Selling on eBay

[yanks12025]

How do you guys have any luck selling on eBay. Whenever I attempt to sell stuff, they always take FOREVER to NEVER to sell. And I'm willing to work on prices just to move the stuff. But my buy it now listings NEVER get views or watches. And if I start a auction off at 99 cents, they barely ever get bids for days and I don't feel like waiting till the last minute to see if any snipes show up(rarely happens).

So how do you get more interest in your items and actually sell them for a good price instead of dirt cheap.


Thanks

[Stanley]

Can you share a few of your titles for your listing? Let's start there.

[SEAFAN76]

How do I get interest? I sell things that people are interested IN?

[yanks12025]

How do I get interest? I sell things that people are interested IN?

Oh you're 100% right. I guess ZERO people in this hobby have interest in Nolan Arenado, Luis Severino, Aaron Judge items. Or a hall of fame professional model bat that mears sold one just like it for over $900, yet on eBay people don't even care about mine and him asking under $500.

[Juicyfruit66]

Is this just a sneaky way to try and sell your items through this forum?

[yanks12025]

Is this just a sneaky way to try and sell your items through this forum?

No it's not at all. I thought I could get advice from other people on this forum on how they're successful in selling on eBay but instead I get comments like yours and the other person saying they only sell items that interest people. So obviously I will respond to them with a general idea of the items I have listed.

I didn't promote my items or put my titles as the one person requested because that would be breaking the forum rules. All I wanted was advice on how to get more views and watchers and obviously how to sell things faster.

[johnsontravis@ymail.com]

What exactly is no interest or no views? I feel like even my garbage no name player items get a good amount of clicks. Nothing crazy, but it gets views.

Are you including the team name in your listing? I usually just search something like "brewers game used" when looking for stuff. If you just put "Alex Rodriguez game used"A LOT will never see it. Also game worn usually isn't a great title use. Game used is more general and everyone will typically see that. So put "Alex Rodriquez Yankees Game Used" as a title over other things. Some people also add the word worn if need be.

Outside of that I can't see why you aren't getting reasonable views

[Stanley]

Ok so I asked you for a few titles of your stuff.
A lot of people title there merchandise wrong.
You said "Or a hall of fame professional model bat that mears sold one just like it for over $900"
So I look up "Hall of Fame Professional Model Bat" ...Your bat does not come up on ebay.
You have to make your title very broad so more people will see it. Then in the description you can tell them what you have in detail.
I don't sell Baseball gear, but I have sold gun parts on there for 10 years. I'm trying to help.

[TigersCubs84]

I don't sell, but if the issue is as you described, just copy or use the title of the HOF bat that sold. Just sub in the name of your bat, etc. Also, do you include pics of the knob, etc. For example, if there is no knob pic, a lot of times that's a deal breaker for me. Pics of any certs? Include Authentication info. I assume you do, but anyway, hope this may help.

[Bhawk2]

You want to accomplish 2 things with your listing: get the prospective buyer to find the listing in their search, and then get them to click on the listing.

To get the listing to come up, you have to use the title (and the description) to make sure that potential buyers will find your item in their search. Make sure the listing is in the right category (always use the game used category if it's game used). Use plenty of good keywords in the title (player, team city and nickname, authenticator, etc) since a lot of searches are only run on titles. You can use the description to cram in other keywords as well as giving the best description of your item that you can make.

Then, make sure your listing photo is clear and attractive. The picture is going to get you to second base (or not). An ugly, blurry photo may not prevent someone from opening your listing but certainly won't help, and won't help make the sale.

[FastLane80]

Good advice so far. I agree with key words and please check your spelling. I've picked up some deals because people have listed a "Dogers" bat. :D

My keys to successful selling have been pricing the item right and patience. Look at eBay sold prices, recent auction house prices and try to find a price somewhere in the middle. As a collector, it's a huge turnoff when I sort through hundreds of game used bat cards and find a quality piece only to see it overpriced. If you want to move it, have reasonable expectations. Pricing auctions starting at $.99 has back fired on me but I usually gain a larger audience which can and has worked in my favor.

On the other hand, I have intentionally overpriced certain items and have eventually sold them. Example: I had a beautiful Brett Butler bat that I needed to part with due to an out-of-state move (long story). I priced it at what I thought was high but fair. After re-listing it 3-4 times, lightning struck and it ended up in a bidding war and sold for substantially more than what I listed it for.

Going into an eBay auction thinking you will get top dollar is likely going to end in disappointment. You may be able to get it but it'll likely take some time and some luck.

[ndevlin]

Typically when people see an item on eBay or an auction site sell, and then see the same item listed again for double or triple the money, people won't buy it. Their thought, and mine too-- "Now why would I buy it for $600 now when I could've bought it 2 weeks ago for $150".

[Stanley]

ndevin....What a strange thing to say...Nov. 2005 Gold was at $500 a ounce. In 2010 it was $1800... (http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/member.php?u=2864)

[ndevlin]

ndevin....What a strange thing to say...Nov. 2005 Gold was at $500 a ounce. In 2010 it was $1800... (http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/member.php?u=2864)

Do what now?

[Mattapan03]

I think the problem you might be facing is ebay itself. Ebay isnt a place I would look towards to get good value for your items. I might go the route of an auction house.

People on ebay are hawkeyeing for a deal, hence your comments of the last minute snipers. I'm limited in the items I sell on ebay to just random junk here and there....nothing of great value (or at least what I dont consider great value). Occasionally you'll get lucky and get someone ready to pay top dollar, but that rarely happens anymore.

[Griffey24fan]

I found the professional model bat pretty easily.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Frank-Homerun-Baker-Professional-Model-Decal-Bat-1911-16-J-F-Hillerich-hof-/262124967852?hash=item3d07dd97ac:g:tvMAAOSwPhdVUoy I

[volunteer]

Most of my saved searches are set to ignore the buy-it-now listing. It's just not worth the time to wade through all the other priced listing. And most people don't want to negotiate anyway.

[mr.miracle]

How do you guys have any luck selling on eBay. Whenever I attempt to sell stuff, they always take FOREVER to NEVER to sell. And I'm willing to work on prices just to move the stuff. But my buy it now listings NEVER get views or watches. And if I start a auction off at 99 cents, they barely ever get bids for days and I don't feel like waiting till the last minute to see if any snipes show up(rarely happens).

So how do you get more interest in your items and actually sell them for a good price instead of dirt cheap.


Thanks


Yanks12025 this is a great question and one I have personally been asking a number of other sellers on ebay over the past 6 months from the low end novice seller to very high end power sellers I know. I primarily focus on game used memorabilia and have on average 15 - 20 items listed for sale at any one time most in a BIN format. I am certainly not a major dealer by any stretch of the imagination.

I have personally seen a complete deterioration to the buyer market over the past call it 18 - 24 months, maybe up to 36 months and I seem to get this same response from virtually everyone I speak with and question.

It is a real dilemma, list something as BIN or BO and get repeatedly stupid offers, if any at, all many at 1/10th or less of your actual list price. List items at $.99 auction style and often you take a complete bath on the end sale price. I will also say that I totally understand some of the comments of sellers listing items as BIN at 10 times a reasonable price but my listings are in most cases at roughly 15% - 18% over my total cost into the item which would leave at best roughly a 3 - 5% total profit if the item sells once you factor in ebay and paypal fees, packaging material and cost etc. At least in my case I absolutely don't fall into that category of overpricing to extreme levels.

I would like to think I am somewhat adapt and skilled at listing on ebay. I use auctiva take probably at a minimum 20 - 25 photos of the items I am selling capturing every relevant detail on them. I cover every single base I can think of, listing every detail about the item, obviously include any relevant info on any LOA/COA, authentication etc. often to no avail. I do most if not all of the tricks of the trade that many of the other posters mentioned making sure to have the player name and team name in the listing as one relevant example and making sure to have selected the correct category or categories to list under is very important.

While I certainly cannot speak for others I know that I personally am in the process of abandoning ebay for all but the very smallest/low end items to sell. I often in my own purchasing habits, buy an item, mostly baseball game used, and will go to great lengths to have it signed and inscribed, often if it is for instance a HR bat or jersey with a HR inscription with photos of the athlete signing the item where possible and additionally spend hours often photomatching in great detail to that HR. I always have JSA authentication for the autograph prefer MLB authentication where possible and or Taube or MEARS LOA etc. All of that is laid out in the listing in great detail. Unfortunately all of this comes at great cost. As a seller your damned if you do and damned if you don't have rock solid ironclad authentication on all aspects of the item, potential buyers won't touch it with a ten foot pole, however all of that comes at a great price to the seller. The cost to have the item signed and inscribed, the cost of authentication of the item be it via PSA, MEARS, JSA whatever, the time and cost to photomatch the item, listing and sales cost and fees on ebay, paypal and of course packing and shipping cost once it sells. I would say on average over the past 2 years I am lucky if I don't lose 15 to 20% total on every single sale I make off of ebay when factoring all those fees and costs. In many cases the potential buyer comes looking to buy the Porche but they are bringing money for a used Ford Focus at least as an analogy of how it is applicable to game used. I am absolutely not trying to make a fortune at anybody's expense, again this is me personally I certainly cannot speak for anybody else. In most cases I am just looking to break even or make a small 3-5% profit but when questioned or if an offer is made, in most cases, the potential buyer I have noticed in the past few years becomes very sarcastic or accusatory as if you are taking them to the cleaners and at least in my case, nothing could be further from the truth.

I am of the opinion that many factors have contributed to the current situation from a complete oversaturation of the game used market in many cases, to simply too few collectors for the available inventory, to a general mistrust of ebay sellers for whatever reason, perhaps historical issues with sellers on there etc. to many a collector I have spoken to viewing ebay as fleabay more of a fleamarket type setting with bargain basement clearance pricing more so than anything high end. I know several buyers of higher end game used that simply refuse to do any business on ebay any longer citing past failed deals, issues with sellers or even other buyers if they were seeking to sell in the past and perhaps it has chased some of the higher end collectors away.


As noted I am finding this with many other sellers from novices to high end dealers that I have been speaking to about this issue; they all say the same thing. Lots of tire kickers very few serious buyers ever, and if they do sell it often ends up being a major hassle just to finally get money in hand and complete the transaction. Fortunately I have not really run into this at all yet for the most part. My one friend who sells about as much as I do on ebay must have the absolute worst luck in the world. Virtually every time he sells anything something goes completely off track and he is simply unable to complete the transaction in a reasonable manner with the buyer. I believe someone noted that ebay has made it much easier for buyers to avoid any repercussions for not completing transactions and I am sure this plays into the issue to one degree or another.

I personally am going the auction house direction going forward at least in terms of anything of any real value. For me anything else seems like a complete and utter waste of time.

It is great to see some other thoughts and feedback on this topic as I and others are at a complete loss on this issue. While there will always be exceptions with idiotic sellers who are completely overpriced there are also plenty of legit sellers who are scratching their heads trying to figure out what the heck is going on as many of the legit buyers seem to have run for the hills.

Thanks