I've been doing some research on Google, and here are some tips for getting your listing high up on search page one. If you can add to this, please feel free to share.
The first trick I found, was to upgrade your store from standard, to featured. One listing went from page 4 to page 2 within the hour. Is it fair? No, but that's the way the cookie crumbles
Create attention grabbing titles, the more clicks you get, the higher up the list it goes
Be prepared to sell at cost price, or below for several weeks, again, you will get more clicks and sell through, lifting it higher up the totem pole.
Over a period of weeks, slowly raise your price to where you think it should be, or sell by volume (more items at a lower price, as opposed to selling less items for a higher profit). Again, the less you sell (less clicks), the lower the listing will appear.
Never run out of stock, or you will have to start all over again, this happened to me. uuggh
When you're about to run low, think about raising the price to a level no one will purchase it at, then restore it back to your usual selling price once your new stock has arrived. Don't leave it too high for too long, as you will get less clicks, and it will slide down the totem pole again
Offer free postage, (absorb postal price into the buy it now price). Nobody wants to do mathematics when they buy, I don't anyway.. IE buy it now price is 9.99 plus $7.20 = Trust me, they will get sick of trying to figure out the total price, and will just buy one with free postage that just has the total price to pay. (all though shipping is not free, we all know that). Note: There are products that can get away with postage costs listed separately, this is not a hard and fast rule
When you get a new product, always have one in auction format for the first month, and consider adding a second subject line (extra $1.50) and put: "Don't wanna wait? Buy It Now in my eBay store for just $9.9 Free Shipping". This is free advertising back to your fixed price items, and take into account that Auction format listings climb up the totem pole every hour, until end of auction, putting it in a better position as the days progress. Consider having an auction format listing for the first month, and cease listing it once sales begin to pick up, and believe me, it will
I have used these tips, and my business really turned a corner
That's all I can remember right now, let me know how you go, or if you have your own tips, feel free to share them.
Bye
@aussie.grazing.boards wrote:
I am still seeking that type of niche
If there is one thing I do know, it's that "niche" isn't always about the product - it certainly is the easiest way to create one if you're offering a product no one else is, but I personally don't think it's limited to product alone, so can include a range of other things (think about anything you might buy that is offered by many sellers, some of the things that can influence your choice are quantity, selection, style, service standards, location, optional extras, presentation and so on, so it never hurts to highlight these things, as I see you have with a few of them 🙂 - as an additional example, lots of sellers have watches, but how many include spare batteries, the option for gift box presentation, or anything esle that some might find a desirable extra for that type of thing?)
I tend to agree with much of what clarry has said re: cassini and best match. The things that work best for me in terms of sales is maintaining fresh content, TBH, I try to list a few new items a week, and often (though not as often as I should 
) go back to older listings that aren't seeing any activity and refresh them (new description, title, photos, or end it all together and relist with tweaks, sometimes I'll change the quantity and price - i.e. I sell supply items, so sometimes instead of selling 10 for $5, I'll change it to 20 for $8.50 or something, price is higher, but better value so may increase the appeal, and if it does, I can start moving a previously stalling item).
I used to worry about losing watchers and sales history on listings if I ended them, but if I haven't had a sale from it for a while, I decided there's no point in worrying about that, because I'm not trying to appeal to buyers who've already bought, or watchers who are just watching, I'm trying to appeal to people who will buy, so resetting a listing isn't necessarily as bad as it might seem, IMO.
