Tips for hawking stuff on eBay

[Justin]

Ok, so the "going over the books" thread that Blackburn started has gotten me curious about selling stuff on eBay.

I've got a pile of random stuff that I want to sell- books I have no intention of reading, DVD's I've watched once, knick-knacks (Gads, I *hate* knick-knacks), some clothes, etc.

As an experiment, I've put up one auction, but after almost five days, the thing has had maybe six views.

So, for those of you who've been at the eBay game for awhile, how do I tailor my listings so that they show up in searches and get views?

[Gewehr98]

I've been selling stuff on e-Bay for a couple years - mostly gun parts and reloading equipment.  Pictures of the items are an absolute must.  Follow that with a well-written description of the item, and throw in something about why your item is so special that someone has to bid on it.  Keep shipping and handling costs reasonable, and offer a return policy.  

Some things just aren't interesting, no matter how you list them.  They'll sit and stagnate.  Used clothing may be in that category. But it seems other items will move 100% of the time.  I'm getting ready to put up another batch of .30-06 brass, 100 pieces per auction, and it astounds me how well something so mundane moves.

[garrettwc]

Gewehr's advice is pretty good. I've only been at it a few months.  Good descriptive title and description with lots of keywords will help you get search hits along with listing in the correct category. Look at the Amazon.com listing for the item you are selling and see how they do it. Describe the movie plot, list the actors in it, etc.

Good pictures and a good back story if there is one about your item always help. Time your auction correctly. A lot of bidders wait until the last minute to bid. If your item ends when they are at work, or in the middle of the night, you may miss some bidders. eBay is on California time so I try to end mine after 9PM or on the weekends. That way the west coasters have a chance to bid.

As mentioned, some stuff just doesn't move well. If the DVDs you have are the same ones in the 2 for $10 bin at Wal-Mart you won't have much luck, but if it's of a popular cult film like Rocky Horror, or some other hard to find title it will move well.

Also use the advanced search. You can look for items similar to yours that have "sold" in the last couple of weeks. Compare their auctions to yours and you may pick up on something you can change to improve your sales.