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Beware: The Dangers of Selling on eBay 101
Copyright 2005 Brad Eden
It's obvious that eBay provides internet users with an online flea market where buyers and sellers from around the world meet to conduct trade.
However, like most traders who are faced with an innovation of this sort,...
Boost Your Profits On Ebay With One Simple Trick
Did you know that the most important thing that separates ebay
neophytes from successful ebay sellers and ebay powersellers is
how they construct titles and descriptions?
Most ebay neophytes and unsuccessful ebayer sellers--as well as
some...
Effective Online Car Sales on Ebay Motors
Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today’s market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces. The largest online marketplace is Ebay. Ebay has evolved...
Home moms on eBay
As a home mom, you will find on eBay a great possibility to create a second or part-time income. Many home moms are making some money and having some fun at the same time on eBay! To start you will only need a computer, a digital camera and...
Making Money On eBay Can Be So Simple, Just Let Somebody Else Do All The Hard Work For You
OK, so you've been bitten by the eBay bug! You've ransacked the attic, the basement and every other room in your home to find things to sell on eBay. When friends and neighbors ask you where everything has gone, you tell them that you're going for...
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Build eBay Profits with a Powerful Category Strategy
Sometimes it’s tough to tell where your buyers are. You’re not sure which category is the best place to list your item.
Not everyone has the benefit of an item to auction with a perfect eBay category waiting such as “Barbie Contemporary.”
Here’s a simple research process you can use to increase your chances of success. Search for similar items and see what categories they’re in. If they’re scattered across a few different categories, look for the categories where bids are being made. Bids matter, listings don’t. Just keep in mind that the bids could be the result of other factors such as price, desirability and condition. Also, look at the performance of the seller. If she’s a power seller she probably has an understanding of which categories work best for her auctions.
But what if your item doesn’t seem to fit anywhere? What if nobody else is auctioning something similar? Get to know eBay’s “Everything Else” category. Is there a fit for your item in “Gifts and Occasions” or one of the three subcategories in “Weird Stuff?”
These areas get high levels of traffic. Specifically there are a lot of browsers and your item may catch some attention here.
The “Slightly Unusual” category typically delivers more traffic than the other two. Study this area of eBay and you’ll find everything from Weather Balloons to Tarot Cards.
Run tests of different categories. Run auctions with “Second Categories.” Use
the free Andale tools to keep track of page views.
Why should you test a second category? You may discover that bidders are where you least expect them. And if this happens, don’t feel sheepish. Professional marketers armed with years of discipline and piles of research are trying to learn the exact same thing.
When Kimberly Clark first put Kleenex on the market the product wasn’t designed for people with runny noses. Kleenex was advertised as a cold cream remover. Sales were terrible until the firm discovered their product was being used as a disposable handkerchief.
Once Kleenex wound up in the right category it flourished. It’s the exact same scenario on eBay. Even with eBay search, getting your item in front of a prospective bidder is essential. Keep in mind that search will cover up a lot of listing shortcomings. But if you rely solely on search for your prospective bidders, you’re losing a sea of browsers, impulse bidders who are a crucial segment of your market.
So if your auctions need a jolt, don’t assume that the problem is price. Pay attention to your category. Even a great description in the less than ideal category can’t turn browsers into bidders.
Copyright 2004 Paul Talbot All Rights Reserved
About the Author
Paul Talbot is the author of “Confessions of an eBay Power Seller.” Learn more about successful selling on eBay at http://www.onlineauctioninformation.com
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