posted on September 13, 2004 01:34:49 PM new
True..but first you have to get people to LOOK at your product. There are millions of items for sale on ebay - why would someone want to click on "Your" item when there are scads more just like it or how can you reach the people who want your one-of-a-kind item?
The answer is, of course, making the best use of the 55 characters in the title and using essential key words.
Good images do make a difference as do clear and well written descrptions.
posted on September 13, 2004 02:05:08 PM new
Or, put another way, many unsuccessful eBay sellers assume they are offering a product someone wants at a price that they would pay if only. If only. If only.
All the marketing in the world isn't going to sell something no one wants.
posted on September 13, 2004 03:15:20 PM new
I disagree. When a new item comes onto the market, it is heavy marketing that causes consumers to go out and buy the product. Without marketing, there would be no sales. That's why we are being inundated with commercials on TV, radio and print. Marketing causes people that otherwise wouldn't buy a product, to give it a try. Then after a consumer has tried the product, they are likely to repurchase it, or so the manufacturer hopes.
In alot of cases, if you don't market your ebay items effectively, you don't have a snowballs chance of selling. Why is it that some sellers are making alot of money on ebay, while others that are selling the same exact thing, are not doing as well?
Notice I said "in alot of cases". There are still items that will go irregardless of whether it is being marketed properly or not. As a seller, I know exactly which items they are in my category.
Placing your item in the correct category is a form of marketing. One of the things that hurts a seller is placing their item in the incorrect category. They lose out because they are not receiving the bidders who are browsing. Using correct keywords and gallery pictures strengthen the number of hits to an auction.
I also disagree on the picture statement. I know that when I am shopping ebay (or anywhere on the internet, for that matter) for items, I want to see pictures and alot of them. I want to know what I am buying. Sometimes I take a chance on an item, but it really annoys me that more pictures aren't being shown. I receive alot of compliments on my auctions. I use templates to help create the mood for the item. I use plenty of descriptive words when describing the item, and of course, I use plenty of CLEAR pictures so that bidders can see what they are bidding on.
You can never prejudge the public. I list some things that I never thought would sell, only to have them close at a high price.
These are some of the things that I learned in my 11 years in direct sales and marketing.
posted on September 13, 2004 04:21:42 PM newYou can never prejudge the public.
Thank you for just proving you know nothing about marketing. Saved me a fair amount of typing.
Marketing is all ABOUT research. All ABOUT "prejudging". You better know about the public, sweetie, or you're not a marketer for long. I sure as poop wouldn't trust a marketing budget to someone with your POV.
I list some things that I never thought would sell, only to have them close at a high price.
Yeah? Well, those are the eBay equivalent of a 90-1 longshot winning the Preakness.
Throw enough darts, pretty soon you'll actually hit the board.
That a lot of erstwhile eBay sellers do exactly that we get proof of each and every day. Hi, I bought this bag of flatware, I don't know anything about it but I bought it anyway because it was $5. Help me sell it.
Prove to me that this bag of crap I bought is worth something.
posted on September 13, 2004 04:34:11 PM new
Teacher -- What makes you such an expert on marketing? It certainly isn't based on your sell-through rate. I carry a sell-through rate of 86% at last store report. Do you even come close to that?
I meant to say prejudge your "item". Some items will sell even though you don't expect them to.
As far as prejudging the public, based on my experience in direct sales, no, you cannot prejudge a person. Some of the wealthiest people walk around in Wal-Mart clothes. By looking at them, you would never know that they are worth millions. My ex-father-in-law is a perfect example of that.
The difference between ebay and direct sales is that you are not in your customer's face. You don't know that they look like, what kind of car they drive or what their house looks like. It's a totally different ballgame.
The difference with corporate marketing and ebay marketing is that the manufacturers have millions of dollars at their disposal to run marketing surveys before ever even manufacturing the product to determine if it will be a profitable venture. Personally, I don't have millions or even thousands to invest in that area of marketing.
Sorry, sweetie, I still disagree with you. Marketing must take place in order to make sales. There is more to sales than having a product that the public wants at a price that they want to play.
posted on September 13, 2004 04:45:15 PM new
Well I can tell you a good picture and detailed description make all the difference in the world. When someone buys a DVD,Music CD or a book,they will usually buy from the seller who tells them what the book is about or what songs are on the CD. I can't believe the Sellers who list this stuff with hardly any detail. They are too busy giving you the BS about what they will do if you don't pay them five minutes after the auction goes off.You can offer a good price but if you are a pain in the butt to do business with they won't buy from you again. So I would say customer service is a must to making sales.
posted on September 13, 2004 04:49:38 PM new
One other thing that I would like to add is that you brought up "marketing budget". In ebay, there is a very small "marketing budget" as well as a small marketing field. It sounds like you're comparing ebay to corporate marketing which are two totally different areas of marketing. Commercial marketing has a much larger playing field to market to as well as the millions of dollars to invest, as I previously mentioned.
Commercial sales, direct sales and ebay sales are all totally different and is like comparing apples to oranges to pineapples.
The only way to find out if an item will sell on ebay is to research it on ebay. However, you could be competing with other sellers that have been around alot longer doing the same exact thing. It is up to the seller to find a different way to market the same item to appeal to the bidders.
So for those that find the odd spoons and forks to market to the ebay bidders to see if it will sell, I say, go for it. Find out if it will sell. If it doesn't, then toss it into the garage sale box and be done with it. But you really don't know unless you try.
Personally, I don't listen to the whiners. My thought is that if their ebay business isn't doing what they would like it to do, or if it is no longer producing, they have two choices: either find something else to sell or sell it elsewhere.
posted on September 13, 2004 04:51:36 PM new
Good point MAH645. Now how do we, on ebay, know if the seller is providing good customer service? By looking at their feedback, of course. But then again, according to teacher, feedback is worthless.
Diane
Edited to correct punctuation but I still think it's wrong!
[ edited by bizzycrocheting on Sep 13, 2004 04:56 PM ]
posted on September 13, 2004 05:16:06 PM new
bizzy
Now how do we, on ebay, know if the seller is providing good customer service? By looking at their feedback, of course. But then again, according to teacher, feedback is worthless.
Edited to correct punctuation but I still think it's wrong!
LOL, since you brought it up:
Now, how do we on ebay know if the seller. . . But then again, according to teacher feedback is worthless.
LOL, I'm iffy on that last sentence! Great points on marketing.
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
posted on September 13, 2004 06:54:34 PM new
Fluffy: YOu draw a distinction between sales and marketing. True, in a large business those are two separate departments. BUT - we who sell on Ebay are BOTH departments at once.
Studying up and doing our homework before launching an auction helps--but so do good pictures, well-written descriptions, and The Dreaded Feedback.
We who chiefly sell collectibles and older books can tell you that we frequently don't have a clue if something will sell at all. (Especially if it's an odd thing, like a church bulletin from 1915.)
We do our best. We dress up our little pound puppy and put it out there for the world to decide.
posted on September 13, 2004 07:17:42 PM new
I don't know about Fluffy,but I do know if there was a teacher that acted like this one teaching one of my kids I would demand that the School board got rid of it. Talk about a waste of tax payers money.
posted on September 13, 2004 07:26:15 PM new
I dunno - I was just thinking how BORING this board is when IRAT or FTWC isn't posting! Perhaps the tone is a little "too too" but I sure miss her when she's gone!
There are only so many hurricaine maps (and believe me all of you down south are in my thought and prayers) one can look at in a night before zzzzzzzzzzz and now we have TWO to watch at once!
It's good to have a dialogue about selling for a change. Maybe teach thinks she has to stir up the pot a little to get some of us to taste the stew.
**********************************
Sig files are too much trouble! http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards
posted on September 13, 2004 07:56:26 PM new
First the so-called teacher posts how to make sales, then posts how come there are so many bottom feeders. Something tells me the auctiondunce has created another ID.
posted on September 13, 2004 08:07:19 PM new
Bizzy,
I understand what you're saying about not prejudging your items.
No matter how much I watch my segments on eBay, I can never really predict what will happen. Some things are sure sellers, but at what price is always a big, open question, and I've learned that "you just never know."
What I am sure of:
1.) That the 25 cents for the gallery photo is well worth it. I have all sorts of side-by-side comparisons of people who had the same collectible beer can sets simultaneously, but I did considerably better - not unusual to do $33 vs. someone else who had just sold at $15 a couple of days earlier.
2.) Equal to the gallery photo - The Vendio layout with multiple photos and scans. People love it, including the fact that the text is bigger and so much easier to read.
In this cyber-mechanism, people want to SEE - warts and all.
If they can't see, they won't buy, or the bidding will at best be tepid.
Teach, remember that guy who bought 3 of our books and then re-listed them - and he lost his shirt?
I think that's the perfect case in point proving that two sellers can have EXACTLY same thing, but if one has a Vendio-style ad with multiple, clear photos and scans and another has an eBay ad with just one photo - dark, blurry, big spot of glare from the camera - it makes all the difference.
Both might still sell, but if people can really SEE something, they're going to have more confidence in bidding. It's one thing to say "like new," but another to really show it with a complete photo spread.
Some things will sell even if they have the world's worst ads because they are indeed that desirable.
But very few things are all that rare on eBay. I think most things need that OOMPH of extra photos, a good description, good headline, and so on.
When I first looked at eBay in the winter of 2002, one of the things that really scared me was all the ads that close with zero bids. And I think it's gotten tougher since then.
I think you really have to "take your best shot" to sell these days.
