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Research/Marketing/Smart Selling

This section is designed to help ease the transition of re-selling an item on eBay after it has been purchased in the real world or on eBay. Selling on eBay can be tricky for first-timers and those who use the site infrequently, but the following information from the insights of internet experts and eBay users below could help maximize a potential profit in re-selling an item.
Before anything else, Kiersten Conner-Sax and Ed Krol who wrote “The Whole Internet: The Next Generation”, suggest that remembering to be honest and forthright can go a long way. Also, be sure to accommodate potential buyers' questions within a reasonable amount of time. Little things such as these will build a favorable reputation within the community as noted in the later feedback section.

One eBayer stresses the importance of researching what the product sells for on eBay.Understand competition helps drive prices down. See how many eBayers sell your product and find out the average price. Then decide if the estimated average price is worth the time and fees to put into posting a listing. The more items listed like the one being resold can give one an idea of what price it goes for, but it also gives buyers more choices in who to buy from. If the item being resold has no other sellers listing that product, it may or may not have a market for a buyer. Especially for items like these, the proper advertising is key.

Another eBayer, who is a top 1000 reviewer on the site, says that an item’s description must be perfect. Make the description stand out to include all the details. Describe the product as completely as possible while using abbreviations as well as the full word it represents. Include as much detail in the title as possible to get eBayers to notice the listing. The more detail there is in a description can result in more potential search views or “hits” for the overall auction.As apart of being an honest seller, include any imperfections with the product as it will prevent many problems in the long run. Also include a shipping cost or calculator and as many pictures needed to get all the details in. These factors will not only improve the potential search views and watchers for the item, but help the chances of receiving a positive feedback for the transaction.

In the final part to this section, a top 25 reviewer for eBay recommends timing the duration of the auction. To really get bidding wars on an auction, timing is essential. According to this eBay user, the most popular day to end an auction is Sunday, followed by Saturday then Friday. Seven day auctions suit best for many products, especially those that are not sold as much on eBay because it can generate more watchers and views from different time zones. On the other side of this, a researched item with a prominent market may be best to use the five or three day time span which are geared towards society’s mindset of want things right away. A hot item that will certainly command a higher price may be suited for a one day auction which attracts those with short attention spans. Also a buy it now or best offer option on prominent items would be a good appeal for those users with shorter attention spans and that would want an item right away. Try to end the auction around 10 p.m. Eastern time. This way it won’t be too late for watchers in the Eastern time zone to bid, and watchers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones will have plenty of time to bid since it would be early evening.