Selling on ebay

[carland52]

I am getting fed up with buyers on ebay. Why do they always buy from people with a high selling rating. These sellers are always way over grading, don't have a 100% positive feedback, but they always get full price or more for their coins. Who are these idiots that pay more than the value for coins, don't they know there is more than one seller? It's just so frustrating for my coins to sell under 25% and watch idiots pay more than110% value. Any tips on how to match these huge sellers? I already list in CAN currency, free shipping, no taxes, but I just can't get any breaks.

[bb_cool_stuff · Accepted solution]

Very simple explanation, a lot of buyers have formed relationships with sellers over the years & usually look to them first for a new purchase.

We don't know what actually goes on behind the scenes, but something must keep them coming back.

I can only speak for myself but my repeat buyers always receive a discount & a certain percentage is refunded to their Paypal account.

Hard for me to comment as I don't know what your margins are but some perks keep a lot of buyers coming back.

[carland52]

Awesome. I think that's great advice, thank you. I'm going to try and do this from now on. There is just so much to learn on selling.

[bb_cool_stuff]

I think that's great advice.

I do have my moments.

You did the right thing by coming to the forums, I did the same thing when i was a Newbie.

Come back here often, you will receive a lot of sound advice from the regulars.

There is just so much to learn on selling.

You will learn something new every day & don't be too hard on yourself should you make a mistake. We have all made them.

My first two years my friend & I sold together on his account so i could learn the ropes until i felt confident enough to open my own account.

While i was confident, i still made a lot of mistakes as a Newbie & am still prone to make the odd one.

[carland52]

I will use these forums a much as possible. I didn't even know how useful they were until today. Thanks again for the advice, and I hope my next for experience is just as great!!

[jt-libra · Accepted solution]

Even after selling for 7 years, I still get discouraged, from time to time, as I sense you are.

My items are often the lowest priced, including shipping, on both eBay.com and .ca; I have great feedback and, yet, when I view Completed Listings, I see sales of identical items selling for quite a bit more than my items.

But, as bb_cool_stuff mentioned, as time goes by, you will start to see repeat customers who you may want to offer discounts to or reduced shipping, whatever.  As well, keep in mind that many U.S. buyers will just feel more comfortable buying from within their own country, even if they pay a little more.  They may not have a lot of experience with purchasing from Canada and may think that items will take a long time to arrive or there may be Customs issues, for example.  I have great U.S. customers who are accustomed to buying from Canadians as well as a lot of Canadian buyers, which is great.  I love to communicate with people from other provinces -- we have a lot of things in common (talking about the weather for one ) -- plus items very rarely get lost within Canada.

I think it`s tempting to get so discouraged that you start to lower your prices until there is no profit to be gained, but you just want to move the merchandise.  I was guilty of that -- still am sometimes.  But I`ve learned to rely primarily on the number of Views.  If 100 people have viewed my item and there is not one person watching it, then I re-think the price.  But if there are only 3 or 4 Views, then I leave it alone for a while.

I`m not a high volume seller but even those who are experience ups and downs in their sales.  Sometimes it`s the season, sometimes its the state of the economy; sometimes there seems to be no explanation.

So try to stay positive and come to these boards when you have questions.  Good luck!

[carland52]

Perfect. I'll keep all this in mind. I was always told patience is a virtue. And I would like to apologize for saying people are idiots for over paying, I admit to be one as well. When I first started buying on ebay, I got burned a few times. Over paid for coins I didn't properly grade. Since then, before i purchase or sell, I always examine and compare coins to iccs certified coins. Also looking at multiple coin grading sites to get the most accurate grade I can. This is a new topic I will post after this.
I would like to thank you both for taking your time to help.

[cumos55]

Coins can be a difficult sale on the internet.

It was few years ago that I found a book about the sale of coins.... It was not too complementary   to the selling of coins on the internet.

There was too much hocus-pocus possible with the cleaning of coins,.. Remodeling to make a coin look more valuable,   and above all just the photograph.

A buyer has to have super confidence in a seller before they buy.... Effectively they may buy one, and then a second... and only with a full trust will they come back and buy more...  and at the sellers price... mainly because of confidence in a seller...

That book concluded that the best way to buy a coin was in a face-to-face transaction  where the buyer can see the coin in it natural state...

Although I must conclude that this was in relation to older coins, that were not necessarily in the best of condition

------------------------------------------

There have been several times  that someone will buy from me  because of the condition of what I sell and how I parcel a book to be shipped..... and then they come back... and in several instances, my book was not the least expensive.

They also buy from me because of combined shipping... as I focus on a very specific Subject-Topic combination within nonfiction books...

I have had a buyer pay better than top dollar... because of the combined shipping option... of books in the best of the best condition....

[rose-dee]

Unlike businesses where the customer can actually see and touch the product, sellers on eBay must rely on two things: trust and good product detail.  

I think there are two types of eBay sellers -- those who want to build a business and a reputation, and those who are hoping to make quick money.  Anyone can become skilled in providing product detail (great photos and good, clear, accurate descriptions) and make some fast money here and there, but trust, and the buyer attention that comes with it, can only be developed with time.  So, yes, patience and commitment are good qualities to develop in selling here.  

In the meantime, try not to get discouraged.  There have been enormous changes on eBay in the past few months that have forced many of us to alter our selling strategies and cope with periods of slow sales. You are starting up at a time that I think is probably more difficult than even 3 or 4 years ago, with higher levels of competition, and as 'cumos' says, in a category that is more challenging to begin with.  This means you'll need to be more patient, thorough, and innovative than others if your goal is to build up a business here.  

Although there isn't anything we can do to change the fact that we're selling from Canada (which is usually a bit of a handicap from the start), always keep an eye on your US competitors to see how you can improve over them in other ways.  

Do everything you can to offer the best quality merchandise and outstanding customer service at a competitive price, and your buyers will return.  Repeat customers are eBay gold, so give them the red carpet treatment in whatever way you can. 

And yes, come to these boards whenever you have a particular issue arise.  There is usually at least one seller who has had the same (or similar) experience and can help, and often several. 

[carland52]

Beautiful. I'm really loving these forums. One can get a lot of great advice from multiple people. I don't know why I didn't come here before.
I'm going to rethink my selling game, and try and put all these phenomenal ideas into my game plan.
I hope one day that I'll be able to return the favour.

[carland52]

Hey thanks bb-cool for the advice. I put it to practice last night and emailed almost all the people that recently purchased items from me, and offered them a 5% discount on every 5th purchase. Already had respondents that have placed bids on my items again.
Excellent!!