Wholesale products, Manufacturing and Merchandise Seller Blog » Blog Archive

Robert Cyr in Sales and Marketing, Customers, Ebay

August 17th, 2008

EBay is a great example of how supply-and-demand works because sales are based almost exclusively on price. The brick-and-mortar retailer can use advertising, customer loyalty promotions, and other inducements to buy – inducements not available to the online seller. The store-based retailer has expenses the eBay seller doesn’t face: advertising, rent, store maintenance, staff’s salaries, etc. The eBay retailer can sell merchandise at a lower price than the store retailer can – and should.

Nonetheless, it’s been shown that 30% of potential buyers who find what they want on eBay end up buying from a store. Why? This trend has been attributed to slow delivery and inflated shipping costs.

Currently, we are going through a period in which the inflated price of fuel is driving up shipping costs even higher, making the situation yet more difficult for sellers. What can a seller do to deal with this situation? The best approach is to adopt aggressive strategies:

Find, purchase, and sell merchandise that the other guys have yet to find. Americans love gadgets, especially new electronic technology. What will be the next iPhone, Xbox 300, Grand Theft Auto? Explore markets to find out, especially foreign markets that are beating out American manufacturers in pricing and creativity.

Jump on the newest wave, then stock up on merchandise. As they say, “pile ‘em high and sell ‘em cheap”

Pay close attention to your feedback rating. Keep customers happy. When a potential buyer sees a high approval rating, he may be more willing to overlook high shipping charges.

Absorb the cost of posting a lower shipping charge or no charge at all. Do this only if you can make up the difference through what the customer pays for the item. This would pretty much dictate that this strategy be used only with high ticket goods.

Don’t offer warranties beyond the manufacturer’s warranties. Avoid the hassle of handling returns and taking on more shipping charges.

When times are tough and sales are slow you really need to focus on creativity. What separates you from the other ebay sellers? Are you offering incentives to buyers such as:

Discounts on futures purchases…..Include a coupon in every box you ship offering 10-15% off future orders

Free Items with purchase….Take every opportunity to purchase deeply discounted closeouts that you can offer as a premium with every purchase. Make sure the free gift compliments your merchandise.

Discounted shipping for multiple purchases…Advise your prospective bidders that you will combine winning auctions to save money on shipping

Publish a newsletter and promote it in your auctions and About Me page. For example, if you are selling apparel you could write a monthly newsletter about fashion, clothing care and apparel trends. Of course, you would always link your newsletter to your current ebay auctions for repeat sales and traffic!

2 Responses to “Where are your eBay Profits?”

Jerry Brandt Says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I see a lot of hype - info - ads on how to sell, BUT. I don’t ever see anything on how and where to BUY. Or at least by low enough to be able to sell on EBAY.
Edwin Canales Says:
September 11th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I have to say that is sooooo TRUE.

2 Responses to “Where are your eBay Profits?”

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