The Top Ten Tips For Auction Success!Jasmeet Kahlon Kahlon
March 20, 2008
If you were to look through eBay, or any other online auction site for
that matter, you would find that many people make some very basic
mistakes. And, they repeat these mistakes over and over again. As
indicated in my book "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" with a little
common sense these mistakes are completely preventable. So to prevent
you from making these very same mistakes I have put together the Top
Ten Tips For Auction Success.
10. Shipping Always state
what your shipping price will be. And, Do Not tries to rip off your
buyers by inflating the shipping price to increase your profit. Believe
it or not, people do have a fair idea of what shipping costs should be.
If they feel you are inflating your shipping price they will not bid on
your item and may not look at any of your other auctions either from
fear of being ripped off.
9. Customer Support You must
respond to all emails regarding your auctions. Yes, responding to
emails is time consuming. But, if you don't, that potential bidder will
look else ware for the product and you will have lost yourself a
customer.
8. Reserve Price Do your research on the price
for your item. If you must use a reserve price keep it real. If you
over price your item you will not get as many bids. And, while all good
marketers know there is a time and place for the Reserve Auction, you
may actually get more bids using no reserve pricing at all. Do your
research to help you make this decision.
7. Item Condition You
must let bidders know what condition your item is in. Is it new and in
its packaging, or used but like new condition. Does it have any
imperfections they should be made aware of.. Potential bidders will
want to know what condition your item is in before making any bids.
6. Terms This
could come under the heading Customer Service. If you have terms on
your auction page that read something like this "Not Responsible For
Item Once Shipped" or "Item Sold As Is" you will lessen the number of
bidders for that auction. Be a responsible eBayer, have insurance on
the item that your buyer can purchase. And be sure to have some sort of
guarantee on your products.
5. Feedback One of the most
important parts of your eBay Business. Feedback is a method eBay uses
to allow buyers and sellers to record their experiences with each
other. Then, others can check out the feedback of any eBayer they wish
to deal with, to see if there has been any negative comments left.
Therefore, it is extremely important to keep your feedback rating
positive.
4. Auction Start/Close Time You must plan your
auction start/close time around the bidders you wish to attract to your
auction. If the product you are selling appeals to the working woman,
the best time to start/end your auction would be in the evening or on
the weekend. Always create a profile on your product and what group of
the population you are selling to.
3. Item Description Not
enough information or too much rambling of information will discourage
people from bidding. So too will too many typos. Your item description
must be clean and concise. Succinctly provide all the information
required to describe the item sufficiently and create buyer interest.
2. Image You
need to use an image on your auction page. Remember a picture is worth
a 1000 words! Potential bidders will want to see what the item looks
like before they make a bid. With digital cameras, being so affordable
these days adding an image to your auction page is easier than ever.
But, make sure the image is clear and well lit to show its detail or
any imperfections it may have. Also, keep the image at a reasonable
pixel size so your auction page doesn't take too long to load.
1. Headlines This
is the most important issue for getting more bidders to your auction
page. You must include words that people will search on eBay. And, you
must make your headline enticing, so potential bidders will click it.
If you are selling an antique make-up table a headline saying old
vanity table would not pull in a lot of bidders. But, if you said
something like "Vintage Vanity Table - Mint Condition - Collector’s
Item" not only would you get more potential bidders to view your
auction, you would also be using words people would search eBay for.
Your auction title would appear in searches for Vintage, Vanity Tables,
and Collectors Items. Therefore, allowing even more potential bidders
to see your headline.
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