You've listed good quality items over and over again to sell them on eBay, but can't seem to make the sales you think you should be making. You've read all the popular books about eBay, but you still fall flat on your face. Why?
There are 7 reasons that eBay sellers fail and give up, this article is going to focus on three of them.
1. Your Product Source Disappears or Becomes Unreliable
You have listed some good items and the auctions are about to end. Just at that point, you learn that your drop ship supplier is out of the items you are selling or is closing completely, leaving you high and dry. You have to scramble to find a new source. If you can't get replacements of the same items, you are left explaining to buyers why the item they are getting is different. If you do find the same items somewhere else, the price you pay means you lose money on it. And the new company won't drop ship. You will have to take delivery and then ship to the buyers. This means extra expense and a longer waiting time for your buyer.
You might have been ordering in advance to be sure you have the item in stock, but suddenly you can't get new stock. You have to start from scratch to find a new source. In the mean time, there are no auctions and no money coming in. You might even be told by a supplier that they will ship the items but it is weeks and you still haven't received anything. You email and call but get no response.
Tip: When you look for a new source to supply items to sell, look at their reputation, and the length of time they have been in business. Also read reviews on sources. Contact other people who have used the sources you are considering. Make sure they are consistently reliable and deliver outstanding service.
2. High eBay and Paypal Fees
You are making sales but the fees from eBay and Paypal are taking a huge bite out of your profits. You have a reserve set so you won't have to take less than a certain amount. You use the 'Buy Now' feature. Or you have your starting bid near the amount you want to get. You list your items as 'featured' listing. You list each item numerous times. Using all these extra features costs extra. Many add-ons not only aren't of much help but can actually hinder your auction. Like 'Buy Now'. If your price is seen as too high, they will look elsewhere. Having your starting bid set too high will hurt. People will bid first on those items with a lower starting bid. Having a reserve will hurt you more than help you. It is best to have a low starting bid in a 'No Reserve' auction. All those things you have been paying extra for can be dropped and you will begin to see higher profits.
Likewise, PayPal fees can easily get out of hand. Setup a merchant account and benefit from lower fees on all future transactions outside eBay.
3. Poor Customer Service Results in Too Many Negative Feedbacks
You have auctions going but you don't keep up with your email, and bidders' questions are going unanswered. Or you are giving short, even curt answers that don't satisfy the bidders. When an auction is finished, maybe you are waiting a while before shipping and not keeping the buyer informed. If you have no contact with the bidder during and after the auction you increase the chances of getting negative feedback. If you habitually fail to respond to bidder questions and don't keep contact with the winning bidder after the auction, the resulting negative feedback will tell other potential bidders for future auctions that you could be difficult to work with and trust.
It is vital to be quick to respond to questions from bidders, by providing friendly and detailed answers. If you don't know the answer right off, find out. You should be as knowledgeable as possible about the items you sell. Always be polite and professional in your contact with bidders. This will help them to trust you as a seller.
Once the auction has ended, contact the buyer to confirm shipping info. This will help to ensure the item gets delivered quickly without delays caused by faulty or missing information in the shipping address. Let the buyer know when you expect to ship after payment is made and again when you have actually shipped.
After allowing adequate time for the item to reach the buyer, contact him or her again to ask if it arrived safely. If there is a problem with the item on arrival, be prepared to work with the buyer on reaching a fair settlement, whether it is a refund or a replacement. This is all part of providing good customer service and will lead to positive feedback and a customer who will not hesitate to bid in your future auctions.
Summing Up
Most people give up selling on eBay largely because they follow the crowd of sellers who don't know what they're doing!. Many of the most popular books on how to sell on eBay give conflicting information and bad advice, ultimately confusing the reader. Don't fall into that trap!
Andy Lock studied everything he could lay his hands on about how eBay works, and after many months of painstaking research, he 'cracked the eBay code'. He literally devised a systemic approach to exploiting highly successful unconventional eBay techniques that fewer than 1% of sellers know about, let alone use.
For more information and a valuable free gift, visit:
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Lock
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