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Welcome to this edition of Adam Ginsberg's "Insiders" Newsletter. Each issue is designed to provide you with insights, tips, secrets and overall strategies on how you can build your online auctions business. I'm sure you love this issue! Also, be sure to check Adam's Blog for the latest in money making news online!
Note: As part of your FREE AdamGinsberg.com membership, get lifetime access to MisspellGenerator today for FREE - Sign up HERE
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Top 10 eBay Tips for September
The eBay phenomenon is truly incredible. eBay has spawned countless individual and small business success stories—the company estimates that more than 724,000 people in the U.S. make most or all of their income through its auctions. Today, more than ever, entrepreneurs use eBay as a low-risk way to test the market for their product.
The wealth of data that the auction giant makes available has also been a boon to researchers. Professors of marketing, economics, management, and psychology have published dozens of papers to try to explain how and why eBay users buy and sell online. Here are the top 10 eBay tips for September:
1. Set the starting price low (except for items you expect little interest in). Low starting prices stimulate auction traffic and get early bidders psychologically invested in the auction, leading to more completed sales and higher final prices. Professor Gillian Ku from London Business School and professors Adam Galinsky and J. Keith Murnighan from Northwestern found that Nikon cameras with starting prices of $0.01 resulted in significantly higher final prices than the average price for completed camera auctions.
An auction for a kitchen sink with a starting price of $225 ended without a single bidder. When re-auctioned with a starting price of $75, the sink sold for $275.
Note: Here is the exception to the start-low rule... If you're selling an idiosyncratic item you don't think a lot of people will bid on, set a price closer to the item's actual value.
2. Use reserve prices with caution, especially for low-priced items. When using a low minimum bid, nervous sellers sometimes set secret reserve prices to make sure their item doesn't sell for less than the item's true value. Using reserves is a risky strategy for sellers, because it reduces the probability that the auction will end in a sale.
In an experiment using Pokémon trading cards, we found that secret-reserve auctions on average resulted in fewer serious bidders per auction and lower final sale prices.
3. Use photos in your listings. This one is obvious - yet even today, people still post items to eBay without a photo. Simply put, most people just won't bid on an item that doesn't have at least one photo. Generally speaking, the more effective your photos results in more active bidders, and the more bidders competing for an item, the higher the sale price. In a recent test of over 200 auctions, we found that having photo's in your listings results in a 71.4% increase in bids - resulting in an increase in the final value of (or selling price) of these items.
4. Don't flood the market. If you're selling multiples of an item, space them out, rather then selling them all at once - that's simple supply and demand at work.
5. Spell-check. Misspellings decrease the amount of traffic an auction receives. Here's a fun one: Michael Jordan shirts listed "Micheal" went unsold almost twice as often as those that were spelled correctly. When sold, the misspelled brand names also resulted in lower final sale prices.
6. Hype it up. Use fun stories when describing your item. This tends to stimulate interest better than more straightforward listings, and possibly even raise final sale prices. Another important point is to state the "retail price" of the item you're selling. Research has shown that auctions which mention the high retail price in an item description sell for 7% more on average.
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7. Hold longer auctions. Researchers from the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan found that longer auctions tend to fetch higher prices - but only higher priced, big ticket items. While three-day and five-day auctions yield approximately the same prices, seven-day auctions are about 24% higher, and 10-day auctions 42% higher on average. This would include cars, real estate and jewelry.
8. Don't end auctions during "eBay happy hour." Though it might seem counterintuitive, research has found that auctions ending during peak hours on eBay are actually 9.6% less likely to result in a sale. The reason? More competition. About 35% of auctions end between 5 p.m. and 8:59 p.m., when 25% of bids are placed.
9. Charge for shipping AND HANDLING —but not too much. Bidders don't pay much attention to shipping costs when placing bids. CDs listed with a starting price of one cent with $3.99 shipping averaged 21% higher final sale prices than CDs set with an opening price of $4 and no shipping charge. However, CDs listed with a $2 starting price and a $6 shipping cost, five of the 20 CDs went unsold.
10. Avoid negative feedback. Sellers who have even a few positive comments are more likely than sellers who have no history to receive bids and to have their auctions result in a sale. Positively rated sellers also receive higher bids. A seller with a positive feedback score is also more likely to provide secure payment options, such as PayPal, as well as detailed product information.
By being aware of the strategies that eBay sellers use, eBay buyers can benefit. For example, a buyer should be wary of high-traffic auctions: Prices can get artificially inflated. Instead, try searching for items using common misspellings and check out products listed without pictures. These auctions generally receive fewer bids, and therefore usually end up with cheaper sale prices.
Note: As part of your FREE AdamGinsberg.com membership, get lifetime access to MisspellGenerator today for FREE - Sign up HERE
However, this offer will be REMOVED on Wednesday, 9:00 AM PST! Be sure you get access to this software before this FREE offer is removed forever!
Until the next issue...
Knowing No Boundaries
Adam Ginsberg
AdamGinsberg.com
Make Money Online
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