4 Tips For Skyrocketing Your eBay Sales

Today I’m thrilled to have a guest post from Ruth at Ruthmakesmoney.com – Ruth is sharing her 4 tips on how to skyrocket your eBay sales!

I’m Ruth, and for the past year, I’ve been making money by selling other people’s tat on the internet. It’s fun, it’s profitable, and like any kind of business, it can be full of ups and downs.

Some weeks, the sales are coming in so thick and fast that you’re constantly wrapping up parcels, and you see the lady in the Post Office more often than you see your own partner. Other weeks, it’s nothing but crickets. You’re sneaking a little look at your app, but not a single thing seems to be shifting.

To a certain extent, it’s all par for the course. Still though, there are certain things that you can do to skyrocket your sales and get the cash coming through your door. Here are four methods to consider if you’re on a mission to increase your numbers…

Commit to improving 5 of your listings each day

When I look back at some of the listings that I created during my first few months as an eBay seller, they’re shockingly bad. My keywords were unimaginative, my pictures didn’t really showcase the items to their full potential, and I was utilising all the options that can bump your listings up the rankings. And you know what? A year from now, I’ll probably look back and say the same about what I’m currently doing. It’s all just a learning process, and you get better with time.

But instead of rushing out and ploughing more money into new stock, take a little time each day to work out how you can improve the listings you’ve already got. It can be just as profitable, and costs you nothing. This could involve taking more photos, carrying out some keyword research, or just experimenting with a slightly different approach.

Send sticky stock to an auction instead of Buy It Now

Generally speaking, I’m really not a fan of auctions. I much prefer to select a Buy It Now price, and wait for the right buyer to come along. Sometimes though, even if you’re sourcing great stock and are putting time and effort into your listings, there are things that just won’t sell. So once a month, I make the most of my 50 free auction listings and use them for any items that have been sitting around for a few months or more.

I’ve learned that starting them super low just doesn’t work for me, so I start them at the minimum amount that I’d be happy to take. Using this little strategy, I’d estimate that I make an additional 10 sales per month that I otherwise would have missed out on. That could quite realistically translate into an extra few hundred pounds of profit, which isn’t to be sniffed at!

Use your Markdown Manager to run a sale

We all love to think that we’re getting a good bargain, and retailers have been using discounts as a proven way to get more money ringing through the tills since commerce first began.  Using the Markdown Manager in your eBay account, you can create your own. Even just knocking a few pounds off your items can make a big difference, and it may well have an even more exciting long-term effect…

How eBay’s algorithms actually work are cause for much debate, and there are opposing views on what matters and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, only eBay knows for sure. But it’s quite widely accepted that if your sales are booming, that tells eBay that you’re a great seller, and you’re rewarded by having your items feature higher in search results. That, in turn, leads to more sales. Cha-chings all round!

Have a little patience

Okay, so this one probably isn’t what you want to hear if your sales are slow.  But actually, I do firmly believe that it’s the most important of them all. I’ll quite often get a message on Instagram from someone who’s feeling disheartened because they aren’t selling anywhere near as much as they’d like to. It’s usually not because they’re doing something wrong, but simply because they’re not managing their own expectations around what’s realistic.

Let’s have a little look at my figures… Right now, I’ve got around 200 active listings. On average, I’m selling around 10 items per week. That’s the kind of benchmark that I work to. So if you have 20 items listed, you can’t really expect to sell more than 1 per week, as frustrating as that might seem. Keep sourcing good stuff. Keep listing. Keep getting better at that process, and try not to let a lack of patience make you disheartened!

There are loads of external factors that influence how many sales you make. The end of the month can be a great time, when people have just been paid. The run up to Christmas can be booming, but things naturally slow down a little in January. Sometimes, it’s out of your control and you have to just roll with the punches.

If you have these tools in your kit though, you can take back a little bit of the power and increase your chances of hitting your eBay goals. Have you tried any of these? And are there any additional tactics that you’d add to the list?

Ruth has been self-employed for eight years and blogs at RuthMakesMoney.com about how to create online income streams and live your freedom lifestyle. She covers topics including eBay reselling, freelance writing, and matched betting.