HOW TO BEAT YOUR COMPETITORS AND INCREASE SALES ON EBAY

Are your eBay sales decreasing? Have you noticed some new Sellers are selling the same items you’re selling at a much lower price? Are you sick and tired of just barely making ends meet?

What ever happened to the sales we used to get just a few years back? Remember those days when we find for a great new product and spend some time taking the photos and putting an ad on eBay and within a few hours, we have a sale? Are those days gone for good?

If you ask any of your fellow eBay Sellers and most of them will agree that those good old days are gone. Sales are being driven to the graves either by high volume companies with investors to out sell the little guys. Or the market has been destroyed by some ignorant newbie Seller who thinks they can make $0.10 on an item and still become an eBay Millionaire. What do they think about when they are making only $0.10 profit on an item? Hmmm, let see.  If there are over 237 million registered Users on eBay, and if 0.01 percent buys an item at $10.00 each and every week , WOW, that’s $2370.00 every week or that’s $123,240.00 per year. Not bad!

Now, these are the same idiots who spend hundreds of dollars in listing fees and not make a dime in profit. After a few weeks of being ‘in the hole’, they shut their fly by night business down and tell people ‘eBay sucks’. At the same time, they have destroyed the market value on the item that, by the way, you were selling.

So, what can we do about this? It’s time to fight back!  How? Simple!  Do your research on the items you are about to sell. Before making that bulk wholesale purchase from your supplier, you must do your research on the internet and on eBay. Do you research on any large search engine such as Yahoo, MSN or Google. Look for the same product with some of the larger ecommerce companies to see what they’re selling at retail price. Do your research on eBay. How? Let me give you a some suggestions.

You research the eBay marketplace by using the Advanced Search feature. Click on the link located at the top of most eBay page, next to the Search button. On the next page, enter the keywords that describe the item you will be selling. Place a check mark in the box called Completed listings only. Now, click the Search button. The search results will show you all the listings with those keywords that ended within the last 15 days. You can sort your listing with the ‘Price: highest first’, etc. The listings with the green price amount ended with bids.

Look at some of those completed listing with high amounts and see what the Sellers are doing? What keywords they used in their title, shipping cost and service, payment methods, do they have a return policy, what time to end the listing, the duration of the listing, what is the listing format, listing upgrades, starting price, how many photos do they have? These are some of the most important factors to look for.

You may also use research tools like eBay Marketplace Research, located in the subscription section of you’re My eBay. Or you may want to use third party services such as TeraPeak, Hammertap to do you research.

Once you have a winning product, you want to use the most appropriate keywords in the title to describe your item. Think like a Buyer and ask yourself the question, if I am a Buyer and I am looking for this item, what keywords would I type in? Have a title with the most appropriate keywords will give you the maximum exposure in the search results. Do not use keywords that don't describe your item just to bring in more search results. That is considered as keyword spamming and your listing may be removed by eBay. Repeat offenders may be suspended. Don't do it.

In the description of your ad, clearly describe your item. Provide some reasons as to why your Buyer’s should buy from you and not your competition. For example, brag about your incredible perfect feedback score, or how long you’ve been using eBay, or the fact you are a Power Seller. Include some feedback testimonials about how happy your previous customers were with their purchase from you. Include as many clear photos as possible. State you terms, shipping cost, shipping services and return policy within the description.

It is getting harder to win your Buyers over. But if they feel confident with you, they will buy from you. Remember, on the internet, people take a risk every time they spend money with a stranger and if you can make your Buyers feel comfortable, they will be more than happy to come back and buy from you again.

You can make money on eBay, sell more than you have ever before, beat your competitors and take your eBay profits to the bank. All you need to do is do your research and don’t undersell your competition. Good Luck!