More Tips for Ebay Sellers

Posted on September 12, 2006

An article on BusinessWeek offers more tips for eBay sellers. The article includes some obvious tips like use photographs, spell-check and don't flood the market with products. Here is one good suggestion about setting the bid price low for items you know won't have a lot of interest.

1. Set the starting price low (except for items you expect little interest in). Low starting prices stimulate auction traffic and get early bidders psychologically invested in the auction, leading to more completed sales and higher final prices. Professor Gillian Ku from London Business School and professors Adam Galinsky and J. Keith Murnighan from Northwestern found that Nikon cameras with starting prices of $0.01 resulted in significantly higher final prices than the average price for completed camera auctions.
An auction for a kitchen sink with a starting price of $225 ended without a single bidder. When re-auctioned with a starting price of $75, the sink sold for $275. The exception to the start-low rule: If you're selling an idiosyncratic item you don't think a lot of people will bid on, set a price closer to the item's actual value.

It sounds like people might bid an item up quickly if they think it is a great deal. The article also says not to sell during "eBay Happy Hour" and not to charge too much for shipping.

8. Don't end auctions during "eBay happy hour." Though it might seem counterintuitive, a University of Pennsylvania researcher found that auctions ending during peak hours on eBay are actually 9.6% less likely to result in a sale. The reason? More competition. About 35% of auctions end between 5 p.m. and 8:59 p.m., when 25% of bids are placed.
9. Charge for shipping�but not too much. Bidders don't pay much attention to shipping costs when placing bids, say professors at UC Berkeley and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. CDs listed with a starting price of one cent with $3.99 shipping averaged 21% higher final sale prices than CDs set with an opening price of $4 and no shipping charge. But when the professors listed CDs with a $2 starting price and a $6 shipping cost, five of the 20 CDs went unsold.

Online shoppers really do take a close look at shipping fees. That's why online retailers have found so much success with the free shipping offers. The BusinessWeek article also has some good advice for avoiding negative feedback. Positive feedback is crucial for an eBay seller.