I wanted to share some thoughts of mine on what I believe are ways to improve the sales on your Ebay auctions. It's not an easy task most of the time to put together an auction that has both good eye-appeal and a description that will attract as many potential bidders as you can get. For most Ebay buyers their first impression of your listing will make all the difference in whether your auction grabs their interest enough to make them a potential bidder. If you can't snag their attention from the get go they will quickly move on to another auction. So here's the areas I believe you need to focus on to help maximize sales.
- Learn as much about the item for sale as you can before you describe it.
- Take good pictures to ensure potential buyers have a clear visual view of what they are bidding on.
- Make sure to include as many relevant Keywords in your description to increase search traffic
- Clearly explain you return policy
- Promptly answer any e-mails you receive concerning an auction.
Before writing up your description for an auction do the best you can to learn as much as possible about the item as you can in a reasonable amount of time. Try to learn the general time period or age it was made, if it was designed by someone special which gives it added collector appeal and any kind of info that will help you with your choice of Keywords. Measure it accurately which helps assure the buyer it's the right piece in a pattern they are looking for. The size of a piece of crystal stemware or sterling flatware for example makes a difference in value many times especially when it comes to serving pieces. Be sure to accurately describe any flaws or repairs, chips, etc even if they were done by the manufacturer. Basically you goal should be to remove as much mystery about your auction item as you can for the buyer so they can bid with confidence. This often results in a higher bid price.
I can't stress enough how important the picture(s) you use in your listing are for giving a potential buyer their best visual impression of your auction item. Too many times I've looked at listings with pictures that are out of focus or too small that I feel like they hurt more than helped the auction's chances of selling. I'm sure most of them are by sellers who may only occasionally list items and aren't particularly experienced at taking close up pictures with a digital camera. But many times I see long time sellers that have poorly taken photos that are out of focus or badly lit and don't help sell the item. If you need to take a close up of a china or silver hallmark or just want to show the detail better be sure to learn how to use the macro focus option on your camera. Macro focus adjusts the lens to allow for close up shots of 18 inches to as close as a couple of inches. Make sure you have enough natural lighting if possible so that you can hopefully avoid using the flash. If you use your flash be sure you don't overexpose the picture. It takes time and practice to get the hang of it but you don't have to be an expert to get better picture. The next area to help your auction picture is to use an online hosting site to store your picture files. Since I use AOL I store them at My FTP SPACE. There are several online sites such as Flickr or Photobucket that are free which you can use to host your images. The reason I recommend this is I feel that Ebay's own photo hosting is not the best way to put good pictures in your listing. Also it can save you money using your own hosting site. If you are handy with any of the photo editing programs that are available your can combine several shots of your item and then arrange and combine them into a single jpg file and upload that for your listing. This is what I do and it allows for much larger views of your auction item. I take shots from different angles, the inside if it has one. All hallmarks and manufacturers labels that identify the piece and also any blemishes and flaws that the buyer needs to be aware of to help them have as best a visual impression of the item I'm selling. Once again your goal is to remove as much mystery and doubt from the buyer so they are won't be hesitant to bid higher for fear of a buying something that doesn't meet their expectations when it comes to condition. Collectors nearly always want items that are in great or near new looking condition and will often pay dearly for it.
Keywords play an important part in driving search traffic to your auction so be sure to include them in your description. Your choice of Keywords of course depends on what you're selling. As an example, my daughter recently listed a 1978 brochure for the Universal Studio's movie tour in California and called me because she was discouraged that no one seemed interested in it and she only had one bid for the starting price of .99 cents. I looked at her listing and noted she had a very basic description with little details. I told her to list the names of the movies that were featured on the tour and any star's name or other Keywords that would result in her listing showing up in a greater amount of searches. She ended up selling her brochure for $26 to a serious collector of Jaws the Movie memorabilia which was one of the movies featured on the tour. Buy adding that Keyword her auction then showed up on any search for Jaws plus any of the other movies on the tour and gave her auction a greater number of potential buyers. I don't have to tell you she was thrilled with the results of her sale. Now don't go overboard and have dozens of Keywords that clutter up your description and make it look obvious that you are baiting bidders. Just give it more thought when you write your description to add keywords that are relevant and blend in well.
Your return policy should be stated clearly to assure potential customers that they can bid with confidence that they may return an item in the event that it isn't correctly described or doesn't arrive in satisfactory condition. This helps you build up a group of repeat buyers in the long run you'll find. A clear return policy will also decrease the chances that a bidder will be reluctant to trust you and improves your chances of getting more bids. Accurate descriptions are essential to avoid buyers from abusing your return policy, so be as precise as you can when you write your description. A satisfied customer will often be back to check your auction listings because you made the buying experience so pleasant. Also be sure to pack fragile items carefully to avoid returns for breakage.
Promptly reply to e-mails sent concerning your auctions. I know from experience that the most common e-mails you will receive will be from people asking for an estimate of shipping charges so try to avoid that by either stating in your description the shipping weight or if you can include a link for a shipping calculator, the interested buyer can figure it out for themselves. The rest will be for some clarification or more specific details on your auction item and those need to be dealt with promptly. Always remember that your #1 goal is to remove as much mystery and resistance the bidder might have about what you are seller. The more confident the bidder the higher the sales price will be. Also the percentage of items listed that sell will increase due to you making a greater effort to remove as many doubts a potential bidder might have about your items for sale.
I hope you'll find these hints helpful and I always welcome input from you on ways you find improve your sales results.
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