How To Sell On Ebay: Pricing Strategy

Many new Ebay sellers make one of two mistakes: either they overprice items to an unsellable extreme; or they lose money on every transaction by setting low starting prices with no restrictions.

In this lesson, I am going to go over which pricing strategies to use and when if you are using a ten-day auction setup.

Strategy #1

If you are listing a popular item that you are confident will sell for a high price, one strategy you can use is the ten-day, one cent starting price, no reserve auction. This is the best way to start a bidding war: pull in bidders early with a low starting price and no reserve and give them ten days and two weekends to battle it out.

Depending on the profit-margin of the item and the quality and number of your competitors, you may want to consider using listing upgrades, such as bold, highlight, and feature listing options to ensure your auction sticks out of the crowd.

Please note that I do not recommend this strategy for beginners. This is extremely high risk if you do not know how to take the risk out of it - and this is not something I can teach you. You must determine this by assessing your own personal inventory with tests.

Strategy #2

Now, if you are new to Ebay or want to list an item with undetermined popularity, you can use a safer, but potentially as profitable bidding strategy for ten-day auctions.

You still wont use a reserve with this strategy. But instead of setting the start price low to encourage a bidding war, you are going to set your start price to your ideal selling price - and then couple it with a buy it now price that is slightly higher.

This will put pressure on the buyer to buy it now instead of watching. If she waits, she gains absolutely nothing--and she risks someone else bidding (and ruining the low BIN price) or just snatching it with the BIN option.

In addition, knowing that she will lose nothing anyway, she will realize that she can get the item up to ten days sooner if she uses the BIN option to order it then, rather than waiting for the auction clock to tick down.

The strategy I described above is very safe. I use it for the majority of my auctions and I always get positive results. At worst, it will take me 3-4 weeks to sell an item, but I wont ever lose money. I just adjust the price to compensate for additional fees.

Strategy #3

Another effective way to use a ten-day setting is in conjunction with dutch auctions--or auctions that sell a number of the same item. Ten-day auctions will give you the longest amount of time to move the highest amount of products.

You may also want to feature ten-day dutch auctions, depending on what items you are selling. If you're selling information products and rely on the quantity of sales for profit, this wont be effective; but if you're selling a number of expensive, high profit-margin items, featuring your auction is probably a good idea.

________________

If none of these strategies works for you, you should consider the following two things: 1) the price other Ebay businesses sell your product for. If someone else IS selling your product, there is a reason for it - and it's probably the price. If you cannot afford to sell at a reasonable price, you need to find a new source to buy from. And if your product's price is reasonable, then 2) you need to redesign your auction and find new ways of pulling in targeted traffic.

http://www.workathomerightnow.net/ebay.html - Written by Isaiah Hull, author of "How to Profit on Ebay In Seven Days Without Spending A Single Penny." For a limited time only you can get a pre-publication copy of his book for ONE-FOURTH the post-publication price!

---

Dropship Your Way To Ebusiness Success

Q: I would like to start my own eBay business,... Read More

Four Reasons Why You Should NEVER Use Animations In Your eBay Auctions

Inexperienced auction sellers, or those lacking in confidence, often want... Read More

How to Make Money from Internet Auctions

If your business is not using eBay and other Internet... Read More

Selling through Auction Marketplaces

Consumers are increasingly feeling more comfortable in buying products through... Read More

Hurricane Katrina Donations Could be Many Millions More - EBay Sellers Try in Vain to Help

Yesterday I saw a mention in someone's email ezine about... Read More

How to Sell Your Crafts on eBay

Artists, craftspeople and photographers are successfully selling their wares everyday... Read More

How To Sell On Ebay: The Money Is In The Back-End

Many people who sell on Ebay completely neglect the follow-up... Read More

Using Online Ebay Auctions to Promote Your Website - Confessions of a True Traffic Junkie

If you are looking for traffic to your e-commerce site,... Read More

eBays Latest Fee Increases--Is this the beginning of the end?

On January 13, eBay sellers received an unwelcome announcement from... Read More

Negating Negative Feedback on eBay

Taking some pride in my one hundred percent positive feedback... Read More

Dont Be A Victim Of Online Auction Fraud

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) reported that last year... Read More

eBay and Dropshipping - A Perfect Fit!

eBay and Dropshipping go together like a hand in a... Read More

Image Hosting For Online Auctions

Use eBay picture service or host your own photos?If you... Read More

Killer Tips To Succeed With eBay Auction

For just a moment, try to comprehend the power of... Read More

Drop Shipping Is Your Perfect Home Based Business Solution

Drop Shipping Is Your Perfect Home Based Business SolutionDrop shipping... Read More

The Secret Of The Ebay Money Machine And How To Get Your Share

If you have all the money you need, then this... Read More

The Secret To Real eBay Success

Q. I hear so much about people who started selling... Read More

Internet Auction Sites : Find Good Deals on Almost Anything

You can find good deals on almost everything you need... Read More

What To Do After Your eBay Auction Closes

So your auction closes. Now what?Hopefully you made a sale... Read More

An Emerging Market in eBay Consignments: The eBay Trading Post (Part II In A Series)

In 2002, the eBay consignments business was born, referred to... Read More

The Top Ten Tips For Auction Success!

If you were to look through eBay, or any other... Read More

Photos on my eBay Auctions: How Do I Add Them?

On another forum I'm involved with, someone's asked a great... Read More

Effective Online Car Sales on Ebay Motors

Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers... Read More

Use Auction Templates For eBay Success!

Auction templates are simply a must for successful online auction... Read More

Dropship Your Way to Success

Many people know they would like to start an Internet... Read More

Get More for Your Money Shopping for Designer Shoes on eBay

The worlds online market place.In just a few short years... Read More

Everything You Need To Know About Ebay Money Making Opportunities

Ebay money making opportunities are simply the best thing to... Read More

Royal Memorabilia ?Smart Trading and Fake Dodging

This is my second article about trading royal memorabilia on... Read More

Search... Search... Search Your Way To eBay Cash!

One of the most valuable things in life is the... Read More

eBay is the Greatest Opportunity YOU Have to Create a Career Online

eBay's being spoken about everywhere these days. At work, school,... Read More

Why 95% of All eBay Sellers Fail

eBay is now the 8th most visited site on the... Read More

From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending

The Internet is the fastest-changing marketplace on earth. Million-dollar ideas... Read More

Making Money On EBay Can Be So Simple, Just Let Somebody Else Do All The Hard Work For You

OK, so you've been bitten by the eBay bug!You've ransacked... Read More