The flowchart seems pretty simple: put up listings, watch the sales roll in. But how exactly do you increase your eBay sales? RepricerExpress has gone sleuthing and discovered these tips you need to put in action right away because the longer you go with bad habits, the more entrenched they become.
1. Legitimise Yourself as Professionally as Possible
What’s the difference between the kid with the lemonade stand down the street and the lemonade that comes out of a Minute Maid carton? Easy: the former is, quite literally, child’s play, while the latter is a reputable seller with its own established brand. You want to follow in the steps of the big players, and that means using their tools and techniques.
For starters, stop putting up every listing by hand and use listing software. That’ll help you present listings that are consistent in their style, design and phrasing, which has the effect of showing buyers you’re not messing around.
You’ll also want to do other pro-seller-style things like choosing a professional username (nothing like ‘hot_seller_500’) — something that reflects your corporate identity and brand.
Along with that comes developing a business logo and slogan, sort of like Nike’s swoosh symbol and ‘Just Do It’. And while it’s not mandatory, it is a good idea to create your own website, too. But if you can’t get your own site going, then…
2. Create an eBay Store
This should never be a maybe option, but rather a necessity. This is the first point of contact your buyers will have with you, so it only makes sense to set up your own URL and style customisation. Here, you’ll be able to show off all your listings in one shot and employ little magic tricks like upselling and cross-selling. When it comes to increasing your eBay sales, don’t you want every possible advantage in your corner?
Related reading: When’s the Right Time to Set Up an eBay Store
3. Optimise Your Listings
There are so many different ways of approaching this that listing them all would simply be impractical. Rather, let’s just boil it down to a fab four:
- Correct Spelling/Grammar: Few things will drive buyers away from your site (and avoid an increase in your eBay sales) than something that looks like it was written by a foreigner. Even if English (or whatever language you’re selling in on whatever marketplace) isn’t your first language, take every step to make it look like it is. Get people to proofread your copy and don’t rely on Word to do so. And because you only get one shot at a first impression, leave your almost-finished listings alone for 72 hours before returning to them for a final edit so you can view them with fresh eyes. Plus, misspelt words mean buyers won’t hit on your listings.
- Great Photos: You don’t have to splash out on a fancy SLR camera (a smartphone can do just fine), but you should take your time in shooting each item. Photograph the product from different angles, shoot it on a neutrally-coloured background, and use as much natural light as possible. Oh, and learn simple photography hacks, like resting your photo-taker on a surface so you avoid handshakes, no matter how steady you think you are.
- Title Keywords: Make a little wishlist of things you’d like to buy, and go ahead and search for them on eBay. Did you type in the product name, or browse through the categories? Hardly anyone does the latter, so excellent title keywords are crucial. If you have trouble thinking of good ones, just search for the kinds of items you have in your inventory to see what eBay’s top sellers are doing.
- General Keywords: After you’ve ensured you’ve hit on the best title keywords possible, the next step is to take care of general keywords. Again, browsing products similar to those in your inventory and acting as a buyer helps cut down on the time and effort in amassing good keywords to use on your own listings.
Related: 7 Ways to Optimise Your Amazon Product Listings
4. Enhance Listings for a Good Cause
eBay offers more than just vanilla features, so it’s in your best interest to take advantage of them. This means using things like subtitles and galleries to enhance your listings. While it may seem like small potatoes, every edge you can give yourself can add up to a big advantage over time — and increased sales!
5. The Perks You Can Offer
Last but not least, what little extras can you offer buyers to set you apart from other eBay sellers? If everyone selling, say, black t-shirts charges $2 for shipping and you offer it for free, you bet your bottom dollar that’ll get you noticed. Or what if most of your competitors already offer free shipping? Well, you can do something like offer a free product if they hit a certain dollar amount, or a discount if they bundle certain items.
And it definitely goes without saying that you should be using repricing software so your product prices are as attractive as possible. Nobody wants to be that one seller that holds steady at one price while everyone else’s prices fluctuate, because that means buyers will pass you over faster than you can say, ‘Ahem?’
Final Thoughts
We know this might seem like a lot of information to take in, but if we didn’t think you could handle it, we wouldn’t have covered so much! And you know that saying, ‘last said, first remembered’? It’s why we mentioned repricing software at the end of the post so you could get started with RepricerExpress without waiting for a second longer. All you have to do is sign up for your 14-day free trial and watch as the eBay world becomes your own.
