eBay

cidsa_dragoon · ‎11-12-2020

I hate to be one of those people who complain about slow sales but right around the election in the US my sales came to a complete stop. I actually had a defect send me to "below average" but ebay support removed it and I went back to above. Just in case I delisted and relisted everything (as "sell similar") but it hasn't helped.

I know that the economy is not good and when selling collectible type things that really matters but seeing it come to a dead stop like this is pretty unusual. Any ideas?

cidsa_dragoon · ‎11-14-2020

All of my stuff is at 1% and it helps a liiiiittle bit but not hugely.

needsmorerobots · ‎11-15-2020

@cidsa_dragoon wrote:
I've had numerous people steal items so my shipping is all tracked. I had the smalls as lettermail previously but it was causing me endless grief with lost packages & defects (late delivery.)

I don't know how to ship them cheaply but then also avoid those defects. Any ideas?
Currently my late delivery percentage is at "high" after a few fell off (was very high before.)

And yes, summer was awsomely high but I've never gone more than a couple days without /some/ kind of sale. I guess it could be that people don't want this stuff for Christmas.

I agree with @ilikehockeyjerseys on the part of communication with your customer. Communicating with my customer is key even if eBay gives out automatic notifications.

I send off two messages. My first is that I have received their order and their purchased item will be prepared for shipment. The 2nd is after their item is shipped out. I let them know who's handling it, roughly what time it left and lastly I mention if they have problems or questions to contact me without hesitation. If it's possible, provide a photo of the finished parcel (post office labels and all) to send to the customer.

I'm not a frequent user of tracked shipping. For some sellers they feel it's a necessity but I resort to tracked only for rare or more expensive items. There are times I would've purchased items from sellers here but paying $12 for an item and then I'm expected to pay over $18 Canadian for tracked from the US, it's a turn off.

needsmorerobots · ‎11-15-2020

@cidsa_dragoon wrote:
Thank you so much, this is really helpful advice! I did find that the lettermail option was totally unrealistic and was wondering why it was always so horrible, that would be why.

I did go back and reprice everything when I relisted so my prices are in line. I did have free shipping for a while but I never found it made much difference but I suppose I could try again. I think my biggest fight for a lot of things is there is an absolutely massive amount of fakes from Chinese sellers that aren't dealt with (Japanese companies don't care?) so mine look astronomical in comparison.

I've noticed recently an explosion of pirated DVDs/Blu-rays. Just reporting these people to eBay is a wasted effort (trust me, I've tried and nothing was ever done). Unless you're willing to take the time to hunt down and contact each copyright holder, the next best thing is to keep your head down and know there are still people out there who prefer the real thing over some illegal copy.

Since you deal with anime merchandise (and I'll assume official merch), you can always reinforce to buy official anime merch from you is to help support the anime industry we all know and love.

As a fan I had to learn the hard way when it came to cheap knock offs. A younger inexperienced me got burned at my first large anime convention buying music cassettes that only lasted a few plays before audio loss became an issue.

needsmorerobots · ‎11-15-2020

@cidsa_dragoon wrote:
Yeah, I've been going since 1995 and selling at cons since 1999. The issue is that anime fans tend to be less savvy on fakes as many are younger. We actually run a panel at the convention I work at about spotting fakes in order to educate people. My job at the cons is to keep fakes out of it *because* the attendees don't know better. This is obviously great in a controlled setting like that but not so much when it's a free for all like Ebay.

I do know that a lot of collectors have moved to other sites because of the fake problem on Ebay which is another snag and why I've tried to branch out to other things. My Japanese stuff was originally just me selling at shows only but with covid I had to jump here and it's tough.

I can easily make the images incredibly large but I was finding it was causing more issues than solving and the relevant info is visible in the smaller images anyway.

That was my problem with anime fakes, the youthful inexperience. There were no panels to teach me about fakes, I had to learn it all myself. If there was, I might've made better purchases at Anime Expo '95.

I'm so glad you do this. You've earned cool points in my book.

ricarmic · ‎11-15-2020

RE Promoted listings, ok it is good you are using it. Have you checked to see how predominantly your stuff comes up?? (ie just do searches in your categories and see how many times your promoted items come up vs other peoples) The problem is that now that the "world" has heard about the wonders of the 1%, if everyone does it it does no good (except to eBay!!!!).

If your stuff is not showing up predominantly, it might mean the others are using a higher % than you. Try adding 1/2% at a time to your promoted amount to see what it takes for you to become predominant again (up till the point it is not worthwhile for you of course).

RE wording to customers, this is what I send using ebay messaging to all customers after the item is in the mail:

(Feel free to use any parts you like, I get a surprsing % of very positive responses to these messages)

NEW customers:

============

Thank you for your purchase and quick payment. Your parcel has been shipped out today, Monday XXXXXXX. Note that the global pandemic may impact the parcel delivery timeline. Some parcels move at normal speed or even more quickly, some are slowed down significantly. A lot depends on which sorting/customs centers are affected and for how long they are impacted. Once the parcel arrives, I hope you will find everything satisfactory. If you are not completely pleased with this transaction, please feel free to contact me. I will do my very best to resolve any problem you may have. Thank you very much in advance for your extra patience while the parcel makes the journey. Regards, RICARMIC (Ron)

PS as a note, given the current global pandemic concerns, any of the shipping components that are not self adhesive like envelope flaps, and stamps on the parcel are affixed using the sponge and water approach, not the licking approach.

REPEAT customers:

================

Thank you for your most recent purchase and quick payment. I am pleased you decided to purchase from me again. Your parcel has been shipped out today, Monday XXXXXX. Note that the global pandemic may impact the parcel delivery timeline. Some parcels move at normal speed or even more quickly, some are slowed down significantly. A lot depends on which sorting/customs centers are affected and for how long they are impacted. Thank you very much in advance for your extra patience while the parcel makes the journey. Regards, RICARMIC (Ron)

PS as a note, given the current global pandemic concerns, any of the shipping components that are not self adhesive like envelope flaps, and stamps on the parcel are affixed using the sponge and water approach, not the licking approach.

ricarmic · ‎11-15-2020

PS Too late to edit now, I forgot to mention, do not use the "ebay suggested numbers" for the promoted listings % I don't think they reflect reality. At least I've never adhered to them - some experiments of mine showed exceeding them does make one predominant, however I don't think one has to put in as much as they suggest is required to work, at least I'm nowhere near where the suggested numbers say now and they're working fine so I pay no attention to the suggested % at all.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎11-15-2020

Has anyone else noticed PL "suggested rates" vary throughout the week? I've observed rates in some categories are significantly higher on days with higher traffic like Friday, Saturday, Sunday then trend lower through the middle of the week. I sometimes wonder if this is a factor why some sellers report bunched sales, as in good sales one day then nothing for the rest of the week.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎11-15-2020

@ricarmic wrote:
RE Promoted listings, ok it is good you are using it. Have you checked to see how predominantly your stuff comes up?? (ie just do searches in your categories and see how many times your promoted items come up vs other peoples) The problem is that now that the "world" has heard about the wonders of the 1%, if everyone does it it does no good (except to eBay!!!!).

If your stuff is not showing up predominantly, it might mean the others are using a higher % than you. Try adding 1/2% at a time to your promoted amount to see what it takes for you to become predominant again (up till the point it is not worthwhile for you of course).

This is good advice. I would take this one step further, run a search for the widget you're selling, open a few listings of other sellers selling similar widgets. Check if your sponsored listings are appearing among the "similar sponsored" lists that appear above other sellers listing description. Ebay used to call these "cross promotion" placements and allowing them in our listings was optional. These placements have always been important imo so I always have participated, now we have to pay to play there.

cidsa_dragoon · ‎11-15-2020

Yes, exactly. I know they don't /want/ the fakes but many just don't know any better. I think I'll push that kind of messaging a bit more in my thank you notes I include for those types of items.

Thankfully running a little sale this weekend helped kick sales in the butt and things are going good now! Thank you for all the advice everyone, I will definitely keep it all in mind. I will also be checking out the ad rates too, although I don't want to compete with the people using Ebay's suggested because those are way too high haha.

ricarmic · ‎11-16-2020

I have an experiment suggestion for you, for the low price items, like a keychain that is $6 plus $2.50 shipping to Canada, try making the "FREE SHIPPING" price $8.49 (to Canadians you can add the additional shipping cost to US and international).

Free shipping definitely will increase views. In my world my buyers seem to be aware/using the total view of the price, ie they know that if they see something for $6 plus $2.50 shipping it isn't any cheaper than the $8.50 free shipping. Anyway I'm also a big fan of free shipping but you'll have to figure out what price point it does/n't work for.....

motomike_canada · ‎11-16-2020

@cidsa_dragoon wrote:
Yes, exactly. I know they don't /want/ the fakes but many just don't know any better. I think I'll push that kind of messaging a bit more in my thank you notes I include for those types of items.

Further to this, I've noticed a lot of your titles are short enough to add even more of this type of message on each listing. If I were selling items like yours, I would put "100% Authentic" right at the front of your title, then get into the finer details (character/manufacturer/etc) . it's sort of what I do with my motorcycle parts to designate them as "Genuine Yamaha" vs. an Aftermarket item that is similar. Your items will come up in a keyword search the same way, but the first things people will see is the photo, and claim of authenticity right next to it.

Then in your listing run a little blurb about the pains you go through to ensure that each item is 100% authentic, (unlike some other sellers, perhaps) and that you stand behind it as a guarantee. Using the fact that you are involved with expos etc. in this capacity would be a fantastic little thing to write up in there and use as a template for all your listings.

Worst case it does nothing, best case it converts lookers to buyers. .

ricarmic · ‎11-16-2020

Good advice too, the only caveat I would add is that the search seems to care only (or mostly) about the first 5 words of ones title, so it is important to make sure the most important ones are in the first 5.

Over the years I've seen mixed opinions about whether special characters screw up the search algorithms. I've never been sure, so I try to avoid special characters in my first 5 words.....

jt-libra · ‎11-17-2020

I'm thinking of trying promoted listings but I'm not sure if I should do an across-the-board fairly low percentage or a higher percentage for just a few higher-priced items. One thing I'm curious about is how often a person searches using "Price + Shipping: Lowest First". That's what I use most often, thereby defeating the benefit of a promoted listing. So I'm thinking that perhaps it's best used in categories/items with limited listings. Both of my selling accounts are in highly competitive areas -- Health and Beauty, and DVD's/CD's.

I would be interested in your thoughts. I've been following your posts for years and find your comments very helpful. Thanks.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-17-2020

There are all kinds of theories out there on how search works but I have read that the first few words are the most important so I wouldn't put 100% Authentic at the beginning of the title. I'm not a big fan of putting Authentic in the title anyway but that's just my opinion. However, an item is either authentic or its not so if a seller feels that authentic is going to help, I would suggest leaving out the 100% part.

pjcdn2005 · ‎11-17-2020

I just glanced at a few of your listings. One easy way to improve the pics is to crop them so that the item takes up more of the picture frame. It makes the pic more noticeable and shows more detail in the search view.

ricarmic · ‎11-17-2020

I get away with low % because I sell in 100s of sub/categories so at any time I'm not completing with hardly anyone in a chunk of them.

In my world everything at a low percentage (remember this is applying to 3,000 items) seriously outperformed a smaller number with a high percentage.

A mistake I made at one point whilst I experimented with using following or exceeding the suggested % did show that if one exceeds the % it does show up more predominantly and has higher sales, but that is a lot more expensive if one applies it everywhere and the low % across the board so to speak has much outperformed it.

If you've got some key items try the higher %. In my experience what happened is that it sold more items (multi quantity item of course) both within and without promotion because of the additional views that were brought to it due to the promotion. "Regular" ebay thinks it is a good thing because so many more people are looking at it so it sets it higher in the search results that way too - or at least it did then, that was about a year ago.

Experimenting is important for sure, you can watch the views, sales, clicks and that will help too and kill it if it gets too expensive.

PS the "wonders of 1%" has gotten a lot of traction, so it might mean you have to experiment with increments above it to exceed what the others in the category are using (ebay loves the fact that we/you need to do this). You can increase by percentage points, so 1.5% is doable etc

jt-libra · ‎11-17-2020

Thanks for your post. I had been leaning towards a higher percentage in some high-priced items -- for starters -- just so I could concentrate on how a few items were performing as opposed to trying to follow all my items. And, as you pointed out, they would rate higher in search because of the increased views.

With respect to my cosmetic items, I likely would go higher than the 1%, simply because I'm ever conscious of expiry dates on most cosmetics. What I stand to lose if they don't sell within a year, say, of the expiry date will be a lot higher than a 2 or 3% promotion rate.

Thanks again. As always, I find your comments very helpful.

ricarmic · ‎11-17-2020

Hi! Yes I suggest working your way up, you'll see by the views how well it is working, there's no sense paying ebay an extra 7% when 1.5% will do.....

Once you start your promotion you can do searches too to see how well your stuff shows in the "sponsored" items or not, that will tell you how your % rates against others.

You can up or lower your % as you wish while it is running too....

jt-libra · ‎11-17-2020

I really have not paid a lot of attention to Sponsored listings up to this point, so I thought I'd take a better look in Search. I searched for two popular perfumes and I noticed in the listings, that Sponsored items were not necessarily near the top. There would be one, for instance, at No. 3 and then not another until the 15th or 20th listing. So this means that even though they've paid a premium, their listings are not necessarily getting as many views as others which may have been listed for a longer period of time?

ricarmic · ‎11-17-2020

The important thing is to be on the first page.

If I (or anyone for that matter) knew how stuff gets there for sure, we could write a book on it!

I did a few experimental searches where my stuff would come up and I'm running solid against my competitors, I have a couple on the first page each time, which is exactly what I want.

My perhaps incorrect understanding is that ebay doesn't want to have pages "static" ie if you do the search a few times there should be variations, and there for sure shouldn't be only sponsored stuff on it, because people would see the same stuff all the time which isn't what any of us wants cause the buyers go elsewhere looking for something new.

Always IMO being on the first page is our goal.

How you get there IMO depends on a lot of things (in random order) like:

-the sell through rate for multi item listings (I think this is a biggie)

-how that item is doing via views

-if the item is free shipping (I think this is a biggie)

-if the item is an auction or a BIN (Auctions are favoured or so it seems)

-if the item is new (These are favoured it seems)

-your stats as a seller

-how you are doing overall in terms of ratios like sell rate etc

-more things I can't think of right now

Over the years I've tried to figure out why some of my competitors come out ahead of me and my belief it is a combo of some of the things above. The search algorithm is complicated for sure.

The easiest and least complicated way for you to find out for sure is run a promoted listing and watch you views/sales rate. The good news is that it is FREE if it does not work.

When I first experimented with promoted listings I switched the 10% discount I was running in my sales to just 10% promoted rate. That definitely put me up front, but later experiments showed it was more expensive than necessary.