posted on August 18, 2000 07:21:45 PM new
I am just a bit curious as to what other sellers out there are doing to make there auctions soar like crazy. For example, I have the same item as someone else, same feedback and I even have cheaper shipping charges and auction at a less expensive price. Now, the question is: do other sellers make up fake accounts and make false bids on their own auctions so that they can up the winning amount? I have this slight suspicion that this goes on b/c there is no reason that these other people should be having more success then me for the exact same item. Kind of weird I think. If anyone knows it would make me feel better just to know.
posted on August 18, 2000 11:21:35 PM new
The main key to haveing Souring auctions is to not have exsactly what others have
I mean you can have the same type of Item everyone else has but there has to be something more catchy.
I have found I can have 22 Life magazines I can put 10 up all the same price all the same shipping rate Diana ross on the cover gets 10 bids the pope on the cover sits waiting weeks and weeks no bids it could be the same year different week same ads no matter.
I can have 2 old vaseline glass ashtrays both the same price both the same shipping both from 1950 and both have built in match holders the one with the scottie dog sitting pretty it goes for 5X what I ever dreamed it would the plain one sits and sits with little to no views no bids.
Its not really all in the lower price or the best shipping price or weather you charge a handleing fee it not really how fancy your ads looks or if its perfectly typed its not even the worlds best photos that do it, yes they all help for sure BUT the key is this Know who you want to sell to and target and aim directly at them.
I started buy learning the hard way when I started auctioning I went out to the sales and flea market and I just bought helter skelter yeah I know my collectable and antiques good enough I know when Im getting a deal I can profit on, but what I didnt know is Who I was selling to I was trying to sell to every one at once and its hit and miss mostly miss this way yeah you end up with a house full of great looking collectables but what you ment to do was to sell them on line and make $1.20 for every dime you invested or what ever your profit goal for your sales or business.
I was buying any old glass any old magazine and so on knew my collectables but I didnt know my collectors
animal collectors are passionate about there collecting and I found quickly there are thousands of cat collectors and dog collectors thats still to broad of a market but it closer then you are just going out and picking up every animal piece you seen to try and sell but if you start thinking like a collector you will know they dont just collect any animal there are thousand who will collect scottie dogs anything with a scottie on it is theirs.
when your out buying Aim dead at your custumer base buy anything you find with a scottie dog on it from the past present and future use this in the title of all your ads and these collectors searching for scotties will be headed right at you.
it wont matter if your in carnival glass, figurines, kitchenware, jewlery what ever if it has a scottie they want it for there collection.
Something many people dont use well enough is the feed back of there buyer most use it as a guide as to weather they are good buyer or bad buyers.
But if you look more closely at the peoples feed back who buy from you it tells you far more then this it gives you demographics it tells you exsactly what each one has been buying at auction on line
if you really want to know whats hot and whats selling on line check your buyers feed back it gives you the items they have been buying and the prices they are paying for it.
With the person to person online auctions getting so flooded you have to become not only a good salesmen and photogrpher and know your collectables and antiques you must be a detective and know your buyers .
you can look right inside the mind of your buyer through there feed back. if you want to get sales you must know who you want to sell to you can have a few groups but saturate your auctions in these areas.
also if your selling on yahoo go to your options and set up your personalized auction booth. this is will be the same auctions items as on the main booth but personlized with your logo your own color theam and even personel logo it also has a different URL from the main yahoo booth list this URL with search engines and directorys get a second email address for opt in email and send out ads about your auctions with the link to your personal booth. this is free advertizeing if you get sucessfull enough and can afford to add listings in a news paper or two in there classifides most have a place for garge sales and auction announcements.
use free classifide ads on the net start a online news letter for your auctions telling what will be up for auction the next week or month send it to past buyer.
if you have a web page advertize on that with pictures and all if you can. many people trying to sell on the internet make the mistake of letting fear lead them and this is more a hinderance and a wall then anything people like to buy from a real name with a real address and face dont be afraid to ad you name adress and picture your you auctions about me pages advertizeing and all as well as your EOA.
posted on August 19, 2000 05:26:58 AM new
It is possible that the bidding is legit and the seller has a customer base that bookmarks his/her auctions.
It is also possible that the seller has other items listed and the bidders are trying to win multiple auctions from the same seller to save shipping $.
posted on August 19, 2000 07:19:30 AM new
My items are very much in demand and there are not but 2 or 3 of us that sell this particular item and I know for a fact that the person I am questioning bought the item from me first, then resold it using my ideas and now re-sells them using my sales tactic b/c this person has found out my source for buying these items. I have seen the feedback, the people are ALWAYS saying how wonderful she is and how friendly she is and I think it is a bunch of BS to up her feedback. I think she is majorly playing games with her auctions. I am honest and go out of the way for bidders sometimes and they don't even leave me feedback, it gets frustrating when that happens. But, I keep going b/c I have found what really sells well on auctions and want to stick with it. Thanks for all everyones responses.
posted on August 19, 2000 10:30:17 AM new
It's hard to attempt to answer your question without something more in the way of information. Like being able to look at her auctions.
posted on August 19, 2000 12:24:22 PM new
dman3, you raised many excellent points in your posts. I do very much appreciate the fact that Yahoo allows you to easily see the items that your customers have purchased. I do often try to analyze what else my customers are buying from other sellers. It's usally REALLY enlightening.
VeryModern raised some excellent points also. Almost all the business I've done in the past 2 weeks has been international business. If you don't ship internationally & the other seller does, I would say that that is your explanation. OR if your terms of sale aren't as lenient as the other seller's that could also be a reason. OR if the other seller offers a guarantee that you don't offer. Sellers in the ebay outlook recently posted that their auctions did better than other sellers' auctions for the exact same items and they attributed that to the guarantee.
What a shame that that seller found your source. But, it was bound to happen sooner or later. At least you know that if your source is selling a lot they're not likely to go out of business, if that's any consolation.
Just out of curiousity, is that the same seller who was stealing your auction pics?
posted on August 19, 2000 02:37:03 PM new
CAgrrl.....no, this is not the same person that stole my pics.That person finally put up their own pics after I told them to take them down.
I know shipping internationally is a good thing but most of the people who buy this stuff are from the U.S. and I do ship to Canada.
Oh well, it is no biggy I was just curious if I was being nieve about what goes on in the auction world. I have been doing this for a year now and learn something new everyday. But I really love selling, it keeps me busy.
posted on August 19, 2000 06:39:19 PM new
dman3 thanks for the tip on the personlized auction booth, I have been sekking on Yahoo about a year (ebay longer) and never even really to much note to it but I will now. Thanks again and a good weekend to all
