eBay

thebookcompany22 · ‎06-02-2022

Hello,

we are new sellers in the book universe -- has other sellers noticed best times to sell items??

ie: weekdays versus weekends? mornings versus afternoon/evenings??

any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

We just want to give buyers the best oppurtuinty for picking up and bidding on items.

THANKS

J

msau4301 · ‎06-05-2022

Just thought I'd let you know what I have noticed for myself. I am one of the dinosaurs who still does auctions and I know I was surprised to find that originally I thought it was better to have them end on a weekend thinking people had more free time so might be more likely to bid but I found the opposite to be true, I have had more luck with auctions ending during the week during "work time" hours, which tells me a lot of people are actually scrolling through eBay when they should be working! (Admittedly have done the same thing!)

I am in a totally different category though, I sell mostly vintage Barbie's. I run 5 day auctions myself since that is the timing that has worked best for me.

I see you are going to offer a mix of auctions and fixed price, I do this also. (Though now is a busy couple of weeks in my family life so I'm taking the week off (easy to do with auctions also!) Good luck!

View solution in original post

ericsells75 · ‎06-02-2022

Auctions make up a very small portion of eBay sales these days but if you insist on going that route then Sunday at 9 Est for 7 days is my advice on when to start an auction. Gives everyone across multiple timelines an opportunity to last minute bid on a weekend when people tend to be home in front of computer the most.
And if you are going to use auctions consider bundling books vs. Single items.

But I’d consider listing buy it now which you can list anytime.

thebookcompany22 · ‎06-02-2022

Thanks Eric!

Still learing the ins-outs of the eBay bizness .. Appreciate the feedback -- did notice a much better response for the auction that ended last weekend around that that time (9 pm est) ..

we are working on inventory for buy now and just listed items.

We are keen on experimenting with $1 auctions.

. . .

what is bundling books?? i'll have to look more into this option.

. . .

anyone else have some good experiences???

DId a weekday auction that ended in the morning and it was so-so received. The local guy won big time but, didn't get many repeat bids from USA (*we are in canada) ..

Thanks everyone!!

Jonathan

byto253 · ‎06-02-2022

9 pm or so is to balance out the east and west coast times.

Books can be tough to the US since they have cheap media mail shipping rates. Suggest checking out chitchats express in Calgary and you should be able to bring down your shipping costs.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-03-2022

Put your books up as Fixed Price /Immediate Payment Required.

They will be visible for 30 days or until someone pays and will automatically relist if they haven't sold in the month.

I find that books are long tail items, but they will sell within week or so if it is an indemand author (hint- best sellers are not in demand) or a cult title.

Most of my sales are Sunday night, or Tuesday. I have no guess as to why.

You can ship paperbacks legally in Canada by LetterMail. (under 500gr and 2cm)

You can usually ship paperback illegally but successfully to the USA by LetterMail.

I list those small books on dotCOM and use Free Shipping, which means including the cost of shipping in the price of the book.

Heavier larger books are listed on dotCA with Calculated Shipping.

Tracking is not necessary. Americans get hysterical about it, but book buyers tend to be calm, to read the instructions, and to follow them. You should of course be aware that if the buyer claims an untracked book has not been delivered, you will be refunding. Don't even argue about it.

Buyers are into Instant Gratification. Auctions mean waiting a week to learn you were outbid by a last second sniper.

Fixed Price. See it . Buy it. Done.

I'm assuming you have your Managed Payments account set up so eBay can transfer payments toyour bank?

And that you know that as a new seller those payments may be Held for up to 21 days against your customer's satisfaction?

Bundling books means selling a lot with three or 10 or 50 books with a similar theme or the same author. I sell singletons myself. YMMV. Because a Bundle or Lot is going to be heavy and bulky, it will have to ship Package rate.

Do you have your Solutions for Small Business number with the discounts it offers?

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/business/small-business.page?

BTW. Books are flat and can be scanned which looks nicer and can be faster than photography. To say nothing of the ability to focus on detail pictures.

You should also have this bookmarked.

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/information/app/far/business/findARate?execution=e2s1

thebookcompany22 · ‎06-05-2022

Thanks everyone.

I am checking out the "chit chats" calgary site and as we get our listings up -- it would be nice to save some more.

I am still figuring out that sweet spot to list flat shipping costs for USA/Canada .. just started doing the buyer pays shipping option as the last wave of books i listed for $20shipping in usa it worked out to 23/25$ per book .. i dun goofed there.

[edit: to avoid confusion from folks we have been charging for the packages w/ tracking]

[edit:

"Do you have your Solutions for Small Business number with the discounts it offers? "

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/business/small-business.page?

WE do not - ill have to look into this, ive just been using the ebay print labels .. which priced out to be similar but, maybe we are missing something - ill read more into this, thanks]

. . .

Just started listing all the auctions with a "make an offer" ability however, now that we have a pretty good sense of the audience checking us out ill start expanding the .. buy now option .. great point as it's that 28day listing ..

it is kinda fun watching auctions take off last minute however, kinda taxing as you see a book hoover around that $1 mark till the last hour.

Thanks community -- still new and crafting regular titles.

I do like your point about how book readers actually read the descriptions /haha.

. . .

Just listed another wave of items and will do another batch later tonight -- just started playing around with $1 auction, $5 handling fee, make an offer, worldwide shipping {buyer pays}

next week ill start offering a set list of items that are Fixed Price /Immediate Payment Required.

. . .

😄

J

[edit: following a friends old eBay sales model with the auctions -- figure you are onto something with fixed prices/buy now options .. ]

msau4301 · ‎06-05-2022

Just thought I'd let you know what I have noticed for myself. I am one of the dinosaurs who still does auctions and I know I was surprised to find that originally I thought it was better to have them end on a weekend thinking people had more free time so might be more likely to bid but I found the opposite to be true, I have had more luck with auctions ending during the week during "work time" hours, which tells me a lot of people are actually scrolling through eBay when they should be working! (Admittedly have done the same thing!)

I am in a totally different category though, I sell mostly vintage Barbie's. I run 5 day auctions myself since that is the timing that has worked best for me.

I see you are going to offer a mix of auctions and fixed price, I do this also. (Though now is a busy couple of weeks in my family life so I'm taking the week off (easy to do with auctions also!) Good luck!