eBay: How to sell #5
| eBay: How to sell #5 | |
15 February 2006
Taking the second question first, you can initially put up an item for auction one of two ways. Either by clicking on the Sell button, or, if you’ve a number of items, via a free eBay download called Turbo Lister. Both take you through the process step by step, but the advantage of the Turbo Lister software is that you can save template listings and fill in the blanks as required. For a business selling items in volume or a range of items, Turbo Lister saves a heap of time not having to repeatedly key in the same info, such as terms and conditions, postage, etc. Writing the descriptions and taking the photos having been covered in earlier parts of this series (see below), suffice to say that photographs are to be recommended. The small image alongside the text listing opens up into a full size image within the full description page for your item. The only other observation to be made is that for some items, especially high value ones, the gallery option is worth considering to give bidders a better idea of what they’re buying. Alternatively, if you know a little HTML and have web space of your own, fire up a gallery there and then add a link to it within the eBay description. [eBay don’t have a problem with this, but take a look over the rules governing external photo hosting first as there are certain things you can and cannot do on the page you link to from eBay.] The gallery is just one of a number of upgrade options for a listing, which, if any, to choose will depend on the value of the item placed for auction. Each upgrade adds to the cost of the listing should an item sell, so a value judgement has to be drawn. It’s highly debatable, for instance, whether the listing designer feature will add much to the final outcome. Branding-wise, a company is probably better off adapting the template for their own site for use on eBay or having one made professionally than using a generic template from eBay. Next in the listing upload process is whether indeed to go for an auction at all. There is an option to elect for a fixed price ‘Buy it now’ listing, but the price needs to be extremely competitive before a ‘Buy it now’ listing usually excites much interest. Auctions, on the other hand, are another matter, and this is where time spent monitoring the category in which you want to sell will pay off. Start too low and you may find your item attracting just one bid of 0.99p. Conversely, kick off with a start price that’s too high and a listing could well go the full week without a hint of a bite. The best way to start bids rolling in is often to list with a low-ish starting price, sufficiently removed from the RRP to look like an attractive bargain. Get a few bids in and, before you know it, there’s a bidding war going on. In some auctions observed by the author, common-sense has gone out the window as the protagonists struggle for supremacy, with the winner paying as much, or sometimes more, as having bought from a normal online or mail order retailer. It is worth noting too that it is possible to set a reserve price for some items. The minimum reserve price is £50 and there is a charge associated with this. Having set the starting price and flagged up postage costs etc., the final factor to take into account is when to start the auction. Normally, auctions run for seven days so aim to have yours end on a Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday or Thursday evening. These appear to be the busiest times of the week; Friday evenings are usually fairly quiet, so Friday auctions are best ended at lunchtime or before 5 pm. Auction start times can be scheduled in advance. This is normally a free service, but not if an item is listed with Turbo Lister software. To get free scheduling users have to either list via the Sell button on eBay or by upgrading to the subscriber Selling Manager Pro software. Now, it’s just a matter of watching the bids stack up. Or is it? Find out the answer next time in our continuing insider guide on eBay selling. Next time: customer service advice, dos and don’ts, and what to do if your auction goes pear shaped. Useful links | |