Let's take a critical look at all your listings in the last two months.
Apple computer listed at auction and it sells at $1,225
A month later you list a similar computer at $1,400 at fixed price and it did not sell
Conclusion: your price of $1,400 was most likely too high.
Last month you list an Xbox at $600 plus shipping and it did not sell
You relist at $575 with free shipping and it sold quickly.
Conclusion: your original price (plus shipping) was too high. It sold quickly at the right price with free shipping
You currently have two pairs of Air Jordan for sale at $205 plus shipping. Is that price (including shipping) competitive?
etc... etc...
Personally, like most sellers, I have always preferred to sell at fixed price. More than 85% of all eBay listings are at fixed price because that is what buyers want: immediate purchase, immediate payment and immediate shipment.
Also, I have never offered "best offer". I simply priced my items at the lowest price I was willing to accept. Whenever someone wrote and offered a slightly lower price, that offer was always rejected, regardless how close it was (I once refused $99 for an item listed at $100; it is a matter of principle that viewers can trust the price I list at is the best price available. Period).
"It's a bit strange because sometimes I get 200-300 page views with a few watchers but no sales."
Nothing strange about it. There are 800,000,000 listings on eBay. That is a lot of competition. Folks look and hit the back button. And life does go on.
I would also suggest you remove "10% restocking fee may apply". Like many people, I refuse to buy from anyone charging me a restocking fee.
Good Luck
" do you think U.S. buyers hesitate to buy from canadian sellers even if price is a bit lower because of the duties, taxes, etc?"
According to a six month study conducted by eBay-Canada it is advantageous for Canadian sellers to list in Canadian dollars (except for specific categories such as auto parts). While many sellers here do not agree with eBay-Canada on the subject because they have been listing in US, I do.
Over the years I have listed in both US$ and Cdn$ and have not noticed any real difference in results over time.
When you list in Cdn$, the viewers in the USA looking at eBay.com see the US$ equivalent when they search for items. It is only when they reach your listing page that they see the price in both Cdn$ and the equivalent US$.
"duties, tax., etc..." have nothing to do with currency.
Please read the official eBay.ca announcement about currency. It is important:
When you ship to the USA, you do not charge tax, so do not worry about it.
The rules in the USA are very different than in Canada. Everything enters the USA from Canada tax free duty free up to US$200 value (compared to Cdn$20 here)
Pricing and sales are an interesting set of concepts. With limited data, you will get confusing results.
Sales are cyclical. I get busy periods, and slow periods. These tend to move around as well. This year, the last 2 days of the month are generally quite good. I always get a busy 2-3 days a week coupled with a zero day. The month always averages out.
I price in competition with the high price sellers. I do not play that race to the bottom game.
Of greatest importance is pictures, category, and item specifics. Pictures sell the item. I was at eBay Radio Party in Las Vegas and chatted with the mobile device marketing managers. 62% of all sales are "touched" by a mobile device somewhere in the transaction.
Senior manager showed me how people search. They type in a couple keywords and then look for the best gallery picture. They choose that one to look at. The next thing is a finger flick to see how many highly detailed pictures there are. Pictures that "pop" as they say.
You get them on the hook with the pictures or you lose them. Once lost, they do not come back.
Pricing is your own personal strategy. I know that "free" shipping has done wonders for my sales. The dropping Loonie has moved me into new profit lines.
@rose-dee wrote:I agree with most of the comments above, except I must say that my view is that "Best Offer" can work very well for some categories. I've used it for years and found it to be a real sales booster.
However, here's the key -- if you're selling something that can be priced against a "standard" of some kind (such as new, commercially manufactured goods or collectibles that have catalogues which provide people with benchmark pricing), then Best Offer may not work well for you. If anybody can look up a standard price for an item (and collectors especially do tend to know the values in their area of interest), then you may be better off doing as Pierre suggests and simply offering your items at the best possible price -- after also comparing your competitors' pricing of course.
However, for used, vintage or OOAK goods that have a more fluid price spectrum, Best Offer can be a real help in encouraging an interested buyer to follow through. Over the years I've found I generally get offers within about 80% of my asking price. And if I make a counter-offer to an initially low offer, I find the buyer accepts it in just about every case. The way I look at Best Offer is that it provides buyers with an opportunity to feel they are contributing to setting the price -- and if they make a decent offer that I accept, they get the item instantly, unlike auctions which do require patience and attention. You can perhaps look at Best Offer as an alternative way to run discount sales.
Where Best Offer is concerned, my policy is to never, ever, reject any offer (or let it expire). I respond to each one, and I would say that of all the Best Offers I get, only about 5% do not actually end in a sale. By the way, I find Best Offer works best on items that are more valuable, as there is then more room to maneuver in negotiating the final price.
What 'Mr. Elmwood" says about needing more data to really determine your best strategies is true. I've found that experimenting (within reason) with different listing formats, durations, shipping values (free or not), and pricing can provide valuable insight, given enough time and a sufficient number of transactions. One thing is true though -- eBay buyers are more and more favouring fixed price listings. The trick is to find just the right price for the type of item you're offering.
And no, I don't think taxes/duties etc. are usually a factor in Americans buying from Canadians. However, I do think that an American buyer is probably more likely to want to buy from another American unless he can get the same item at a better deal from a Canadian seller -- and that includes a good deal on the shipping. Remember that Americans are used to getting relatively inexpensive domestic shipping and fast service wherever in the States they live, and that it's far easier for U.S. sellers to offer free shipping within the U.S. for that reason.
At the moment, the currency differential is working strongly in our favour in selling to the U.S., so take advantage of it by setting your prices below your U.S. competitors' prices. This of course works best if you're listing in $US so that the actual figure of the price stays stable in relation to U.S. sellers' prices (i.e. so that it doesn't fluctuate with the ups and downs of the Canadian dollar). I'm one of those sellers that Pierre mentioned who does not believe in listing in $Cdn if the majority of your market is in the U.S. But you'll find that out with time and experience.
Four years ago, I was spending $8.15 US to mail a Small Packet <250grams to the US. Today it cost me $6.19 US. I can beat the Americans at their own game as I buy in Loonies and sell in Greenbacks.
The swing from four years ago to today is 41% to me. I am making 41% more on every transaction.
