Newbie - Looking for advice and some pointers

[highlandgamingminis]

Hi Folks

Probably picking a bizarre time with lots of changes happening, but I have decided to delve into the life of selling on ebay as a sole trader. 

Done a little bit of testing the water prior to setting up a business account. 

Im just reaching out for a bit of advice.

I sell on ebay printed licensed miniatures (  paid for commercial licenses ) , through basically print on order. However at the start of my journey I was using the category (after a fair bit of issues to be honest )  "warhammer 40k" category within tabletop miniatures - seemingly owned by Gamesworkshop. Even though my items were selected as unbranded within that category, had no reference to the Warhammer brand in title or description, clearly displayed the license I held, the designer etc in title and in the description for the designer of the models, and clearly stipulated these could be used as alternatives, still meant there was Vero issues just basically a third party being within that category is no no. The majority of my market buyers are within that category. Anyhow long story short I am now in the "other wargames" category now, its not something I will win or wish to fight so make do right. Which is by far a smaller exposure eg ( 800 recent views of this category against the 100,000+ of the above mentioned category ).

So here are the main questions

1) How can I maximise the use of a very small category with limited natural viewers, how can best use descriptions or titles to maybe gain the eye of some of these buyers who might not specifically select my much smaller category.

2) As I will only have when fully listed around 200 listings. How is it best to use tags for the features section of items specifics.

3) Is there any point in looking at the ebay " advertise offsite feature ".

4) At least for this month and next I have paid for the first tier of an ebay shop for £27 - trying to work out how that helps above just having 200 listings - how best can I use an ebay shop that will probably have little natural "wanderers". As we support very small independent designers ( through a commercial license - which as we SHOULD be paying our way as a business in all things ) compared to Games Workshops VERY big influence where the majority of potential customers look through that category.  We are really considering is paying £27 for an ebay shop for around 200 listings and really what will having a shop front benefit. I don't have the experience to know and I have looked on the board here for a bit but there seems to be mostly discussion about all the big changes etc. 

I am brand new here, so please bear that in mind, assume I know very little about selling as a business on ebay and if I have missed some form of etiquette in this post I again apologise.

Thankyou and stay safe.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

For how to set out your titles etc, I would suggest that you go review the Ebay YT channel.

Lots of hints and tips as to how you should be doing things.

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

As regards a shop, then only thing that you really need to consider is the cost.

Above a certain point, listing individually is a lot more expensive than using a shop.

Easy enough to work out which shop suits if you compare the costs.

For offsite Ads, opinion is divided, but you will find a few threads about it.

The same can be said for advertising overall.

You will probably want to look at your own website though, where you can send traffic.

I would imagine for the niche your selling in, that there are a lot of dedicated forums/groups etc that you will probably want to get involved in and get yourself known.

[andha-21]

Well first off I want to thank you. It appears that you may have answered a question eBay basically refused to do for me. 

I had a listing of Mezgike Grots that was pulled for listing violation. I bought them on eBay, but I later found painted versions of the same set, also on eBay. Bought them and tried to sell the old ones.

So from what you are saying that could be Vero issues.

As for the rest I'll try and do it bit by bit.

[andha-21]

1) How can I maximise the use of a very small category with limited natural viewers, how can best use descriptions or titles to maybe gain the eye of some of these buyers who might not specifically select my much smaller category.

I'm a collector foremost, but I keep finding new lines that I like so I end up researching them, most of the time that is through Reddit. Where I found out about loads of different Ork proxy makers, Artel, MrModulork etc etc.

Outside of reading I don't use Reddit so am not familiar with their posting rules but if they allow external links I think that could be a very good place to start.

[andha-21]

2) As I will only have when fully listed around 200 listings. How is it best to use tags for the features section of items specifics.

Because I can't build/paint I buy as much as I can built/painted whenever I can. If I see an opportunity to improve my armies, I take it, if I can. Usually means I have loads of spares which I end up selling. 

What I have found listing Warhammer models is that there is a specific title keyword construct that seems to give first page.

"Warhammer/game version/principal army/model name(s) and space allowing I add Army/Bundle/Lot which cover 3 other major keyword searches.

So though I haven't started from "other wargames" before, what I would try as an example is ;

Warhammer 40,000 40K MrModulork Ork Airbus Army Bundle SEE PHOTOS/DESCRIPTION 

See if that's allowed. If it isn't it's almost certainly Warhammer itself causing the flag.

No word of a lie, I get first page results against the mega dealers with that title construct combined with everything else I do. Also get first page Google photos and I don't pay eBay a penny for it.

[bravergrace]

If you're in a very specialist category, you may want to look at a couple of things:

- Make sure that buyers will want to come back to you for more than one purchase.   Some sellers do this by offering money-off coupons to anyone who has bought from you in the past - the trouble with this, especially if you already have tight margins, is that you may create a downward spiral.  If you sell something for £30, and make £6 profit, and you offer a 10%-off voucher, you may end up with the same number of sales but half the profit.  Or buyers may hold off making their next sale, because they're waiting for another voucher.

- Look in the specialist forums to see if you can find any search terms to put in your titles.  Perhaps an item is officially called "Weeping Willow", but enthusiasts actually call it "Droopy Tree", that sort of thing.

- Make sure, when you do get a sale, that your product, packing and customer service are exemplary.  Everyone - especially collectors - love to see that a seller has taken real care over their purchase, even if it's low value.  This will get people coming back for more.

[andha-21]

3) Is there any point in looking at the ebay " advertise offsite feature ".

For reasons stated before I don't believe it's necessary, just experiment a bit. The fact is you are in a market where most private sellers don't use best business practices listings wise and alot of the businesses don't either.

4) At least for this month and next I have paid for the first tier of an ebay shop for £27 - trying to work out how that helps above just having 200 listings - how best can I use an ebay shop that will probably have little natural "wanderers". As we support very small independent designers ( through a commercial license - which as we SHOULD be paying our way as a business in all things ) compared to Games Workshops VERY big influence where the majority of potential customers look through that category. We are really considering is paying £27 for an ebay shop for around 200 listings and really what will having a shop front benefit. I don't have the experience to know and I have looked on the board here for a bit but there seems to be mostly discussion about all the big changes etc. 

I haven't gone down the shop route personally yet, though I am researching it. Mainly because there is no way in hell I am going to let Simple Delivery decide how I send something, as in what weight bracket etc. 

If you don't pack built models the right way and they get damaged in transit the buyer will almost certainly claim and almost certainly win.

I'll have a look through my bookmarked sellers, purchase and feedback history. See if I can find you some decent Business Seller examples. You may already know them.

[andha-21]

- Make sure, when you do get a sale, that your product, packing and customer service are exemplary. Everyone - especially collectors - love to see that a seller has taken real care over their purchase, even if it's low value. This will get people coming back for more.

100% correct. That's basically how I have my rep now. Packing wise, I'm definitely in the top 3 sellers I've used and I've used most of them in this arena. My received feedback hints to it too.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I haven't gone down the shop route personally yet, though I am researching it. Mainly because there is no way in hell I am going to let Simple Delivery decide how I send something, as in what weight bracket etc. 

Simple delivery only applies if you are a private seller!

So in the case of the OP,  that statement is meaningless.

[andha-21]

It didn't occur to you that I was merely explaining why I can't give a full answer to that?

No?

[andha-21]

I've looked through my purchase history and as it happens all the proxy models I have bought so far via eBay have been via Private Sellers so probably not that helpful to you.

As someone said before and I agree with them, service is king, especially if you're dealing in built models. Whilst I acknowledge most will not have my shaking condition and actually being able to repair/build/paint by themselves they are still buying what the photos show and that's how most will want to receive them.

Obviously with proxies, you may just be supplying unassembled pieces, but I'm guessing they will be resin and that stuff is very easy to break.

So if you end up using Small Parcel Sizes keep in mind they get sorted and transported with parcels that weigh upto 2kg. Which can be significantly heavier than any models.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

If you don't know the correct answer, then you shouldn't be giving an answer that is simply wrong.

No matter whether you were trying to explain it or not.  If you don't know, don't say.

[andha-21]

Yes master, whatever you say.

[wyntersemporium]

I don’t promote at all but strangely spotted my listing at the top of Google’s search engine.

No idea why or how it got there. 

[andha-21]

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@wyntersemporium wrote:

I don’t promote at all but strangely spotted my listing at the top of Google’s search engine.

No idea why or how it got there. 

---

That will because Google or the bot that found it liked your listing. It's a combination of keywords, photos and details the algorithms hunt for. I've had loads like that and I've never paid eBay a penny.

[4_bathrooms]

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@wyntersemporium wrote:

I don’t promote at all but strangely spotted my listing at the top of Google’s search engine.

No idea why or how it got there. 

---

Do you mean the shopping ads with pictures?

They're often the result of affiliate feeds - it will say something like "By Productcaster", "By Stendia", "By Producthero" etc. at the bottom of the ad. They often appear for quite specific (i.e. lower cost) CPC terms. 

[krafty-kreations]

Not 100% sure but I don't think you are allowed website addresses on your pictures.

I would check that.

[jokers_toybox]

You're not, but you can have your logo watermarked on them, and unlike amazon, you're allowed to put fliers in your ebay packages pointing them direct to you

[jokers_toybox]

Well as a GW stockist, I can tell you they are no easier to deal with when selling their products as an authorised seller than someone 3d printing proxies.

I got a C&D for using their images and description to sell their products that I bought through my wholesale account with them...

But as to your help, if you can use photos of the actual minis, 3d prints vary wildly in quality so I'd heartily recommend showing the actual product rather than the 3d renders. Get a decent lightbox with a black background that sets off the grey resin

Use Keywords GW lost the legal fight over like space marines, chaos, space elves, grimdark etc 

I'm building an Eldar army at the minute, so I search for that not Aeldari.

Hope that helps a bit

[andha-21]

Eldar actually pulls Aeldari results anyway, at least it did, as it's contained within the larger word.