It seems that everybody wants a piece of the pumpkin sales pie this holiday season. And since eBay will be promoting itself through its “Come to think of it…eBay,” television commercials, print ads and online ads through Christmas in an attempt to “boost its standing as a holiday shopping destination,” we all can take advantage of the buzz. eBay has always had its share of critics. And while I certainly can’t exclude myself from that group of critics, I also know as an eBay Power Seller, that - for now, at least - it’s still the best place to auction one-of-a-kind items and used quality goods - and it is still a great place to retail merchandise.
One of the reasons eBay works so well is because of the giant and efficient marketing engine that if represents. The eBay machine is constantly channeling eager consumers - credit cards in hand and PayPal accounts overflowing - to your auctions and listings. But with the ever changing and increasingly rigid and difficult-to-attain standards that eBay sets for its sellers, the new seller and the casual seller can easily feel at a disadvantage. Here are a few tools to help you make the most of your eBay sales this Holiday Season:
- Find out what are the most watched items for sale on eBay by using WatchedItem.com. This tool can help you search for the most watched items on eBay using the following criteria: eBay category, format, and end time. You can also search for watched items by user name or seller, which makes it a doubly helpful tool. Once you have searched by seller, you can then sort each seller’s items by watchers, bids/purchases, end time, or price including shipping – making it a very helpful tool to gauge the success of your own auctions as well as the auctions of your competitors.
- Take advantage of eBay’s promotions. Auctions are great ways to promote your store and draw new customers to your items and eBay offers five free auction-style listings each month. You can take advantage of this promotion, regardless of start price of the item. I always plan to list my higher priced auction items to take best advantage of this promotion. Of course standard final value fees will apply on auctions that sell - Final Value Fee per listing of 8.75% or $20, whichever is lower.
- Keep up to date on what’s hot on eBay on a daily basis by checking the eBay Pulse, a “daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay.” From here you can check out the most popular searches, largest stores and most watched items.
- If you are new to eBay or new to selling in a specific eBay category, you can get help by using eBay’s Reviews and Guides. It’s like an eBay 101 for new sellers and sellers who are new to a specific eBay category. Not only can you read reviews of the hottest selling items in that category, but you can access selling tips, selling guidelines and specific listing features by category. A search in Selling Video Systems, for example, yeilds the following results: Video Game Systems Selling Guide, Cashing In on Video Game Systems, Find Out What's Hot in Video Game Systems, Get Top Dollar for Your Video Game Systems, Ship Your Video Game Systems and Building Your Reputation.
- This year, shipping your online orders couldn’t be easier! Whether you print your shipping labels on PayPal directly through your eBay Selling Manager page, use Click ‘N Ship or Stamps.com, creating labels and paying for postage at home or at your office means you can avoid the insane lines at the Post Office this time of year.
Outright is secure.
What do you think?
What tools do you use to boost your eBay and other online sales?