7. Know thy audience, know thy price
Are you selling the right item, at the right price, to the right audience? Investing time upfront will help yield better bids. Use eBay's Completed Item searches, scour your sever stats, and consult Google and Amazon to judge the going price of your items and don't forget to evaluate all your costs to determine the best price point. If you're running an eBay shop, Traffic Reports will yield valuable information, too.
8. First impression counts
An image really does speak a thousand words on eBay. You can bypass the darkroom, but you will need a decent digital camera and basic skills. If in doubt, take a dozen shots from different angles and you're bound to end up with a decent picture. Avoid using flash where possible, use a plain white background, and familiarise yourself with basic image-editing software. A basic portable studio kit is a good bet, too.
9. Donate to Charity
eBay buyers love a good deal, and they also like benevolent sellers. Whether you're a business or private seller, donating a percentage of your sale to charity may help you attract more bidders and traffic to your shop, and generate goodwill. Plus, you may well be featured on eBay's excellent Charity Hub. If you're a brand or charity, high profile auction campaigns can be a superb PR exercise, and raise significant funds in the process. Read more at eBay For Charity.
10. Update your design
We all know a clear, well-lit photograph on eBay makes all the difference, but a striking, professional shop front and listing template can go even further in inspiring confidence that you're a good, creditable seller. eBay's own listing and shop templates are quite basic, so it's worth creating your own HTML to customise your eBay presence, or hire an eBay-friendly designer. Frooition offers an excellent eBay design service.
11. Add value
There's no doubt eBay has never been so competitive, and with Best Match factoring in recent sales and price, you have to add value if you want to supplant your competition - even if you are a casual seller. It's also an ideal opportunity to be different to the competition. For example, make your iPhone listing stand out buy adding on a free case or music stand.
12. Get optimised
Thankfully, eBay is a search engine 'friendly' platform, but there's still more you can do to prime your eBay shop for search engines. Ensure a good number of your listings are on a Good-til-Cancelled format, which gives them better chance of being indexed by Google et al, and don't forget to complete your Search Engine Keywords used on eBay shop pages. An About Me page and product reviews are also a good ways to build content, bolster your natural search positioning and might impress buyers, too.
13. Sir, Madam, Baron? Make the most of your title
Use all 55 characters and use the subtitle for branding, if you've got lots of other items to sell. Think about the keywords that your buyers might use to find your item. If you're unsure about what terms buyers might use, use eBay Pulse and the Google Keyword Tool to glean ideas as to what people are searching for. Ensure your keywords are relevant - mislead buyers and you may be penalised.
14. Going, going, gone
Whilst Fixed Price items are increasingly popular with business sellers, auctions will always be an excellent way of attracting traffic to your listings, so it's worth considering a selection of auctions as attractive carrots to drive 'foot flow' to your other listings. And who knows, you might end up selling the item for above it's going price. If you're a private seller, auctions are often the best option.
