My item isn't selling. What can I do to entice buyers?

[summersidesales]

Hello,

I'm new to ebay and would like to become an active seller.  But my first attempt at selling an item hasn't worked at all. 

I feel my item is of value - as in not junk - definitely a collectable and not expensive.

I'm in Canada and it was suggested somewhere to stick to Canada when starting out so I have listed 'no International sales', and I have my item listed as an auction - have re-listed several times and even lowered my opening bid a touch ... still no buyers.

Does anyone have some suggestions for me?

EMR

[estreetplazacanada]

Hello,

Welcome to eBay.  Customers get scared when they see a seller with 0 feedback first of all.  So I would suggest buying couple of items yourself on eBay just so you don't have 0 feedback.  You can sell something that is less valuable to you for a cheap starting price to encourage people to bid on it, for example have an auction with a starting price of  $0.99 that usually appeals to buyers.  You can go to value village and pick up a name brand shirt for few dollars and auction it off, most likely you will get much more than you paid for it,  people search name brands,. 

If your item is expensive, I would suggest to wait until you have built some positive feedback for your self, customers need to trust you and feel safe buying from you.

When listing an auction, you have to time it right.  For example, most people are free in the evenings and on weekends, so you want your auction to end in the evening and preferably on weekends, not during the day while people are busy at work or in the middle of the night while they're sleeping.

Good luck

[pierrelebel]

" even lowered my opening bid a touch ... still no buyers."

If I may.

You are selling one mug for $11 with $14+ shipping charge.

The images in your listings show many mugs.

If you want to sell ONE, you should show an image with ONE mug.  Anything else is confusing.

Your listings suggest shipping discount for multiple purchases.  Yet, only ONE mug is offered. 

Now, look at it from a buyer's perspective.  If that ONE mug worth over $25, including shipping?  Really?  I mean really?

Have you checked how many mugs are available on eBay?  I  checked and found 482,000.  That is a lot of competition for your mug.

I also found 347 "Centennial" mugs offered in the last five months.  How many sold? At what price?

Selling collectibles on eBay is not easy.  There is a lot of competition.

Good Luck.

[femmefan1946]

I agree with pierre about the pricing on your mug.

If you relist, and you can list 50 items free at auction each month, so this is only going to cost you time, start your item at a price that will cover your costs (you know you paid less than $15 for that mug, now didn't you?) plus the cost of shipping domestically.

This will allow you to offer your mug with Free Shipping. Buyers love that.

Which is less expensive?

A $15 mug with $15 shipping or a $30 mug with Free Shipping?

Although it is easier to start within Canada, the US market is ten times the size of the Canadian. So list in US dollars. The whole world understands the US dollar and the Americans understand nothing else.

Bonus, your mug now costs $24.65 (or $24.99) US including Free Shipping, which feels cheaper than $30 CDN.

But before you think about pricing, fix those pictures. If you are selling one item, picture one item. You can say that you have 3 of the single item available.

And do some buying both to build feedback and to understand the customer experience. Buy items from Canada, from the USA and from Asia. These don't have to be expensive. Most sellers can use bubble and poly envelopes for example.

[funkorium]

Hi.welcome to ebay!The most important thing to do from my point is to sell to US and make your listing a bit more understandable.From all my sales about 95% are to US maybe 4% to Canada and 1% worldwide...Also it is a good idea to do a fast research for how much same items being sold and adjust the price accordingly.Good luck!

[momcqueen]

1. Gain feedback as a buyer before you try to sell. Other buyers think you're a ghost when you have a zero after your name

2. Set whatever price you feel is necessary to make a profit on the transaction. Do the research so that you're not unpleasantly surprised at the end of the month. I find that auctions only appeal to bargain-hunters. Buy-it-now works for those who need the assurance that they're really going to get what they're laying money on the table to get. 

3. If you're confident your item can be shipped safely to international destinations, don't limit yourself to domestic sales. Sell overseas. Know your shipping costs. Do the research.

4. Take clear photographs and a lot of them. Sell your item with images and a solid description.

5. Seek advice from many, follow it from few. There are a lot of good people on ebay; some are really great advice-givers, yet others are really great sellers. Find some stores that look profitable and take a good, hard look at what they're doing and see how that might work for you. 

Good luck.