I just wanted to touch on my experience getting an extra 100 listings within the first 45 days.

[erg-auto-electrical-wholesalers]

Approval for 100 extra listings..

I use the ebay app on my phone, and I mentioned this. I try my best to respond as fast as possible.

I advertised overnight freight now on most of my listings, and will do all.

I set myself some sales goals.

All my stock is located in my warehouse.

I hope these tips help someone.

😃

I know people mentioned that I could not get the extra listings till 50 positive feedback.

I had 11, and I can get another 100 listings at 25 positive feedback.

Mind you, this is autoelectrical parts, so I mentioned that I do have a lot of stock to list.. and I do.

I am going to list more this weekend. 😃

It takes 5 mins for the system to update..

[*tippy*toes*]

Is "replacing" the brand? Because that's how it reads to me.

[chameleon54]

Just a few more thoughts. What image are you trying to present for your business ? At the moment I,m getting very mixed messages. Your business name, your banner across the top etc. all look proffesional. This says highly efficient, reliable large bulk seller to me.

The lack of detail in the description, the use of "replacing" at the start of every title and description, says eccentric Polish guy in a dark shed somewhere with a great big old lathe and a store full of dusty old parts boxes.  NOW THIS MAY NOT BE A BAD THING. Most older mechanical type people know there are some old Polish guys in dusty workshops who are absolute geniuses. They can find a way to fix the unfixable and have a huge store of rare old parts hidden away out the back and know just where to find them.  These guys are becoming rarer and are HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER.  Its a niche market, but thats what many succesfull ebay businesses are built on. If this description fits your business, is it worth having a standard phrase in your listings that reflects this. Something like

" We are a family owned business that has been in the auto electrical trade for fifty years. We pride ourselves on our workshop skills and can repair or replace most rare and obsolete parts. We have an extensive range of hard to find items and will do our best to source out of stock parts for you."

If this is you, are you better off basing your online business around this ? It may cut out a lot of the younger buyers though and you may be wanting to modernise your business and compete head on in the global market. This is a worthwhile aim too.

You probably need to think about where you see your business in 5 & 10 years and build an online image, through your ebay store that projects this vision. At the moment your online image is scrammbled and sending mixed messages.

[pennyforum14]

So far, out of the 25 sales, we have had 2 message asking if it fits a certain model.

Just take a step back and look at this statement, this is what chameleon was trying to say.  Why do you think you have only had two enquiries?  It is not because the people looking at your products know what they are looking at, I can assure you.  That may be the case for a few, but in general, online buyers do not want to have to ask questions.  They particularly don't want to have to make a phone call.  That is why they shop online, because they can see all the info in front of them without having to ask.  If the info isn't there they will just move on to the next seller.  You would have more buyers if you include more information about the product instead of expecting them to know or to ring you for clarification.

[chameleon54]

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@erg-auto-electrical-wholesalers wrote:

That is awesome.

I am so glad I came here, something I would have overlooked.

We use Replacing as it is just that.

Replacing Bosch Brush.......

We have found this is the best way to say it, and other have fed this back.

You can only write so many words in the title.

We are not seeking to list all the models, we are looking for people who have some knowledge of what the item will fit.

We assume that people will already know, and if they dont they can call our support line.

So far, out of the 25 sales, we have had 2 message asking if it fits a certain model.

1 Brush might fit 50 models, and too much to sit there and write it all.

---

If it is a "one off" part, that is true. If it is a part you can restock and sell on an ongoing basis, that is where ebays vehicle model template is used. Yes it takes a bit of time initially to enter the models in the template ( you just click on the models though, not type each one in ) , but it will push your items higher in the searches and more buyers will have the confidence to buy your items. Your competitors ARE using the template which lists the 50 models your brushes fit. If you want to sell more parts and look proffesional , using the template is essential.

[chameleon54]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

Just a few more thoughts. What image are you trying to present for your business ? At the moment I,m getting very mixed messages. Your business name, your banner across the top etc. all look proffesional. This says highly efficient, reliable large bulk seller to me.

The lack of detail in the description, the use of "replacing" at the start of every title and description, says eccentric Polish guy in a dark shed somewhere with a great big old lathe and a store full of dusty old parts boxes.  NOW THIS MAY NOT BE A BAD THING. Most older mechanical type people know there are some old Polish guys in dusty workshops who are absolute geniuses. They can find a way to fix the unfixable and have a huge store of rare old parts hidden away out the back and know just where to find them.  These guys are becoming rarer and are HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER.  Its a niche market, but thats what many succesfull ebay businesses are built on. If this description fits your business, is it worth having a standard phrase in your listings that reflects this. Something like

" We are a family owned business that has been in the auto electrical trade for fifty years. We pride ourselves on our workshop skills and can repair or replace most rare and obsolete parts. We have an extensive range of hard to find items and will do our best to source out of stock parts for you."

If this is you, are you better off basing your online business around this ? It may cut out a lot of the younger buyers though and you may be wanting to modernise your business and compete head on in the global market. This is a worthwhile aim too.

You probably need to think about where you see your business in 5 & 10 years and build an online image, through your ebay store that projects this vision. At the moment your online image is scrammbled and sending mixed messages.

---

 Just out of interest, this is the sort of image I have based my business on. It has worked for me and I can modernise as I go along if I want to make the store more Hip and happening ( yes i,m still stuck in the 60,s   )  over time. My client base is mainly  35 to 70 year old males. These guys have more money and are less problems than a younger demographic.

[bakeandfry]

If you are using the phone app do you know you can see the estimated delivery date for items sold? This will give you a good indication if you want to push your handling time up, also for your descriptions, you can "speak" your descripition to your phone (saves having to key in the words)

[erg-auto-electrical-wholesalers]

yes, I understand.

We are only 2 people, and to sit there and list a myriad of model is too silly.

We assume that most people will know by looking at it.

So one brush holder may fit a landcruiser, and it will run through most of their series. It is too hard to be specific, and we assume people will understand this.

I have had 25 sales in the 6 weeks since we openned.

Not everyone is going to buy the 1 item on a regular basis, and we are not interested in the popular stuff.

So, there is an assumption that people will know when they are looking for and will tell by the photo as it is rare, etc.

For example this item with very little description

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Replacing-Alternator-brush-Holder-Suit-Denso-/262331673579?ssPageName=STR...

we have sold 5

[*tippy*toes*]

Don't always assume that people know what they are looking for. Mr Tippy is restoring an old truck. He has a birthday coming up next month and I had planned to buy him bits for said truck for his birthday. I don't want to spoil the surprise by having to ask him if this is the right part for his truck ( there were similar series trucks released at the same time and a lot of the parts aren't interchangeable).

I also don't want to be ringing people because due to the hours I work, quite often a lot of my searching and buying is in the middle of the night. I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate a call at 2am for a $10 part! Plus, I have kind of a phone phobia whereby I hate making phone calls. I get quite anxious if I have to make a call so tend to avoid it at all costs. I am the same with receiving calls from people I don't know.

So, for people like me who only have a basic knowledge of mechanics, it can be useful if the ads mention what models the parts fit. The last thing I want to hear from Mr Tippy is "thanks, but it won't fit, that's for XYZ model".

[phorum_junkie*]

I suspect you were given the 100 listing limit because you added a credit card to your account, that is what used to happen anyway when they first brought in the limits for new sellers.

I agree that replacing is not the word to use, nobody is going to search using that but they may very well use the word replacement which makes much better sense anyway.

I agree that naming 50 different models would take an inordinate amount of time using a phone app but as mentioned you can speak the words or you could use a bluetooth keyboard which would make it quicker even if you are a one finger typist like myself.

If you carry multiples of one item then you only have to do the list once and presumably there will be other items that fit the same models so a simple copy and paste would work.

[chameleon54]

OK, so you appear to have targeted a specific segment of the market. Experienced mechanics that know what they are looking at and dont need extra detail. If you are also providing workshop rebuilding services that makes sense. You will be cutting out most of the home mechanic and owner operator type people though. This could be a bigger proportion of the market that you are losing.

There is nothing wrong with targetting a very specific market ( experienced mechanics who just know what the part fits  )  and it is possible you may have less problems with them. Is it worth putting a brief statement in all of your listings ( or I think you can do this next to your profile pic design on stores ) along the lines of

"we are a family owned business dedicated to supporting the trade with quality replacement parts and specialised workshop services."

Often you are best to represent your business how it is, unless you are actively trying to change the business into something else. This way buyers expect services, based on the business image you are presenting.

It just seems to me you need to refine your presentation to suit your target market. Being on ebay, you will still get the non proffesional buyer looking at your items. How will you manage these buyers ? Is it just the "phone us" system. Nothing wrong with that if you are not really interested in selling to them, BUT they are the biggest buyer demographic.