Constructive Critique

[clubesquire]

Hi everyone,

My name is Melina and I'm the Jill of all Trades at clubesquire.

It's been more than a decade since we last sold on eBay. My! How things have changed.  Don't know where up, separates from down anymore. It's been a stiff learning curve all over again. But, I'm managing, almost.

We sell tobacco pipes, both new and estate (re-furnished). We're not doing as well as we'd hoped. We'll survive, It certainly falls way short of our last selling experience. We used another account back then. Our biggest issues, insofar as I can see, is click through and sales conversion rates. I've done quite a lot of research and tried a few different initiatives, but the results remain somewhat disappointing. Certainly, compared with other sellers of the same items, we are way below par.

We've experienced issues with photography (understanding new equipment) and understand how important the pics are. But finally, I have that under control and there will be a massive improvement with our new uploads. The only other issue that I really gave some attention to was price, but comparatively, we shape up nicely against other sellers.

We've also tried listing on eBay.com and found that to be a total disaster. I mean, we can go bankrupt sitting at home enjoying ourselves, rather than working hard to achieve the same result. Giorgio is not concerned and always pacifiers my by saying, "We're new. It'll take a while to earn respect and trust." I'm sure he's right, but?

In all my investigations I keep coming back to our listings. Is there something there turning potential customers away?

I'm about to make a big ask, one that Giorgio would get into quite a flap about if he knew. I'd be so grateful if some of you would be kind enough, if you have the time, to take a quick look at our listing pages and provide me the benefit of your experience with a bit of brutal critique. I'm just can't think of anything else we should be doing and I'm embarrassed about asking this, but every bit of advice is valuable to us.

if you have the time and can identify even some of what we are obviously doing wrong you will have helped us beyond measure and will have contributed to us remaining with eBay.

i hope someone can give us a bit of a step up.

Kindest

Melina

[twyngwyn]

Hi Melina....you have beautiful photos.....my only criticism would be that there is way too much information to wade through?? 

Good luck 🙂

[*tippy*toes*]

You've sold 21 items in the last 2 months. You're doing better than a lot of people on here. My suggestion, all the clutter under the description, make it smaller so the actual description stands out more. There is also no need to have the postage amounts there, let alone twice. I would remove at least one of the postage cost paragraphs.

[padi*0409]

I'm with Tippy and Twyn on the overkill in the descriptions, keep it short and concise (but still covering your bum). Most buyers hate wading through long and convoluted descriptions.

[enigmabear]

I agree, beautiful photos but too 'wordy' I think for ebay

[the4masters2013]

Great photos, but way too much information! Most buyers would send you a message if they wish to know more.

You have a Don Carlos Lovat Hand-made by Artison Bruto Sordini listed. You have it listed for only 1 cent (US) and the postage is in US dollars. I'm not sure if this is a mistake or not, (made quite a few myself!). I would fix the price up before someone puts a bid in and make it quite a bit more than 1 cent. 

Maybe put it in Australian $ also.

Looking good though!

Happy selling.

[padi*0409]

---

@the4masters2013 wrote:

You have a Don Carlos Lovat Hand-made by Artison Bruto Sordini listed. You have it listed for only 1 cent (US) and the postage is in US dollars. I'm not sure if this is a mistake or not, (made quite a few myself!). I would fix the price up before someone puts a bid in and make it quite a bit more than 1 cent. 

Maybe put it in Australian $ also.

---

Looks like the listing was put on the US site since it's got an unknown reserve on it.

[the4masters2013]

OK... missed that. Thank you!

[padi*0409]

No worries masters, I'm not sure about the advisability of listing on the US site rather than listing on the Oz site with worldwide postage, due to the different eBay/Paypal policies in place there.....................could be a nightmare.

[clubesquire]

You guys rock, you know, in a wonderful way.

Thanks so much. I'm getting the message already - too much clutter and I can relate to that. That's Giorgio. He tries too hard to put it all out there. His good nature, but I'll do a few of the next listings myself and see what I can précis out. He's big on history and stuff like that, and really gets excited about 'his pipes.'  And, I've told him, just like you've said here, that people will ask for info or Google it. He's so pedantic and correct. He's a bugger!

Yes, there's a couple of listings on eBay.com with a reserve. That's us, experimenting.

Thank you for taking using your valuable time to have a look for me. Thanks too, for being honest and to the point. You've helped more than you know. I was starting to fret a bit. Not Giorgio though - Italian by birth, Aussie by nature - 'She'll be right.'

Wonderful guys, thank you.

Kindest,

Melina.