Getting the Most Out of eBay With Market Research
In past years, the famous eBay site has become more like a business and less like a place to sell your goods. Today, the best sellers on eBay are treated like merchants, and effectively for all intents and purposes, they are.
This has brought about an age of business-savvy eBayers who have taken the opportunity to use analytics, marketing and business tactics to rise up above the traditional home based seller.
Want to compete? You’ll need some help.
Marketing for many is a confusing term and a complicated one, but essentially it’s simple. If you market a product, you don’t just simply sell it, you sell it at the right time to the right person for the right price, and that’s it. When it comes to eBay, all the tools you need to perform your own marketing are already there. Take a look at our top five marketing tips:
Search Existing Auctions
Before you consider selling anything, the first thing you need to do is to establish whether or not a market actually exists. In the case of eBay, chances are the market will always exist, but to be sure take a look for similar products. If there are no similar products, you’re either going to make a killing as the sole supplier, or it’s been done before with limited success. At the same time, take a look at how the other auctions are selling their products. Are they powersellers? How does their auction page look? Most importantly, look at how much their products cost and ask yourself if you can compete.
Search Completed Auctions
Now you know how much existing auctions are selling for, take a look at completed auctions to find out just how much things have been selling for. Remember to factor in additional costs, and work out whether or not it’s a profitable endeavor.
Take a Look at TeraPeak
For premium market intelligence, the Terapeak product helps you find out what’s profitable in seconds. Whilst it is a subscription only service, it’s an amazing way to get real-time market analysis without having to do it yourself.
Construct the Perfect Product Page
eBay is a competitive auction site and to sell successfully you need to learn how to make an attractive sales page. The first and most important rule is to construct a good title. In marketing, we call it a call to action, so instead of just listing “used socks” for sale, spruce it up a little by using the sub-title element as well. A keen tip is to use a catch-phrase for the subtitle, which everyone will associate with you.
After writing a great title, you need to ensure that your product page is just as good. Most important of all is good photographs. Learn to photograph well, it’s not difficult and a few hours of practice is a lot better than simply snapping a picture and uploading it.
When you’re working on content for your eBay product page, ensure that you’re honest, informative and above all, don’t misrepresent the product you’re selling, because the most important aspect of eBay is in building a high feedback rating.