By Erin Wawok

Feb

26

How To Sell More On eBay!

Online retail is dominating the sales world right now. According to NPR, over 90 percent of people make use of Amazon.com. However, eBay is not far behind, and many eCommerce sellers have begun to capitalize on its rapid growth. But success on eBay doesn’t happen overnight.

EBay is a commerce platform built on reputation and trust. You need to build up your eBay history as a trusted seller before you can expect to see serious results. For some people this can take up to a year or more. Fortunately, there are some easy tricks to give yourself every advantage possible. If you take this advice to heart, you’ll start climbing up the eBay sales charts in no time.

Search engine optimization

SEO is good for more than just website landing pages; therefore, you need to consider SEO when crafting your product listings. EBay has its own set of recommendations for optimizing your search engine ranking, and they’re worth checking out.

Try to make your copy relevant without resorting to keyword stuffing. It’s always wiser to write for your human audience first and Google’s algorithms second. Links are a good way to boost SEO, so don’t be afraid to link to your own website or other products that you sell. Once your copy reads well, then you can go in and tweak some things to make sure you’re ranking as high as possible.

There are various online tools that allow you to check your organic rank. Sometimes something as simple as moving a hyperlink higher up the page can increase your optimization.

Spruce up your listings

To really start selling more on eBay, you’ll want to optimize your listings. Several things go into creating the ideal listing on eBay:

Photographs

Good product photos are an easy way to add legitimacy to your eBay listings and to grow customer trust. It’s not hard for people to spot amateur photos taken in poor lighting conditions. If your pictures have a certain level of polish, they’ll make your products more appealing and you’ll likely beat out competitors with less professional photos.

You don’t have to hire a photographer to do this, either. And you don’t need to drop hundreds on a fancy camera. With a little practice and some basic knowledge of the principles of photography, you can create high-quality photos with even just your iPhone.

Descriptions

EBay ranks and lists products based heavily on their descriptions, meaning you should definitely write your listings while keeping in mind the SEO practices mentioned earlier. However, your product description is also your chance to really sell your wares to potential customers. Resist the urge to copy-paste similar descriptions from other sellers or even different sites. People will frequently spot these, and it makes your storefront seem like a scam.

Prices

The internet makes it easier than ever to shop around and compare prices. You don’t necessarily have to offer the cheapest price (sometimes incredibly cheap prices can actually backfire, making your listing seem like a scam). Instead, aim for a competitive price and try to beat the competition in other areas, such as shipping fees. It also pays to do some sleuthing through the sold listings to see what prices similar items have gone for and what days of the week those sales landed on.

Rating and feedback information

EBay actually ranks listings based off seller ratings. The sellers with the highest average ratings appear higher on the results page, so make sure your customers have no reason not to give you very good feedback.

Policies

Be sure you’re honest upfront about shipping costs, extra fees, and the condition of your products. Even if slight imperfections seem obvious (for example, you may be selling a used item) still be sure to disclose everything of note to avoid angering people who didn’t realize what they were buying.

And remember the importance of good customer feedback. Always respond to queries promptly and be quick with your shipping. Do not argue with people. State your refund policy up front so that there is no confusion later on.

Multichannel eCommerce

Most of this advice is just as accurate on other selling sites as well. Amazon and eBay are the most popular places for online retail right now, and there are many advantages to a multichannel selling strategy. While it can be tempting to bunker down with the single most popular eCommerce site and ignore all the others, this strategy is not only risky, but it also restricts your customer base. Being readily available to customers across all sites can help you score more sales, and also protect you from the policies of any one platform.

Spreading your sales over several channels may seem daunting, but with the proper software and a little know-how, you can manage multiple channel listings as easily as you manage one. Reach out to Listing Mirror today.

Sell More. Work Less.

Erin Wawok

Erin is the Co-Founder of Listing Mirror.