There’s Much You Can Learn From Competing eBay Auctions
If you haven’t already, you need to start looking at your
competitors’ auctions because you can learn a lot, as long
as you know what you’re looking for.
To begin with, don’t waste your time looking at currently
running listings because you don’t know what’s going to
happen with them. Instead, use the advanced search form and
search the completed listings for auctions that sold.
To do this, simply go to eBay’s advanced search form, type
in your best keywords, check the “Completed listings only”
checkbox and set the minimum number of bids to 1. Also, set
the sort order at the bottom of the form to “Price: highest
first”.
This will show you competing auctions that have recently
ended, with the ones that sold for the most at the top. Go
through and take a look, ignoring auctions with a red price
because they didn’t sell. Pay special attention to the
following things:
Titles. What are the other sellers putting in their titles
and what are they leaving out? If your titles are very
different then it might be a good idea to see if you can
make improvements.
Descriptions. You’ll probably notice that the successful
sellers haven’t just copied text from a company website or
from an Amazon.com review. They’ve gone through the trouble
of writing a little about the item and about themselves.
Learn from their example.
Pictures. I can almost guarantee you that the top selling
auctions will have good quality pictures which show enough
detail to let eBayers see what they’re getting. With items
of any significant cost, you will probably find multiple
picture, each from a different angle.
Style. Is it written conversationally or with a
businesslike tone? The way you should write depends on your
target audience, and these people seemed to like what the
top sellers wrote. After all, their items sold.
Time. It might seem insignificant to ignore this as a
factor, but pay attention to when the top selling auctions
began and ended and how mamy days they were listed for.
This might give you some clues about the best way to
attract buyers who will bid your item up. Then you can
schedule your items accordingly.
Price. If your competitors are selling using Buy it Now,
check to see what the maximum price is that they’ve managed
to sell for recently and consider setting your own Buy it
Now price slightly below that.
Shipping. Search the listings to find the “sweet spot” for
shipping. If you can figure out a way to get your shipping
costs lower than the highest sellers then this might be a
great opportunity to differentiate yourself in the market.
You might be surprised at how much of an impact a small
difference in shipping can make.
Once you’ve done your research and you find out what works,
you can start to emulate your competitors. Of course don’t
just copy them completely. Instead, structure your auctions
in a similar manner and make sure they include the same
information.
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Clint Herman is a successful eBay seller with over 6 years
experience selling on eBay. He also loves teaching others
how to sell on eBay. He is the author of “How to Get
Started Selling on eBay,” which is a beginner’s guide to
selling on eBay designed for people who are new to selling
on eBay. The guide is available at
http://www.beginnersauctionguide.com/ar.html
