Hi,

I'm new to selling on eBay, and really I'm looking for advice on how to maximise the number of sales that I'm getting.

I'm selling vitamins and food supplements, 11 different types, prices ranging between 7.99 and 11.99 per unit.

Initailly I have chosen to sell these at over a 30 day BIN with 25 units per auction - I have allowed best offers also.

My pricing is competitive, better that most on there, also most charge for P&P.

Now I'm 20 days into my auctions, out of the 275 products in total, I have sold around 15 of them.

Is there anything I can do that will increase the number of units that I'm selling? I know the volume of buyers is there as I see some shops selling similar products at a similar price and getting 1000+ feedback per month.

Is a 30 day BIN the best format auction for these kind of products?

Would it be worth having 2-3 different listing for each different product?

Thanks in advance for your advice

Have some auctions with reasonable start prices too, these should help to get traffic to your BIN listings.

Thanks for your reply Do you think having auction listsings will get more attention than BIN offers?

Hi,
Interesting questions. Very Interesting niche.

The products that you are selling seem to be prime candidates for making lots of ongoing sales to a loyal customer base. I guess that what you've seen as lots of active sales by your competitors will be lots of repeat sales. You need to establish your own ongoing customer base, and that means attracting them away from the competition. It ought to be worth doing a bit of promotional selling. Sell some stuff at break even prices to draw in those customers, then hang on to them with tasty loyalty deals.

Certainly have the bulk of your stock listed as 30day BINS (UK & US listing types may differ). Have those listings as Good Till Cancelled and as stock sells, edit the listings to increase the number available. That's because a new listing of the same product won't feature so well in 'Best match' search results as an established listing with sales.

Next DO have a bunch of auction type listings. Try for a while having a listing ending every day, at early evening, or middle of the day. Set the lowest bid price as low as you can to cover costs. The reasoniing here is that a listing is most visible just before it closes, and by having a listing closing today, you get the attention today, not in 30 days time. Expect to waste a few listing fees on non-sellers, and just account for that, in your mind at least, as essential advertising costs. any sales are a bonus.

For BIN with best offer, keep the sale details private, so as not to reveal your low priced accepted offers. Another thing which I do, and which is within the rules of ebay is to place a button or link on each auction style listing to 'BUY IT NOW at ££££'. Then code that button so that anyone clicking it performs a buy it now on your fixed price listing. It's rarely noticed by the buyer, and perfectly legitimate. you just have to play nice with any buyers who have bid on the auction item but then gone on to BIN the fixed price item. This is a cheaper option (free) than having BIN available on auction listings.

Being a newish seller, try to make a big thing about future discounts on customer loyalty. Include a few broad hints in your listing, and mention your other listings where bulk purchases are available at greatly reduced prices. Cross promote your products within listings and sell in varying packet sizes if you can.

You need some sort of Unique Selling Point to set you above your competitors. Fantastic service iss essential, post promptly, be professional, sell GREAT products. At those prices, and with what I believe to be good margins, you should make some good money.

When you've clinched a sale, always insert a full colour, professionally presented flyer/price list in the package to the customer. That flyer may promote sales either on or off ebay. Make the bottom of the invoice a discount voucher for the next order.

Finally, keep a very close eye on your costs. Postage costs gnaw deep into your profits. Explore the best value packaging materials and postal services.

Good luck, and Stick at it.
Bry.

add more auction items ,which will bring traffic to your store

Only testing will show you what is the best for you.

I suggest to use one tactic:

List product in auction format with 3 days period, 3-4 times and look what prices you get at the end. List with 0.99$ starting price. Avarage the price and you will have buy it now price.

Never guess, test.