How to research how much your item is worth on eBay

There are a lot of beginning sellers out there, and some with quite a bit of feedback under their belt, that do not fully understand the power of the eBay search engine, or how to find out how much their item is worth on eBay.. Well, lucky for you, I am here to help!

There are several ways to search for things on eBay, but this approach will look at how to research profit potential for any given item you have. It is a good way to see how much your item sells for, and how high you should set your bid to get the best price.

After reading this, you will be able to more effectively see how much your item is worth, and what its average selling price is.

For the first simple starter example, I will use an item that I was researching to see if it would be worth it to buy in hopes of reselling on eBay. The item was the "Garmin Edge 305 GPS with Heartrate and Cadence Monitor." But if I searched for that whole string I would find very few results. So, instead I just searched for "Garmin edge 305."

This regular search just showed me regular results, but I am not interested in that, I want to see what it has sold for in the last two weeks. To see completed listings you have to scroll down and select the "completed listings" button. Simple enough.

This shows which items sold (Green numbers) and which items did not sell (red numbers). This gave me 209 results for items that sold in the last two weeks. This is good because it shows me that it is not really a saturated market.

To narrow this down further I narrowed down my results by clicking the button on the left which only shows the items that were GPS devices, and then was further narrowed by selecting "Personal GPS Devices." This gave me only 98 results.

That is a very easy number to work with. With those 98 results I sorted by price: highest first. These are the people that I want to emulate, and the prices that I am shooting for.

To see how much an item routinely sells for, it is a good idea to scroll down the page and look for the red numbers (usually the highest numbers) to start to get replaced by the green numbers. The red numbers go from a max of about $280 to about $260 before they start to get green. I know from this that I can not expect to make more than $260 on this item.

From there I keep scrolling down until I see a large section of just green numbers that have a lot of bids next to them. These prices show how much people are willing to spend on this item. The top third of the solid green numbers is a good place to judge how much you should try to sell your item for. This item sells heavily from the $240-$220 price range.

After I narrowed the prices I want to sell my item for down, I can look in that section and see how much I can charge for shipping to maximize my profit. It looks like I can charge from $10 to $17 to have this item shipped. Since this item only costs about 8.95 to ship in a priority box I know that I can make a couple extra bucks on the shipping increase.

With all of this information compiled I would probably do a fixed price, or auction for this item starting at about $230, and charge about $10-13 for shipping.

This is the basic way that I research all of the items that I want to sell, to see the kind of price I should expect, and see where I should set my minimum bid if I do not want to lose any money.

However, there are easier ways to research the popularity of your product, and how much sells for, and even the average sell-through rate. The time saving tool that I have been using, that works very well and I am very happy with, is Hammertap. It is a great little program that researches about a month back or more, and does some pretty in depth research. It also has a free trial right now, for like two weeks!

If you have a lot of items to sell, or plan on doing a lot of research in about a month period, it is worth it to pay the minimal fee. It will save you a lot of time. That is, unless you would like to do it my free and relatively easy way.

Also, if you want to find out how to get the Garmin Edge 305 for about $130, check out my blog post: Hot Deal to help you make about $80.00! (It is only $80 because of seller fees).

Research on eBay is fairly easy with practice. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them in the comment section. Good luck!

To the Auction or in my eBay Store?

A lot of people are not sure how they should go about selling their items on eBay. The majority of eBay sellers only do auctions, and then there are some who only do store items. The most successful eBayers use both eBay stores, and auctions.

The way that many powersellers sell on eBay is through multiple formats. A good way to go is to create an auction for all of your items, set at prices you can live with, but are still competitive, and sell to the highest bidder.

What do you do when your auction does not sell? You put that item in your eBay store. EBay is a fickle marketplace, and the price you get on your items largely relates to how many people are looking. If nobody is looking for your item, it may not sell. But do not worry, someone will find what they are looking for in your store!

It is a good idea to put items in your store that do not sell through auctions. It is a good idea to keep your items in your store for at least six months.

The way that store sales normally work, is that your best stuff gets bought out quick, because it is the most popular, and have good qualities that appeal to a lot of bidders.

This rapid liquidation of newly added eBay store items is called the "honeymoon" period

After the "honeymoon," your store has become depleted of its most popular items, the ones that appeal to the most people in the most coveted brands.

But, there are still people out there that are outside of the main stream who want to buy less popular, but still desirable items. These will sell slowly out of your store, but should still provide a constant income as long as your store stays stocked.

It is important to keep adding inventory to your store, and keep running auctions to draw a good flow of bidders to your higher priced store items.

After many of your items have sold, there will be random buyers who will come along looking for very specific items. They will come and buy the rest of your items. This may take 6+ months, but 6 months x .06 = .36. It is worth it to keep your items around if they still sell.

To help move your sales along, I recommend using the best offer option. That way, when the last random buyer wants something very specific, they can also get it in their price range.

I am repeating this one more time, because it is very important: make sure to keep your store stocked! This is good because the more items you have, the more you will sell. Also, once you do draw a buyer into your store, you have a better chance of having them buy multiple items from you. So make sure you have some way to entice them into doing that. Offer shipping discounts.

Hot Deal to help you make about $80.00!

A lot of people ask, what should I sell on eBay? Well today I have a very specific answer.

You should sell the Garmin Edge 305 Cadence.

I have been doing a lot of research on the internet to find good products at cheap prices to sell on eBay. Today I want to share one of them with you. I found a way to buy one Garmin Edge 305 Cadence for $133.21 after rebate. These are selling routinely on eBay for $230.00 + 10.00 S&H.

After eBay fees you can make about $80.00 for selling this one item.

I am sharing this with you as a kind of fund raiser for my blog.

I am only selling 25 of these instructions on how to get the Garmin Edge 305 for super cheap so that I do not flood the market with people re-selling Garmins.

To keep this deal viable, I am only charging $1.99 for this information, and it will come with a satisfaction guarantee, so that if for some reason this deal does not work out for you, you will not be out any money. Plus this is an easy way to build your feedback.

If you are interested in making a relatively easy $80.00 please check my auction!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230164422984

How to Increase eBay Store Sales with Markdown Manager

If you have an eBay Store, or are thinking about getting one, it is time to consider one of eBay's most effective marketing tools. The markdown manager! This is a great free tool that has increased my eBay Store Sales.

Everybody loves a sale, and markdown manager lets you offer a sale of up to 75% off for a maximum of 45 days. Though, I do not recommend that you use the 75% off sale unless you really need to clear out some inventory.

As noted above, these sales would be great to clear out unwanted inventory. They are also great for seasonal promotions. You could have a back to school sale, day after thanksgiving sale, labor day sale, etc... Check your news paper, listen to the radio, these mediums are time tested for presenting sales to the public. If some big box store is having an event sale, you could certainly have one too.

To get the full effect out of the markdown manager, I can recommend some tips and tricks to really get your store sales up.

1. If you are running all store items, put up some regular auctions of similar items to draw customers to your store. If they do not get to your store, they will never be enticed by the sale.
2. To make sure more bidders see that you have a sale running it is good to add this "sale " link to the right. To add this link to all of your listing takes a couple of steps, but it is worth it to draw attention to your items. Go to: My Ebay --> Marketing Tools --> Listing Frame --> Then check the 'Link to "Items On Sale" box. To see what this looks like in the listings you can check out my store, as I am currently running a sale.
3. Also, be sure that your add copy at the very least commands your bidders to look at your other items, and ideally, tells them to check out your hot sale
4. The next trick is to entice buyers with a sale, but to also make the amount of money you want. A good way to do this is to increase the prices of your store items by about the same amount as the percentage you are going to take off for the sale. For example, let's imagine we are selling a widget, and we want $12.00 for it. What you need to do is raise the price to $15.00 and then have a 20% off sale. This would bring the item back down to the price you want for it, but also make it look like the bidder is saving a whopping $3.00.
   

Please leave a comment and let me know how markdown manager has effected your sales.

Make More Money on eBay With Second Chance Offers

One of the easiest ways to increase your eBay auction cash flow and profits is to use second chance offers. If you have more than one of the same exact item in stock, and your auction ends with a price that you are happy with, then the second chance offer is your best friend!

Using the second chance offer button allows you to email the second highest bidder and gives them the opportunity to bid on your item at their maximum bidding price. If their was a bidding war, and the price was exceptionally high, this is a great time to cash in.

Second Chance offers also allow you to move inventory faster, sell at prices you are comfortable with, and greatly increase your income. For example, when I started working with beaddevotion, we were selling about $11,000 worth of beads a month. But when I recommended that we use second chance offers for auctions that ended profitably, our sales jumped to $1,3750 in a month!

Using second chance offers will make you a lot more money! Also, when using a second chance offer, you do not have to pay the additional listing fees that comes with making a new auction. All you have to do is collect the money, and pay eBay your final value fee.

Here are some tips for maximizing the benefit of the second chance offer:

1. Make sure to only use the Second Chance Offer if your auction has ended at a price that you are very happy with. Unless you really need some cash, do not settle for less than what would be profitable for you.
   
2. Try to send out the offer as soon as possible. Bidders are fickle and will move on quickly if you do not take action.
3. Put a 1 day time limit on the offer. Creating a sense of urgency will help make sure more of your offers are acted upon.

I hope you make a lot of money! Good luck.

How to Cheaply and Safely Ship Clothing.

When I first started shipping clothing on eBay I waisted a lot of money on shipping products. I did this because I was unaware that the USPS was just giving envelopes, labels, and stickers away for free.

I would buy tyvek bags for about .45 cents a bag, at the local office depot. This was a big mistake. Office depot is expensive! Now I do all of my shopping at USPS.com in the Priority section. The items are free and they ship them to your door. The items that make shipping for eBay a lot easier are: both of the flat rate boxes, flat rate envelopes, rolls of priority mail stickers, and tyvek envelopes.

I can ship a very large pair of jeans in one flat rate envelope, and sometimes two pairs of dress pants! This is great because it only costs 4.60 to ship. Cutting shipping costs will make your eBay experience a lot better. It could either make it so you can charge a bit for handling and not gouge your bidders. This way you can make a little bit extra per eBay transaction, and also have more interest in your auctions because of your reasonable shipping costs.

Here is my technique for safely packaging a pair of jeans into a flat rate envelope:

1. Fold the jeans into quarters or fifths, but make sure it is small enough so that when you put them in the tyvek envelope, that the envelope can double over on itself. The tyvek envelope is to protect from tearing that cardboard can not withstand. Also they are slightly weatherproof. Some sellers put their pants in plastic baggies as well as tyvek to further protect them from the elements (I do not).
2. Put your label on the cardboard flat rate envelope now, if you wait for later it will look very ugly.
   
3. After you have a nice little tyvek package, maneuver it into the cardboard flat rate envelope. This can sometimes be tricky, watch out for paper cuts.
4. Make sure the pants are in the very bottom of the cardboard envelope and then attempt close the envelope. It is easiest to close the envelope on a table, not in your lap.
5. Once the envelope is closed, put USPS priority mail stickers over the corners to make sure they do not catch on anything.
6. Put a piece of packaging tape over the seal, to make sure your package does not rip open. Maybe also put another piece of packaging tape over the addresses so that they are protected from the elements and do not watch off.
7. Rinse and repeat.

If you get anything from this post let it be: Get as much free stuff from the USPS as you can possibly use. Instead of waisting money on envelopes, maybe buy some tissue paper to make your items look fancy. Or cut the costs completely and watch your profits from ebay grow!

Good luck out there.

I am back!

After graduating college and taking a break I am back! I am ready to start helping and teaching more. And I am selling a lot of things on eBay. It is pretty exciting for me. Right now I am working two eBay jobs. One for myself, and one for a super power seller beaddevotion.

When I am working for beaddevotion I mostly do shipping and packaging, but I have gained a lot of useful eBay experience that I would love to share.

Also, I have been doing a lot of my own posting, and have been focusing really strongly on selling quality name brand used clothing. I have been experimenting with auction formats, templates, copy writing, shipping, pricing, picture taking, and more. I will definitely have a lot to share with you in the coming months as I become a power seller.

Also if you have any recommendations or eBay questions you would like answered please leave a comment and I will put it at the top of my list of priorities.

3 Great Ways to Get More Repeat Ebay Customers

The tragedy of Ebay is that all of your items do not sell all of the time. No matter what you do with your description, title, or pictures. Sometimes there is just no one searching for your exact auction, or not clicking on your perfectly good title.

There are several ways to combat this. Three great ways to sell more items on Ebay is to get repeat customers, customer who respond to a mailing list, or first time bidders who buy multiple items. All of these people will help your business succeed, and there are some tricks to building a loyal customer base.

Getting Repeat Customers
Hopefully you have already Branded your Ebay business. Make a name for yourself that is distinguishable, and meaningful. The easiest way to get repeat customers is to sell consumable products. If you sell things like calling cards, printer ink, packaging tape, etc... it should be easy to get repeat business. All you would have to do is make a free business card at Vista Print with your business name and Ebay ID on it, and put it in with every package you ship. The next time your customer needs a roll of packaging tape, they will (hopefully) look for your card and buy from a seller they can trust.

One way you can further increase the likelihood of a repeat customer through use of business card is to offer a discount (maybe 10%?) on their next purchase or an automatically reduced shipping charge. Reward your customers and they will come back again and again.

Starting a Mailing List
With a Mailing list you will be able to reach out to as many potential bidders as you are able to get to sign up. They can be old customers, or just potential ones you have gotten to sign up. After they are on a mailing list, you can email them weekly telling them about the new inventory you posted, or sales that are happening, etc... This is a great way to remind your past and potential customers that you have something which they need to buy. "Is your ink toner running low?" Amazon.com does the same thing, reminding previous customers to buy books similar to ones they have purchased in the past. It is a good idea to copy the pros on this one.

A good way I have noticed to get people on a mailing list is to offer a discount (5-10%) on their first purchase if they join. Not only will this help your mailing list grow, but it will help create a bidding frenzy when more than one person bids on your auction.

Getting Bidders to Buy Multiple Items.
Another great way to increase sales is to tell your bidders , and create an easily accessible link, to check out your other auctions because you are offering discounted shipping rates (or expedited shipping) if the bidder buys more than one of your great items. Remember that you can pack up to 75 pounds of anything into a USPS flat rate box for $8.10.

When thinking about offering discounts on your items it is important that you still make a profit for each item you sell, keep this into consideration. However, a preliminary discount that leads to a repeat customer is more than worth the time and money.

Good luck out there, and give me comments for any of your questions.
Offer discounted shipping with multiple items purchased
Put in a business card with each item you send.
Sign up for our mailing list, and receive x% off your first order

Want to find out What Sells Best on eBay?

If you are an eBay seller who finds most of their things at garage sales, estate sales, Goodwills, or other thrift stores, it is a good idea to know what sells best on eBay.

A good way to see what sells best on eBay is to check out eBay Pulse. This is a list of the top 10 most searched for items in each category, and then sub-category. This should be your list of dream items to encounter while shopping. These items are the ones you should buy with little hesitation when seeing.

In fact, it is a good idea to keep a notebook and write these things down to take with you on your product buying adventures. Though, it is a good idea to note the reason most of these things are so sought after is because they are expensive, so it might be hard to find them in your daily searches. But it is possible.

For example, I sell a lot of used clothing on Ebay when I can not find anything else. Clothing is a reliable source of income for me, and something which is fairly easy to fall back on. Now when I look at the current Ebay Pulse list, it shows the top ten items that are selling best on eBay under Clothing, Shoes and Accessories:
1. coach
2. nike shoes
3. louis vuitton
4. gucci
5. chanel
6. prada
7. abercrombie
8. juicy couture
9. shoes
10. hollister

Now I know I am not going to run across Coach, or Louis Vuitton products very often, but things like Juicy Couture, Hollister, and Abercrombie are fairly common. The top 10 lists get narrowed down even further. Most of the clothes I find are women's, so it makes sense for me to know what the most popular selling women's clothing is:

1. abercrombie
2. rock & republic
3. diesel
4. lucky
5. hollister
6. juicy couture
7. bebe
8. banana republic
9. american eagle
10. bcbg

This list is far more accessible than the previous one. The least common thing to find here is rock & republic, and the others are fairly common. I have a list of these brands memorized now, but I used to print them out and take them with me on my clothes shopping adventures.

Another good idea to find out what brand names are selling well on eBay is to watch TV. For example, there are always Gap and Old Navy commercials on. Every time there is a commercial on TV it is advertising partially for you. Even though Gap and Old Navy are not on the list, they are more common than anything found above, and sell through very well. Sometimes surprisingly well! I am always pleasantly surprised whenever I buy a used pair of Old Navy Jeans and sell them for $10-$20.

Other places to look for popular brands are at some of the trendiest stores. Look to the mall, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Pacsun, Urban Outfitters etc... It is their job to find the best selling brands and stock the store with them. It is a good idea to search through their stores and note the brands which they are selling. And don't feel like you have to go to the mall, check out their websites!

These sorts of strategies should work when looking for any item. Look to eBay Pulse in the category you like to sell in, and also think about what kinds of stores sell similar products you are looking to sell.

It is all so easy, and well worth the time spent. Keep a notebook!

When is the best time to start an auction?

As many of you have noticed, I am sure, that your auctions get bid on at the last minute, it is a good idea to consider what time you want that last minute to be.

First of all, the time you start your auction is the time at which your auction will end. There is no way around this, other than to pay .10 cents per auction to Ebay to have it start at a specific time, or to use a third party service such as Auctiva.com.

Now when choosing a time and day it is important to consider what you are selling. If you are selling a book about the history of Long Beach California, or surfboards, or anything region specific, it is best to have that item end at an opportune time for that region to see it end.

For example, if you start your auction for surfboards at 6pm Tuesday on the east coast, it will end at 3pm pacific and 2pm in Hawaii. It is important to think about which region you are selling to and start your auction accordingly.

Personally, whenever I am listing items, I try to start the auction between 7pm and 8pm western time, so that it is accessible to bidders on the west coast, and not too late (10pm - 11pm) for bidders on the east coast. I also try to start my auctions on a Sunday night, though if you are considering having an auction run for ten days to get maximum exposure, you should probably start it on a Thursday night, so that it runs through two complete weekends, and ends on a Sunday evening.
Also, if you like the three day auctions, you should start them on a Thursday night, so they too will end on a Sunday.

General consensus among the internet commerce crowd seems to show that the most popular night for shopping is Sunday. The best nights to avoid, I believe, are Fridays and Saturdays, as many people have better things to do on Friday and Saturday evening.

Also, if you are posting multiple items that are the same, or very similar, it is best to spread them throughout the week. The less products ending on the same day, the more a demand is created, resulting in higher ending prices for your auction.

There is another philosophy on starting times, one which I do not yet subscribe to, but which seems semi-credible. This is the idea that you should have your auctions end early in the morning on Mondays. The idea is that if it ends early enough, people who are really interested in the item will give their max bid before they go to bed, in hope of winning it, instead of sniping in the morning. It seems like a nice idea, and is worth testing, but I am going to go with selling Sunday through Thursday nights for now.

Lastly, if you are selling office products, it is a good idea to have your items end on weekdays during office hours. Think about it. Just research your item, attempt to identify a market, and test a time at which you think the most buyers will be shopping.

Good luck with your listings, and please let me know if you have any other tips.