The Worst eBay Selling Strategies… Ever? Part One - Linda Kerr

There has been a lot of buzz and hype in recent years relating to selling on eBay. It is true to say that there are people successfully selling on eBay and are able to give up their boring, stressful day-jobs. However there are considerably more people who are not successful.



"An idiot repeats his mistakes. A smart man learns from his mistakes. But a genius learns from the mistakes of others." -- unknown. If you are planning on setting up your own eBay shop, then I suggest you learn from the costly mistakes that I have made, it could be the difference between your success and failure.



Supply and demand Most people don't do enough research on whether there is enough demand for their product. If there are too many people selling the same thing and not enough people buying, then this drives the price down. You should do thorough research on each product to make sure there is enough room for you to enter the market. You can do this by looking through the completed items to see how many were listed versus how many were sold and for how much. Also if you look at the Want it Now listings to see how many there have been and how many responses were given. This can be time-consuming, however I found a great tool that speeds up the process and will throw up ideas you would never have thought of. I will tell you where you can get it later.



Poor quality photographs – First impressions count. When a customer is searching for a particular item, lets say silver earrings, they are faced with pages and pages of items for sale. There is no way they are going to click on every single listing to read more about your product. This is why you need a quality photograph as a gallery photo.



I was naïve to think that anything will sell on eBay – that's what the media keeps saying anyway. So instead of taking the time to produce quality photographs, what I did was place the items on a scanner. I see a lot of people suggesting this but I seriously wouldn't recommend it. Certainly not for jewellery. The result was that my items didn't sell for as much as I hoped.



I quickly recognised that if this was going to be a full time job, I was going to have to do a lot better. So I bought myself a Nikon Coolpix 4200 and a tripod and took photographs in natural daylight. The only problem is getting the lighting consistent, especially in the winter when it gets dark early. If getting the light the way you want it is a problem, there are some very good lighting setups designed for people with no knowledge of photography. They are ideal for taking photographs of jewellery and other small items



With the gallery photos, try to zoom into the most important detail. My competitors often take their photos from a distance and it is not uncommon to see coffee cups and remote controls in the picture too! Remember, this is a business and so you should give the most professional impression you can. You don't have to be professional photographer to do this



Take photos from as many different angles so that your customer has a good, clear idea of what they are buying. If there are any chips, scratches or cracks you must mention this in the description and try and take a photo of it. If you ignore this point you are just asking for trouble and negative feedback.



Every type of product being sold on eBay will require slightly different selling techniques. I can only tell you what I have done to sell jewellery. I must be doing something right because I have been able to give up my day job and am making a very nice income. I often look to see what my competitors are selling and what prices they have achieved. It ceases to amaze me how I am able to get a much higher price than they are for the exact same products. Simply follow the advice I have given you and there is no reason you can't do the same.


No idea where to find profitable products to sell? Most people don't either. That's why Auction Inspector and SaleHoo are probably the best resources for you. Remember to sign up for a free 6-part importing guide from SaleHoo.

All the best, Linda Kerr



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