eBay is one of the top three largest e-commerce marketplaces in the United States. It boasts an impressive 109 million unique monthly shoppers making it nothing to sneeze at. And while eBay has gained a reputation for selling used and vintage items more than 80% of the items sold there are new!
It’s true that Amazon is not eBay but eBay likes it that way! The culture between the two marketplaces is completely different and it’s up to you to learn the ins and outs. When you can customize your strategy to the marketplace you’re selling on there’s an opportunity to win big.
1. Optimize Your Listings with Keywords
There really is no escaping search engine optimization. You want people to find your products and the only way to do that is by optimizing your product listings. The key is to include keywords in your title and description that describe your product accurately and naturally.
It’s important that you target the right keywords ones with enough traffic but not too much competition. It’s tempting to want to go after the keywords that get the most traffic but this isn’t always the best strategy. While those keywords get the most traffic it’s also very difficult to rank well. Targeting keywords with moderate amounts of traffic can potentially be more successful.
Testing different keywords will help you to determine which ones will work best for you. Try testing out a few different titles to see how they perform. There will be one that outperforms the others and you can then confidently move forward knowing that you have a solid place to start.
2. Build Positive Feedback
Trust is everything when selling online and selling on eBay is no different. In fact, for eBay it’s probably even more important. When you buy something on Amazon most of the time you’re essentially buying the item directly from Amazon. On eBay, however, buyers deal directly with the seller. Many buyers are more cautious for this reason and they rely heavily on a seller’s feedback rating. Sellers can also rely on a buyers rating as well to ensure that a buyer isn’t simply trying to scam them.
Just like on Amazon this feedback rating is essential for ranking well and getting your listings in front of customers. As an eBay seller it’s important to pay close attention to this score and take steps to ensuring a good customer experience. That’s another aspect of eBay that sets it apart from Amazon, customer experience plays a big role.
If you can provide an amazing customer experience consistently you’ll be able to quickly build up your feedback rating and easily gain the trust of future buyers. There are a few ways that you can create a positive experience that will go a long way to improving your score.
- Ship items ASAP
- Ensure items are well packed
- Leave positive buyer reviews
- Include a thank you note
- Free or inexpensive shipping
At Ship Central we can help you with at least three things on this list! We’re an e-commerce order fulfillment company, when orders come in we ship them out. All orders are shipped within 24-hours with professional packing. We can also add in any thank you notes or marketing materials you want to include.
Learn more about order fulfillment with Ship Central here!
3. Free 30-Day Returns
No one wants to feel stuck with a bad decision! People want the option to change their mind even if they don’t take you up on the offer. Offering free, 30-day returns is just another way of communicating to customers that you are committed to good customer service.
A seller that is truly committed to customer satisfaction will put their customer’s happiness first. The more ways you can get this message across the better. Again, just because you offer it doesn’t mean that every customer will take you up on that offer but it could be the thing that pushes them to buy from you instead of your competitor.
In addition to offering free, 30-day returns make sure that your entire returns policy is clearly communicated on your listings. That way there is no confusion or frustration on either end. This will protect you and your feedback rating in the end.
4. Free & Fast Shipping
People love free shipping, but free shipping doesn’t always make sense for you as the seller. Buyers on eBay are much more willing to pay for shipping than buyers on Amazon. So while it can give you an edge on your competition charging shipping won’t necessarily be a deal breaker.
You can compromise by charging as little for shipping as makes sense. Shipping prices on eBay are one of the most common concerns for sellers. If you don’t charge enough you could end up in the whole which is why many sellers overcharge for shipping but keep the extra.
Calculating what to charge for shipping is much more of an issue when selling one off items. There’s no need to overcharge for shipping when you have a lot of a certain product in stock. This is especially true when your items are lightweight and durable. Having a consistent packaging style will also help you charge the right amount for shipping every time.
5. Don’t Stock Out
According to Craig Townsend, owner of Key Performance Parts, “One thing I wish I knew at the beginning is to never to let a product’s stock run out to the point the listing ends. When this happens, you lose your watchers and most importantly, the history of the product in terms of how many sold. Buyers don’t like to buy the first item. They also have more trust in an item that says xxx sold rather than a few units.
The best way I found to do this is always keep stock flowing; if for some reason it’s on backorder, then increase the price so no one will purchase the item.”
Stocking out is always bad no matter what business you’re in. When you stock out while selling on eBay there are even more consequences than losing out on sales, you also lose all the progress you’ve made. This means that even when you do get inventory back in stock, you can’t just go back to what you were doing before, you have to invest all that time and money over again to build that listing back to where it was.
6. Try eBay Promoted Listings
eBay promoted listings will cost you but they are a quick and easy way to increase sales. In fact, promoted listings receive 36% more views than organic ones. In addition, promoted listings offer great targeting options to help you find the most relevant shoppers for your listings. This can be a great help in promoting traffic and getting the ball rolling on new or slow listings.
What makes eBay promoted listings unusual is that there is no upfront pay. Instead eBay takes a percentage of the resulting sale. This is extremely useful for eBay sellers that are just getting started or who don’t have much cash flow. It’s also great for minimizing risk and allowing you to experiment a bit.
7. Include As Many High-Quality Photos as Possible
One of the keys to clinching more sales on eBay is with lots of high-quality images. When a customer can’t actually hold, see or inspect your products in person, pictures are the next best thing. The more pictures you can offer customers the more confident they’ll feel in making a purchase. You want customers to know exactly what they’re getting without any questions after all.
eBay allows you to upload 12 pictures for free. You product listing might not need that many images but you should try to include as many as possible. Take a picture of the product from every angle but also make sure to include pictures that clearly show any details as well. In addition be sure to include pictures of your products with and without packaging so they’ll know exactly what to expect when they open the box
Selling on eBay can be fun and lucrative if you can master some of these essential strategies!