Learn to buy and sell antiques and collectibles

Easily Increase Your eBay Sales Without Working Harder

I did some chores this weekend at my step-mother's house. I want to make a point here, but the basics of what I was doing aren't important. This isn't a lesson on fixing sprinkler systems.

Think about the feelings rather than the broken pipes.

I went to Home Depot on Saturday to get some parts for the sprinkler system. I had two sizes of pipes I needed to join.

I couldn't get anyone to help me at Home Depot and ended up buying two pieces to join the pipes together. A large threaded piece and second the smaller pipe would fit into.

I figured I could glue it all together and it would work.

It looked pretty, but when I turned the water on, the joints leaked, and one of them flew apart.

@#$$%#$ @#$@%!

It was 115 degrees on Saturday - that's in the shade, not in the sun where I working - and I'd spent two hours rigging everything up.

I sent Fran back to Home Depot to get new parts so I could do other chores while she was gone.

An hour later she came back with nothing. She couldn't find anyone to help her, so she left the store after waiting for 50 minutes and getting frustrated.

She wasn't happy when she got back. I wasn't happy either because it means another 110 mile trip for me.

Today I went up to finish the job. I went to the local Ace hardware store figuring I'd get exactly what I needed.

I walked into Ace, and asked the gentleman with the name badge where the sprinkler parts were. He walked with me to the sprinkler section, and showed me exactly how to do it.

Where I'd bought 12 pieces - two for each joint - at Home Depot I only bought six pieces at Ace.

Once the salesman helped me find the pipe parts, he asked if I needed anything else.

Fran's also been having problems with packrats. They climb up into the cars and eat the wires. They ruined one vehicle, and damaged the other ones.

The real problem is the neighbor is killing all the snakes causing the packrat population to skyrocket. I can't do anything about him, but I can get traps to kill off the excess packrats. (I wonder if I could sell packrat pelts on eBay?)

I told Fran to get some traps, but I didn't know if she'd gotten them yet. So I asked at the hardware store.

They had traps and I bought one. I figured even if Fran had found traps elsewhere, it was only $28.

Think about those two experiences.

At Home Depot I was able to pull some parts off a shelf with the assumption I could make them work. (Poor assumption, but not uncommon for me!)

At Ace Hardware, a salesman helped me get the right parts and then sold me a trap I didn't really need. I can use it, but Fran had gotten them somewhere else.

Lets add one more important consideration. . .

Ace Hardware has higher prices than Home Depot. At least the sticker prices are higher.

The truth is Ace's prices aren't higher. Remember, I bought 12 fittings at Home Depot, wasted two hours putting them together, then threw them all out. My Home Depot experience was poor.

At Ace I bought six pieces, spent an hour putting them together, and it worked. I'm happy and next time I need something, I'll just go to Ace Hardware.

Why deal with the long lines, poor service and extra aggravation at Home Depot to save a few cents?

Lets shift gears a bit.

I recently read an article saying Wal-Mart shoppers usually leave the store with only 70% of the items on their list. This isn't because they aren't remembering the items, it's because they cannot find them.

In order to increase sales, Wal-Mart is changing the way they stock their stores. They are also putting employees in each area who know exactly where things are.

I went to a different Ace hardware store recently for some tape. I walked in and said, "I need pipe wrap tape." The guy at the counter said, "aisle ten, top shelf on the right, a third of the way down."

If Wal-Mart can train their employees to be that specific about item locations they will surely sell more.

One more quick story. . . Last night I saw a bacon flavored bubble blowing machine on David Letterman's show. It sounded like something Doggus would like so I figured I'd buy one online.

It's not neat enough to make a special trip to get. It's an impulse buy. I found websites with them, but they all had weird hurdles I'd have to jump through to order.

HASSLES.

I don't want to create an account. I want to click one button and fill in my address and payment information and go back to watching TV.

They lost the sale, and Doggus will go without.

How does this effect your business?

No matter whether you're selling on eBay, or on your own website, following a clear path through the ordering steps increases sales.

When you add hurdles, you loose sales.

When you make it hard to find items, you lose sales.

Remember Ace also got the additional sale of the trap I didn't really need. I bought it because I felt a sense of gratitude rather than the frustration I'd felt at Home Depot.

Sure I can use it there a plenty of packrats, but it was an impulse sale generated by exceeding my expectations and then asking me if I needed anything else.

How can you exceed people's expectations?

Faster shipping?

Explaining uses to people?

Pick up or deliver? I've met two new people in the past month who bought something from me on eBay who are now calling me and buying other items directly. No eBay fees, and I set the price.

I am sure there are many other ways.

Here's another lesson from the above stories. . .

The salesman at Ace Hardware didn't ask me what else I needed until he'd gotten the pipe parts for me and was walking to the cash register. He didn't distract me from what I came for, he added to my list.

That's one of the biggest online errors I see. Websites that are too busy, too cluttered, too full of distractions.

If you have an eBay store, have you tested including links to all your store categories in your auctions? Probably not as most sellers just include them thinking it helps.

The eBay store owners I've talked with are finding mixed results. Some have better sales, some don't. It's worth testing.

If you just sell items on eBay, have you tested using a simpler template? In every test I've seen, using fewer words about what will happen after the auction ends, increases bids.

If you follow the normal eBay sales path of sending an invoice after the auction ends and then shipping the item when payment is received, you really don't need to explain it.

I recently checked out an eBay seller who doesn't follow the normal path. He sends all buyers the same email after auctions end. He has a robot that sends the emails.

His end of auction email contains a form the buyer needs to fill out and mail with payment. It's simple to fill out. Just item number, price, shipping, and simple math to get the total.

I've bought a lot of stuff from him without problems, but 3% of his buyers can't, or won't, figure it out. They leave him negative feedback for being difficult.

He's not being difficult. He's being different. Which confuses his buyers.

In order to combat the "communications problems" leading to negative feedbacks, he started explaining everything in each auction.

Guess what happened. . .

His sales went down, and his buyers still complain.

He still gets the same percentage of poor feedbacks. The only difference is he's now making fewer sales.

If he wants to continue with his system, there are tools that will fill out the form in each email for the buyer. Amherst Robots has one I used to use.

The email robots are easier and faster for high volume sellers, but they might not be faster or easier when you factor in the support hassles.

Today I use the eBay checkout system because it's free and buyers are used to it.

In my rambling way, I've shown you a few ways to increase your sales without increasing your efforts.

Simple changes with big results.

Terry

PS If you're a mastermind subscriber, last month's issue was two and half hours of ways to increase your sales. If you haven't listened to it already it's worth your time.

If you're not a mastermind subscriber, you can't get the interview. You can get my Auction Revolution eBay manual.

PPS I am going to put a private eBay discussion board up in the next few weeks. Only mastermind subscribers and owners of the Auction Revolution will get access.

I want to limit access so you get better advice. All too often, I see people ask questions on discussion boards only to be told to buy a book. I see people post and then get attacked by others.

By restricting access, I hope to prevent this unseemly behavior, and create a place for you to exchange ideas and share your experience with others.

Secret eBay Product Sources
Click on this link to learn how to find interesting items you can quickly resell on eBay for BIG profits.

At least once a week, a new article about Antiques, Collectibles, or eBay is placed in this section of the site. You can see previous articles in the column on the left. This is not a replacement for my regular emailed newsletter. The newsletter is usually two to three times as long and focuses on making money on eBay and/or achieving success in the antiques and collectibles business. Only about a third of the articles sent out as newsletters are posted on the site, so to avoid missing an issue sign up now using the blue box in the upper right hand corner of this web page.

Have a question about eBay or buying and selling antiques and collectibles you'd like to see answered here?

Submit your question here.

Terry Gibbs has taught over 7,000 people how to make a good living on eBay. Terry's most recent eBay instruction manual is The Auction Revolution . The Auction Revolution is your guide to eBay and beyond. Here on Iwantcollectibles.com, you will learn about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, and about eBay.