So you’ve got the buyer in front of your auction, and
they’ve read the description. They’re must be interested,
or they wouldn’t be looking… but just how can you
push them over that line and make them leave a bid? Read on
for some tips.
Improve your picture: In all that description writing,
you might have missed the vital importance of your item’s
picture. A picture with bad lighting or an intrusive background
looks amateurish and won’t make anyone want to buy from
you.
Add an About Me page: You’ll be surprised how
much you can reassure bidders just by creating an About Me
page and putting a little bit about yourself on your business
on there. You can also have a few special offers there for
people who bother to look at the page, and let people subscribe
to your mailing list so that you can email them updates.
Use SquareTrade: Signing up at SquareTrade and displaying
their logo on your auctions shows that you are committed to
have them resolve any disputes that arise. You always see
this on PowerSellers auctions – it makes you look more
professional.
Write terms and conditions: Have the ‘small print’
clearly visible on all your auctions, giving details of things
like shipping times and prices, your refund policy, and any
other business practices you might have. This helps build
confidence with buyers.
Show off your feedback: Copy and paste a selection
of the feedback comments you’re most proud of to each
item’s description page, instead of making bidders go
and look for it. If you have 100% positive feedback, be sure
to write that on every auction too.
Add NR to your titles: If you have extra space in a
title, put ‘NR’ (no reserve) on the end. Bidders
prefer auctions that don’t have a reserve price, and
doing this lets them see that yours don’t.
Benefits not features: Make sure your description focuses
on the benefits that your item can give to the customer, not
just its features. This is a classic sales technique. If you
have trouble with this, remember: ‘cheap’ is a feature,
‘save money’ is a benefit.
List more items: If you want more people to respond
to your items, then list more items! You might find you have
better like listing items at the same time, instead of one-by-one.
There’s no need to use a Dutch auction – you can
just keep two or three auctions going at once for an item
you have more than one of in stock.
Accept unusual payment methods: To reach those last
few buyers, accept payment methods that many sellers don’t,
like cheques.
Buy some upgrades: The best upgrade is the most expensive
one, which makes your item appear first in search results.
In crowded categories, you might find that this is worth the
money.
Once you’ve got some buyers, you want to keep them coming
back to you. The next email will show you how to turn one-time
buyers into long-term customers.
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction
enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/
for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and
other online auctions.
