topic Re: Addicted to Selling Manager in Selling

Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:14:38 GMT

Hi group. I am addicted to Selling Manager. There is just a constant need to refresh to see if anyone has checked out my listings... or if there are any new watchers... or any bidders... is my title right? Oh, there's an error in the listing, better fix it... why won't anyone bid? Let's see if changing the duration will help, or maybe the price, no it's too low... but I don't want it to sell for that low... but I want it to sell... why isn't anyone even viewing the auctions? Wonder if my results are even showing up. Do the eBuyers hate me? Screw them! No... I will stick it out... and so on and so forth.

Think I'm going to do 1 day auctions at what I consider the peak day, once all of these finish. Honestly, when no one is bidding or caring about the auctions, it just seems to disheartening and it's way too addictive to keep checking back. It's amazing how some sellers do so well. I really wish I could have their success but it don't come easy.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

putney32 — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:50:38 GMT

you do realize that every time you ''Revise'' a listing, it CAN sometimes take several hours for it to re-appear in the search engines?

revising an item over and over can cost you HOURS, even days out of view... why do it???

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:09:11 GMT

you do realize that every time you ''Revise'' a listing, it CAN sometimes take several hours for it to re-appear in the search engines?

revising an item over and over can cost you HOURS, even days out of view... why do it???

Didn't realise that. But I think they all are showing up, as I can see them when I search and some are even on the first page of Best Match. I edit them for accuracy sake mostly but sometimes just change something small once every couple of days.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

digital*ghost — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:17:37 GMT

Hi group. I am addicted to Selling Manager. There is just a constant need to refresh to see if anyone has checked out my listings... or if there are any new watchers... or any bidders... is my title right? Oh, there's an error in the listing, better fix it... why won't anyone bid? Let's see if changing the duration will help, or maybe the price, no it's too low... but I don't want it to sell for that low... but I want it to sell... why isn't anyone even viewing the auctions? Wonder if my results are even showing up. Do the eBuyers hate me? Screw them! No... I will stick it out... and so on and so forth.

This too shall pass...

Believe it or not, eventually you will be able to relax and let your listings be. I don't think it's really possible to have a 'perfect' listing with perfect timing - at least, definitely not 100% of the time (by which I mean create a listing that A) is for an item that's currntly or always in demand and B) make it so that it appeals to everyone who's 'demanding' it. All you can do is provide the most (and relevant) information you're able to, hopefully title well and see what happens, minimising the risks and other things that can thwart your success as you go (eg selling too low, having unappealing TOS, bad photos etc).

I've had listings that have gone a few weeks with absolutely no views, but then sold to the first person that did view it, while other listings gathering views and watchers but only a sale here and there, if at all, so views and watchers aren't paramount.

One day auctions can work, though generally for items that are in constant or high demand.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:43:05 GMT

This too shall pass...

Believe it or not, eventually you will be able to relax and let your listings be. I don't think it's really possible to have a 'perfect' listing with perfect timing - at least, definitely not 100% of the time (by which I mean create a listing that A) is for an item that's currntly or always in demand and B) make it so that it appeals to everyone who's 'demanding' it. All you can do is provide the most (and relevant) information you're able to, hopefully title well and see what happens, minimising the risks and other things that can thwart your success as you go (eg selling too low, having unappealing TOS, bad photos etc).

I've had listings that have gone a few weeks with absolutely no views, but then sold to the first person that did view it, while other listings gathering views and watchers but only a sale here and there, if at all, so views and watchers aren't paramount.

One day auctions can work, though generally for items that are in constant or high demand.

It may not be possible to have a perfect listing but it's a little time and thought consuming trying to decide if anything could be made more accurate. The main thing I want besides selling the item is for the buyer to know exactly what they get so there's no disputes. Sometimes it's easier than others. But that's not really why it's so addictive... not sure why. It's just doing my head in today as far as having too much time to sit at the PC and refresh. Need to step away from here a bit perhaps and reassess things. Just mentally disconnect from here a bit. For people with addictive natures, as I do, such a large place like eBay is a virtual playground to let loose with either buying or selling. Been buying too much stuff here too, not that eBay's complaining... 😉

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

phorum_junkie* — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:43:06 GMT

it's a little time and thought consuming trying to decide if anything could be made more accurate.

And you should spend that time before you list, not doing revisions later that will have your items out of searches even if it is only for a few minutes plus you risk having non paying bidders. If somebody views the original listing and then sets a snipe and then finds anything has changed after they have won it you are likely to get a neg and a report for seller non performance.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:56:10 GMT

it's a little time and thought consuming trying to decide if anything could be made more accurate.

And you should spend that time before you list, not doing revisions later that will have your items out of searches even if it is only for a few minutes plus you risk having non paying bidders. If somebody views the original listing and then sets a snipe and then finds anything has changed after they have won it you are likely to get a neg and a report for seller non performance.

Surely you'd be fully aware that a report or a neg would be completely unjustified for someone using a sniping program to bid on an item for them, without looking back at the listing themselves. The seller is perfectly fine in that regard, aslong as the edits are made within the rules. Even as a relative newbie seller, that fact is blatantly obvious.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

robyns*quest — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:29:25 GMT

I agree with PJ - make sure you get them right before listing then leave them alone. Check them if you wish but stop messing around with them.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

aj111003 — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:45:36 GMT

I've had listings that have gone a few weeks with absolutely no views, but then sold to the first person that did view it, while other listings gathering views and watchers but only a sale here and there, if at all, so views and watchers aren't paramount.

Have to agree with DH. I've had listings where an item hasn't sold and I've had not much interest then have relisted it the following week at the same price and have had lots of interest and had the item sell. So I think it can vary from week to week, depending on what's going on ie whilst Olympics were on/school holidays etc

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:00:14 GMT

Thanks guys. eBay can be a fun place. I've just gotten too involed with the selling side of it. I'm going to take a step back and try to approach it a bit more casually.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

the3coopers — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:21:06 GMT

Just posting here to confirm that EVERY time you revise a listing, it goes back into the queue to be "reindexed" for the search engine.

That means at least 10 minutes (for most of mine) but up to 24 HOURS (for fashion and designer goods) that your listing will not appear in ANY searches by buyers.

You can still see them because the links in Selling Manager are direct links to your listings. The listing doesn't disappear, but it is not included in ANY searches until it gets reindexed.

Revising listings is certainly not something you want to be doing on a regular basis!

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

davewil1964 — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:41:20 GMT

I have selling manager pro and about once a week I might check views. If I think of it and haven't got anything more productive to do, like reading the boards.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

phorum_junkie* — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:05:41 GMT

Surely you'd be fully aware that a report or a neg would be completely unjustified for someone using a sniping program to bid on an item for them, without looking back at the listing themselves.

Not at all, plus a lot of people who manually snipe put items on their watch list and do not re visit the listing before putting in their last minute bid.

I don't know why as a new seller you think you know better than experienced sellers what is good practice and what isn't.

Bottom line is if you want to continue risking your tunover rate and account status by changing descriptions then feel fee to do so but you won't mind if we don't bother to offer advice in the future as you obviously know best 😉

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:33:15 GMT

Not at all, plus a lot of people who manually snipe put items on their watch list and do not re visit the listing before putting in their last minute bid.

I don't know why as a new seller you think you know better than experienced sellers what is good practice and what isn't.

Bottom line is if you want to continue risking your tunover rate and account status by changing descriptions then feel fee to do so but you won't mind if we don't bother to offer advice in the future as you obviously know best 😉

Now I'm starting to see why some people don't like certain experienced posters here. I'm already restricting my posts here but can't help but comment on this one. Not that I know better but... well... in this case... I do.

If you can show me the official eBay page that says to the effect of: "Sellers are not allowed to edit their descriptions once listed, beause some people may use a snipe program and not bother to return to check the description," I would be greatly appreciative.

All you're doing is scaring sellers from updating their descriptions when they have every right to within eBay's clearly-described rules about it. Most times it's beneficial to the buyer as it can provide previously-unthought information to help make a listing more accurate.

Since I asked you to provide a page that clearly doesn't exist, I'll provide a page that does. The official rules on revising a listing:

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/revising_restrictions.html

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

flotsam-jetsom — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:54:56 GMT

My wife and I were the same when we started selling, just could not leave well enough alone, now after many years, it is still fun, but not so time consuming since we learned to let things be :^O

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

pancaket52 — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 02:38:57 GMT

Soul - the more experienced sellers on here are just trying to help. Constant revising of your listings results in delays as per eBays FAQ's below:

Important notes about revising your listing and the indexing process:

If you revise a listing before it is indexed, doing so will pull it out of the queue, delaying the indexing process.

If you revise anything in your listing after it has been indexed, the listing must re-index all over again, and that will take as long or longer than the original indexing process. The listing will not be available in search or category browse until it has been re-indexed.

Many Buyers, myself included, put items on their Watch List then bid in the last few seconds. Very rarely do they (or me) go back to the original listing. So, any revisions you have made do not carry over to the description on buyers Watch Lists. Hence pj's warning regarding a possible 'Not as Described ' dispute.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thesoulyearns — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:27:25 GMT

Pancaket, don't take my following comments personally. It's not personal. It's just that simply, yours and PJ's advice regarding the sniping issue is wrong in accordance with eBay's rules.

The only person who need to be worried about receiving a strike or report is the buyer. If a buyer followed your instructions and bid at the last second after placing it on their Watch List for a week but didn't check to see if the listing had been updated... and then found out it had so chose not to pay... they would be receiving an Unpaid Item dispute and possibly a strike by eBay. The seller has absolutely nothing to worry about in that case. Why PJ is trying to scare people with that notion, I'm not sure. Maybe she can explain that one.

People who expect a listing not to change, a week after it's on the Watch List, and don't bother taking 10 seconds to go back to double-check if anything's been updated... should not be bidding as they're unaware of the rights of a seller. If something is on my Watch List and it gets to the last 24 hrs, I click on it, run through the listing and then decide if I want to bid. It's common sense.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

healthwise2011 — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:33:00 GMT

OMG OCD - You're like a dog with a ball luvely.... You reeeeeally need to find more to do with your time... and there are lotsa options. These discussion forums are great and there's alot you can learn, and later contribute, for helping yourimprove your ebay experience. Have a flick through the help pages on things like 'revising listings', 'auctions' etc - information is power - what you can and can't do, and what you just shouldn't....

And take a break every so often - go for a walk, cook yourself some gourmet, do some pushups - whatever works ...

I've never heard of eBay burnout before but, hey, there's a first for everything and you're well on your way sweet cheeks 🙂 Just don't forget to breathe...

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

beach_and_home — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 05:18:27 GMT

I actually think it is a good idea to revise your title after a while if an item hasn't sold. Simply because it starts it all over again as a new listing. So if you have had lots of impressions and no sales, I'm talking over months and months, then you are better off to revise the title and let it start all over again. And also maybe your original title needs some jazzing up anyway. But having said that, I forget to do it most of the time.

Re: Addicted to Selling Manager

thecatspjs — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 05:47:47 GMT

thesoulyearns ~ if you are addicted to selling manager then don't think of subscribing to inkfrog as it has a spy visitor service (pinpoints on map who (by isp & seach engine) is looking at which of your listings, how many they looked at and other stuff etc etc as well as a real-time big screen counter - lol

re revising listings - if I am not getting any watchers or visitor counters are looking low - I revise. I try to do this as the very last think before heading to bed, so the reindexing etc etc occurs during a less active buyer time. Fairly confident it only helps my sales totals.

re snipers potentially filing not as described claims if a seller changes their description etc etc - more carp advice by a few to add to an overflowing crock