New EBay Seller Advice

[hudsonsclothes]

Afternoon 

Apologies if said/asked elsewhere but I could not find it. I am very very new to eBay business selling (Month and a half) before that I had little to no experience with selling online, eBay or anything so it's all totally new to me.

I'm currently leaving the military after a decade and doing this as a side extra income that will hopefully grow to compensate for the expected drop in wages when I start a new career/ cover the expected rise in living costs when I move back to my home city.

I'm wondering from all you eBay wizards who have been doing this a lot longer, if there is any kind of service, forum on here or externally etc that can look at your page and give feedback and advice both positive and constructive?

I feel, early on sales and page views etc are irratic as expected and i'm constantly wondering when it's quiet if i've got it all wrong. I've tried getting friends to look but they don't really use eBay so don't understand all its intricacies. It would be very helpful to get feedback from experienced sellers who have knowledge and experience to pass on if such a place exists.

I am making sales and getting impressions etc and have good feedback so it's not a total failure. I'm also aware it takes time to grow but, if i'm doing something wrong i'd rather know and correct it now, early on, and if i'm doing anything right it would also be good to know to continue it. It's all just a learning experience and who better to learn from than people who have been here themselves before.

Any help greatly appreciated, if this has been said elsewhere i'll close this thread down.

Cheers in advance.

[myriad*seller]

Whatever you do, do not rely on eBay for an income

Your account can be suspended in an instant if eBay decide they don't want you as a seller or if buyers leave nasty reviews

Keep it as a side business, and find something reliable to do to earn a regular income 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Welcome to selling on Ebay.

Though the prior poster is correct, in that you shouldn't just rely on Ebay for an income, they are neglecting to say, to sell everywhere else that you are able to as well.  That way, you can balance your income stream.

Sales etc are erratic, though are starting to pick up now as we are getting to the busiest time of year.

I had a quick look at a couple of your listings.  One thing that is glaringly obviously, is that you don't have any measurements on your clothing.

You need to ensure that you measure, at least pit to pit/length and waist/inside leg etc and include these on the description.  If you put XL, then people will expect an XL.  But what is the definition of an XL?  Your idea and mine can be quite different and when your talking about clothing, not even the manufacturers can agree on this.  I guarantee that you will get less returns with this kind of information on the listing.

Also, which I've found from bitter experience.  though the condition description is where you are supposed to include condition information, PUT IN IT THE DESCRIPTION as well!  Buyers simply do not read and a lot don't even know it exists.  Particularly so, when using the App.

Include all the little defects on the item.  If you don't, you can be sure that you will get returns or requests for discounts.

But in the main, it's just a case of following the rules and using common sense.

And I've just gone back to them and see that you have included photo's of sizes!  🙂

I'd put on the description as well.  

[tressygirl]

Nooo,  don't close this thread,  as you may get good feedback /  suggestions of improvement from different ' new eyes'  reading your post.

You have great photos,  clear descriptions, my only,  not criticism but observation , is for  the clothing items you have just marked them as M,  L,  XL etc.

I would strongly recommend adding s many relevant measurements as you can,  as a Small in one strore / brand can differ greatly to another brand name.

If I sell clothing I add chest size,  length of item, inside leg ( if applicable )  sleeve length, anything and everything that can be measured, I add them in inches and centimetres,  and lay a tape measure across those salient points in my photos too.

It just might boost your clothing items a little nearer to that Buy it Now button!

As for views take little notice of them,  eBay have changed the way their viewing counter works.  This will now only show views from the past 30 days.

eBay inform us that this  now more accurately reflects views from real potential buyers by filtering most machine and bot views.

This fully explains this new change to the viewing counter.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/page-views?id=4165

Do not worry your items are still seen in searches.

Good luck and Happy Selling !  🤗

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Snap!   🙂

But look back, they are in the photo's!

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Oh, be careful using advertising.  It won't necessarily make much of a difference.

I've found that constantly adding new items and refrshing it works just as well.

Don't let things that are not selling get older than 90 days.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to go watch the various presentations from the Ebay open if you haven't already.  So decent information there that may help you.

[hudsonsclothes]

Thank you,

I do have pit to pit and back length in 80% of my listings in a photo now. At the start, I wasn't listing any and found myself getting messages constantly asking for them.

I will however start putting chest size and the other measurements mentioned going forward.

[hudsonsclothes]

Thank you,

I will look into that, never heard of it until now.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

https://www.youtube.com/@eBaySellerVideosUK

[tressygirl]

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@therenewalworkshopltd wrote:

Snap!   🙂

But look back, they are in the photo's!

---

Yep Specsavers is on my books,  but nope still can't see those measurements.  Granted haven't looked at them all  just 3 , and the Mens Helly Hansen pink shirt just has XL,  looked thru the photos,  if they are there, I'm definitely skipping to S  Savers asap !  😊

[hudsonsclothes]

Thank you,

I'm working way through my oldest listings gradually and tweaking them, i'll include more info around sizes going forward including in the description.

Luckily so far i've only had one return and that was due to damage in transit.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Well maybe not all, it took me a couple of goes to find them, but they are there in at least a couple.

[tressygirl]

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@hudsonsclothes wrote:

Thank you,

I do have pit to pit and back length in 80% of my listings in a photo now. At the start, I wasn't listing any and found myself getting messages constantly asking for them.

I will however start putting chest size and the other measurements mentioned going forward.

---

Aaah  that then will answer a previous poster I then definitely found the 20%  !  Ooops !

[hudsonsclothes]

Yeah sorry. I should have said. When I first started listing I did'nt put any extra size details. I started too as I put up new items after being asked for the details from potential buyers all the time 😂 your eye sight is fine, it's my early listings that arent haha

[tressygirl]

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@therenewalworkshopltd wrote:

Well maybe not all, it took me a couple of goes to find them, but they are there in at least a couple.

---

Typical eh,  OP says she's added them to 80% of her listings, and I happened to choose the 3 in her 20% !

🙂

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I presume that your already doing it, but be absolutely certain that you are working out your costs properly.

A spreadsheet works well.  With clothing, depending on exactly how your buying it, it is not necessarilly the profit per piece that you should be concerned about, but the overall.

ie. I buy in Kilos, rather than pieces.  So I would on an average cost, rather than individual.

That in turn means that to make a profit, I will sell some items for less than they actually cost me, as long it's bringing back some of the cost.

Don't forget to include the time you actually spend listing/cleaning/packaging and so on.

If you go to the wholesaler, you need to allow for the cost of that.

then you have electricity and so on, that you also need to include.

[hudsonsclothes]

I've just been mis-gendered 😅 i'm actually a He. The names in my shop are my kids haha

[therenewalworkshopltd]

lol, there is worse things you can be called!  😉

[tressygirl]

Typical to find the few which were missing those measurements!

All I can say too,  is don't be disheartened  by low sales,  or a slow selling trend.  All sellers will come across this,  there's no rhyme or reason, no  ' cure',   you can be brilliantly successful one week  selling brilliantly for a week then suddenly...  de nada !

It happens, as said,  no answer,  it's a bit of .... ' Keep Calm and Carry On !'

Good luck.....  ( that's needed by the bucketful too!)  😊

[cobwebcottage]

Do you have a basic shop subscription?

If so, try to list as much as you can up to your limit. Be aware of the final value fees as some of your items are low value and also have best offer so you could end up little or no profit.

You may find, when you build your stock up, that books are not worth the hassle. It might be worth considering doing these in bundles. ( weigh them though to make sure you have the correct postage).

You can end stale listings when you are near to your allowance although check your monthly allowance balance and relist ended listings just before the end of the month using sell similar. A bit of a pain as you then have to delete all of the original listings which will still be in your unsold.

If you don't have a basic shop subscription with listings to use up, I would definitely not pay fees to list used paperback books.

Try, if you can to list and item or two or three every day to keep it fresh and interesting. This can also help towards building up your followers so they can keep an eye on your new listings.

Best of luck building up your business.