I have a shop on Ebay, selling lovely fine jewellery and evening dresses. It is just not doing so good. My photos and descriptions are pretty good but its still not working out. I sell really fine things because I was fed up buying stuff and finding out it was just crap once I got it home. I am now stuck with stock worth a lot of money. I cannot lower my prices any more as I would be losing a mint. Is it because my items are quite expensive? People seem to want gold and diamonds etc for buttons. I am selling at a fraction of rrp prices (genuinely). What can I do? My shop is MINGULAY GEMS AND GOWNS. Any advice would be welcome. Cheers.
212309
I took at look at your ebay store and here is my advice:\n\n1. Only list the "personal collage art greeting card" once.\nIt is a small item and takes up far too much scrolling down space.\n\n2. You have nice jewelry but jewelry is difficult to photograph.  Consider hiring a professional photographer.  I know you probably don't want the expense but it is difficult to see the size of your jewelry items and a professional will take better pictures.  \n\n3. Don't center all of your text and use lower case and capital letters.  By emphasizing every letter you are emphasizing nothing.\n\n4. If you want to do more business with the United States.  State that directly and more clearly in the text portion.\n\nGood luck and remember the summer is the slow season for all of retail.
412194
Ebay sellers do not owe anyone a bargain.  It is expensive to sell on ebay, very time consuming, and stressful.  Just like anyone else, ebay sellers need to make a salary.  They have bills to pay like anyone else.
65951
eBay is filled with sellers who haven't researched the item they're selling so they either over-price the item or, of course, under-price the item.\n\ncheck out the vendors at www.tias.com or www.rubylane.com.  Www.goantiques.com is good too, to get a better idea of what your collection is worth.\n\nCheck out the reference books in some of the brick/mortar stores in your area (they are behind the counter in most cases).
618763
A major problem that I have heard of, but have not personally seen (as I sell on eBay myself) is stores take too high of a commission. Many charge upwards of 35%.\n\nAnother problem is that with the volume the stores do, they may not give the same personal attention to your product that you would give. This could lead to fewer bids, it could also potentially lead to them not pursuing a non-paying bidder / unpaid item, or them mustering the merchandise, leading to a return.\n\nYou might want to check if they are investing in their business to drive sales up and get you more money. If they use a service like buySafe (to bond items and guarantee quality) or ReliaBid (to deter non-paying bidders and insure timely payment) then you probably can mitigate a lot of the risk.\n\nStill, check into those fees.
15785
for someone to get started with very little I would suggest them to first have capital. a freind is on his way by making first a go with  with e-bay by just knowing a few people with items and has blossumed like you would not believe.it can be a money maker for some and some excellent finds for other, whichever you choose.\n\nfor some that may not know how much fun it is to browse and/or shop on e-bay-here are some instructions to a very good spot to start out finding excellant products at very reasonable prices. this fellow starts out at very low starting bid prices on knives, i-pods, all tools, fishing equiptment, computers, printers and changes his items maybe every other day.how I think he makes it so good on there is he guarentees his items, sends to any country, and he keeps a 100 percent feedback which means the customers have all been happy.\nsome folks dont know how to dig in there so here is how to get to his site fairly easy and from there click around to an entire new trend for shoppers and sellers alike and.b.t.w., (2000canary is his i.d.)--just get to e-bay and click "buy" then under "buy" theres 2 boxes (go under them)is a search option--click "e-bay stores" search and put in the "2000canary"(dont worry about filling in the other blanks)then click search again. you will notice that its also known as his "liquidators companys" because he has done so well hefeatures a store spot on ebay as well. then happy hunting!!gradually you will learn to watch on ebay and deal with folks that have lots of great feedback to avoid problems, which is tricky at first until youve learned the ropes. this I know, will at least send you to an awesome spot to start with some great deals daily.\nthe items also display a current picture of the product that is up for sale as well. I have alot of fun in there myself. I love to buy fitness c d's because I get bored so easy and I mostly pay 2-3 bucks for them if you catch them on a good day where theres few bidders on line. thats when you can scoop up on the deals, my freind!! \n\niso it seems to me that perhaps to buy and resell if one is agressive enough could prosper well. ywe all have to start somewhere!!\n\n\n \n\nWhat kind of company (with the minimum investment) would be successful ing some type of capital backup.
124373
Ebay is recently changing its system and charging ppl to sell in ebay.. i guess that's the problem but it's gonna be okay soon.\nmeantime check if you've put Ebay into your restricted site by mistake? if yes, you can undo that in Tool-Internet Options.
660277
I am a jeweler from New England. I would suggest your either sell your jewelry on Ebay, or see if a jeweler in your area would take your piece on "consignment". This means they put your jewelry in the case, and give you part of what they sell it for. Usually, jewelry is only worth scrap to a jeweler, and so you will not get half as much as it is worth by selling it outright to a jeweler.
452314
One reason that you may not be getting bids is that if you are new and have no feedback, buyers may be leary to buy from you. I know when I scope out products and sellers, I would like a little history of satisfaction. Have you reviewed your ads from the standpoint of the buyers? Are you setting your pricing low enough to attract bids or thinking as a seller of how much money you're going to make? Are you stressing the features and benefits of the products or just writing an ad thinking the product will sell itself? Do you have decent photos? There are no great or bad products to sell. I have sold a bag of M&Ms for $2.99 that retailed for $2.50. I have not sold a $100 stained glass Kinkade suncatcher that I started bids at $25. There's no logic. Trying buying a few items, researching the ads of successful completed auctions for similar items, and understand that the key to finding your products is in your searchable titles. I have over 150 feedbacks now which took me several years to get to. Ebay, like any business, requires you to put in 100% of your effort. Be the best seller you can be and the rest will fall into place. Your local library will have several titles with various tips and tricks... check them out.
666441
Glad you ask.  I've wanted to answer this for  many years.\nIf you are a regular shopper, even without buying, and you find merchandise you'd like to have, then wait for a sale, either EOM, (end of month) or semi-annual sales, etc.  When you go to these sales, you may find that item reduced for clearance.  If you remember the original price, you will recognize a value or not.\nThere are customers that buy only this way, at sales.  They are important to a store in clearing discontinued merchandise and or slow movers.  Very important in fashion goods.  Remember that size may determine what is left for a sale.  If one wears a common size, it's a little unlikely to find it on sale.\nBUT,beware of items that you never saw before, if you have shopped before.  Does it not make sense that a store will never have enough "regular" goods marked down to service a sale?  If they do, they've made drastic buying errors and will not survive.\nSo, how do they overcome the need for enough merchandise to run a large scale sale?\nThey buy specially manufactured goods, that may be a lower quality.  Sometimes, they do buy overstocked merchandise from manfacturers.  This can occur from canceled orders by other retailers, because of shipping dates not honored, or mistakes in calculating projected sales of an item, and, "seconds".  Seconds come in different categories, from minor, unnoticible flaws, to nearly unusable.  Most retailers will label seconds in their ads, but unscrupulous ones do not.  \nIn any case, the majority of goods has been specially purchased, and regular markups are maintained on this goods.  Sometimes, the special purchases are on display at inflated prices, 30 days or so prior, then placed on sale.  \nDo not believe 50%-80-90% savings.  Average markup is 40-50%.  In some cases, higher on high risk goods with high markdowns.  Avg. markdowns up to 5%, some are higher on high fashion.  End of runs, with few remaining/remnants can be marked very low.\nMost of these ads insult one's intelligence.\nPOINT:  Be a shopper before sales, on regular, everyday goods.
174989
I have been selling home decor items online for about 6 months, with a friend's help (she does most of the work, I do the books & finances).  We have experienced several frustrating situations: many damage claims with UPS and FedEx, even though we have researched best way to pack our product; ebay has been making many changes to their site, which always affects the listed items in some way; and also the fees incurred to list items and to have a store is really ridiculously high. There is a fee for everything!\nOverall, we have enjoyed it-the shopping for inventory is the best! After 6 months, we are finally beginning to show a profit. We hope to expand to other auction sites soon.  Next will come a "brick & mortar store." My friend  just dreams of having a "real" store!
124201
I find bargains and sell it in eBay, Amazon, and Yahoo. Don't fall for those infomercials about selling in eBay. Some books may help you. But I suggest just do a search and do your homework. Email me I can shout out some info(no, I'm not selling you anything).
44306
Sure, many online stores make a lot of money. But you need to consider that:\n\n1. An online store needs traffic, lots of targeted traffic interested to buy. Traffic is something you cannot build overnight. So if you are looking for an online store to make money quick, then you might find yourself waiting for a single order in 6 months.\n\n2. Online store requires inventory. In order to sell something, you need to have something to sell. Where are you going to get your products? Do you have the capital to buy your inventory?\n\n3. An online store requires investment. You will need to create a website (if you don't know how, then you will have to buy a template or pay someone to build you one) -- all of which requires money. You will need to get a merchant account to be able to process credit card payments; if not, you can use online payment processors such as Paypal or 2CheckOut. You need to either buy or license a shopping cart system, SSL for secured ordering, etc. You need to have a good camera and photographic know-how as jewelry is very hard to capture well on film -- in ecommerce, product presentation is extremely important (visitors must be able to see your products well and judge its quality from their computer screens)\n\n4. You must have a product that consumers want. Opening an online store is not a guarantee that you will make money if you do not have any products that people would actually want. What makes your jewelry so special that people will buy from you, and not from the more established online jewelry stores? Jewelry is a product that entails a lot of trust and you need to overcome this type of thinking of most people -- "I can buy a book from anywhere because I know I will be getting a book; but if I buy jewelry from a less trusted source who knows if I will get a fake?"\n\nIf you want to start selling online, eBay can be a test market for you so you can start understanding the process (from creating product presentation that sells, to processing payments, to shipping and fulfillment).
517404
Most important thing is dont give up. More competition the better. What you must try to do is make some difference from what you were and what is available in the other shop.\nFirst go through your sales history and examine what is in demand mostly,  ex. 1. what type of items 2. the quality etc. \nMay be books or candles are more in demand. See whether you can sneak a peek into the other shop. I'm sure that other person started his business after giving a careful consideration to you who has been in business for 18 years. \nDepending on your finances see whether you can change the stuff you have been selling, 'cos your stuff might be a little outdated. We cannot say from here 'cos it depends on what you have been selling. You can even put a small sale and get rid of the old stuff for a cheap price. that could attract more customers , but not for long. \nTry to change the look too. As someone else has said you can put lanterna and candles to make the place attractive. Also go out of the town to a posh big gift shop and see what they have done. You dont have to copy or I'm not saying you should, but that will give you an idea as to what the trend is. You might not even be able to do everything they have done too. \nMy experiance with gift shops is that they must change with the seasons of the year as well as retaining some for someone who wants to buy something such as a b'day gift etc. Also if a person can get something inexpensive but looks good and of good quality the better. So dont give up. Do a bit of research as to the needs of your community. \nGood luck!
96882
You could auction in on eBay.  Set a reserve amount (the least you are willing to accept as a bid).  If no one bids that much, you don't sell it.  Then you could offer it direct to see if you can do better.  Millions of people shop on eBay, though, so I would try there first.
447845
I have been a top Ebay seller for 4 years and just recently when the fees went up again I decided it if just not worth all the time and effort I put in. Wait until you see all the fees incolved? You have to look at your bottom line to see if you will acutally make any money.\nHere are the bases for the fees:\n\nListing fee (Ebay)\nFinal Value Fee (Ebay)\nAll the Extra Fees to get your products NOTICED (Ebay)\nPaypal fees (for payments especially out of country)\nMaterials fee (for shipping)\nCost of doing Business (all the computer ink to print invoices, the paper for notes to buyers, the paper to print on, the printer ink as I go through tons of cartridges)\n\nAdd all these fees up. Ebay loves you to list your items at less than a dollar but they now have a new policy that you can not list low and have a high S&H to cover the costs incurred. They call it circumventing fees. What is happening to Ebay is that it has become a BUYERS PARADISE. Low cost items sent cheap. Ebay does not even want us to recoop our time involved by adding a handling fee. This is ludicrious.\n\nMany Sellers are pulling out. Just jump on there now and you will see less items offered. Pick one item and search for it. When all this was going down I was involved in the Powerseller discussion boards and many sellers were bailing out. I think Ebay is close to being FINISHED unless they change in 2007.\n\nAlso to get CHINA involved as a seller on Ebay, they have offered them listings for FREE while you and I pay standard rates. Why is this fair? The other problem is CHINA can sell anything cheaper than us USA sellers. Some of it is cheap knock-offs but some is good. Buyers are always going to buy the cheapest items on Ebay so they will buy all this junk China is peddling.\nI even saw custom made Bridal Gowns sold (and shipped to US) for $39 full price. Are you kidding?\nSo I would suggest you do extensive research before you buy products to sell on Ebay. Many of us are finding that WEB Stores are the best way to go.
394909
Learn your keywords.  People search by keywords, learn as many keys that will pull up your items on search as you can find.\nFor me, things like L@@K! and other silly things don't work as well as a well worded title that catches a lot of lookers from the search.  And link your auctions together so that people who find one of your auctions can also look at everything else you may have offered.\nGood clear photos of the item from several views are a must.\nI've also found that by listing through channeladvisor rather than ebay, I can post many auctions to start on the same day - Sunday evening works best for me.   I have a much better sell through rate the more items I have up at one time. \nAlso, in the past, this time of year I would plan on having hundreds of items up at the same time, 40 or so ending each day.  That way I have new items popping up in the 'just listed' catagorie as well as in the 'ending soon' catagorie and once a week I pay the $19.95 fee to have one really good item listed as a 'Featured Item".  I find that this bring me hundreds of lookers to my other auctions and results in better sales.  I offer combined shipping with no extra packing fees, as close to actual shipping as possible and I do ship internationaly.  I offer good customer service and have good feedback, which I think helps with sales as well.  I start items at a low but fair price and I use the re-list feature for any that don't sell the first time.\n\nI have sold on ebay for over 8 years, mostly estate clearance and private collections, and one other thing I have found is that you have to research before you list or you will be wasting your time and money.  Some things just are not good sellers, no matter what you say or how much flash you put behind it.  If you are selling an item that you can already find listed many times in the completed items as a no sale, you need set that item aside for a while or offer it at a garage sale.  \nGood luck to you in your Ebay career, I hope you have a profitable holiday season!
207282
Most important thing to remember: Sell products that people actually want. \n\nSelling on eBay is not as easy as some portray. In fact, go to eBay and check out the number of auctions that end without a single bid. Competition is getting tougher, as more sellers go to eBay; even the big boys are joining in the eBay marketplace. Add to that the increasing listing and final value fees. And you will find that many sellers are not making it well on ebay \n\neBay has several ways for you to determine exactly what the hot items to sell on their marketplace: \n\nItems In Demand = the most popular items currently within that particular category. To see the In Demand page, go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html  \n\nHot Items by Category Report = a monthly report that lists the fastest growing categories on eBay for the previous month. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html and select "Hot Items by Category" from the menu on the left. \n\neBay Pulse = "a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay". Go to http://pulse.ebay.com/ to see eBay Pulse in action. \n\nMerchandising Calendar = eBay promotes specific categories on its home page each month. Savvy eBayers know that this home page exposure results in more interest in such categories. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/calendar.html  to view the current Merchandising Calendar.\n\nBuying from garage sales and selling on eBay is fun, and good getting a few dollars here and there from ebay. Sometimes, you luck out on an item and hit big, but many times it will just be so-so (assuming you can even get the price you paid for it). In terms of fun factor, it is great. But from a business stand-point, it is not. Not sustainable.\n\nIf you want to earn serious money from eBay, you need to have a well-thought out business model. Selling on ebay is getting tougher -- just look at the number of auctions that closes without a bid. Go to the boards on ebay and you will hear even oldtimers complaining about how stiffer competition plus higher fees make it so much harder to sell on ebay.\n\nOne success model of ebay is the couple Jay and Marie Senese (username jayandmarie) of the 1-cent CD fame. They have the highest positive feedback number of all sellers on eBay. Their business model is to buy very low cost CDs in bulk (those that CD stores sell in their discount bins) and offer them on ebay at a starting price of 1 cent http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886080.htm Their success is based on the fact that they stumbled on a sustainable business model with products that people really want. They sold their business -- where else but on ebay -- for $5 million! Now that is success.