by Kathy Terrill | Nov 20, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
It’s that time of year again, eBay seller: Shoppers are searching for the perfect gift to put under the holiday tree for their special someone.
Now it’s up to you to make it more likely that YOUR item is the one they find — and choose to buy. But how? The answer are these eBay seller best Holiday moneymaking tips!
For starters on the topic of eBay seller best Holiday moneymaking tips, remember: It can’t sell if it isn’t listed.
Look through your unlisted inventory. Is there anything holiday themed? Or in holiday colors (i.e., red and green, blue and silver or white, etc.)? If so, then list it NOW!
Furthermore, consider adding that newly listed item to a Promoted Listings Standard campaign.
According to eBay, a listing in Promoted Listing Standard Campaign is twice as likely to sell. You can set your PL standard fee as low as 2%, and you only pay if the item sells. You can even boost the price a bit to cover the PL standard fee.
The option to promote a listing in a Promoted Listing Standard Campaign — and specify your desired percentage — is in the final section of the SYI (Sell Your Item) form. Also you can create a Promoted Listing Standard campaign and add items in bulk from the Promotions tab of your Seller Hub Overview page.
Speaking of price, it’s a good idea to include enough wiggle room that you can add Best Offer to your listing.
Best Offer is another good way to increase the likelihood that your item will sell, and sell quickly! You can still make a profit and also get the benefit of quick turnover.
Next, scan the titles of your active listings. eBay gives you 80 characters altogether. You should be using 75-80 of them. If any of your titles fall short, revise them to add more keywords. Not sure what keywords to add? Do a search on eBay for similar items, then filter by Sold to see what keywords have worked for other sellers.
Another eBay seller best Holiday tip is to check Terapeak.
It’s under the Research tab on the Overview page in Seller Hub. Put a couple of keywords describing your item into the text field, then search to find comparable sold items.
Be sure to follow other best practices for eBay titles as well: Front-load the most important keywords, because eBay’s mobile app truncates titles, and don’t forget “the noun” (what the item is). Think “Keyword Keyword Keyword”, in title case — never ALL CAPS.
There’s no need for punctuation; titles don’t have to read like a sentence.
And for goodness’ sake, don’t waste characters on nonsense like L@@K, Wow, special characters, or emojis!
Pro tip: If you include the word Christmas in your title, be aware that Cassini (eBay’s search engine) considers Christmas and Xmas to be the same keyword. Using Xmas frees up five characters, and your listing will still pop up when shoppers search for Christmas.
eBay Seller Best Holiday Moneymaking Tips!
An eBay seller best Holiday tip is find fresh inventory!
Be sure to shop holiday clearance events both locally and online. Don’t overlook pop-up stores, church bazaars, and flea markets. Then list your newly acquired inventory ASAP. Again, consider promoting those new listings and/or adding Best Offer.
In addition, if you have multiple quantities of an item, consider adding a Volume Discount to encourage multi-quantity purchases: Save x% on 2, y% on 3, z% on 4 or more. (You set the percentage of the discount.)
Both Volume Discount and Promoted Listings can be added to your listing from the very last module of the SYI (Sell Your Item) form on your desktop or mobile device.
These proven, actionable strategies will literally pay off for you right now in your business on eBay.
Your free 12 Days of Christmas eBay Money Making Tips!
Want even more ways to optimize your Q4 sales — and maximize your Q4 profits? Download your complimentary copy of The eBay Seller’s 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Moneymaking Tips!
Be sure to include things in your plans tat make the Holiday season meaningful to you. Is that a Christmas service, neighborhood caroling or volunteering at a local no kill shelter or food bank?
Here’s to you having a fruitful and meaningful Holidays!
by Kathy Terrill | Oct 21, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
A very important eBay seller super power is consistency. As actor/filmmaker Denzel Washington has famously said, “Goals on the road to achievement cannot be achieved without discipline and consistency.” The same is true of eBay selling. You’ve got to be both disciplined and consistent your business. Let’s talk about three crucial areas for eBay sellers to be consistent in.
#1- Your eBay seller super power, list, list list!
First and foremost, in using your eBay sell super power of consistency, you want to list regularly. eBay emphasizes over and over again the importance of doing so. Keep those new listings coming! It will enhance your items’ ranking in search results and help to drive traffic and sales.
One eBay tool that makes it easier to list every day is Draft listings. Always keep some listings in Draft, ready to be finished and go live. Draft listings can be created via your phone or computer, and they are available to all sellers. I speak about this in my video, Get Consistent eBay Sales This Way!
Get consistent eBay sales this way!
In fact, many sellers find it convenient to take photos via their smartphone camera and upload them directly to eBay.
Then they fill in a few of the blanks on the SYI (Sell Your Item) form, save the listing as a draft and finish it later on their desktop or laptop computer.
If you have a few partially completed listings stashed away in Drafts, you can list anytime you have a few spare moments. This enables you to list pretty much every day, which is ideal. Use my free guide. eBay Listings That Sell, to craft winning eBay listings
I hear sellers brag about posting a dozen listings in one day, but then they may not list anything else for a week — or even longer. You’re better off listing even just one or two items as long as you do so on a daily basis. Cassini (eBay’s search engine) likes fresh content and rewards sellers who create it by ranking their offerings higher in search results. So discipline yourself to be consistent about listing.
#2- Send offers to buyers!
The second aspect of selling on eBay wherein it literally pays to be consistent is sending offers to buyers. For this, you’ll need to keep an eye on Seller Hub via your desktop or laptop computer. The information you need is not shown by eBay’s mobile app.
Check your Seller Hub Overview page several times throughout the day so as to be able to send out offers ASAP. Look in the Tasks module for “Listings eligible to send offers”. Just click on the number of items. From there you’ll be taken to an Active Listings page filtered by listings for which you can send offers.
Don’t be stingy about your discounts if you want to make sales! When you send out an offer, you’re basically creating incentive for the buyer to make the purchase. Maybe it’s in their cart, or they put it on their Watch list.
Either way, it tells eBay that this shopper is interested.
Now it’s up to you to close the sale. A mere 5% or 10% off may not be enough to seal the deal, unless the item is priced very low. Try offering 15%-25% off. You can even offer more, especially if the listing is stale and/or the item is not generating much interest.
Furthermore, unless you are just too totally slammed to respond to offers manually, allow counteroffers. If you don’t, you’ve shut down any chance of a sale. Counteroffers give your buyer the chance to respond. This allows you to negotiate with them.
By the same token, if you set up your listings to automatically decline offers under X amount of dollars, you may be turning away business. That’s never a good thing!
So check your Seller Hub Overview page several times a day.
It will enable you to greet newly interested buyers with your special offer within 24 hours. Additionally, be sure to include an enticing message with your offer. You can say, “Thank you for your interest. I hope you’ll please take advantage of this exclusive limited time offer: X% off!”
#3- Know your numbers!
Be consistently aware of the financial metrics you’ll need to report for tax purposes: i.e., what you pay for inventory, shipping expenses, and eBay fees. Many times, sellers struggle to pull together these costs at the last minute. You also need to be aware of your gross income versus your net profit from your eBay sales.
My Reseller Genie (my affiliate link) can help. It’s the seller-created solution for eBay accounting and analytics. If you formerly used GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping, you’ll LOVE My Reseller Genie. It offers comparable accounting and analytics capabilities, then goes beyond them to do even more. MRG (as it’s known for short) will crunch your numbers for you so that you can concentrate on sourcing, selling, and shipping — and it can do so for multiple platforms.
To have proper accounting the team at My Reseller Genie advises checking and importing your numbers at least once a week.
Daily is best and does not need to be overly time consuming. It can take only a few minutes to double check your numbers, expenses and categories. Being consistent on checking your numbers saves you hours and hours at tax time. Try My Reseller Genie with my affiliate link, and use code KATHY15 to save 15% on your first month.
The eBay Seller Super Power of Consistency!
So there you have it:
- List consistently.
- Keep sending out offers to buyers.
- Do the math (or better yet, let My Reseller Genie do it for you).
See? Successfully selling on eBay really is as easy as 1 -2 – 3…as long as you’re disciplined and consistent.
The good news is that both of those traits get easier with practice. Think of it as your eBay workout
by Kathy Terrill | Oct 1, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
There is essential holiday prep for eBay sellers to be done now!
The holidays are coming, the holidays are coming sellers! To maximize holiday sales, now is the right time for essential holiday prep for eBay sellers to be done. As it’s the craziest, busiest, and (hopefully) most profitable season of the year for both you and your business — and it’s just around the corner. Here’s what you need to do right now to get ready. The most important tip for successful eBay Holiday selling, is prepare!
First, let’s talk about Holiday prep for eBay sellers and shipping.
Quick shipping is important all year ‘round, but it’s mission critical during the holidays, so you’d best be prepared to deliver. That includes having a backup plan in case eBay Labels goes down. So if you don’t already have a free Stamps.com eBay seller account, now is the time to open one! Just go HERE.
Essential eBay Holiday shipping tips!
Once your package is labeled and ready to go, how do you launch it on its journey to your buyer? If you’re not utilizing USPS’ free pickup service, why not?
Again, now is the time to start, because you may need extra mail help during the holidays. Schedule a few pickups to see what time of day your USPS carrier shows up. Just go to usps.com, then under the Send tab, select Schedule a Pickup, and fill out the online form.
Using carrier pickup instead of going to the post office is a great timesaver.
Saving time is always a good thing — and during the holidays, it becomes downright essential. After all, you’ve got halls to deck, cookies to bake, and family and friends to visit with. Holidays are all about enjoying the moment, so you’ve got to make every minute count!
Start by reviewing your listing process and looking for places you can shave off a few seconds. Could you batch tasks such as photography? Use your smartphone instead of a digital camera and upload photos directly to eBay via the mobile app, editing them along the way.
There are lots of ways to save time by using eBay Mobile.
Use the mobile app to create draft listings that you can finish later on your computer. Or you can even list directly from the app. You can also reply to customer queries, respond to open cases, field Best Offers, and more. Don’t be afraid to go mobile, especially when time is of the essence!
Next, double-check your shipping procedures.
Is there any way to streamline them? Might there be a more efficient way to organize your shipping station?
Even if you can save only a minute or two per listing or package, it matters, because those minutes add up faster than you might think. Imagine what you could do with an extra 30 minutes a day! That’s a whole half an hour — long enough to get a few more items listed, pack and ship a couple more parcels, quaff a cup of eggnog with a friend, read the next chapter of a good book, or just put your feet up and chillax.
Want more terrific tips and savvy strategies for Q4? Sign up for my one-day, one-hour free workshop on October 3, 2022 eBay Holiday Sales Accelerator Master Class. Hope to see you there!
Free eBay Holiday Sales Accelerator Master Class!!
by Kathy Terrill | Aug 8, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
So you’ve registered for eBay Open 2022, coming up September 21-23!
And if you haven’t, what are you waiting for? eBay Open is geared toward sellers at every level of experience, part-time to full-time, and it’s absolutely free. To register, go to https://hopin.com/events/ebayopen2022/registrationebay.com/open.
Now it’s time to start planning how to get the most out of this year’s eBay seller conference.
First of all, block out the dates and time frames on your calendar. Do this on paper or via your favorite calendar app, such as iCal, Google or Outlook. eBay Open 2022 is Wednesday, September 21, through Friday, September 23. It runs from 10am-3pm PT all three days. Attending the entire event live? Be ready and fit your listing, shipping, and other daily eBay tasks around that five-hour block of time. Pace yourself.
Next, take a look at the eBay Open 2022 agenda.
Many sessions happen twice over the course of the event’s three days. Furthermore, some will be recorded. View them on YouTube after the event is over. However, although certain presentations during the event may be replays, the Q&A with eBay staff and seller panelists will be live each time. So have your questions ready!
Each day kicks off with an hour of networking and winds down with more networking.
Furthermore, on Wednesday and Thursday, the initial social time is followed by keynotes featuring various eBay executives. CEO Jamie Iannone and Jordan Sweetnam, Senior VP and GM, North America; Andrea Stairs, VP, CMO and other key staff. Additionally assorted eBay sellers will share useful selling tips. Furthermore, Thursday includes an afternoon keynote as well. In closing, Friday wraps up with a closing keynote.
The rest of each day of eBay Open 2022 is devoted to learning.
During the event there breaks for fun activities like eBay trivia. Additionally they give you time to grab a snack, snap a selfie in the eBay Open photo booth, or check out the booths in the virtual Expo.
Get in the zone.
To add a session to your calendar, click on the little calendar page icon next to that session’s time slot in the agenda. All three days of eBay Open 2022 offer a trio of educational tracks. Fundamental, Advanced, and Seller-Led Training Sessions cover every aspect of selling on eBay:
- Acquiring and managing inventory
- Buyer psychology
- Customer service
- Listing best practices
- Market research and marketing
- Shipping domestically and globally
- Social media
- Tools and analytics
In addition, there are sessions devoted to eBay stores, seller protections and policies. eBay Main Street, and more.
Wednesday’s afternoon agenda features Category Sessions focusing on:
- Collectibles
- Electronics (Refurbished)
- Fashion
- Heavy Equipment
- Home and Interior
- Luxury (Handbags, Jewelry, & Watches)
- Motors and Parts & Accessories
- Sneakers
- Trading Cards
Read the description of each vertical’s session.
If you sell in that category, you’ll probably want to attend that session. Jot down any questions that come to mind in case there is time for Q&A. Once you actually sign in on the day of the event, the agenda will display in your time zone, and you can click the little plus sign next to each session’s title to build your own personal agenda.
Be ready to get the most out of eBay Open 2022 with these great tips!
Be part of a live studio or mix and mingle at a watch party.
This year’s eBay Open is a hybrid event: On Friday, live eBay Open Studios in three cities will take place concurrently with the virtual conference. Attendees will watch the closing keynote together online while they mingle with eBay staff and each other.
All three Open Studios (in Los Angeles, CA; Austin, TX; and New York City) are already sold out.
But some seller meetup groups are planning watch parties of their own. Already Watch parties are planned for Allentown PA, Boston MA, Chicago IL, Denver CO, and Las Vegas NV. As these community-based social events are announced, I’ll post them in the pop-up Facebook group I’ve created for eBay Open 2022. Come join your fellow sellers in this fun group HERE.
Seller run eBay Open 2022 Facebook group!
Think of eBay Open 2022 as you would a live conference, minus the hassle and expense of having to pack a suitcase, travel, and pay for a hotel room.
Dress comfortably, and have fun showing your eBay spirit by wearing an eBay-branded shirt, cap, or both. If you don’t own any eBay-branded apparel, you’ve still got time to shop for some. eBay’s eBayana category usually offers plenty of options for adding to your eBay wardrobe! Or just put together an outfit in the four colors of the eBay logo: red, blue, yellow, and green.
Drink your coffee from an eBay mug, and use one of your eBay water bottles from previous events. Take notes in an eBay notebook, using an eBay pen. If you take the post-eBay Open survey, you’ll also receive special event swag.
To help you get the most out of eBay Open 2022, I’ve created, Your Seller Success Checklist for eBay Open 2022. Download your complimentary copy HERE.
See you at eBay Open!
by Kathy Terrill | Jul 19, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
The eBay Time Away feature for sellers is now better than ever.
When it comes to selling on eBay, you’re always open. Whether you have an eBay store or not, your items are available to shoppers 24/7/365. But sooner or later, you’re going to need Time Away. Yes, that’s Time Away with a capital “T” and a capital “A.” Time Away is eBay’s way of letting you take a break from selling without having to close your store or end your listings.
Before eBay Time Away, only eBay store subscribers could put their selling on hold.
It was called Vacation Settings. You could choose to allow purchases while you were away or to have your listings hidden. For sellers who didn’t have a store, the only way to get time off from eBay was to either bulk-edit listings to extend your handling time (up to a maximum of 10 days) or end your listings altogether, then relist everything once you were ready to get back to work.
Thankfully, now there’s a better solution available to ALL sellers.
If you need to take a break from selling, you can schedule some time away using — what else? — Time Away.
You can access Time Away from the “Change Settings” hyperlink in the upper right-hand corner of your My Messages inbox. Click on “Change Settings”, then scroll down to “Time Away and Automatic Response.” Time Away is also on the eBay App under “Settings.” You can also access it from this page, select “Go to Time Away Settings.”
Now you’re ready to set up and manage your Time Away settings and My Messages autoresponder.
Under “Set up your time away”, click “Let’s go”.
In addition to scheduling Start and End dates, you’ll need to decide whether you want to pause or allow item sales. If you allow sales, you can have up to 15 days of time away; if you pause sales, you can have up to 30 days. Then click “Apply”.
You can select today’s date if you need Time Away to begin immediately.
Within minutes, a message will appear at the top of your listings, letting buyers know that you’re away. However, it takes a few hours for estimated delivery dates to update. Furthermore, if you choose to “Pause item sales”, allow several hours for your listings to be hidden. So, it’s best to set up Time Away in advance.
Set your time away to start a day or two before you begin your break from selling.
Doing this accommodates any last-minute orders. Then end your time away a day or two later than your actual return date. This way you have time to pack and ship any sold items.
It’s a good idea to utilize Time Away’s My Messages auto-response feature as well.
Customize it with a message letting customers know you’re away and when you’ll be back. Then click “Apply”.
Bear in mind that whether you choose to pause sales or allow them, delivery dates will NOT be updated for:
- Second Chance Offers
- Auto-accepted Best Offers
- Pending counteroffers
- Seller-initiated offers accepted during Time Away
- Items with Local Pickup or Global Shipping Program (GSP) as a shipping option
So don’t send out offers right before you go on vacation.
In addition, plan to edit handling time and/or shipping options for Local Pickup and GSP listings, as well as for any listings that offer eBay International Standard Delivery (eISD).
If you opt to allow sales while you’re away, your listings remain visible, and buyers can purchase your items.
However, they’ll see a message at the top of your listings stating that you are on time away until thus-and-such date. Meanwhile, estimated delivery dates will automatically be updated in the Shipping and Delivery section of your listings.
Should you prefer to pause sales during your time away, your fixed price listings will be hidden from search results, so shoppers won’t be able to find and buy them. Even if a buyer already has one of your items on their Watch list or in their cart, they won’t be able to complete the purchase. Instead, they’ll see a note telling them that you are not processing orders until your Time Away end date.
When your Time Away ends, it can take a couple of hours for your listings to reappear in search results. However, they will do so automatically.
Auction listings cannot be hidden during Time Away.
They’ll continue to play out in real time. But a message at the top of the listing will inform bidders that you’re away, and the estimated delivery date will automatically be updated.
For a deep dive into Time Away — and Time Away strategies — check out my video eBay’s Time Away Vacation Update
While you’re on hiatus (or when you get back), consider taking some time to brush up on eBay basics. My free guide How to Start Selling on eBay offers proven, actionable advice to sellers at all levels of experience. It even includes tips on sourcing inventory, some of which you can implement while traveling.
To get your complimentary copy, go HERE.
Enjoy your time away!
by Kathy Terrill | Jun 29, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
With the current economic times, two concerns are front and center for eBay seller, inflation and recession. How can you “recession–proof” your eBay sales?
Let’s look at inflation, recession, and how to recession–proof eBay selling!
Both inflation and recession are prominent in the headlines and on everyone’s mind right now. It’s the reason that prices have gone up for shoppers in the U.S. According to usInflationCalculator.com, as of the end of May, the current rate of inflation is 8.6%.
Inflation impacts what eBay shoppers buy.
Furthermore, we’re heading into summer — a time of year when many retailers, both online and off-, see a dip in sales. So how do smart eBay sellers recession proof eBay sales? It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4.
First and foremost, think like a buyer to recession-proof eBay selling!
What ARE people buying, despite inflation and the season? Well, for starters, a recent NPR article says that while people may cut back on purchases for themselves, they will continue to shop for and generally spoil their pets.
Can YOU source items for this market? To get inspired, search pet-related categories on eBay. Terapeak is a big help for spotting trends and hot items and/or niches; it’s under the Market Research tab in Seller Hub.
A more advanced product research tool available to eBay sellers is Zik Analytics.
Using Zik Analytics sellers can quickly spot current sales trends in a wide variety of categories on eBay. Zik Analytics not only helps eBay sellers find what’s selling, it also shows them the sell–through rate — i.e., how quickly each item is selling. It’s great to discover eBay sales trends, but it’s equally important (if not more so) to know how fast an item sells!
Once you discover popular categories and products, watch local thrift shops, yard sales, clearance sections at both online and brick-and-mortar retailers. Be sure to include your discount and wholesale suppliers. With Zik Analytic’s powerful eBay research tools, you can quickly see if the type of item you want to source is available on Ali Express and or Alibaba. Remember: It’s always wise to source from a variety of vendors.
Second, remember that people are traveling again!
Also noted in the aforementioned NPR article is the fact that after being homebound for the past couple of years, Americans as well as people around the globe are back on the move.
So while you’re wearing your think-like-a-buyer hat, think about this: What do travelers need? One exceptionally useful item that’s also easy to source is fanny packs. Yes, what the British call “bum bags” are still in style for traveling. Better yet, there are lots of ways to source them.
When I checked sold items on eBay via Advanced Search, I found out that nearly 11,000 fanny packs have sold during the past 2 weeks alone. That’s a lot of fanny packs. And Zik Analytics offers sellers a deeper dive on the the hot topic of fanny packs.
Third, note that consumers are looking to stretch their dollars — so go grocery shopping to recession-proof your eBay!
Groceries are a major household expense, so they’re where people pinch their pennies. Albeit eBay is not typically a go-to ecommerce site for groceries, they DO sell. Especially limited edition flavors and/or other regional variants of a product, because what’s available in one part of the country may be scarce or downright unavailable elsewhere.
One particularly huge and hot grocery category is TEA. Check sold tea items on eBay — and hold on to your hat, because there are more than 30,000 of them. Yes, really: THIRTY thousand-plus!! Can you source brands and/or tea sets that will sell?
In addition to local suppliers, keep the handy and informative tools of Zik Analytics in mind. You can research tea and discover if products you want are available quickly from AliExpress or Alibaba. It’s something to keep in mind.
Fourth, guess what else people like to buy online, where they can get the best deals? Health & Beauty items!
That fascinating NPR article calls it “the lipstick effect”. In the article, Priya Raghubir, professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, defines the lipstick effect as “when consumers spend on small luxuries like perfume or high-end beauty purchases even in a downturn.”
Here in New York City, I can find new, unused, sealed makeup at thrift stores. Keep an eye out at estate and yard sales as well. Someone may have bought some new makeup and then changed their mind. Or they received it as a gift and never used it.
Furthermore Zik Analytics powerful research tools can help you find in demand health and Beauty items on AliExpress and Alibaba.
Pro tip: When I’m in stores such as Sephora, I chat with the salespeople. Are there colors and/or styles being discontinued? MANY discontinued lipstick, eyeshadow, and nail polish colors sell extremely well on eBay, because consumers LOVE their favorite shades and will pay big bucks for them!
Here’s the bottom line:
Despite inflation, recession, and the onset of summer, something sells on eBay every second of every day. It’s up to you to see to it that YOU are among those selling that something.
Think like a buyer. Buyers are shopping. To stay successful t’s a matter of coursing and selling what IS in demand. Searching eBay and using Terapeak will help. When you’re ready to step up your game, look at the professional research tools Zik Analytics offers to eBay sellers.
To that end, as you’re listing, remember: You want to create OPTIMIZED listings that will rank well in eBay search results. So grab your complimentary copy of my free guide, Dominate eBay Search & Win More Sales!, at https://ilovetobeselling.com/webinars-and-workshops/dominate-ebay-search-tips/. It’s packed with powerful, proven tips for creating listings that sell fast for top dollar.
Sell on, eBay seller! There’s no need to let inflation, recession, and/or the summer slowdown bring you down — or bring down your sales.
4 top tips to recession-proof your eBay selling!
by Kathy Terrill | May 27, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
eBay’s policy on eBay Listing Page views has recently been updated.
As an eBay seller, you know what it takes to get sales: You’ve got to offer the right stuff at the right price — and you’ve got to list it right, too, so that it gets found by the right buyer. In the recent Spring Seller Update, eBay announced a change in the way that listing page views are counted. I discuss this change in detail in my blog post eBay Spring Seller Update 2022: Change Ahead.
What it boils down to is this: Only eBay listing page views by humans will now be counted and included in eBay’s traffic reports.
Previously, page view counts included views by bots — AI (artificial intelligence) entities that crawl the worldwide web, scanning websites. Bots now account for approximately 40% of internet traffic, but their page views don’t lead to sales. They just inflate your page view count.
That’s because bots don’t shop.
Only humans shop. So eBay is filtering out non-human page views in order to give sellers more accurate data.
This important change started rolling out at the end of April. When your listings are ready to be updated to the new page view counts, you’ll see notifications on your Active and Unsold Listings pages in Seller Hub.
Bot traffic varies across products and categories.
But chances are you’ll notice a significant drop in listing page views. Don’t worry about it! The lower numbers in your traffic reports don’t mean that less shoppers are looking at your items. Actual traffic from potential buyers is not changing. You can read more about updated page view counts on eBay.
To get a better handle on this change, look at your traffic report for sold items.
How many page views did those listings get — 1? 5? 10?
Remember: It’s about getting the right views. And that means creating a great listing that will get found by your buyer. Not just any buyer, but YOUR buyer! I explain this in my recent video What Happened to My eBay Listing Views?
A great listing starts with a great title, filled with good keywords that buyers would use when searching for your item. Look at that item. What best describes it: Brand? Shape? Color? Pattern? Model number? Size? Use? Put those in the title. eBay gives you 80 characters; use them! Don’t waste characters on punctuation or emojis.
I’ve got more great listing tips in my free hit guide eBay Listings that Sell. Download your complimentary copy HERE,.
So in sum, don’t panic over a drop–off in page views right about now. Instead, optimize your listings to attract more human eyeballs.
Have you checked your eBay listing views recently?
by Kathy Terrill | Apr 21, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
eBay unveiled the eBay Spring Seller Update 2022 this month. It is positively brimming with good news for sellers! There are also some not-so-good aspects, of course, particularly around category changes. You can find and read the entire Spring Speller Update for yourself at ebay.com/sellerupdate.
First, the really good news in the eBay Spring Seller Update 2022: a new Unpaid Item initiative!
For years, sellers have asked eBay to require immediate payment on Best Offer and auction listings. Too many such purchases end up as unpaid items, which is frustrating for sellers. eBay spoke about the coming of requiring payment from buyers when making offers in the eBay Winter Seller Update of 2022.
eBay has listened. In previous years, all monies went through PayPal, so eBay couldn’t implement an immediate payment requirement. But now that eBay holds the purse strings in the form of Managed Payments, it’s become a viable option. eBay is not setting a specific start date for this new policy, stating only, “Later this year, we’ll start asking buyers to pay when they accept a seller’s Offer to Buyer or a counteroffer.”
More good news in the eBay Spring Seller Update : bundle offers!
On Poshmark, buyers can put several items into a bundle and send an offer to the seller. eBay sellers familiar with this Poshmark option have asked for it to be made available on eBay as well.
eBay came through, saying, “We’ll also introduce a new feature that will let buyers request a bundled offer on multiple items. These multi-item offers can be completed in one transaction, saving you time and making it easier for buyers to purchase more of your items.”
Look for this to roll out later in the year.
Positive updates to seller-facing data!
eBay is changing the way it tallies listing views. You know how disconcerting it can be to see listings that have lots of views, but still haven’t sold. What you may not know, however, is that some items get viewed by AI (artificial intelligence) entities called bots as much if not more than they do by humans.
This typically happens to products with well-known brand names — such as Apple, Disney, or Barbie. Keyword terms like Mid-Century Modern or even “cell phone” may trigger bot activity, too.
Starting in April 2022, eBay will filter out bot views from the total number of impressions. This is good news for sellers. Views from human shoppers are of interest to sellers, not bots that crawl the internet harvesting information!
Furthermore, eBay has promised to add a new Listing Traffic History Report that will enable sellers to quickly and easily analyze traffic to their listings over the past 30 days.
eBay’s new messaging format is now live in the eBay Mobile app!
As promised in the 2022 Winter Seller Update, eBay has begun rolling out the beta version of their newly improved member-to-member messaging system. When you’re invited to opt in — if you haven’t already — I highly recommend you do so. eBay reports excellent feedback so far from both buyers and sellers, and I personally use and love it.
New look to eBay messages between buyers and sellers! (Photo courtesy of eBay)
More payout options plus a digital wallet!
eBay’s 2022 Spring Seller Update reiterates the newly expanded list of choices as to when you receive your funds from Managed Payments. The choices are daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. eBay also reminds sellers that the company will soon be adding a digital wallet. Using the wallet sellers can use funds earned from selling to make eBay purchases.
Now for the sticking points: category changes and item specifics.
Possibly the most dreaded of all eBay changes are those to categories. But they are a part of every seller update, driven by buyer behavior, changes in available inventory, and changes in mandated information for global selling and shipping.
eBay Spring Seller Update 2022: Categories affected by changes coming May 17!
The eBay Spring Seller Update announced the following categories have changes coming May 17, 2022.
- Collectibles (Toys)
- Health & Beauty
- Home & Garden
- Parts & Accessories
Those are all very large categories. If you sell in any of them, pay close attention to any upcoming Required item specifics notifications you receive via Seller Hub or eBay’s My Messages. You’ll have until mid-July to add newly required attributes to your listings.
Remember: Item specifics feature terms eBay uses in search, so it’s beneficial to your listings’ ranking in search results to include newly required item specifics fast — it will help your items to get found by buyers! Read up on all the details of these upcoming category changes HERE.
Good things are coming…but not yet!
There’s plenty of good news in the 2022 Spring Seller Update. However, eBay is very vague on when these exciting new initiatives will go live. Still, on balance, there’s a lot of good stuff to unpack here. Think carefully about how the upcoming changes will impact you in your business on eBay.
You’ve got this seller!
eBay Spring Seller Update 2022 is here!
by Kathy Terrill | Mar 28, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
eBay seller, If I offered you my top three time savers for eBay sellers, what would your response be?
I bet you would tell me, “Yes please!” And that is because when I ask sellers what they need most the answer is, “More time.” It’s the number-one lament I hear from sellers at every level. Time savers for eBay sellers are an urgent need.
So here you go. Below are my top three awesome solutions for making the most of your time as a seller.
First, where is your time going?
Have you ever tracked it? Because it’s well worth doing! You may think you spent an hour listing; it was actually three hours. Or maybe that one-hour visit to the thrift store turned into two hours.
Click HERE to download my free I Love to Be Selling’s handy Time Tracker. I designed it just for you, my eBay seller friends. Then use it to track your time for at least two days. Yes, that means write it down!
Write down EVERYTHING: listing, shipping, grocery shopping, walking the dog, doing laundry, etc., etc. Accounting for your time is the first step in managing your time.
Second of my time savers for eBay sellers is sort your workflow into batches.
Now that you know where your time is going, think about what daily selling activities you can group together: Photos? Research? Listing similar items?
Then go deeper. When you go out product sourcing, map out your route for thrift shops and/or yard sales. What personal or business errands could you do along the away? For example, say you drive the kids to school. Is there a thrift store on the way home? Errands lend themselves particularly well to batching.
Perhaps you source wholesale. How often do you typically purchase merchandise. Look at your calendar. Set that up as a recurring tasks. Bam! Now it’s baked into your schedule. The time thinking about reordering is freed up. Anything you can batch and or set as a recurring task in an automated calendar/schedule opens up precious hours in your day,
And then what about the power and freedom of handing tasks off to professional eBay tools?! Good eBay tools can execute tasks you don’t need to do manually.
Third, use timesaving eBay tools.
eBay store owners need time to list; ship; source; provide customer service; and keep up with their eBay store data and analytics. You’ve got to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as your sales reports, traffic report, and listing quality report. Analyzing these metrics on a regular basis is vital if you want to keep those sales a-coming!
But it can take hours to sift through all that information. So you basically have three options:
- Find/make the time, and just do it.
- Have an assistant handle it and report back.
- Use a professional eBay tool like Optiseller.
Optiseller gives eBay sellers a comprehensive and easy-to-use Store Performance dashboard. In just a few minutes, you can gauge the health of your business.
http://https://youtu.be/91O9aU3LsfY
Within seconds, you’ll know if your listings’ titles and images are in good shape or need some work. Take another look to determine whether your item specifics could be improved. Know your conversion rate at a glance.
Optiseller’s Store Performance dashboard includes an indicator for Areas of Most Improvement. Reports are color coded in red, amber, or green, so you know what to prioritize without spending valuable time sorting through report after report, wondering what to focus on first. Thanks to Optiseller, you can see what needs improvement —then navigate to those problematic listings and quickly revise them.
In closing know where your time goes. Track it exactly so you can make wise choices for your eBay selling. Next batch your tasks. Thinking through your work flow and your most effective flow for everything from errands, to shipping to putting inventory away save you many hours. And finally use a professional seller tool like Optiseller to master your eBay data quickly and effectively.
Mastering time management sets the stage for a thriving eBay business that supports your life choices.
eBay Sellers here are three easy to do time savers!
by Kathy Terrill | Mar 5, 2022 | eCommerce Selling Tips, eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
Change is in the air again on eBay with the release of the eBay Winter Seller Update 2022.
As is usually the case, the eBay Winter Seller Update is a mixed bag. You owe it to yourself to read the entire update at ebay.com/SellerUpdate. Meanwhile, here’s a rundown of the high points and caveats.
On the positive side, sellers get access to some useful functionalities from Selling Manager Pro.
eBay is (finally!) taking steps to reduce Unpaid Items. And there’s a new messaging experience in the eBay Mobile app. In addition, there are updates to how feedback is collected and displayed.
That’s all good news. What’s not such good news (but isn’t unexpected) is that fees are going up in several areas: Final Value Fees (FVFs), listing upgrade fees, and Promoted Listings (PL) fees.
First, let’s look at the Final Value Fees announced in the eBay Winter Seller Update.
For eBay store subscribers, final value fees will increase 0.3% in most categories. For eBay sellers without stores, they’ll go up 0.35%. The uptick goes into effect this Tuesday, March 1. You can view the Standard Selling Fees table at https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/seller-updates/2022-winter/fees-update.html.
Higher Final Value Fees means less money into your pocket from the sale of each item. Keep a sharp eye on your profit margins, and price your items with the higher fees in mind.
Also as of Tuesday, March 1, the optional Subtitle listing upgrade fee will go up by $0.50: to $1.50 for Auction format listings, $2 for Fixed Price. Think twice before you opt for this expensive upgrade. Most listings really don’t benefit from subtitles.
The third fee increase won’t take place until June 1, 2022.
That’s when the calculation methodology will change for Promoted Listings Standard ad fees. Specifically, the ad fee will be calculated based on the total amount of each attributed sale. The fes will include taxes and shipping, instead of just the item’s final price.
That could result in a significant increase in your Promoted Listings payouts. You’ll need to keep a firm handle on your ad budget and rates. I speak to this in my YouTube, ” Help with Higher Seller Fees Coming from eBay’s Winter Update!”
So, plan to pay close attention to your Promoted Listings dashboard. And while you’re looking at your PL dashboard, grab my free PDF guide, Winning with Promoted Listings. With the way Promoted Listings Standard fees are calculated, now more than ever its crucial to maximize your Promoted Listing sales results.
Getting back to the good news in the eBay Winter Seller Update, sellers can now automate feedback to buyers.
Seller can choose both what to say and when to say it. Furthermore, auction listings can be automatically relisted via Seller Hub. Last but far from least, Sales Reports will have new features and more detailed info.
These are all capabilities formerly available only to sellers who subscribe to Selling Manager Pro (SMP). SMP’s inventory management features will still be available exclusively to subscribers.
Even better news is that eBay is expanding its pilot program (launched in October 2021) requiring immediate payment from buyers whose Best Offers are accepted.
By midyear, this procedure will also be standard for counteroffers and offers to buyers.
You can opt out of Buyer Payment Requirements — meaning that buyers won’t have to provide a payment method before making you an offer — in your Buyer Management settings at https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements.
In closing the Winter eBay Seller Update 2022 is mostly good news for sellers. Premium tools like automated feedback are now available to all sellers. On the down side is the increase in seller’s Final Value Fees. And there is a large change in the way the Promoted Listing Fee is calculated for PL Standard. The pain of the fee increases can be reduced with sellers reviewing their profit margins. Margins can be adjusted, and sell through rates increased to keep a sellers eBay business healthy.
eBay selling fees increasing in 2022!
So, do your eBay business check up now. And then onto a wonderful healthy and prosperous 2022 selling on eBay.
by Kathy Terrill | Feb 3, 2022 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
As an eBay seller, you’re well aware that time is money. In fact, it might be even more precious than that. Because chances are, you never seem to have enough of it. So I’ve come up with 3 time saving tips for eBay sellers.
These 3 timesaving tips will help you to carve valuable minutes and even hours out of your day — time that you could use to source, list, ship, or just enjoy your off-eBay life!
Speaking of sourcing, listing, and shipping, those are what you spend most of your time doing. Let’s see how each of those activities could be done more efficiently by better managing your time.
First timesaving tip, let’s talk sourcing.
Number one method to save eBay sellers time!
To begin our time saving tips, map out your route to and from various stores and/or sales. Could you hit them in clumps? Or combine them with other errands? Want ideas on what to source while you’re out shopping? Check out my blog post , ” eBay Selling, How To Best Prepare!”
So, maybe your post office is near a great yard sale, or there’s a terrific thrift store enroute to the restaurant where you’re meeting your BFF for lunch. Mapping your routes on a regular basis saves both time and gas money!
I list my route, errands, and stops in the Reminders app on my iPhone. Feel free to use the app of your choice, or go old school and jot down the pertinent information on paper.
Second timesaving tip, think listing.
Did you know that ALL sellers can create listing templates? Yes, you can! And they’re free! You can create up to 50 different templates.
And these are not the old-style templates from back in the day, loaded with all kinds of unnecessary embellishments that slow down your item pages. These are lean, clean templates that you create yourself. You can save listings as templates or make a template from scratch.
Listing templates allow you to give buyers more consistent information across all the items you have for sale. They also make it easier for you to manage your listings and they are a HUGE timesaver. Need to list a mug? Open your Mug template, and voilà!
Third timesaving tip, consider shipping.
Labeling and systematically storing your inventory, then finding, packing, and shipping sold items is the most time-consuming part of your business.
When you’re first starting out, it’s wise to handle this yourself as you learn the process of selling on eBay. You can set up an inventory storage system right in your own home (using your basement, garage, a dedicated eBay room, even a freestanding shed) or in a storage unit or other rented space.
But as your business grows, you’ll need to look at ways to successfully handle your online selling without working 16-hour days.
One solution for growing your business while also managing your time is to outsource inventory storage and shipping. This used to mean hiring local help to process, store, and ship inventory, which in turn means hiring, training, and paying full- or part-time employees. All of this can prove daunting.
Dave and Laurie Bilyeu, who sell on eBay themselves, came up with a solution: eBliss provides inventory storage and order fulfillment for online sellers.
So, you send them all or part of your inventory to store for you, then ship when it sells.
eBliss offers sellers two options — The Start-Up Plan and The Freedom Plan — and their handy calculator lets you figure out exactly what using eBliss would cost you.
Let’s break it down: Say eBliss would cost you $350 per month. That $350 saves you from putting away inventory, pulling sold items, and packing those sold items. Let’s say those chores usually take you about 15 hours each week. That’s 60 hours a month.
So using eBliss would give you back 60 hours to list, source, enjoy a hobby, or spend time with family and friends — at a cost of just $5.83 an hour! Using any of my affiliate links for eBliss you save 20% off your first month on whichever plan you select.
In closing, look at your online selling and the amount of time you spend on it. Then use these timesaving tips to free up time and gain more profit in your business on eBay.
Imagine 60 hours a month handed to you eBay seller!
by Kathy Terrill | Dec 30, 2021 | eCommerce Tips, Selling on eBay
Seller it’s time to get ready for the new year with eBay Top Selling Tips for 2022!
For many businesses, the tail end of Q4 is time to coast. For eBay sellers, that’s not the case. Holidays are a highly profitable selling season. They are also when you must begin setting up your business for success in the new year. Here are eBay selling top tips to help you do that.
So while you’re busy listing and shipping be ready for the annual surge of post-holiday buyers self-gifting, spending gift cards, and investing in New Year’s resolutions. How do you know what to focus on where and when?!?
Here are some eBay top selling tips for you:
First, do you have inventory hanging around that you’d really like to see go out the door? If you have an eBay store, there’s an easy-peasy solution: Use Promotions Manager to mark down your unwanted inventory by at least 30% — 40% or 50% off is even better —and get it sold!
Once you’ve created that holiday clearance sale, use eBay Stores’ new marketing banner tool to make a banner linked to your markdown event (sale).
You can also set up a linked marketing banner if you opt to handle discounting your items via a public coded coupon.
You can find this option under the Marketing tab in Seller Hub: Create a Promotion > Coupon. For more information about coupon strategies, check out my YouTube video eBay Coupons A-Z with Senior Product Manager Parin Jogani.
If you don’t have an eBay Store subscription , you can still drastically lower your prices on listings of stale inventory. Or put those items up for auction. Just be sure to set an opening bid amount that will satisfy you even if you only get a single bid.
Second, while you’re purging must-go goods, it’s wise to be refreshing your inventory by adding new in-demand items.
As you research sales statistics for various potential bestsellers, think about these key factors:
Checking Sold items, how fast does this item typically sell?
What is the profit margin?
Use eBay’s free research tool, Terapeak, to find the answers.
It’s under the Research tab in your Seller Hub. Think about this: If you only make a few dollars on an item, and it’s liable to sit on the shelf for months, is it truly worth listing? In addition, evaluate items with an eye towards how easy (or difficult) they will be to pack and ship.
Remember: You want to source and list products that will bring you a healthy profit. Some sellers are OK with only making a few dollars on a certain item because it sells fast. It’s lightweight and easy to ship. It can be listed in a single multiple-quantity listing. Selling a low-margin product via a multi-quantity listing can work out fine. You only have to create that listing once, and then it will keep on making money for as long as you have access to that product.
Your multi-quantity listing also will get a boost in search results every time another item sells from it, so win-win.
One seller friend of mine has told me she has a listing on eBay that’s now more than five years old, and it continues to be a reliable moneymaker for her!
One final caveat: If you listen to other sellers’ tips as to exactly which items, brands, and/or products sell well on eBay, add this grain of salt. If that info is publicly available, hundreds — if not thousands — of sellers could start sourcing the same items you’re seeking.
So although your research may tell you that a recommended product is selling for X number of dollars, by the time you actually find, obtain, and list that product, the price may have plummeted due to many other sellers doing likewise.
How can you avoid getting caught in this possibly costly sinkhole?
One way to source smarter is when you hear that Product X is hot, check it out. Is it really? If so, drill down. Is there some kind of subset (e.g., a certain style or model) that may not sell quite as quickly, but is a steady seller? Go after that item. It’s called a micro-niche.
Now that you’ve gotten yourself into the seller mindset of “out with the old inventory, in with the new”, then what?
Clear your calendar for the week of January 10-16, 2022. Because I’m going to be running an awesome free event: New Year Sales Success Boot Camp! It will be a full week of daily Facebook livestreams absolutely jam-packed with information designed to explode your eBay selling success in 2022. Be sure to sign up for this stellar eBay seller event HERE. It’s my gift to the seller community.
Hot new items plus hot tips for selling them — what better way to kick off a brand-new year on eBay? Hope to see you at boot camp!
FREE New Year Sales Success Boot Camp!
