ebay. strategies for selling

Start at your minimum price if you really wont accept anything lower, if you have a few of the same item, start as low as you can.
Relist if no bids, try a lower price. Not all buyers are there every day. Improve the items description.
Use good photos, lots of em. Most buyers look at the pix very carefully indeed.
You can overcome the lack of feedback by making it an honest and transparent auction. Include personal comments eg this item has been great but I'm buying a newer model. Give them a contact number. Tell them that all enquiries will be promptly answered and then do it !
Remember to treat all enquiries as potential customers...in a friendly and helpful manner. Even the obvious time wasters. Treat them as you'd like to be treated.
Have a look at Ebays front page...it lists some of the most enquired about stuff each week.
Scams...hmm...people not paying for stuff they've bid on or changing their mind about requirements after the auctions closed. In ad put all sales are final. Don't send COD..if they dont pick it up it comes back with a hefty fee.
BUT if somethings bought and it isnt right, fix the situation without hassles. You need repeat business ie repeat customers.
And never ever buy stock from people who contact you from your auction with an offer too good to be true.
Hope this helps.

Ebay have their own forums for this. Nothing to do with EXPLORingOZ.

It is hard to sell as a 'newbie', the easiest to build up a count is to buy a few very cheap items. It is proven that it is most succesful to start a sale at .99 cents with no reserve, but you need the 'ticker' to be able to do it.

I started a very old pair of floor clamps at .99 cents & they sold for $476.00, which must be almost a record, but it only happened in the last few hours.

Some answers to your questions, from my perspective:
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Q: Trying to get my head around the auction concept do you start low or at the minimum you expect to sell for?

A: I would start low with the first couple of items.....remember that the buyers will generally dictate the price. Having said that, make sure your first item or two is something worthy of selling, and yet something that you don't mind going for 99c etc. You can have a higher starting price (most people seem to use this as a quasi-reserve price, which is annoying IMO), however you will find that there may be less interest in the item until right up until the final hour or two.
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Q: What do you do if there are no bids?

A: Review your price and/or the listing description first. If the initial listing price was too high, either keep the item or relist it at a lower price (there should be an automatic process if no bids). The only real reason for no bids on an item these days seems to be one where the price is not what the market wants to pay.
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Q: What sort of stuff sells well?

A: Stuff that is rare and in demand eg your kidneys (just joking). Have a look at other items to guage the demand for the item. I always do a search first on ebay to see what similar items are going for, and to make sure i'm not competing with 1000 other similar pieces.
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Q: How do you overcome the "No feedback" issue as a newby?

A: It doesn't matter as a noobie, as you are the seller. The problem seems to occur when, as a buyer, you are after a valuable, or unusual item. IMO, feedback is only handy when having a negative experience with transactions. Nothing worse than the "A+++++++++++++++++++++++" feedback statement which tells me jack.
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Q: Are there any scams to watch out for specifically as as a seller?

A: Not that i can recall. You are in the hotseat, you have control over the sale. ALWAYS get the money (confirm it with the bank) before sending your items. Another hint for successful sales would be to have an account with a major bank. It takes quite some time and effort for buyers to deal with BankSA when i have my accounts with XYZ building society.

As a good idea, i would stay away from dealing with any overseas buyers in the first case, until you are comfortable with the processes.
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If you haven't already done so, make sure you are comfortable with the whole process, by buying several items before jumping in the deep end.
Check out other similar items and get a feel of how they advertise the item before selling anything.

Hope that helps.

Andrfew

Hi All,

I've sold my fair share of stuff on ebay and these are the 3 rules I live by when selling:

1. I always (regardless of the item) have the item listed for a genuine $1 no reserve listing because it always encourages more bidders, usually resulting in a higher price than had I listed it with a higher reserve or starting price in the first place.

2. I don't list items for longer than 5 days, people hate waiting for an auction to finish and can loose interest if it runs too long.

3. Alwasys try and list your item so it finishes at a time when people are most likely to be home or near their computer, most of the fierce bidding occurs in the last hour before it closes and you don't want it to finish in the middle of the day when people are at work or at 3 am when their in bed asleep.

Cheers

Thank you all for your advice. I rather suspect it may save me quite a learning curve, which is why this forum is such a great resource!
Thanks again.

will have to agree with slapnut ---- $1 start No reserve -- i sold a hell of a lot more stuff than if i start at what i expect to get for an item.

reason being -- people see your $1 auction -- they add it to there watch list , and what will happen in the last 5 min, is that the bids all happen -- not during the 7 days or so the auction is on.

I have started items worth well over $700 in value at $1 no reserve - and most reach expectation.

but there has been a few disapointements also -- but thats part of the gamble ...

if in doubt - start with small items and work up from there

Boc