8 eBay Selling Tips to Boost Your Online Business

If you’re an online seller who’s had trouble with getting their business to hit the profit margins they’ve aimed for, we’ve decided to throw together a list of eight eBay selling tips which should go some way to helping raise your profit margins in the coming months.
 

1. Short, sharp and seductive

 

Keep the text introducing your products as to-the-point as possible. It’s tempting to fill out your product description with a series of clunky prose which gives an intimate rundown of every nook and cranny.

An ideal template might include something like:

• A header – including a logo, details and any special message you might wish to include
• A main picture – grabbing people’s attention
• The description – broken down into bullet points for clarity
• Secondary photos – showing the product in more details
  Payment and shipping info – detailing how people can pay and shipping

This tried and tested method falls apart at the description stage, which is why it’s important to try and make this section as concise and enticing as possible.

 

2. Do your research

 

Just like most things in life, the key to success comes in the form of doing a lot of hard work behind the scenes that will, for the most part, go completely unseen by a lot of people.

eBay selling tips don’t come much more important than this – with a failure to discover what will make your business a success meaning it’ll never get off the ground. Not sure exactly what you’ll need to be looking into? Just a few of the areas include:

• What is and isn’t selling
• Reliable suppliers
• What your rivals are doing
• Target demographics that’ll like your products

Make sure to look into as much as you can about all aspects of your business. Having an intricate knowledge of every facet could make or break you in the long run.

 

3. Make yourself easily available

 

The last thing you’ll want to do is become a seller who customers can’t get hold of without a lot of hassle and stress.

While there must naturally be boundaries to some extent (listing your personal mobile phone number may not be a wise option), you’ll also want to ensure your work email or phone details are both readily available and on you at most times of the day.

It’s also important to keep people fully up-to-date with where their package is at all points of the delivery service. This will lead to increased satisfaction levels and, as such, repeat business.

 

4. A picture tells a thousand words

 

You’ve probably heard it before a thousand times when it comes to eBay selling tips, but a crucial factor in ensuring your listings do well is to include a photo which looks great.

You could have the perfect description of an item, but if the photo you’ve included looks a bit naff, it’s pretty much a guarantee you won’t get the sale (even if it’s something the person really wants).

The key to success here is making it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. You can do this by:

• Placing the item directly in the middle of the shot
• Using good lighting to make the colours pop
• Experimenting to find an angle which compliments the product
• Using a high quality camera lens

Get your listing looking pretty and people may even be convinced to purchase there and then – even if they were originally only intending to window shop.

 

5. Make payment easy

 

When it comes to eBay selling tips, they don’t come much more basic than ensuring your customers can quickly and easily make payments to you.

The best way to do that is by making use of PayPal – especially if you’re a company who experience a lot of custom with overseas buyers.

While card payments might work a lot of the time, it’s a better option to use PayPal primarily because of the added levels of security that are involved with the final transaction itself.

 

6. Order Fulfilment

 

Sometimes the struggle doesn’t come in the form of trying to sell your items, but rather finding the resources to be able to ship them out and ensure they arrive at their destination on time and in good condition.

For that reason, it’s quite common to see eBay sellers using order fulfilment to ensure they provide their customers with a service which will heighten satisfaction and encourage repeat business.

Post and Packing specialise in this very service, with the experts we employ able to provide:

• High quality packaging services
• Tracking updates on all shipped out orders
• Relief from the stress of packing at busy seasons

With your packaging outsourced to a secondary home, you’ll find a lot more time freed up to focus on the crux of the business itself.

 

7. Ask for feedback

 

How do you decide whether you’re likely to trust an online seller? Chances are the reviews left on a page play a huge part in whether or not you’re willing to fork out your hard-earned cash for their products.

You should definitely encourage people to leave reviews on your page (hopefully they’ll be good ones), which can serve to boost your credibility and respect on eBay.

The beauty of eBay is that you can actually receive credibility by purchasing items and paying for them quickly – not just selling. As such, it’s easy to build up a good rep and encourage people to opt for your services in the future.

 

8. Pay attention to seasonal trends

 

Our final, and perhaps most overlooked factor on the list of eBay selling tips, comes in the form of the need to keep constantly up-to-date with seasonal trends.

Naturally, different times of the year will bring with them alternate items which will and won’t be popular, with just some of the periods including the likes of:

• Christmas – when people are looking for stocking-fillers, as well as niche items
• Summer – when warm-weather clothing and fashion accessories are popular
• Autumn – when things like jumpers and scarves start picking up sales

This is part of point one (doing your research), but falls into its own category because it’s arguably the most important factor. Staying ahead of the curve is critical to success, and missing seasonal trends is the fastest way to fall behind.

 
Are you an online seller who’s looking to achieve more success in the coming months? If so, follow this list of eBay selling tips and find out how you can shoot for the stars in 2017. If you need support with the likes of packaging requirements and order fulfilment, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Post & Packing today and make the most of all of our fantastic mail requirement services.