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The only known eBay statistics for "sell through rate" of fixed price listings was given about five years ago and, at that time, it took an average of fourteen (14) weeks to sell a fixed price listing.
If you sell 20% of your fixed price listings every month, you are running an average of twenty-one (21) weeks, in the same ballpark as the overall average.
In the stamp business, based on my own experience and checking what other dealers list on eBay, it appears the average is much longer - meaning the turnover or sell through rate much slower (individual collectors selling on eBay may find a faster turnover because they generally sell at lower prices, often well below "market value").
Now, auction listings are totally different. However, the seller has less control over the price realized. The question has always been the same: Is it better to sell an item at auction and sell it in three weeks (on average) and (for example) get $9.00 for it or list it at fixed price for $12.00 and wait three or four months to sell it ?
Now you know why I generally sell at fixed price! 🙂 ... even if it takes a little bit longer.
PS - In the most recent fixed price (by invitation) promotion, I listed 466 fixed price listings (many with multiple quantity) under my pierrelebel-canada selling ID.
If I sell from 46 listings (10%), I would be delighted.
If I sell from 23 listings (5%), it would meet my expectations.
And life does go on.
Good evening.
A quick post before Mary calls me to do dishes!
"IF I plan on buying items that I dont sell at the store..."
Building a business requires the ability to analyze and prioritize. It is impossible to do everything we could or want to. I am now more or less retired but I often need to sit down with pen and paper - the old fashioned way - and write down the business priorities for the next month or quarter or year.
The first item on the list is always time allocation. How much time do I want to spend doing what? And that is important. Time you allocate for listing on eBay and managing your listings is time not available for looking for new suppliers and new lines of products, etc....
Since you already have a "brick and mortar" store, that becomes your first and obvious time allocation. You need to be at the store so many hours a week and find someone else (your husband?) for the hours of operations you do not cover.
From the time you spend at the store, you then allocate so many hours that can be spared to work on your online store (eBay or your own website). And keep in mind that somehow things always take longer than expected.
The next step is to monetarize your time. How many dollars an hour or dollar per week do you want or do you need to make (net profit) from your online business?
Using inventory from your store to generate online sales gives you a huge edge on many competitors as it opens two markets for your products. By the way, do not be shy about cross marketing: in your "about me" page you may want to add a picture of you and your husband in front of your store! Adding an address may help generate more sales at the store.
Since you have a store where buyers could pick up their purchases, offer FREE pick up at your store in ALL your listings saving your buyers money! You should mention the free pick up twice: in the description and the shipping section.
When selecting items for sale in your store and online, try to keep value, size and weight in mind. Always ask: "will it make sense to offer this item by mail?" Try, if possible, to find items that could be shipped through low cost lettermail (less than 20mm thick and under 500g including packing).
While looking at one of your listing, I noticed you offer refund within 7 days. I suggest you change that to 14 days for slightly better exposure on eBay. Your shipping charges are high when compared to your competitors and you need to figure out a way to lower them.
Ooopps! Once again: Prioritize your time. Got to go. Mary is calling! 🙂
Good Luck
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