Advice for a newbie please

[geeky-meeks]

I am a relative newbie at selling on EBay.  I have started out just by listing stuff I or my kids don't want anymore. I have watched lots of YouTube videos about selling on Ebay. I have spent soooo much time on getting good photos with white backgrounds etc (the Ebay background remover isn't that helpful). I have tried to do SEO & done heaps of research for pricing my items. I have sold a couple of items over the last several months but most of my stuff isn't even getting any views. What am I doing wrong? 

With regards to white backgrounds, I have noticed a lot of product photos in Ebay stores don't use white backgrounds at all, so a bit confused about that advice.

Thanks in advance.

[geeky-meeks]

I am going through my pricing now & doing adjustments. I have changed the spoon postage to $3 except one spoon where the box (when bubble wrapped) is over 2cm for prepaid envelopes.

I was referring to myself as a perfectionist when it comes to the time it takes me taking photos, doing the listing etc, not my pricing.

[siddieswans]

I am almost solely a seller on eBay these days, so shouldn’t really comment from the point of view of a buyer. So feel free to completely disregard this post. It would seem to me that most of your items are in the pre-owned Clothing and Shoes category, which surely must be one of the most crowded categories on eBay. I mean there are 162,000 +  items for sale on eBay with “Dress size 12” in the title. The mind boggles. I am sure people do sell in these categories, and sell well, but it is a very hard market to start in.

Is your aim to continue on in eBay selling, rather than just get rid of some unwanted items from around the home? If it is, I would suggest you try finding some more stock in the “old stuff” “collectables” field. I know you have a few items for sale in that category, but they seem to me to be pretty ordinary, and overpriced. Do you have a real life auction house near you? Get down there and have a look at what they call “box lots” – a box of old stuff put together that is going to sell in the $40-50 price range. (It's usually come in from someone's failed garage sale.) Choose one (or more) that’s got stuff in good condition (very important, even for old stuff), not too heavy or bulky, so easy and fairly cheap to post. Don’t worry about having the best photos on eBay, a lot of things sell well with horrendous photos.

Try some auctions. Although most things are BIN or Best Offer on eBay, old stuff/collectables still sell very well at auction. Be modest with your starting price, at least at first. If you can buy a box for $50, and get from it 8 things to sell at $15 each, you’re laughing, even allowing for the auction house BP and eBay fees. If doing research on what price to ask, always looks at SOLD price, never what people are asking. If it doesn’t sell the first time at auction, put it up again. (it is after all FREE unless you chose to add things which cost – listing in a second category, subtitle – which I don’t do.)  Only then would I revert back to BIN.

If all you want to do is get rid of what you currently have for sale, I would put it all up for auction, with a starting price at least half (or less) of your current prices. Then rinse and repeat as above. Good luck.

[geeky-meeks]

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for your insights.  The idea was to eventually become a proper reseller but starting out just selling stuff around the house to get a "feel" for it, learn etc. The money I get from selling that stuff would then pay for items I buy from auctions, markets etc to resell. That is the goal anyway.  

Thank you heaps.

[sugar249]

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@geeky-meeks wrote:

Thank you for your reply & I appreciate your opinion. I do check weights & sizes of my items & use the Australia Post calculator & then add a little on for bubble wrap etc. Can I please ask for an example item you are referring to?

My prices are probably high because being the perfectionist that I am 🙄, I spend so much time getting the photos right & the descriptions right & questioning if everything is ok with the listing. I want to try & earn some sort of living out of doing this, so figured the time I spend doing the listing, postage, ebay fees etc, making a couple of dollars from a listing isn't worth my while. I am also an overthinker !  Am I looking at all of this the wrong way ? I am determined to get it right & just need some guidance please. 

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Ok,  $25.00 to send a dress,  if you really did the calculator, worst case would be $14 or so,  unless it weighs 2 tonnes.  Just one example , I'm not going thru all your lisstings.

A buyer really doesnt care if you are a perfectionist and want to be paid for taking 6 hours to take photo's and do your copy.  They just want to pay what is a fair market value for used items.   You will never sell if you as you admit have your prices high for that reason.

PS.   Your photo's are great,  and I like that you have multiple photo's.   

[geeky-meeks]

Ok, so the dress you have quoted is a formal dress with lots of delicate diamonte beading on the bodice & sleeves which also adds a bit of bulk. It can't be folded up too small that easily without possibly wrecking the beading.  So that postage price includes all the packaging including bubble wrap etc to ensure it's safety in transit.  The box/satchel would have to be a least 50cm wide to allow for the bodice & sleeves not to be folded.  If you have a suggestion on the best way to post this dress safely, I would really appreciate it. The last thing I want is for the dress to be delivered damaged because it wasn't packaged safely. I could probably bring the price down a bit, That is the only dress with an unusually high postage charge.

[sugar249]

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@geeky-meeks wrote:

I could probably bring the price down a bit, That is the only dress with an unusually high postage charge.

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As I said just an example, and at $385 (rip off),  I would be doing either free postage or a nominal low postage. Justified or not $25 just appears a rip off to potential customers.  

In my opinion having sold similar items,  at least 50% of you items have highhhhh postage rates ($20 for shoes, I wont go on.

[sugar249]

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@springyzone wrote:

This is from a different thread but I just saw it and feel it may be relevant to you.

I'm still keeping one store stocked up pretty well and ticking over. What I have noticed is that ebay is really hitting accounts that dont have a lot of activity. ( more than in the past ) If you are not constantly listing, revising and selling, your items drop completely from searches pretty quickly at the moment. 

The economy is definately affecting sales, but there is still buyers out there for the right stuff.

So it does sound as if your items may not be top of the searches. I guess just keep at it and maybe consider the prices and postage, as others have mentioned, especially for items that don't move in a reasonable time frame.

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Really you are quoting an unattributed source,  for information they have put on a forum,  thats really not a valid comment.

[springyzone]

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@sugar249 wrote:

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@springyzone wrote:

This is from a different thread but I just saw it and feel it may be relevant to you.

I'm still keeping one store stocked up pretty well and ticking over. What I have noticed is that ebay is really hitting accounts that dont have a lot of activity. ( more than in the past ) If you are not constantly listing, revising and selling, your items drop completely from searches pretty quickly at the moment. 

The economy is definately affecting sales, but there is still buyers out there for the right stuff.

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Really you are quoting an unattributed source,  for information they have put on a forum,  thats really not a valid comment.

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True, it is from a forum member and is anecdotal. But it is from a fairly long term, big seller so at least worth considering.

Most comments on this forum are personal opinions or about personal experiences. Most could not quote the exact research figures overall.

For example, curraone wrote about postage costs:

 I know you're allowed to add a little extra for packing etc, but in my experience buyers get quite narky if too much is added on.  

That's anecdotal too but I'd say it is spot on.

[geeky-meeks]

Funny how that item has had the most views.

I really appreciate everybody's KIND opinions & suggestions, whether they be negative or positive. Like I said, I am new at this & still learning. I get that my prices & postage is high, you don't need to kick the boot in, I am not stupid. What I don't appreciate & find quite insulting, is the "rip off" remarks. I am not doing this with the intention of "ripping off potential customers". I won't go on.

[sugar249]

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@geeky-meeks wrote:

Funny how that item has had the most views.

I really appreciate everybody's KIND opinions & suggestions, whether they be negative or positive. Like I said, I am new at this & still learning. I get that my prices & postage is high, you don't need to kick the boot in, I am not stupid. What I don't appreciate & find quite insulting, is the "rip off" remarks. I am not doing this with the intention of "ripping off potential customers". I won't go on.

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You seem to miss one important thing, yes it may have the most views, it may even have a million views.   That is actually sending you a message,  I could let you figure it out,  but I'll give you a hint.

People look at it and don't want to buy it.  Views are useless, its sales you want.   Your problem is you don't want to believe in your perfection that it is most likely to expensive.  I found a much cheaper one at a much better price,  

I have a couple of hundred items listed,  some of my best sellers have marginally higher views then sales.   ie.  just checked one,  72 views,  and 64 sales.   It's your conversion rate that counts not window shopping views.

Good luck we can only try to help,  if you dont understand the mechanics of online sales, well I won't go on.