By Anonymous
EcommerceBytes.com
January 05, 2014
eBay sellers who work every day in the trenches have unique insight into what works and what doesn't when it comes to online marketplace selling. Today, an eBay seller who wishes to remain anonymous shares tips on how he optimizes his listings to take advantage of eBay's new Cassini search engine and what has worked for his eBay business. See if his tips could work for you.
Cassini. You've probably heard the name. Some people think that it's a frightening demon driven by Satan and others have heard that it's something strangely complicated and terribly counterproductive. Some sellers don't even know that it exists. One seller I knew swore that Cassini was a Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. But it's not, it's just the nickname of eBay's search engine, and once you understand how it processes information, then you can go on to harness it and make it work for you. You can do this predictably and reliably so that when sales go seasonally down, yours won't go down as much and when sales go seasonally up, yours will go up more.
For more: http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abu/y214/m01/abu0350/s02
I believe none of that. Anything written by "Anonymous" cannot be verified.
@rose-dee wrote:
@cumos55 wrote:
If Anonymous is wrong everybody can point a finger at Anonymous... and Anonymous is everywhere
Cassini is here to stay.... learn how to feed Cassini ... and be successful at meeting the needs of potential buyers.
Learn through research...
The article says the author wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. I wonder -- could it be that he/she fears eBay or really fears criticism from other sellers?
There is some clearly common sense advice in this article, and some points I would cast some serious doubt on (especially the comments about GTC listings, which I just don't think has ever been proven to be a disadvantage).
'cumos' -- I think you are absolutely right - whatever the search mechanism is really doesn't matter if you do your homework/research for your own category(ies), observe the results on a regular basis, stick to the best practices all sellers should be aware of, and follow through accordingly.
Wang dang doodle right on the tip of yer nose, Rose.
What was that, 2 1/2 lines of prose? Completely w/o self-serving rhetoric. Bashing nothing and no-one. Putting responsibly, blame, credit, EXACTLY where it belongs, on the person listing.
Cassini is not an enemy, not a problem, not a maze. It is a search results algorithm. Designed to benefit the customer.
That whole "article" was a load of finger pointing. The guilty finger point, the innocent do not.
I'd rather talk about elm trees as well..........
I'm just old enough to remember when elm trees were still somewhat common here in Southern Ontario but not old enough to remember a time when they were not threatened here.
I do remember the first time I visited Western Canada and drove through Winnipeg (circa 1960) and saw those boulevards of towering elms. At that time in Southern Ontario there were still quite a few solitary trees but I had never seen so many as I did out west.
If you are ever in a giving mood...........
http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/collectionsandresearch/elmrecovery.shtml
They are a dedicated bunch that are doing the best they can to bring the elm tree back.
A name, what is in a name.There are some really great names out there. Swayze Waters, kicker for the Argos, comes to mind. Some that, well, I knew a lady who's given name is Branka.
We got to pick our own name. My original name, before punctuation was allowed was mrelmwood. I knew what it said, but, reality hit me when some one read it phonteically and it came our mur-EEL-wood. A few years back The Mother Ship permitted punctuation and I changed. The running joke over on Motors Board, at the time, was "Mr Elmwood got his period".
The name originally started because I lived in the Elmwood part of Winnipeg. Small neighbourhood that is part of East Kildonan. Wpg, up until 1971 was a small city with about 12 surrounding cities, including, St Boniface, St Vital, St. James, North Kildonan, West, East, on and on. City amalgamated and I do believe the official name is "Unicity".
So, there I sat in front of a computer some 18 years ago and needed a screen name for something. I am not exactly robust, more like a wee lad. I do not strike fear into the heart of a goldfish. I came up with "I cane never be Mr Universe, Mr World, or Mr Canada. At least I can be Mr Elmwood".
It stuck, kinda like the nickname "Stinky" would stick. I actually have another name that was bestowed upon me: "Mr Pid". THAT name became rather well known in some circles in Winnipeg. That goes back some 30 years.
Mr Elmwood begat other names. I am known quite simply as Mr E. I had personalized plates that said that. I have been called a lot of things because there is a cadence to "mr.elmwood" that leads to all sorts of juxtapositions of words: elmpickle, elmdoodle, woodman, hardwood, softwood, woodie. "Are you coniferous or deciduous?"
Then there is the entire fur thong episode.
I think that the best names are those that lend themselves to alliterations. Falls under the heading only the people that like you, pick on you.
The word elmwood is everywhere. There are streets and neighbourhoods named that all over the place. It is always fun to see my name emblazoned on a sign.
I also used to be "my igloo is melting". Actually, I think I still have that one somewhere. I was then "Mr.Constant" which will forever remain a personal secret. It does not mean what you think. Trust me, you are pronouncing it wrong. Mr.Constant morphed into Inuk. I was trying to establish a presence in Churchill MB. Inuk was the child of that relationship. The relationship failed, but, the child still survives.
Mr E has led to me to a great number of encounters. eBay Live, three of them were fantastic. I have chatted, personally with Meg Whittman and John Donahoe. I have personal friends, whom I have met, across North America. Meeting Jane in Winnipeg, led to Marian from Halifax, to Annie, Allsion, Elaine in Boston, Manon and Chris in Chicago, OOPS Steph and Bernice from Dallas in Boston. Meeting Steph in Boston eventually led to her personally inviting me to Dallas to meet Donahoe. Of course, stampman lives around the corner but doesn't do Facebook so I pass on hellos from Elaine and Annie to him.
Motors Board chatting led to my friend Jeff in Toronto and Wardo in Indiana. Gonna drive down to Tennessee this summer to catch up with Bruce and LB.
Boston was amazing. It was 7,000 of my closest friends. I had far too much fun. First morning, I came out of my hotel and stood at the corner, no idea where the convention centre was. Fella standing next to me, same deal. Between the two of us we figured out where to go, about a 20 minute walk.
His story was great. He was, oh, maybe 40. He had been a working stiff and then inherited his aunt's estate. She left him a house stuffed with antiques. He quit his job and had a lifetime of living off selling the antiques.
My room in the hotel was interesting. I got confused with street names and hotel names and booked the wrong hotel. It was actually a block from where I thought I was. No harm. Reviews of the hotel warned about not taking the rook next to the elevator as it was loud. Um? I'm half deaf. I got that room.
Well, it was a double room with two balconies. It was HUGE. Annie has a picture of me in that room. There are also pictures of us on the cruise. The cruise was great. After Live was over I had a full day to look around. Walking, I ended up in what is called "Paul Revere's Mall". Essentially, where the American revolution started.
That was cool, because I had already been to Havana and Revolution Square where the Cuban revolution started. A few years later, I ended up in Quebec City walking on the Plains of Abraham, which, you could argue, is the Cdn equivalent of the other two.
Mr Elmwood has lead me to a lot of places.
Cassini? Cassini is nothing. You alluded to that earlier. We are the masters of our own destiny.
"it it would be better to list 30 day listings for search."
Maybe, maybe not. It depends.
While added points in search may be important (or not), there are other factors to consider.
For example, when I list single items, I often use 30 day duration; when listings multiple quantities, I always use Good Till Cancelled (GTC) since that is the only format where eBay keeps track of items sold.
For example, if I start a listing with a quantity of 10 and I sell three items during the first month, when bulk relisting,
1) eBay will insert a quantity of 10 (the original quantity) if I used 30 day duration
2) eBay will continue the listing after 30 days if GTC with a quantity of 7 (original 10 minus 3 sold), and so on until all 10 units have been sold.
