap. Also, an item with an accompanying great image just naturally gets more looks. If you don't show images, you are losing potential customers. Conversely, it does cost money to include photos on eBay so one or two great photos is all that is needed.

Ellabellas of Cape Cod eBay Store

Visit our eBay store, Ellabellas of Cape Cod, where we offer a sampling of the fine products we offer on our website Ellabellas. We often have sale items in our eBay store so we consider it our "bargain basement"! As well as offering great eBay tips and tricks here in our blog, we will be offering a sneak preview of our great items for sale in our eBay store. Stop by!

This ring is one of our top sellers in our eBay store. This BEAUTIFUL, TRENDY .925 Sterling Silver Cigar Band Dome Ring is keepsake quality. Every woman (or man) needs at least one. Measures 6 mm wide at the back and 18 mm wide at the front. This ring can be sized for you 4-10.

Keywords for eBay Auction Title

You eBay auction title is key to buyers finding your item for sale. Remember that most eBay bidders find what they are looking for by using the search function. Be sure to use carefully chosen and accurate keywords in your title and description. eBay gives you 55 characters in your headline. Be sure to use all of them. This will help you get hits. Important keywords include the brand, color, size, and model number, if applicable. For example, if you are selling a used Vera Bradley handbag, "Vera Bradley" is going to be the most important keyword you use. Then the color or fabric, such as "Java Blue" would be equally important. Then "Handbag" and "Purse" would follow - we usually use both as people search for "Vera Bradley Handbag" and "Vera Bradley Purse". If you are selling cufflinks, think like your customers. Some people will search for "cuff links", others will search for "cufflinks". Use both versions in your title for increased exposure. People searching for "monogram cufflinks" will not easily find your item if you have "monogrammed cufflinks" in your title. The search is specific. Check "completed items" in the left eBay navigation bar to see the keywords others have used to successfully sell similar items.

Best End Time for eBay Auctions

The end time of auctions is very important.For example, if you are selling children's clothing, an auction ending at 8-9 a.m. or 7-8 p.m. on a weekday will not likely be viewed by mothers of young children since those hours involve getting children ready for school and getting children ready for bed. Most auctions end between 8pm-10pm, especially on Sunday evenings, however if you are selling in a very busy category you might find selling at this time is of detriment to you as so many items will be ending. A lot of people who sell are at work and as such, lunchtime is an ideal time for them to shop on eBay. The best results for your product can be obtained by viewing the closing price of competitors items. After choosing the category, click on "completed items" in the left navigation bar in eBay and you can view successful and unsuccessful sales including the times the items ended. Many eBay sellers also find the end of the month slower and the beginning of the month the best time to list due to shoppers having access to more money at the beginning of the month. Bottom line ~ think like your customer. If you were, for example, a mother of young children, when would you be shopping online? There are those who swear by listing on Sunday evening between 7 pm and 10 pm pacific time for a 7 day auction so their item ends during that time frame. I have alot of "Buy It Now" sales in my store on Tuesdays ~ there is no logic, but it is the case!

Spelling Counts in eBay Searches

The success of any auction item relies almost entirely on the likelihood of its being found in searches and in eBay's category listings. eBay searches find your items by the words you place in your auction titles, so include as many relevant keywords as possible without wasting space with unnecessary punctuation or nonsense words such as !!Look!! , Wow! or any other terms for which your customers won't be searching. Since eBay uses exact-match (as opposed to similar) searches, the words in your titles must be spelled correctly in order to show up in search results. But if you have the space, be sure to include some intentional misspellings (cufflinks, cuff links for example) to accommodate all customers ~ just make sure the correct spelling is also there.
With only 45 characters to work with, there's rarely room to spare in an auction title. If you're interested in including the condition or particulars of your item, do so in the subtitle. Although subtitles are indexed only in title and description searches (not the more common title only searches), they do appear in all search results and category listings and are effective in getting extra attention. A subtitle costs 50 cents so this is not cost effective for small items.

Communication With eBay Customers

Communication with your customers is another eBay golden rule. Answer all questions about your items for sale quickly and accurately. Always inform the customer when items have been shipped and supply tracking numbers if applicable. Communication with customers always gives the feeling of a "relationship" with the other party and it will go a long way when feedback is left for you.

Positive Feedback on eBay

The golden rule of eBay ~ You must get good feedback from your customers. These positive feedbacks will help you to get more buyers for your products. Buyers look for eBay seller’s feedback when they buy items on eBay. Positive feedbacks are very important for you as a seller. Try to avoid any conflict, which may get you negative feedbacks from your customers. You have to take pride in your feedback. Build the trust of customers and project a credible image throughout the eBay community by striving for outstanding feedback from others. Your feedback is one of the most essential parts of your marketing and it goes a long way in building the customer's confidence in doing future business with you. While it is not always possible to please everyone, and you cannot allow buyers to bully you, doing everything you can to please the customer without compromising your integrity will go a long way. Great communication with each customer goes a long way on eBay ~ if people have a "relationship" with you, they are more apt to tolerate small issues. We will address communication techniques in a future post.

eBay Tips

Welcome to Ellabellas. We have a successful eBay store as well as a successful website. We would like to share some of our eBay tips with you while you build your successful business!