How Do You Find The Right Price On eBay?

Dec 18
09:07

2009

Greg Kusch

Greg Kusch

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pricing items on eBay is a challenging businesss

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Have you ever watched the game show,How Do You Find The Right Price On eBay?  Articles “The Price is Right?” Then you know the goal. You need to guess the price closest to the value of an item without going over the actual price. If you remember the game show, you know that the guesses vary wildly. As an eBay seller, pricing your items can be just as challenging. You want to find the point that’s low enough to gain the attention of eBay bidders but still high enough to give you a decent profit. And I can tell you that no matter how hard you try, you will at some point be disappointed that your item sold for less than you’d hoped… or didn’t sell at all. Starting price is dependent on so many things – whether the item is new and unopened, new with—or without—original packaging, used, rare, and so on. This is where researching the completed listings will really pay off for you (pun intended). You may want to consider getting a professional appraisal of your item, especially if it’s rare or likely to be a high-ticket listing. You can state the appraised value in your description, even take a picture of the appraisal and include it too (clear this with the appraiser first, of course). eBay pricing can also be counterintuitive. For example, take two cell phones, exactly alike from brand and model to color and features and accessories… but one is used, the other new in its original packaging, still sealed. I’d start the used phone at $99.95, and the new phone at $9.95. Why? Because there are eBay buyers who, upon seeing a used cell phone for $9.95, will immediately say to themselves, “What’s wrong with it? There must be something wrong, or it wouldn’t be so cheap.” The new phone, however, still in its sealed packaging and starting at a low price, can build up “auction fever” – the state in which bidders are so convinced it’s a great bargain that they’ll drive the price far beyond that $9.95 starting point. You will, I’m afraid, have to divorce yourself from your expectations here. It doesn’t matter if what you’re selling is, to your eyes, the most wonderful example of its kind on the planet. What you need learn in eBay is that bidders won’t care! They just won’t. They’ll read in your description that the earrings you’re selling belonged to your Great-Aunt Agatha who came over from the Old Country in 1922, and maybe they’ll enjoy that touch of history… but if you priced those earrings at $650.00 to start because of their sentimental value to you, “to do Great-Aunt Aggie proud,” and similar earrings are selling elsewhere on eBay for $300.00, bidders are going to take their money to those other sellers. Now, if you listed them at $200.00 to start and still included some interesting information about dear old Aggie, you could find yourself getting a higher closing price than the other sellers’ $300.00 because there may well be bidders who enjoy knowing the background of the items they bid on. You just never know. As I always tell my eBay classes, there is an art to pricing! Doing your research and thinking like an eBay buyer can help you determine the right place to start! Greg Kusch is the most widely quoted eBay expert and one of only 23 certified eBay trainers. Have questions? Ask The eBay Expert

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