I have been reading through some of the guides written by new sellers. Having bought and sold on ebay for over 7 years, I have learned A LOT! I guess you could call me an information junky - I love to read - and if it will help my little business, I will read it! So, in browsing the guides, I have run across some assumptions that have been made by new sellers, that really shouldn’t be followed - and are actually hurting those sellers, and others.

The one assumption I would like to cover in this guide is the “Start low - sell High” theory. Many people believe you can start items for under a dollar, and expect them to go much higher. At one time this was true, but unfortunately times have changed. Sometimes starting an item too low will de-value your item - people will look upon it as being “cheap” and will pass it on. I have found this especially true with “hand made” items. Don’t sell yourself short on your hand made goods. You have spent good time and money in your product, don’t give it away for a penny (well, unless you really want to - lol).

Now there is a time and place to start your item low - but you have to do your research first. Do a completed items search for anything you are going to sell. If your product almost always sells, has numerous bidders each time, and you would be pleased with the price they are selling for - then go ahead and start it for 99 cents and let it go. However, if you have an item that sells only once in a while (a specialized item), or only usually only gets one or two bidders - the “start low -sell high” theory will not work for you item. In that case, if you don’t have a store you can drop your product into, list it for the minimum you would be happy to get. Then if it does sell for your opening bid, you’re not at a loss, and if it goes up you will be pleasantly surprised!

One problem with starting your products so low, is unless it’s in high demand, you can actually be “de-valuing” your product - making it come across as “cheap”. Yes, there are some people who will try and get the best deal they can, but really, you are only hurting yourself.

An example of this happened to me when I was selling my hand painted items a few years back. At that time I had only sold stuff from around the house, and was happy with what ever price I was able to sell my stuff at. So when I started selling my painted goodies, I figured I better start my items low so they will draw attention. Well, more times than not, they went for my opening bid. I was disheartened - thinking no one liked my stuff. After talking with other ebay sellers who sold their handcrafted items - and were doing well, I came to the conclusion that if I can’t sell my items for at least a minimum price, it’s not worth my time listing, so I upped my prices to the minimum I was willing to take - and an interesting thing started to happen - my items started to sell, and even go up! This did not happen overnight, but I began to develop a following of customers who liked my products. Many sold for well more than I thought they would. Even though I no longer have the time to paint, I still use the same method for my current lines of products. Yes, once in a while it’s ok to “give something away”, but that’s once in a while if I really want to move something out of my inventory.

So don’t sell yourself short when you are starting your auctions. If you’re just getting rid of stuff from around the house, that’s one thing, but if you’re making this a little business for yourself - DO YOUR RESEARCH!

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