Struggling for sale

[thebarginfinder]

Hi,

I been on here a few months now selling collectables and car parts, My sales are and i will be honest are pretty poor, Ive sold some good items and have made some money here and there, I always have atleat 2 photo's of my items, i do my research on prices, I try to set fair prices, i find if its a low price i only get 1 or 2 bids and i end up selling way below its worth, Im getting sick of paying $50\60 a month on fee's and not seeing alot of return on my money,

Has any 1 got any surgestions on boosting sales, Cheers in advance.

[2106greencat]

February is known to be the quietest month of the year sales wise, whether it be supply, distribute, retail or online. All the Xmas bills are in, and everyone is being that little bit more careful at the moment. April is known as one of the best, so here's to April. Oh, and July - after FY we all feel rich

[genrel]

I must admit I'm getting a little edgy. I have a couple of items up which I put up at low prices to encourage a rally but so far little has happened and I fear someone will snipe them well below what they should go for. I may have to pull these items before it gets too late. Don't like doing this but it's not looking good at this stage. Frankly, it's all getting too hard to sell on Ebay anymore. There is too much Chinese rubbish and I agree their postage rates are impossible to compete with. Australia Post are also getting too greedy with their rates and restrictions. Why did we loss rates for items under 500g? It's too big a jump to pay $6.80 for 500g and even bigger to pay $10.55 for 1kg to 3kg. Might add, I do use the letter option where possible but 2cm clearance height is fairly restrictive and it can mean possible damage to some items, so I'm not happy about it. Because of rate hikes and removed categories, AP has killed selling books and small items are going the same way. Sorry, just needed to vent. Selling isn't enjoyable any more!

[flashback_deals]

eBay can be a strange old place

I remember listing a milo ball for monthsat 99 cents and never a bid, then suddenly I got over $27 for it!

genrel - Maybe if they have no bids at a low price, maybe it is best to hold them for a couple of months and try again later

Depends on whats hot and what isnt and market value. I often think this might be worth $50 as an example, go on eBay and several sellers had it for $20 so if I wanted to sell it, I had to match their prices so maybe that is the actual market value

We also closed our ebay store to experiement with 30 free listings on 4 of our other ID's, it does not work and even though a store is almost $50 a month, it works much better for us

[thesoulyearns]

I must admit I'm getting a little edgy. I have a couple of items up which I put up at low prices to encourage a rally but so far little has happened and I fear someone will snipe them well below what they should go for. I may have to pull these items before it gets too late. Don't like doing this but it's not looking good at this stage. Frankly, it's all getting too hard to sell on Ebay anymore. There is too much Chinese rubbish and I agree their postage rates are impossible to compete with. Australia Post are also getting too greedy with their rates and restrictions. Why did we loss rates for items under 500g? It's too big a jump to pay $6.80 for 500g and even bigger to pay $10.55 for 1kg to 3kg. Might add, I do use the letter option where possible but 2cm clearance height is fairly restrictive and it can mean possible damage to some items, so I'm not happy about it. Because of rate hikes and removed categories, AP has killed selling books and small items are going the same way. Sorry, just needed to vent. Selling isn't enjoyable any more!

I can relate as I am listing things at 1c right now, hoping to get a bidding war. However, odds are that they won't go for more than $1 or $2 (at the very most), even though a couple are worth $20 at the absolute minimum. I'm sure re-sellers will be the only ones buying as I've turned buyers off my listings unfortunately. That was the whole reason why I opened a new account; for a fresh start.

As far as the 2cm rule, you should really try. All of these little thin jewelery bits can certainly go large letter. Try thin bardboard, stickytape, glad wrap, whatever you can use to add more safety while keeping it under 2cm. There's lots you can do.

As far as ending things early... are you really in need of any extra cash or is there a specific rush in selling this stuff? If there's no rush, just list it a bit higher and let it take time to sell. I personally just want to get rid of this stuff... I thought I could make money from it but I was wrong. Before you list something, you should really think about what you're happy with it selling for... but also what is would realistically sell for. Merge those two together to find your ideal price.

[genrel]

As stated, I do use the letter option or at least a small tough bag, wherever I can but I have never just dropped an item into a bag or envelope and posted it...that goes against the grain for me. I have one piece of jewellery which measures 1.5 cm in depth, which means I have little latitude for packaging. I have used a thin 3 mm thick polystyrene wrap (which is spongy and will compress to 1mm under pressure but also has a slippery surface) with no overlaping and taped the edges firmly but this is where it gets tricky. If the postie is rough with pushing it through the letter box, there is a possibility of damage. I normally like a few centimetres of padding. If I'm still not happy by the time the item ends I may opt for the 500g bag and pay the higher rate. I would rather that than risk problems later. It is my own fault for not thinking about this earlier.

As for why I may pull a couple of items...All the items are REALLY part of a deceased estate and if I was the only person involved it wouldn't matter to me but there is another person with an interest in what I'm selling and how it goes and that makes me nervous as I don't want to be criticized later. There are still some more valuable items to come so I'm just being as careful as I can be. Ebay has changed, even since last year, and I'm only realizing this now so I may have to rethink how I market some of these items. I'm not putting up too much until I see how things are going.

[greatfindoutlet]

hi, i'd look at your items and you do have a great find but i agreed with everyone that you need to put more details like size/measurement (L x W x H), any features or defects and would be great if you can tell a story of how you got it or even any suggestion on how they can use it..if its collectible then emphasize the era, etc.. I hope that helps!  🙂

[thebarginfinder]

I thinkits postage thats killing it for people, $7 is the cheapest you can post for, Why would some 1 buy an average $10 item pay $7 for pstage when they can go to there local shop and buy it from GoLo probably, And the stuff you can get from hong kong is killing it, I bought some commodore remote button 2 pairs for $3-50 delivered that item in Aus is $10+ also a jewlers magnifying glass for $2-50 delivered, How your expected to compete with that i dont know,I wasnt expecting alot for the prices i paid but both were of suprisingly good quality,Every body on e-bay bids at the last second not that there is anything wrong with that but i buy\sell from other aution sites and the bidding is continuous over the 5 day period whether thats just people bidding it up im not sure,

[thebarginfinder]

Also fee's just kill you selling $10 items ebay will take a $1 paypal will take another $1 the you r bank will take some to depending on howmany  transactions you make in a month, So that $10 item is only worth $7 in your pcket in the end so unless you sell 100 items a week, its hardley worth the time and effort,