I have been selling antiques (mainly European furniture) on eBay for some time now. I work for "European Estate Sellers" (
http://stores.ebay.com/Antique-Furniture-Imports) who recently purchased "From Global To You", a very successful eBay dealer that has been around since the infancy of eBay. Over the years, the amount of antique dealers with an online presence has grown, yet in my extensive research of sales strategies I have found that there are really only two general approaches to listing on eBay that lead to a livable profit margin. In the following thread, I will attempt to break down the pros and cons to both strategies and how to adapt to an ever changing eBay environment.
The first, and original "From Global To You" strategy is completely based on generating customer interest and excitement. The basic plan is based on listing nearly every item on your store as an auction starting at $1 without a reserve. This may seem like an insane strategy and a sure way to lose money and run yourself out of business to most people, however, our business history has proven that in most cases this tactic can generate enough excitement with the general public that most of your items will be bid on repeatedly and end up putting money in your account. Let me now list some of the advantages and disadvantages (pros and cons) to this strategy.
Pros- Listing items at $1 without a reserve generates excitement and the "I'm going to get a great deal" mindset that most eBayers are looking for.
- Most people either search for items either by "Time: Ending Soonest" or "Price: Lowest First". Most furniture items are priced fairly high. If yours have a low starting bid, it guarantees that most of your products that would otherwise go unseen, will receive bids and generate cash for you.
- This strategy is particularly useful for those who have a large inventory. If you can sell a large volume of items at a small profit, you can be just as successful, or even more so than your competitors who sell very few items, but at a large profit.
Cons- Selling items at $1 without a reserve will generate excitement, yes, but it does not guarantee that each item will sell for a profit (or sell at all for that matter). Sometimes you will have to take a hit and give an item away.
- By selling items for such a low price, you attract a lot of bargain hunters. Granted, this is the purpose of eBay. It offers a sales channel for people to find some screamin' deals on items that are hard to come by. Some eBay customers, however, will do anything to save a buck. These are the people that are more difficult to deal with. They'll win an item worth maybe a couple hundred dollars for a fraction of the cost, and then complain about the overzealous shipping costs (with auctions that start at such a low price, the customer should ALWAYS be paying for shipping. Be sure to include that in your auctions if you are planning on using this tactic.) These antagonistic types of bargain hunters are no fun to deal with, because all they do is repeatedly milk you dry.
In a nutshell, $1 no reserve auctions create more bids, but also set you up to give away a few items.
The other sales strategy (which is more commonly used) is that of listing a wide variety of "Buy It Now" items, priced to guarantee a hefty profit. It is smart to use the "Or Best Offer" option along with the "Buy It Now" feature to help those who may question whether they want an item or not to test the water, and hopefully take the plunge into a great purchase (for both parties involved). Now, the Pros and Cons for the "Buy It Now" (BIN).
Pros- Every sale is for a profit
- You attract more of the money crowd. Most of these people aren't looking for loopholes in your company.
- You develop different type of reputation from that of the $1 no reserve, deal provider crowd.
Cons- You may make a profit on every item you sell, but you may only sell 3% of your items in any given sale cycle.
- Listing costs are much more expensive for items listed at a higher price. On top of that, if you only sell a small number of items, that means you may be investing (over time) hundreds of dollars in re-listing fees on any given item, not to mention the final value fees.
In summary, the BIN listings will guarantee a profit on every sale, but require a lot more patience and will not generate anywhere near the attention as the $1 no reserve auctions. There is one other feature involved with the BIN's that can be advantageous. You can list items as a BIN on your eBay store for a fraction of the cost of a regular BIN. Store items remain listed for 30 days or until sold (whichever comes first). The disadvantage is that your store items do not appear in the main search results lists. Also, they do not appear with pictures in search results.
I hope that this thread can help some of you out there to determine what direction to take with your eBay listings. Hopefully, you can find a way to combine the two strategies and create a successful sales channel for your business. I recommend that you avoid, if possible, making eBay your only source of sales. Be sure to diversify. The internet is a big world full of a lot of opportunity. Feel free to ask me any questions regarding eBay or internet sales. I'm happy to help. Also, feel free to check out our web store (
www.BuyAntiquesWholesale.com). We provide discount pricing for dealers, and wholesale pricing for the general public!
