by Kathy Terrill | May 4, 2016 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay
Are you ready to increase your eBay online sales in with less than 1 hour of work? I know you are, so let’s get to work!
Go into your eBay inventory and sort it by how long it’s been listed.
You can sort by date listed with or without an eBay store in your eBay Selling Manager, Selling Manager Pro and/or Seller Hub by customizing your view. Make sure you have start date clicked in your customized view. HERE is how to access and change this in your My eBay.
Look at what you paid for the items. If you’ve had the product(s) for more than 2 years there are 3 tactics you can use.
You can sit tight and see if the item sells. If the product in question is a collectible item, waiting for the right buyer can make sense. It would be wise to have your collectible items listed using Best Offer and periodically tweak the keywords and promote the listings on social media.
After sorting your eBay inventory your 1st tactic for older merchandise is do a serious mark down sale if you have an eBay store.
A deeply discounted sale is a tactic brick and mortar retail stores use regularly and it works. Mark the older items down, 30, 40, 50% and run short duration sales. With Markdown Manager or CampaignGO you can set up a sale quickly. CampaignGo has the added benefit to the seller that one can mark down merchandise using the seller’s own eBay store SUBCATEGORIES! Using subcategories is helpful in targeting merchandise to move! Slash your prices as deeply as you can. Your sales goal is to move merchandise. A short duration sale gives the eBay seller slash pricing and a time clock on the item. You want customers seeing how little time is left on that sales clock encouraging them to make their purchase NOW while your item is deeply discounted! I can set up a sale with CampaignGo in under 90 seconds!
It’s Time To Sell!
The 2nd tactic to increase sales with less than 1 hour of work is to run eBay auctions. You can run eBay auctions with or without an eBay store.
Take an assortment of your inventory that’s been sitting for a while and set up a series of auctions. Set your auctions to start at a price you are willing to take if you only get 1 bid. Normally Sunday night and Monday night are the highest traffic times on eBay, but do your own research using eBay’s Advanced Search and the professional research tool Terapeak. Some items sell better on weekdays and or daytime. Take a few minutes and see what’s best for the eBay inventory that you are selling. While you’re researching double check your keywords and make sure you’ve made the best choices. eBay auctions done right can move merchandise quickly and effectively. I outline advanced auction strategies to increase your sales in my hit class Secret Sauce for eBay Sales.
In under 1 hour you’ve sorted your older eBay listings into 3 batches.
With batch 1 of inventory you consider using Best Offer and you are willing to wait for the right buyer. Batch 2 you run a series of deeply discounted sales to take advantage of slash pricing and the eBay sales clock. Your 3rd batch with some research you’ll launch a series of auctions to move stale merchandise and increase your immediate cash flow. Secret Sauce for eBay Sales is a huge help to eBay sellers with or without an eBay store to successfully optimize your eBay auctions to bring you the very best prices.
On Your Way To More eBay Sales!
Not bad for 1 hour of work eBay seller!
Now, get ready to pack the sales coming your way!
by Kathy Terrill | Mar 31, 2016 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay
Daily sellers come to me asking, “Kathy, how do I increase my sales on eBay? Kathy, how do I make more money on Etsy?”
How Do I Increase My Sales?
When I talk with sellers with failing or slow sales often I witness people using strategies with no real idea of why they are doing what they are doing. They read a post, or watch a YouTube describing how someone had success doing XX so the online seller looking to increase their cash flow jumps on the tip looking for instant sales results! I totally understand this predicament. When online sales are slow, out of desperation an entrepreneur will grab at tips often without checking the date and validity of the information!
When implementing sales strategies for eBay and Etsy check the date of the advice. If the post is more than 1-2 years old it’s very likely not up to date with what is currently effective for eBay, Etsy or Google search.
Step 1 to increase your sales on eBay, Etsy is slow down and think.
Take pen and paper or use an app like Evernote and consider what you want to accomplish. Then think through how you plan to do it.
It’s Important To Plan!
Take time and ponder, “How can I increase my sales?”
Do I need to list more? Do I need to carry a great variety of inventory? Do I need to offer a greater variety of price points to my shoppers?
When researching on eBay using eBay’s advanced search can help you get information you need. To get more in depth insights look at the professional eBay research tool Terapeak. Check your item’s price to make sure you are competitive not just on eBay or Etsy but on the worldwide web.For Etsy sellers Flipper Tools can help you with product sold price research.
Step 2 to increasing your online sales is to prioritize!
When sales are slow it’s easy to panic and start taking a series of random actions, similar to throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks!
Setting your priorities in the steps you want to take to increase your sales on eBay and Etsy will help you make wise choices with your time each day.
Step 3 is do your plan!
How often have you made a plan to increase increase your online inventory and then not done the necessary research, product shopping or listing? Have you gone to list an item and not taken the time to research what are the best choices for you to make on eBay that get you the most money? My hit eBook The Secret to eBay Search For Sellers walks you step by step through your eBay listing giving you the tools to write a winning eBay listing and maximize your sales profits! It’s not just a matter of buying winning inventory to sell! Listing your eBay product in an optimized format gains you the maximum sales results you want!
Step 4 is enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Congratulations! You looked at what it would take to move your eBay or Etsy business to the next level! You took the time to research and made a practical plan to increase your online sales. You then set your priorities and equipped yourself with good information and put your strategy to work! Reward yourself with a special treat! Perhaps it’s time for a luxurious manicure pedicure or you might prefer a delicious meal at your favorite restaurant, or both?! Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
Then back to work and make your next plan!
by Kathy Terrill | Mar 24, 2016 | eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay
I recently experienced a slow period for my eBay and Etsy sales as I took some family time. During my time with my family I stepped aside from my usual routine as a seller and my sales slowed down to a trickle!
I turned to eBay and Etsy sales basics.
I want to share with you exactly what I did that worked to turn my eBay and Etsy sales from a trickle to a steady stream of sales.
Breathe!
When sales slow down or stop altogether one’s first instinct is to panic!
The number one key to sales success online is take a moment to breathe and calm your thoughts. I know this can be hard when you’re looking at a stack of bills, but taking a deep breath and doing your best to let go of panic and stress is the best beginning.
OK, I’ve completed step one and I’m breathing deeply and relatively calm, now what?
The number two way to get your sales flowing on eBay and Etsy!
List!
The reason listing is key to increase sales is two fold. First when you list you give the eBay or Etsy search spiders new information for them to crawl. This also applies to the search spiders of Google, Yahoo and Bing. The other reason why listing is key to increase your online sales is more inventory means more potential customers. If you have 200 items listed, that’s 200 potential shoppers arriving to look at your online merchandise. If you have 100 listed, that’s 100 etc. I go into great detail explaining this in my new hit eBook The Secret To eBay Search For Sellers.
The basic rule of thumb is more listings means more shoppers!
The third key that reignited my eBay sales was I ran a sale! One of the great benefits of having an eBay store is that you can run a sale just like a brick and mortar retail establishment.
Run A Sale!
A sale in your eBay store accomplishes several things.
When you run a sale on eBay you get slash through pricing. Slash pricing catches the eye of online shoppers. When your price is lowered on eBay it can help your products to get better placement in eBay‘s Best Match search. Best Match is the default search on eBay. There are 3 ways to run a sale on eBay. You can use Markdown Manager, Promotions Manager, and/or the paid app CampaignGO. I like CampaignGO as I find it much faster than Markdown Manager. In addition I like the data it stores for on my sales results. CampaignGo is adding a Repeat Buyer Alert, so I can know when my previous customer(s) return to shop with me! You can create a sale that attracts shoppers on Etsy using coupons!
Breathe, list and run a sale to increase sales online!
When sales are slow you are looking for strategies that bring shoppers to your merchandise. Staying calm, listing and running a sale are proven successful strategies to increase profits on eBay, Etsy and anywhere you sell!
Bring on the shoppers!
Bring On The Shoppers!
by Kathy Terrill | Mar 3, 2016 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay
Since January 1 I’ve been sharing very practical tips with you to build and strengthen your eBay business this year.
To grow an online business it’s essential for sellers to plan.
During January, I wrote about the importance of eBay sellers creating a business plan. A business plan is fundamental to your achieving and sustaining business success. I wrote extensively explaining how your eBay business plan supports your online selling success in my blog post #1 Reason For Business Failure.
Did you take a few moments during your busy day in January to flesh out a business plan? Good for you if you did! Now is the time to take it out, take a look at it and gauge your progress.
Do you have a business plan?
Do You Have A Business Plan?
We’re almost through the 1st quarter of 2016. If you haven’t written out how you’d like to grow your eBay business you’ll find it’s easy for you to lose focus. Without a business plan it’s harder to chose what tasks you want to spend time on to build a stronger eBay online business for yourself.
Now is the perfect time to review your business.
How are your new eBay products selling? What do your customer’s say about you in customer feedback? Is your inventory system efficient? Are you getting likes, comments, shares and repins in social media?
Are Your Social Media Posts Getting Engagement?
Is the answer yes to all the above?
If it is yes, GREAT! Carry on and continue to gauge your progress. If it’s no, pause and grab a pen and paper.
What are the weaknesses you see in your eBay business?
Do you need to develop more inventory sources? Do you need better office organization? Would it be good to list more regularly? Is it time to update old listings? Do you want to learn more keys to search engine optimization? All eBay sellers want better search results for their listings! I’ve written a FREE tip sheet for you “How To Stand Out In eBay Search“.
Whatever you decide still needs work, pick 1 or 2 things to focus on.
Don’t allow yourself to get side tracked. Many eBay sellers sabotage their progress by trying to do and learn all things at once. It’s impossible and it hurts true growth.
When I was first learning social media I focused on 1 outlet at a time for 3 months. After the initial 3 months I moved to the next platform, then the next. Now years later I have a skill level in social media because I took the time to learn the fundamentals.
To grow your business you’ll find yourself chosing to attend webinars, read books and great information on SEO like my FREE ebay search tips, listening attentively in Facebook groups and working on your business with eBay consultants. Focused step by focused step you’ll build yourself a stronger and more vibrant eBay business!
With Focus You’ll Build A Strong eBay Business!
It all starts with a plan!
Take the time now to make your eBay business plan.
With your plan in mind, it’s time to step out!
by Kathy Terrill | Dec 19, 2015 | eCommerce News, eCommerce Selling Tips, Selling on eBay, Social Media Tips
Christmas is less than 7 days away! The final Holiday sales days and hours are counting down now!
Keep in mind that if buyers live in your state or nearby they can still order with you and anticipate the items they buy to be delivered in time to be under their Christmas tree!
For this to happen and keep shoppers stress to a minimum, it’s smart as a seller to offer expedited shipping for free and /or a very low cost as an upgrade to your primary shipping service.
Now that being said, ebay and Etsy sellers don’t forget shoppers like to shop for themself! This is called self gifting and it’s a growing trend every year. Many shoppers are buying right now for their own pleasure. They are NOT concerned with whether the item will arrive by December 25th, as they are making purchases of some goodies for an end of year treat for their own use!
Keep self gifting in mind this week with your posts on Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter. Welcome those customers in for purchases they they will enjoy for their own personal use!
‘Tis the season to shop for others and yourself! Targeting and welcoming self gifters is a great way for you to end your ebay and Etsy sales for 2015 with a bang! Other sellers will flounder as purchasing gifts for others will dwindle and they have not considered or thought of the self gifters.
You savvy seller can pick up sales now and through the end of the year with a targeted listing and social media approach to self gifting ! The result for you will be more sales and a strong end to the 4th quarter!
Isn’t that a nice gift to enjoy for your business?
Self Gifting is a gift to your business!
