Experienced ebayers please HELP?

Question

Can someone tell me in a nutshell (if that's even possible) why I keep listing items for sale on ebay and never get a single bid or even a watcher? I keep hearing about how so many people are making lots of money with ebay and I also hear about all the ridiculous stuff that brings big prices (such as a piece of toast with what appears to be Jesus' face in it or a flake of cereal shaped like Indiana)... C'mon now. I am listing new, commonly purchased items at below retaill prices and don't even create an interest. What am I doing wrong? Also, I am using a dropshipper and they provide the pic of the item, the description, set shipping method and cost. They handle everything from sending the info to ebay through a link (called ebay it) which I establish to my ebay account. They also arrange shipping (with only my name on the label) etc. They make it so easy and that's why I went with them in the first place however I'm thinking dealing with a dropshipper may not be the best way to go.

Answer 1

Take a look around eBay and see how many hundreds of other people are selling the exact same item. Almost fell into that trap myself, but I took a look around and saw that others are able to sell the same item for less than the dropshipper was selling it to me.

It's fairly common. They use a lot of hype, to make you think you're going to get rich off eBay, when in fact, they're the ones getting rich off people that they lure in.

Answer 2

check other listings to see how their prices and descriptions compare to yours for the same or similar product

Answer 3

I can give you these few pointers because I was a powerseller on eBay for over 2 years.

The common misperception with eBay is that people think they can just set up shop and start making thousands of dollars. However you have to have the right mix of things to make the perfect sale on eBay.

Some items flat out do not sell on eBay. Before selling an item, try searching for this item on eBay and seeing how much these are selling for and whatnot. Or if there is even a market for it.

Dropshippers are not the best way to go, they can make customers so mad because you can't control the service the customer gets after the sale.

Also, low starting prices on hot items are key. An item will sell with a higher avg selling price when started at .01 than at the actual value of the item. People get caught up in the bidding process and the competition of it all, and end up bidding higher if the starting price is low.

I found the best way to make good money on eBay is to go to cheap shops and buy name brand stuff for cheap prices, then sell them on eBay for still under retail.

It's hard to find the right mix to make the sale go well on there. I have so much more I could say,

if you need any more help or questions  email me at

[e-mail]

Answer 4

The first thing you have to take into consideration, is the stories you hear about fantastic eBay sales ... the whole reason you hear them is because they are out of the ordinary.  Unless you have a lot of business savvy and have stumbled upon a great idea, it's always going to be hard for you to make money on eBay.

And as some of your other responders have said, dropshipping is a very bad idea.  For one, I would never purchase from someone using a dropshipper.  Dropshippers are always making mistakes ... their reputation is not at stake, so why should they care?  And I would not sell items through a dropshipper for that same reason ... your feedback, which is your reputation, is in your dropshipper's hands.

Also ... do you think you're the only person they're dropshipping for?  You have all this competition with the same product at the same price.  You might as well send eBay a check every month and save yourself the trouble of putting the auctions up.

Also ... you can't go by retail prices on most items, unless you're the only person on eBay with that item ... and maybe not even then.  People mostly go to eBay for bargains ... and to make it a bargain than the price plus shipping has to be well below retail in most cases.  They also come for hard-to-find items, but if you're using a dropshipper, I'm positive your items are not hard to find other places.

--edit--

You can buy things to increase your number of feedbacks.  24 is okay ... and 100% is fantastic, that should help you.  As some of your other responders said there could be another problem, but we won't know unless you want to give us a link to your auction.

Answer 5

Got a link to one of your expired listings? We can probably diagnose your problem better that way.

Answer 6

You have to build up  your feed back.  If you don't have much feedback, or low percentage, people tend not to bid.  You also want to offer a return policy.  And fast shipping.  Make sure the items are listed in the correct category.  And check other people's listing to see what keywords they are using, so when people type in a word, you are pulled up in their search. :)

Good Luck!

Answer 7

I have successfully sold items on ebay.  Are the items you are selling high end or brand name?  This gets peoples attention.  I concidered using drop shippers but after some research it didn't appeal to me.  I was watching the real wives of new york (reality TV show) and one of the ladies, I believe, makes a great living selling high end products on the internet (not sure if it's ebay).  I thought she mentioned that she dealt directly with the company's corporate and that's how she gets her products.  I hope this gives you some help.  You might have to do some research to see what type of items sell best.  Good luck!

Answer 8

Without seeing the items that you're selling, it's hard to answer your question.

I sell 40 - 50 items a week, running a consignment store.

You should focus on selling items that you have.  Make sure you know how much things are selling for before you buy them.  Always start bidding at a very low price to get interest.

A good place to start looking for items to sell is Goodwill, Salvation Army, garage sales and Craigslist.  Again, make sure you know how much things are selling for BEFORE you buy them to resell.  Other wise you end up with a closet full of old junk. The best way to do this is to search for an item and then look at "completed listings" which is an option under "search options.  This shows you all items that ended in the past 2 weeks.  From there you can see what things sold for, how many people where bidding and how many times the page was viewed

It takes a little bit of time to get the hang of eBay but your much better off staying away from drop shippers and handling the business for yourself.

You can look at the items I sell and have sold for an idea of what sells and how to put your auctions together.

Items I'm selling

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZblingdr...

Answer 9

It is obviously the prices, that is why no one is taking in interest..

You may believe that they are below retail prices, but believe me, if they were below, people would of bidded on those items already and you would of sold.. it appears your drop shipper is charging more then the item is actually worth, so I dont think you will go anywhere with this drop shipper..

other then that, start using big bold letters in your listing descriptions to make it look fancy