Sales Slowing On Ebay

Sales on Ebay seem to be slowing down a little. I’ve noticed people are complaing in the forums about slow sales. I’ve also noticed a slight drop in my own sales. The question is is this because of the recession? Is because of Ebay pulling their adds to save money and please their stock holders? Or is it just the time of year? It’s probably something to do wth all three reasons.

There’s no doubt that Ebay’s decison last year to pull some advertising has affected the amount of traffic it is attracting. As its stock plummets. The changes it made last year, many of which were unpopular with sellers, have forced many sellers away. The huge cost of selling on ebay has also stopped people who might have just sold a few items from their home from listing them. If Ebay is the only one going to make a profit from it then why bother. This means unique sellers selling a wide variety of items are disappearing taking with them one of Ebay’s early selling points; that you could find anything on Ebay. The problem is, when sellers pack up and leave, buyers soon learn that the marketplace is not as full and the chances of a bargain diminishing so they don’t bother turning up. The end result is a market with few buyers and sellers won’t stand that for long. They can’t afford to.

It’s easy to check if your slow ebay sales is down to ebay. If you have a shop check your traffic stats using overture. If your traffic is down significantly then ebay is not pulling in the buyers. It doesn’t matter what you do you will not sell products if you don’t have any buyers turning up. If your traffic is down contact ebay and ask why. You have a right to know. You are paying them a lot of money on the basis of their traffic pulling capabilities. If they are failing in this then they are not fulfilling their part of the agreement.

What about the weather? There’s no doubt that when the sun comes out people like to get outside rather than sit on their computers. Who can blame them, I love to get outside too. I can’t imagine anything worse than sitting on a computer on a hot sunny day. Days end however and the night draws in and the compouter screens flicker back to life. So realistically sales may drop off slightly in summer for most items, (they’ll probably increase for summer items like sun glasses) the weather shouldn’t effect sales too much. I notice my own sales dropping off in summer before leveling out and then rising towards the back of summer. my best month last year was September. So we can expect some drop in sales online during the summer but not a significant one.

We also have the recession to deal with. How this effects your sales depends on what products you are selling. To be fair we don’t really know to what extent the recession is going to hit us yet. Are we going to see empty ebay shops with brush weed blowing round the virtual counters that were once bursting with products? I doubt it. Even in a recession most people stay in work and their buying power increases. I don’t think we can blame the recession entirely for the sales slump some people are experiencing on bay. If you have a website compare how this is performing. If sales on the website are constant and sales on ebay are falling then the problem is ebay.

Selling online is all about traffic, same as selling in a real market. I used to go to a computer market, it started to go down, slowly but the trend was obvious. Less and less people were attending and consequently we were all making less and less sales. We persevered, hoping that next week things would be better. The promoter assured us it would be and he blamed everything he could think of for the fall in people. You can’t go on throwing money away not to mention the effort required to sell items so sooner or later you have to leave. We did and saved a lot of money.

If your ebay sales are slow you need to find out why. First check that you are getting traffic to your shop. If you are not ask ebay why. Draw their attention to it. Even if you only have a few items ask them what’s happening, you’ve a right to know. you’re a paying customer. If you are getting traffic but no sales then the problem is with you and your stock. Are you over priced? Have you listed it correctly? Is there a competitor much cheaper than you? Look into all these things to try to pin point the reason.

7 Reasons To Set Goals

7 Reasons To Set Goals

Everybody knows about goal setting these days. It’s not a new subject, in fact hearing people going on about it is boring. I know this but I’m going to post on it anyway. Goal setting is crucial to structure your life and measure achievement. It’s becomming almost a cliche but it’s true non the less that successful people are goal setters. Apart from measuring progress achieving goals, however small, gives us a great boost. We feel energized when we achieve a goal we have set and ready to move forward. Here’s 7 good reasons why you should set goals.

A Goal Gives You A Target

It’s obvious I know but needs to be stated. Give yourself a target and you will head towards it. Without a target you’re drifting. You may be drifting fast, you may be busy but you’re drifting. Set a specific goal for your business like for example how much money you want to make in a month and you have something to aim for. Now you have a stated goal you’re like a guided missile, zoned into a target, you have meaning. You may need to set smaller goals to reach the main goal but you are moving with meaning.

Goals Give Structure To Your Life,/p>

Let’s face it, life without goals can seem like a featureless desert. By having goals we impose a structure on this desert. imagine getting up every day with absolutely nothing to do, nothing to look forward to, nothing to aim for. Some people may call this heaven, I’d call it hell. Goals give us meaning.

Achieving Goals Energizes You

Achieving even the smallest goal reinforces our will power and encourages us to move forward. There’s no feeling like the feeling you get from setting and achieving a goal. Tests have proven that our self esteem increases with each goal we achieve. We grow in confidence every time we tick off a goal we have reached.

Goals Focus Us

How much time and effort do we waste on pointless tasks that lead us no where? Having a goal forces us to focus specifically on certain tasks that will move us towards our goals. It helps us eliminate pointless tasks and keeps us targeted. A goal is like a laser beam, concentrated and pwerful as opposed to weak diffused light.

Goals Make Us Proactive

By having goals we become proactive rather than reactive. we set the rules and play to them. We are not just waiting for things to happen to us we are creating the conditions we want to happen. We are utilizing our creativity to engineer life the way we want it. This is far better than being a reactive zombie, a sheep waiting for someone to usher you from one field to another.

Measure Growth

We can measure our progress by using goals. Our goals are like steps leading us to our objectives. If, at the beginning of the year, we set a number of goals and achieve them, we know we have progressed. Compare this to a year spent drifting.

I’ve become a zealous goal setter. I’ve seen my business grow because I’ve started to set goals. Before I tended to drift towards targets, now I move with a determined effort. I get a great feeling of achievement with each goal achieved, however small. I don’t need other people to tell me I’m doing well and I’m not bothered if people think I’m not doing so well. As long as I hit my targets and achieve my goals I know I am Progressing. And as long as I know, that’s all that matters.

Taking Stock

It’s the end of the tax year and time to take stock. I’m pleased to say that I’ve met virtually all of my objectives business for the year and achieved the income I sought from my part-time business. My objective, as I’ve mentioned before, is to build enough money to retire early and comfortably on. Something that it’s getting harder and harder to do if you work in the private sector. At the beginning of the year I raised the bar for my game forcing myself to work smarter in order to achieve it. By setting goals that took me out of the comfort zone I was forced to work out ways to achieve them. Setting goals high is a great driver to achievement. Today my business is chugging along comfortably at a level that a year ago I was operating way below.

I am now in the process of setting higher targets and further goals to drive me along to higher levels of achievement for the comming year. My initial goal of building a retirement income is being achieved little by little but I’m also enjoying a fantastic side effect of a strong feeling of self achievement. Of having a powerful purpose in my life. This is even better than making the money for my retirement which is just becoming a side show to the fun I’m having with my business.

I feel like I’ve decoupled myself from the dependancy of my small private pension, that I’m no longer dependant on what happens to it. I have my financial future in my own hands for once and I’m enjoying the feeling. There’s still a long way to go but I’m looking forward to the journey.

Not everything I’ve done over the year has worked. I attempted to add card making products to my inventory early last year and this has proved to be a bad choice. The items are very slow selling with low profit margins so I’m in the process of discontinuing them. I intend to auction the stock I’ve got on ebay later. On the plus side I introduced models slowly to my hobbies section and these are proving popular so I intend to increase my stock of these and make them regular items bringing in another income source

I’m also considering doing some weekend markets, maybe every other weekend over the summer to generate more income. I have to get the balance right, I’ve got my business running now in such a way that it doesn’t take up much of my time and I have plenty of slack I could take up any time but I don’t want to get to the stage where it’s consuming all my time, that would defeat the objective of building an extra income to enjoy a better lifestyle.

My website has come into play after months of promotion. Getting a website going takes time and effort but it’s the way to go once you are established. I love the feeling of selling from my site because I have no costs to pay. no Ebay grabbing large chunks of my hard earned, it all comes to me. Another advantage of having a website is that people tend to buy multiple items. they will browse the site adding items to their basket so I usually get multiple orders from the site.

,/br>

I promote my site with articles, writing articles and submitting them to article directories is a great way to build backlinks and thus traffic to your site. Traffic is king, without it selling is impossible. like having an empty shop. so promoting the website is a daily task. I haven’t been as zealous about this as I should be over the last few months but I’m back on track now, determined to write at least one article a day. Getting a website should be your long term goal because it frees you from Ebay.

I’m still happy on Ebay though. It’s a great way of getting people to your site. They buy one thing off you on Ebay and you have the chance to get another customer to your website and hopefully keep them comming back. I use Ebay not just to sell but to market my business at the same time.

I’ve learned a lot over the last year, gained experience that can only be achieved through throwing yourself into the battle and start trading. I’ve made mistakes and taken the consequences on the chin then brushed myself off and moved on, wiser and stronger. I was talking to a work collegue a few weeks ago. He’s been making plans to start an Ebay business now for narly two years. So far he hasn’t sold an item, there’s always some reason why he’s going to start it later rather than now. his latest excuse is that Ebay is slow in summer. I asked him how he knew that> He said everyone knows that. I told him my best month last year was in September and that it’s not neccessarily true, his products may sell all the year round, it depends on the products.

He shrugged and said he’ll start in winter. He won’t. He’s afraid to take that leap. That leap of faith. You can plan and plan but it’s all pointless unless you take action and start. I’ve never been a great planner. I set goals and have targets but I don’t sit down and write detailed plans. I don’t believe you can predict what the market will do, how your product will fare, there’s too many variables comming into play at any one time. The best plan is to start trading and deal confidently with any situation that arises. Trust in your ability to do this. You are stronger, wiser and tougher than you realise. We all are. So if you’re thinking of joining the thousands of people successfully making another income online then here’s my advice. Set some goals then start the adventure. You won’t regret it.

Timing Is Everything

Best Time To List your Auctions on Ebay

Timing is crucial in selling. As in everything else, get the timing right and your chances of selling increase. Most people will bid on auctions in the last hour. They will surf Ebay looking for bargains so you need to take this into account when listing your auctions. It’s no good having an auction that ends at three-o-clock in the morning. If someone bids on your auction they want to go to bed knowing they have won it. I’ve experimented with this and can tell you from my experience that auctions that end in the early hours are not as successful as an auction that ends earlier.

You should spend some time listing your items so they end at the optimum time for buyers searching Ebay. You need to get your product under the noses of your potential customers. you can’t do this by just listing your items in a haphazard way. Develop a listing stratergy and your chances of making sales will increase.

The best time to end an auction is Sunday evening. Research has shown this to be the optimum time for sellers to be surfing ebay looking for a last minute bargain. Between seven and eleven is the time to end your auctions for maximum sales exposure. good strategic listing is crucial to timing your auction to end at the right time to enhance your chance of a sale.

You have a choice when you list your auction to list for 1,3,5,7 or 10 days. The longer you list your item for the greater the exposure to sellers. Obvious, I know, but just because something is obvious doesn’t mean we shouldn’t investigate it to see how we can manipulate it to our advantage. The length of time you choose is also important because it will determine when your auction ends. The basic theory is the longer the listing the better. The longer its active the more people will see it and hopefully bid on it.

Listing for ten days is my prefered option. I want maximum exposure for my products. I will place things on auction that I’m not particular bothered whether they sell or not. My stratergy is to get people to see my auctions and lead them into my shop. They may not be interested in what I’m auctioning but they may buy something from my shop. this is a stratergy that works. If I sell the items I’m auctioning that’s a bonus.

Using an auction of a shorter duration also has its advantages if you use it correctly. Using a short term auction implies urgency. If you push the sense of urgency in your sales page this will reinforce it. There’s also a school of thought that says using a 10 day option is pointless because the bidding frenzy always occures towards the end of an auction. by using a 10 day auction you are just delaying this bidding frenzy. This is a good argument and has a lot of truth in it. If you want to kick off the bidding as soon as possible then go for the short term auction. My stratergy of using auctions to pull people into my shop requires that I get the maximium exposure so the 10 day auction is best for this.

Short term auctions have their advantages. you need to work out which stratergy is best for the products you are selling. A one day auction for example is ideal if you were selling concert tickets, or tickets to some other event. Putting these up in a one day auction close to the even can generate that all important bidding frenzy that every seller wants to create.

Which auction duration works best for you will depend on your own circumstances. Once you gain that all valuable experience you will be ablke to decide on which type of auction listing is best for your lifestyle and the products you sell. If you are listing a lot of products then it may be best to stagger them so they don’t all end at the same time. On the other hand you may prefer this, so you can deal with all the postage at the same time. it’s really up to you. Many people have a regimented routine, they may list religiously on one day only. I stagger my listings. I don’t like to be suddenly swammped, I prefer a more leisurely work load. I’ve also got a website which brings in sales at any time so I take that into consideration.

Good Auction Days

Sunday

This is the best day to end an auction. Sunday evening between seven and eleven. The kids will be in bed, the washing up done and the parents will be relaxing either watching tv or surfing Ebay looking for that bargain. Bank holidays are the exception and things drop off in summer as people enjoy the evening sun. As a rule though Sunday is the best day to end an auction

Monday

This is a good day, not as good as Sunday but not bad. A ten day auction will span two weekends and if you time it right end on Monday.

Wednsday

Forget this day! Avoid ending your auctions on wednsday, it’s the middle of the week, people are tired and stressed from work, surfing Ebay to buy something is the last thing on their minds. I even sell less from my shop and website on Wednsday, in fact i see it as a day off.

Listing your items at the right time for the right duration will enhance your sales. get this right and you will sell more. Other factors come into play of course. I mentioned generally that wednsday is a bad day to end auctions on, that doesn’t mean no one buys on wednsday. The products you sell may do well on wednsdays. The above advice is taken from my own experience and research and is generally correct buth there’s always exceptions. The best way to decide which day and listing duration is best for you is by experimenting. Take a note of the day you have listed your product and the interest you get for it. List it another day and time and compare notes. A little experimenting will soon reveal the best stratergy for your products and lifestyle. Just bear in mind that listing at the right time is an art. Timing is everything.
Until next time.

Writing A Good Ebay Listing

How To Write A Good Sales Page For Your Ebay Listings

Your sales page is the only chance you have of attracting your potential customers so you need to spend some time to make it look good. Along with a few good pictures your sales page needs to be good to get your customers attention and stop them clicking away. You need to take full advantage of it. Here’s a few pointers that will help you get customers to your products.

Research

This is where you should start before listing an item repeatedly. By repeatedly I mean if you are going to open a shop and are testing the market for your products. If you’re just selling items from your house this doesn’t apply. If you’re looking to start a long term business however then research is essential. Research the item you are thinking of selling. Look at the price it sold at. Look at the sales pages of other sellers. Look at the frequency of sales for the product.

Get The Category Right

This is crucial yet overlooked by many sellers. Listing in the wrong category will lesson your exposure to potential buyers. Make sure your product is listed in the correct category. Some categories may be close in name but a world apart in content. Get this right and your chances of a sale increase.

Hightlight The Benefits

In your description describe the benefits that the product you are selling will give to the potential buyer.For example if you were selling an instructional dvd about drawing, say after watching this your drawing is sure to improve. Every product has its benefits, find them and describe them in your listings. Manufactureres sell their products based on the benefit you will get by buying it. Highlight these benefits for your potential customers. Don’t just give a stale description of the product.

Be Honest

Be absolutely honest in your descriptions. If the product you are selling has suoerficial marks on it then show them in your photos and describe them. People are drawn to honest sellers. It’s pointless trying to deceive and unethical. Always be ethical and honest, your customers will love you for it and come back to you again and again.

Grammar

Take some time to ensure your listing is free from grammar errors. It’s so obvious but you see plenty of listings that are badly constructed. It’s an easy mistake to make especially if you are listing a number of items at the same time. We’ve all been guilty of it at some time. Spend a little time ensuring you get this right.

Next Page »