Auctioning items on Ebay to promote you Shop?

[Katianne]

Since Ebay changed the way shops worked and made it so that shop listings appear in normal searches, I haven't bothered to list anything at auction. I used to do it to attract buyers to look at my shop, but I thought there wasn't much point when it all changed.

However, my OH suggested that it might still attract more interest so I have taken the plunge and listed one of my mirrors on auction, with a 99p starting price (grab a bargain while you can!).

I just wondered if anyone else with an Ebay shop had tried this and if it did make any difference to their view figures and sales?

[Erial]

Tried to have a look but the link to your site isn't working!

Claire
x

[Katianne]

Ooops! Thanks for letting me know - should work now!

[sherrielinda]

can't help with the question but the link is working fine & your items look lovely, good luck with sales.

[Meljov5]

am watching your item on ebay!

[Katianne]

Any Ebay sellers out there that have had experience of auctions and how they affect there shop traffic / sales?

[Katianne]

Well, at the moment it doesn't seem that listing on auction has made any difference really. Page views have been quite steady but no sales in the last week ! Oh well! Worth a try! The listing ends tonight and is only on £1.24 at the moment - hope it goes for a bit more than that!

[SNOWF1975]

oh its lovely ! It would be terrible if it went for such a low price!!!

[Bath-Bomb.Com]

Hi Katianne,

If I feel ebay sales are a bit slow I will list auctions and sales do go up - the more auctions I list the higher sales go - both from the auction sales and the shop sales...so it's definitely worth doing...

I don't think the changes in the searches has affected this at all to be honest...

However - a few tips from some hard learned lessons

* It's not necessary to start at 99p to generate interest (unless your item is only worth 99p) - you will pay higher listing fees and final value fees but stick to listing things you don't mind selling for less and don't list them for less than they are worth to you (i.e. cost). For instance, I will often list a £12.99 Lip balm, soap and bath Bomb kits for £8 or £10 for auctions...as I can stand to lose the few £'s profit if it doesn't sell for more than that. They do sell, sometimes I've ended up selling them for more than they are in the (Ebay) shop...

* List them for 7 days - 3 days is too short and 10 days is too long and list them on a Thursday or Friday to get the maximum viewers over the weekend. And do your auction listings at about 8pm in the evening so people have had their tea and have tim to watch and bid - I used to do my listings first thing in the morning (and I get up at about 5am) so my auctions completely missed the busy times

* You'll find that the page views go up towards the end of the listing time - because a lot of people still search for "ending soonest" and the bids will start going up (hopefully) towards the end of the listing...

* In order to keep the momentum, list one or two items per day over the course of a couple of weeks and you should see a resulting upturn in your sales...That's because if you list one auction at a time it can easily get lost, whereas if your items are consistently on view it is more likely that someone will visit your (Ebay) shop...

* Do some searches on the kinds of items you're selling and look at the prices of your biggest competition - There were a few people listing little bath bomb starter kits a few years ago and when I noticed I listed a load of starter kits, undercutting the others' prices and putting more in them, I sold them for £5 (almost no profit at all) but the other people soon stopped listing them...and when they stopped I stopped...it's a cut throat place that Ebay!

HTH and good luck

Jude x

[pepsi]

I didn't know you could put your shop on the listings. Not that I have a web site. Some good tips there though thanks.
I took the plunge myself and listed a sculpt. I have one bid and 4 watchers, so its a sale hehe!
Item no 110414612810 if you want to peek. xxx

[Katianne]

I didn't know you could put your shop on the listings.

You can't make reference to your website, you're right. I meant that by listing an item at auction I'm hoping to draw more attention to my Ebay Shop

[pepsi]

You can't make reference to your website, you're right. I meant that by listing an item at auction I'm hoping to draw more attention to my Ebay Shop

Ahh!! I see. I good job I haven't a web site then eh? LOL. I would get banned on the next listing hehe!!! cheers mate, xxx

[Abby]

I've sold a fair few sculpts on ebay over the years, I haven't got an ebay shop though. Recently I emailed ebay to ask if i could link to my website from my listing, so potential customers could view my gallery and read testimonials etc and they said no way! they don't let you link to any external site even your own as they can't verify the content (and probably don't want the competition!)
Abby

[SNOWF1975]

Since Ebay changed the way shops worked and made it so that shop listings appear in normal searches, I haven't bothered to list anything at auction. I used to do it to attract buyers to look at my shop, but I thought there wasn't much point when it all changed.

However, my OH suggested that it might still attract more interest so I have taken the plunge and listed one of my mirrors on auction, with a 99p starting price (grab a bargain while you can!).

I just wondered if anyone else with an Ebay shop had tried this and if it did make any difference to their view figures and sales?

well? did you make a killing or did someone get a bargain? It really was a beautiful mirror!

[Katianne]

Someone got a bargain! It sold for £2.25!!!!