How To Run An Successful/Profitable Ebay Auction

[Chaz Foxx]

Hey warriors could I have some help please.

The thing is Im trying to help my father he recently was let go from his job.
And unemployment funds are delayed at the moment.

He has some items, 3 pairs of Authentic Michael Jordan Sneakers he wants me to put on Ebay.

My thing is Im not experienced this area but it simple. However these shoes mean alot. So how can I get the most views and bids for these Auctions.

I know I need to offer a refund. But what else, would anyone care to share any tips or advice on this.

Thanks

Chaz

[gargoyle]

Ebay is very user friendly with lots of tips/advice on selling your items. You won't have a problem listing your items

[Corwinnx]

Danny,

That was just sooo not right! LOL

but he did say three PAIRS, not 'three shoes'... so it would have to be someone with 6 feet.


Now, to try and be helpful,

Chazz,

I know like zilch about ebay, and I've never heard of "Authentic Michael Sneakers" but I do have some books on it that I could share with you. might be info in there you could use. Shoot me a PM with your email addy and I'll send em over in the AM... I'm going to sleep in about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, do a 'search' on the main discussion for 'ebay' and see what you come up with.

Warmest Regards,
Marcus

[Chaz Foxx]

Yeah Sorry Just realized why you mentioned that.

Thanks

[liaochin2k9]

I always use a good tool called "Terapeak" before I run my auction with ebay. It's a very good tool to research the market on ebay. Have a try .

[Nathan Denton]

Hi Chaz,

I know that the MJ's are popular sneakers amongst collectors and by putting them on ebay you should have very little trouble finding buyers. What I would do is go to Ebay and search for the same shoe as you have eg. Air Jordan 23's (or whatever they are called) and see what other sellers are asking for them.

You have two options - a regular auction listing or Buy it Now.

The regular auction behaves as any other auction would with bidders making bids until the close of the auction. The highest bidder wins. Be careful with this option if you require a minimum price. In Australia, we can no longer set reserve prices for our auctions therefore if someone bids $20 and there are no other takers, the item must be sold. You can set the "minimum price" so that you dont end up with a ridiculous price.

Using "Buy it Now" you can specify an exact price that you want. Eg. Buy it Now $200 means the purchaser must pay $200 to get your item.

I have had success in the past with listing an auction with a Buy It Now price. Set the BIN higher than the amount you want therefore bidders will bid up to that amount and feel as if they are getting a "discount" if they win it for less than your BIN.

Good luck with it all.

[Kekoa Chung]

Dude, you don't even have to worry about much. The shoes will sell themselves.

Just write a brief, clear description, with a little bit of a background story. People on eBay LOVE to know the story behind how you got those shoes, why you're selling them, how the will be missed, etc.

Also especially on these types of items, make 100% sure to have ULTRA CLEAR PHOTOS. Make them big! People will be spending some bucks, let them know EXACTLY what they will be getting for their investment. You might even want to go as far as shooting a high quality video, with some nice closeups of the kicks. Then go ahead and embed the video on to your listing.

If you want to make sure your sneakers really sell...

Hit up the sneaker forums, just google them, and let the people know about your auction.

Then...

Go to twitter, and search for "air jordans", "nike jordan", etc, etc...

Then get your twitter on and start tweeting...

If you don't get any sales, come back here and I'll buy em from you for a buck each.

Hope that helps...

Aloha, Kekoa

[gbm000]

Chaz

The biggest problem for the individual seller on eBay is getting your listing seen.

78% of buyers use eBay's search box to find items in which they're interested.

In responding to the search, eBay returns items where the search words input are found in the auction title.

The search return list is in what eBay call Best Match sequence. And this is the problem! The way they determine this sequence is somewhat of a mystery - a little like Google search return sequence.

Having said that, there are some elements which eBay have stated they use in determining Best Match sequence, and you can use this knowledge to your advantage.

So, here's what I recommend you do:

1. Create 3 listings - one for each pair of sneakers. Use a different title on each listing so you have three chances of getting returned in searches.

2. Use Auction style listings, not Fixed Price. Auctions get a search return boost in Best Match. Start your auction off at the minimum amount you'll take for the sneakers.

3. Use all 55 characters available in your auction title. Remember, your auction will only get returned in search results if the words searched for are in your auction title.

4. You can check how effective your auction titles are going to be by using this eBay tool:
eBay Research Labs BayEstimator
In this tool, start by entering Michael Jordan sneakers.

5. You don't say if they're new or used. If they're new, put NEW in your auction title.

6. Offer free shipping. eBay gives listings with free shipping a boost up the search results. Find out what P&P is going to be and include it in your start price so you don't lose out.

7. Use plenty of photos in your description page. Close ups of labels and features are always useful.

8. It's good to prominently quote the manufacturer's Recommended Selling Price in your description page so that bidders can see what a bargain they could get.

Finally, you don't need to offer a money back guarantee on sneakers. This is an item which can be worn, and therefore may be returned to you in a used condition.

Hope that helps.

Good luck with your auctions.

[Chaz Foxx]

Hey You Guys Thanks Again. Got $250 for 1 pair and I got 2more to go.

In fact these shoes sold for that much and was missing an shoestring.

Nike Air Jordan XI 11 Blue Low Sz 11 Retro Yeezy - eBay (item 120458252052 end time Aug-11-09 16:11:41 PDT)

[jmonda]

Judging from the looks of your auction you did pretty good. The only thing I would ad that has not been said is make sure you go to ebay and type in your search term while you are logged in and over on the left hand side about midway down click completed auctions.

This will give you a chance to see what similar shoes are selling for and how they ran their ad. Look at the ads the sold well and use some of their tricks. You want to get the most out of your auction.