How To Sell On Ebay: Pricing Strategy

Many new Ebay sellers make one of two mistakes: either they overprice items to an unsellable extreme; or they lose money on every transaction by setting low starting prices with no restrictions.

In this lesson, I am going to go over which pricing strategies to use and when if you are using a ten-day auction setup.

Strategy #1

If you are listing a popular item that you are confident will sell for a high price, one strategy you can use is the ten-day, one cent starting price, no reserve auction. This is the best way to start a bidding war: pull in bidders early with a low starting price and no reserve and give them ten days and two weekends to battle it out.

Depending on the profit-margin of the item and the quality and number of your competitors, you may want to consider using listing upgrades, such as bold, highlight, and feature listing options to ensure your auction sticks out of the crowd.

Please note that I do not recommend this strategy for beginners. This is extremely high risk if you do not know how to take the risk out of it - and this is not something I can teach you. You must determine this by assessing your own personal inventory with tests.

Strategy #2

Now, if you are new to Ebay or want to list an item with undetermined popularity, you can use a safer, but potentially as profitable bidding strategy for ten-day auctions.

You still wont use a reserve with this strategy. But instead of setting the start price low to encourage a bidding war, you are going to set your start price to your ideal selling price - and then couple it with a buy it now price that is slightly higher.

This will put pressure on the buyer to buy it now instead of watching. If she waits, she gains absolutely nothing--and she risks someone else bidding (and ruining the low BIN price) or just snatching it with the BIN option.

In addition, knowing that she will lose nothing anyway, she will realize that she can get the item up to ten days sooner if she uses the BIN option to order it then, rather than waiting for the auction clock to tick down.

The strategy I described above is very safe. I use it for the majority of my auctions and I always get positive results. At worst, it will take me 3-4 weeks to sell an item, but I wont ever lose money. I just adjust the price to compensate for additional fees.

Strategy #3

Another effective way to use a ten-day setting is in conjunction with dutch auctions--or auctions that sell a number of the same item. Ten-day auctions will give you the longest amount of time to move the highest amount of products.

You may also want to feature ten-day dutch auctions, depending on what items you are selling. If you're selling information products and rely on the quantity of sales for profit, this wont be effective; but if you're selling a number of expensive, high profit-margin items, featuring your auction is probably a good idea.

________________

If none of these strategies works for you, you should consider the following two things: 1) the price other Ebay businesses sell your product for. If someone else IS selling your product, there is a reason for it - and it's probably the price. If you cannot afford to sell at a reasonable price, you need to find a new source to buy from. And if your product's price is reasonable, then 2) you need to redesign your auction and find new ways of pulling in targeted traffic.

http://www.workathomerightnow.net/ebay.html - Written by Isaiah Hull, author of "How to Profit on Ebay In Seven Days Without Spending A Single Penny." For a limited time only you can get a pre-publication copy of his book for ONE-FOURTH the post-publication price!

---

Start an Easy Home Business: Become an Ebay Trading Assistant

EBay's online auctions have created business opportunities for thousands of people. Now the Trading Assistant program is making it easier than ever to start a business from home.Trading Assistants act as brokers, selling... Read More

Top Internet Businesses

The internet is packed with web businesses jockeying for the attention of regular users. Selling everything under the sun and offering a substantial array of services, the internet is quickly becoming the favorite... Read More

How To Sell Santa?s Slip-Ups

Shoppers spent more than $15.5 billion this Christmas on gifts on the Internet alone. Just imagine how many millions went to unwanted polka dot sweaters, electric nose hair clippers, and thigh masters. That... Read More

Internet Auction Sites : Find Good Deals on Almost Anything

You can find good deals on almost everything you need on internet auction sites. There is almost nothing that you can't find over the internet. You can find great deals on Avon collectables,... Read More

eBays Hot Selling Books, Find Out Which Books Sell & How To Find Them

Selling books on eBay can be a very lucrative business! There are eBayers who sell only books and make a nice little income doing it. Where do they get these books to sell?... Read More

Profitable Paper Piecing on eBay -- Part 2

Basic Paper Piecing TipsHere are some tips that will help you create paper piecings that will sell!Save some time by eliminating the "tracing" of patterns. Take your pattern, lay it over your cardstock... Read More

The Powerful eBay Bidding Strategy That Claims A 99% Success Rate

Don't you just love it?You've found that special item on eBay that you've just got to have!No If's Ands or Buts, you've got to win that item.You've checked and double checked the "End... Read More

Start Your Own Business: Sell Things on eBay

The popularity of online auction site eBay has been legendary. With millions of transactions completed daily, it is no surprise why many individuals who do not usually shop online regularly purchase items through... Read More

Online Auctions: 10 Secrets You Should Know Before Bidding At An Online Auction

You may have heard about ebay and other online auctions.You may have participated in some of the biddings.But before you do the next bidding for a product or service, here are some few... Read More

So What Are YOU Going To Do About eBays Fee Increases?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, I am sure that by now you have heard that eBay is raising its fees. So what's a small merchant to do? Here are some... Read More

Is Selling On eBay Just A Hobby Or A Real Business?

Q: I made extra money selling things on eBay last year. These were items I picked up at yardsales mostly. My husband says I am responsible for paying income tax on the money... Read More

How To Profit Using eBays Saved Search Feature

Did you know that eBay will help you locate products you can buy cheap, then flip for a quick profit? No? Then listen up, because I am about to let you in on... Read More

Used Cars For Sale On EBay

There are thousands of used cars for sale on eBay every single day. In fact, eBay Motors is the most profitable sales division on eBay and naturally there are many entrepreneurs who are... Read More

Drop Shipping Increases Profits

You would like to increase your income by selling other peoples` products but you just don`t have the money to stock inventory.On the other hand, perhaps you have lots of your own product... Read More

Effective Online Car Sales on Ebay Motors

Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today's market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces. The largest online marketplace is Ebay.... Read More

Auction Sales - Keeping Customers You Worked So Hard To Get!

If you've studied business concepts you know that finding a customer can be the most expensive part of the sales process. Once you've got a customer why not maximize the money you've already... Read More

USP on eBay

If you have dabbled at all in the world of Internet marketing, you may have heard the term "unique selling proposition" or USP. USP is a technique that Internet marketers use to set... Read More

5 Secrets for Increasing Auction Profits

1. Include your ebay seller name, store, and website information with all items you ship. THis can encourage re-orders and help the buyer leave feedback. I remember one particular incident, as a buyer... Read More

How to Make Money from Internet Auctions

If your business is not using eBay and other Internet auctions, you could be missing out. Here are just a few ways of generating additional income, profits and cashflow from online auctions.1. Convert... Read More

Four Huge Mistakes Ebay Sellers Make (Even Some Moderately Successful Ones)

No matter how many times I see it happening, I'mconstantly amazed at the number of people who areliterally throwing money away by making incrediblysimple mistakes when they sell items in an onlineauction. Over... Read More

Selling Effectively on Ebay Motors

Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today's market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces but there is the largest online... Read More

Online Auctions: 5 Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Online Auctions

Online auctions are now the new gold rush on the internet.It seems as if everyone is talking about online auctions. And why not. There are thousands of online auctions on the internet with... Read More

How to Double or Even Triple Your Net Profit Selling on eBay

eBay Search tips and secretsThis is an example of how I used the Ebay search tab to triple my sales and profit in 1 month!I had found a great supplier of computer liquidation... Read More

How to Market with Niche Auction Sites

Online auctions are big business. But they can be big headaches.During the past year, trading in online commerce was valued at $60 billion, according to *Business Standard." Online trade among small businesses makes... Read More

Profitable Paper Piecing on eBay--Part 1

Why sell paper piecings on eBay?eBay is a great way to make a steady part-time or full-time income from a hobby that you love! Selling paper piecings has its ups and downs, but... Read More

How to Sell on eBay Internationally without Risk

eBay allows you the opportunity to sell all over the world. It is exciting to communicate with a customer from England, Australia or Japan via email. It is almost as if you are... Read More

Is The eBay Fee Increase Actually Good For Business?

Fee Increase Leaves Some Sellers Angry, Others ThrilledMuch of my email from readers this month concerned the recent announcement from eBay that it will increase many seller fees on February 18, 2005. Since... Read More

Drop-ship or U-ship: That is the Question

For small Internet retailers, drop-shipping is one of the best innovations since sliced bread. How else can a start-up offer a wide variety of products and convince customers that they have a fully-stocked... Read More

Attract eBay Buyers Like Crazy!

As an ebay(TM) seller it happens very often (too often) that listings close without any bids. Did this happen to you? Many sellers are frustrated and quit their eBay(TM) business. Have you realised... Read More