A little Ebay help needed...

[pennrj430]

Hi everyone, I've sold a few things on ebay over the past few years, but I'm doing an early Spring Cleaning in my house, and I want to start putting a lot on ebay. My question is, I have 5 items on ebay right now that I posted a few days ago. They are all "new in box" or "with tags" items. They all seem to be worded correctly, in the correct categories, spelled right, have a low starting price (.99) with no reserve, and shipping has been set at a competitive price. They have very clear pictures and 2 items are actually Collectibles because they are unusual or hard to find popular items. But, they have gotten practically no visits and no bids. What am I missing? I'm not expecting to make a fortune here, but I was expecting some bites. And I have a lot more I would like to put on, but not if I'm only lucky to get .99 for everything. Thanks for taking a look at my question. Let me know what I might be doing wrong, or missing..

[disneysteve]

Without seeing the actual listings, I can't say if you made any errors you aren't seeing, but I'd say to relax. It seems that virtually nobody bids on ebay anymore until the last 24 hours of the auction, and most of those bids come within the last 5 minutes.

If your auctions still have a few days to run, sit back and wait. It is aggravating but pretty typical.

[moneybags]

Without seeing the actual listings, I can't say if you made any errors you aren't seeing

Agreed. If you're willing to post your auction numbers or user id, if that is allowed on this site, we can take a look & let you know.

[pennrj430]

Hi Steve and Moneybags, thank you for your advice. Moneybags, I'm not sure if I'm able to post it on here, I don't want the admin to think I'm pushing my stuff on here, but I'll PM you one of my listings. Steve, I'm not sure if you have time to check one of them out, if you do, I'll PM you too. Thanks again for your help.

[mike42]

Do you have any watchers yet?

When I sell things on Ebay, I don't usually get bidders early. But I do tend to see watchers. If people are watching your auction, you'll usually get bids before the auction ends.

[pennrj430]

Hi Mike, 1 of my auctions has 1 watcher, and about 15 views. It's been on about 3 days now.. The other ones do not.

[krayziebone33]

Without seeing the actual listings, I can't say if you made any errors you aren't seeing, but I'd say to relax. It seems that virtually nobody bids on ebay anymore until the last 24 hours of the auction, and most of those bids come within the last 5 minutes.

If your auctions still have a few days to run, sit back and wait. It is aggravating but pretty typical.

I agree with Disneysteve. If you go to your "seller's page" or whatever its called, you can actually see how many people are watching the item. You'll probably find that a lot of people are watching the item, which means that they have it saved and are keeping tabs on the item. You should see a gradual increase in bids over the final 24 hours and a drastic increase in the final 2 hours of the auction. Just relax and let it be. Based on what you wrote in the initial post, you seem to have done everything by the book, so the bids should come eventually.

[disneysteve]

Steve, I'm not sure if you have time to check one of them out, if you do, I'll PM you too. Thanks again for your help.

I'll take a look if you send the info before 4pm. I'm going away for the weekend and may not have net access.

[pennrj430]

Thanks Steve, I just PM'd you.

[disneysteve]

Thanks Steve, I just PM'd you.

I took a look at your items. I don't think you have any errors. Low prices, reasonable shipping, clear photos. A couple of thoughts:

You could describe things a bit better, particularly giving dates of manufacture on the carded figures. Sometimes those things get reproduced multiple times and the later runs aren't as valuable as the earlier runs.

Leave out the word "collectible" in your titles and descriptions. Everything is collectible to someone. Folks who collect things, don't need to be told the item is "collectible" and folks who don't collect them don't care, so it really serves no purpose to mention it. And that's coming from someone who has been a collector for over 30 years.

On the bracelet, if the original tag has the original price, I'd state that in the auction. Something like, "Bracelet is brand new with the original $29.99 price tag. My starting bid is just $0.99."

I think your main problem, if there is a problem at all, is that your feedback rating is only 10 and many buyers are hesitant to deal with inexperienced sellers. But the only way to change that is to keep selling, so keep at it and good luck.

[veronak]

Low feedback can hurt I usually purchase only from those with higher numbers

[pennrj430]

Thank you for your feedback Steve. I will use this advice on my future listings, because like I said above, I have a ton more. Hopefully my feedback will go up higher in the next few weeks.. What min. score do you guys normally look for?

[disneysteve]

Thank you for your feedback Steve. I will use this advice on my future listings, because like I said above, I have a ton more.

One other suggestion. Before you list anything, always do a search of current and completed auctions for similar items. See how they've done. It might be that the item just isn't in demand. In that case, bundling things together may help since it lowers the per item postage cost. It might cost $4.99 to mail one figure but only $5.99 to mail 2 or 3 which makes it a better deal.

[Hypersion]

Add a BIN to your listings.

In the categories I sell in BIN items sell more often and at a higher price. Nobody wants to wait for an auction to end now a day.

[disneysteve]

Add a BIN to your listings.

In the categories I sell in BIN items sell more often and at a higher price. Nobody wants to wait for an auction to end now a day.

I think BIN is best for items with a commonly agreed upon value. With colletible items, though, adding BIN largely eliminates the possibility of a couple of folks getting into a bidding war and really escalating the price of your item. So you might increase your odds of selling but decrease the final price.