Many first time sellers have one thing in common they fail. Many of them fail time and time again, never understanding what is going wrong. They do hours of research looking for the perfect item to sell, get the auction set up, and wait for the bidding to begin. Hours go by and no bids are placed.Â
Days go by, and there are still no bids or there are very low bids. Finally the auction ends, and it turns out to be a total failure. Considering the huge number of sellers who run eBay auctions, there are specific things you must do, and specific things you must not do if you are to be successful.
Auctions fail because of many reasons. The most common reason is that this item is not in high demand. It is possible to avoid this problem by doing the necessary research on which items sell well and which items should be avoided. You will find that this work takes a great deal of time, but ultimately, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Pricing is another factor contributing to eBay failure. Even if your reserve price is less than $50, your opening bid should never be more than $50. You will be able to attract bidders to your auction by doing this. It is unlikely that most people will even click the link to read the description if you set that opening bid too high. The lack of research is another pricing issue. When setting your reserve price, determine what the item is really worth, along with the price similar items have sold for in past eBay auctions.
Another common cause of failed auctions are poorly written descriptions. People are distracted by poor grammar and misspelled words. If you do not post a picture of the item, people may also stop visiting your auction page. You should ensure your description is well written. This is basically your sales copy.
Too high shipping prices discourage people from participating in auctions. Alternatively, you may want to consider paying for shipping yourself if it doesn’t cut into your profits too much. No handling fees should charged.
Each auction you have should offer great customer service. Ask your buyers to give feedback. If the items you sell are everything you promised, and you provide great customer service, you can expect positive feedback and this feedback will help you substantially with your future auctions.