posted on November 2, 2000 06:48:26 AM new
I have just recently started selling large quantities of wholesale goods on eBay. I'm starting off slowly, and currently have only one auction open. It is for the very popular Hollywood Polo watches. However, some of my competition seems to be getting twice the amount of bids as me in half the time. Therefore achieving about the same prices as me with an extra day to an extra three days left in their auctions. I thought that my problems could have been:
1. My lower feedback rating, despite being all positives.
2. My shipping charge of $5.95 instead of $4.95. However, other auctions charged that same rate and they did fine.
3. My picture quality was not very good.
What I can see is, I am getting the hits I like through my counter, just not the bids. Perhaps I'm just scared and my auction will get up there.
My auction is located here:
Two other auctions are here:
Please let me know what I'm doing wrong and/or what I could try to change to make my future auctions better.
Thanks for your help,
Max
[ edited by chis on Nov 2, 2000 07:33 AM ]
posted on November 2, 2000 06:53:16 AM new
*sigh* I'll try here instead...
Chris, there are many factors that could be involved and without being able to see your item
presentation it is difficult to diagnose.
Perhaps you are a new user? Some people prefer to bid on those with higher feedback.
Perhaps your competition is seeing a lot of repeat customer business? This is often the case. Once
they find a good seller they often are willing to spend a few $ more to win from them again.
That's just a couple of possibilities that come to mind.
posted on November 2, 2000 06:58:24 AM new
I have a feedback of 20 with 0 negatives and 1 neutral. I've been on eBay for over a year, so that probably isn't the reason.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:01:06 AM new
Some of these things you can't do anything about. You CAN compete with price I am sure.
Don't be afraid to knpck a few cents off to entice someone to overcome the low feedback. DO get a better picture. You could go bid up a bunch of shipping supplies and things to get some feedback as a buyer.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:05:55 AM newHowever, some of my competition seems to be getting twice the amount of bids as me in half the time. Therefore achieving about the same prices as me with an extra day to an extra three days left in their auctions.
The extra days left might not help them get a higher price. If I was looking to buy this item, and I found several sellers with the same items and similar terms, I'd bid on the lowest priced auction.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:06:25 AM new
I think your pictures could stand to be better. And Even if other auctions "did fine" with that shipping rate, I think it is a little over inflated.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:13:32 AM new
The shipping is not THAT terrible. It costs about $3.50 plus supplies to ship (about $4.00-$4.50). Go look at some of the ginsu knife auctions and you'll see what shipping inflation is.
I am sorry but unless you edit out the auction numbers in your first post, I will have to delete it. By posting identifying information, including auction numbers, links, url's or IDs, the Community Guidelines require an invitation to the identified parties (bidders/sellers) to participate in the discussion. I will give you one hour to edit and if it is not done, the post (and the thread) will be deleted.
You might want to review the CG's before posting again.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:29:47 AM new
Okay, I looked at your listing as a bidder, and these are my reactions:
What does the watch I'm bidding on look like? None of the pictures gives a clear view of ANY of the watches. Light the watch properly and take a goodshot that clearly shows the face of the watch and the band. I don't understand the purpose of the "group photos", and that first one shows waaaay too much green carpet. Crop it. As a bidder, all I want to know is what the watch I'm bidding on looks like. Showing several pix of different watches is very, very confusing. Auction ONE style in ONE auction.
$5.95 to ship the first watch, and another $1 per each additional? Hey, wait a minute. Priority Insured with tracking would be only $4.75, and the shipping boxes and tape are "free"; at least 2 watches would fit in the USPS's large video boxes. Lower your shipping cost, or build your handling overhead into the opening bid. I feel like you're roping me in with a $1 opening bid, then giving it to me in the backside with inflated shipping charges.
What is a "Hollywood Polo Seal" and why does that make the watch more appealing? Whose model # is "Model 8000" and why should I care?
"All sales final"? What if the watch doesn't work or has finish defects? I don't even get to see the watch I'm going to get with my bid, and you tell me no returns? Uh, no thanks. Feels like scam time to me.
Personally, I'm annoyed at listings that say "Hey, only $x for this!" This is an AUCTION. I don't get the item for "only $x" if somebody else outbids me - and actually the bid's at $4.99 right now, which is going to confuse the bejeezus out of some folks not familiar with Dutch auctions.
Also, Please Don't Use Initial Caps Except In Headlines. It feels like SHOUTING, at least to me.
Yes, yes, I know the other sellers have "done" all the "don'ts" I've listed above. But your feedback is very low. Presented with two no-choice auctions of an item I couldn't see very well, I'd gravitate toward the bidder with a considerable track record. To overcome that, you have to market the same item better than the powerseller.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:48:06 AM newThat's "point four" pounds. The period was hard to read.
Thanks for adding that- I almost fell out of my chair! Four pounds would be quite a watch!
Four tenths of a pound is 6.4 ounces- depending on the packaging, you could be around 8 or 10 ounces. As I noted above, 8 ounces can go first class for $1.87. As a bidder, I don't like paying Priority Mail prices (I don't see anything saying that is how they are shipped- based on that, I would assume they are not going Priority Mail) for items that can be sent first class for half the cost. If I were interested in your item, I would definitely bid lower to account for that.
That doesn't answer the question about how the other sellers are getting bids, though.
posted on November 2, 2000 09:11:29 AM new
Even if the weight of the watch bumped it to the Priority price, that would only be $4.05 with insurance, which is $1.90 less than he is charging.
I found the auction confusing as well, what exact watch would I get? Who makes them, what if it is broken, etc. Way too vague for me, I'd move on to another seller.
posted on November 2, 2000 09:34:09 AM new
cdnbooks,
The rules have not changed. My post said "By posting identifying information, including auction numbers, links, url's or IDs, the Community Guidelines require an invitation to the identified parties (bidders/sellers) to participate in the discussion." A link to the CG's was included.
Rather than delete a post with replies, I gave him time to edit, which he did quickly. If the original post in a thread is deleted, the entire thread is also deleted, that is what I was trying to avoid.
chis, as well as any other AW member, is welcome to invite a buyer or seller provided the CG's are followed.
posted on November 2, 2000 12:14:41 PM new
Updating your image can help tremendously. After I changed my web cam pictures to a scanned version, I started receiving bids 100%-200% than with the web cam.
That isn't true. The lowest I've seen these watches are $4.99, and he charges $5.95 per shipping on EACH watch and he has private feedback, which I personally wouldn't trust. The lowest price I've seen these actually sell at from a seller that I would trust is $7.95 with $4.95/$1.00 shipping. Please let me know where you see them for $3.25. You can email me at [email protected] because I don't think they allow posting URL's of auctions in the forum.
posted on November 2, 2000 07:31:54 PM new
Oh its true I cant post links here but there are several like the one I pointed out .
I was I was on ebay last night searching Wholesale price auctions two of these auctions stood out very low cost very high quanity.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on November 2, 2000 07:47:46 PM new
Are you sure they were HOLLYWOOD POLO watches? There's Giovani Polo Club watches that are not the same thing.
