ebay question

[yomama]

Hello all

I have a few questions hope you can help

1-what is a better strategy, higher initial price with no reserve or lower initial but pay for the reserve?

2-Can I put links to my website while working with the HTML, I already am pulling the pics from the site?

3-currently im using billpoint, any comments on this service, it seems easy enough.

4-im new so ill sell anything I can even if the profit is small just to get decent feedback. Any tips on pleasing the customers besides shipping the item quickly?

5-can I sell multiple items being new. I read that you cannot with the dutch auctions but im just doing the regular ones?

6- do you have any other tips for me, don’t worry, I wont sell the same thing as you …

thanks for everything!!!

[no1_vern]

Hi yomama,

Ok Ill try to help,

First off- Compare prices for others selling similar products, for example if another person is selling a p2-300 and he has 8-10 people bidding for it and the price is, um, 72.89 + shipping at the END of the auction , dont expect someone to up and pay 150.00+ for yours.
Also I urge you to go to Ebays own discussion forums and talk to people there -

http://pages.ebay.com/community/chat/index.html

While there are a lot of good people here who have excellent knowledge of Ebay an extra source of information is always a good idea.

1. This depends on what you want, remember buyers probably wont bother if your starting bid is higher that, say, 60% to 75% of what sells. It is considered a reserve by buyers. If you say "there is no reserve then you really should start at .01(one penny). When I sell I explain why I am starting the bids at a certain point. In fact I think that if you have a reserve , that is where you should start your auction off at. For example if I am selling my gforce3 card I would start off by deciding what what the minimum I would accept for the card and list it as the starting bid.

2. You can, just remmeber that your site needs to be up for anyone who wants to see your ad(which means 24 X 7)

3.Billpoint is a fairly good service to use, just remember that there is a limit to the amount you can use per purchase. Also here is the community chat board for billpoint for more information:

http://forums.ebay.com/dws?14@1031887126178@.ee7b9d2



4. Thats easy - be honest, straight forward, and be yourself. Do not use weasel words nor should you try to sell junk(items that dont work). If you really want to boost your ratings fast just buy 15 or 30 things in the first week and pay for all of them, youll have 28-30 feedback in no time. Do not lie, and answer the email as fast a you can, if you have to leave for a few days, note it in your auction so people wont send you email expecting an answer from you that day.

5. At one time Ebay had stopped people form having multiple sales per auction but I THINK that policy has gone away. Check on ebay for more info.

6. No others, just be honest, sell what you have for a decent price (dont expect $1000.00 for a $ .59 toy) and I think you will do well.
.

[yomama]

thanks no1_vern - great advice.

Most of the things ill be selling are new, i am opening up an e-biz but that takes time so ebay will hopefully fill in the time.

I did not get #1 though. If you don’t set a reserve, why would you start the auction at .01? You risk loosing the sale for a really low price. Wouldn’t you start a bid at allow price only when you have a reserve for protection? thanks

[angelcat]

He has some good advice. Like he said, be yourself, and be honest with the customers.

[no1_vern]

Quote: "If you don’t set a reserve, why would you start the auction at .01? You risk loosing the sale for a really low price. Wouldn’t you start a bid at a low price only when you have a reserve for protection? thanks"

If you have a good product, most likely you will get a very good price for it. But you are right, you MIGHT lose a product to a low price.

Your very best strategy depends on what you're selling and what you're willing to accept for your product. Low prices will always bring the bargain hunters to your ad, but you want people who are willing to pay the price you want for your product. Don't expect to get retail prices for your products, one of the many reasons people use eBay so much is because it is cheaper than the retail routes. I would suggest that you start at the bare minimum you're willing to accept and allow the market to decide the price. Which, by the way, may mean some ads will have no sales because some people would not be willing to pay what you're asking for.

Remember, A sellers "starting bid" is his actual "reserve price" so If I sell a geforce2 card, and my starting bid is 50.00 that is considered the reserve(by me anyway).

One of my pet peeves is a seller touting "no reserve" in his heading and when you get to the ad his starting price is at or above a reasonable price for what he is selling. You see, his starting price is his reserve. Some people will take offence at the fact that you claim that there is no reserve but you start your bidding at $50(you might get emails asking why, dont laugh, I have had it happen to me!). Its just simpler to not say "no reserve".

[yomama]

thanks no1_vern
That makes sence, since im selling new products though, i will need to get close to retail to make some sort of profit. So i am sure that many of my auctions wont sell but thats ok. Its a learning process and ill keep reading. thanks for the help, very good advice!!!