Contents
eBay Basics
How to Decide What to Sell on eBay
How to Budget Your eBay Business
How eBay Selling Works
How to Choose an eBay Listing Format
How to Choose an eBay Listing Price
How to Choose a Listing Timeframe
How to Improve Your eBay Listings
eBay Payment Methods
eBay Shipping Methods
Tools to Improve Your eBay Selling
How to Set Up an eBay Store
Customer Service for eBay Sellers
How to Run Your eBay Business
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How to Choose an eBay Listing Format
Whenever you set up a listing on eBay, you have to decide whether to use the online auction format, fixed price listing format, or both. Your choice should depend on a variety of factors, including the type of merchandise you’re selling and the demand for your merchandise in the marketplace.
Online Auctions
The majority of eBay listings use the online auction format. The best time to use this format is when selling items that you’re almost certain will sell at a minimum price you feel comfortable with—and might even sell at a higher price due to significant demand for the item.
For instance, if you’re listing a used CD that you wouldn’t mind selling for $5 but that could sell for $15 because it’s a recent release and plenty of buyers would probably want it, you’d use the online auction format and set your starting price, the price at which bidding begins, at $5.
Auction Format Variations
Depending on your merchandise, you may want to use one of two slight variations of the auction format:
- Multiple Item Listings: This auction format allows you to offer two or more identical items within one auction listing. Unlike standard auction listings, multiple item auctions can have many winners and can help you sell more volume while paying lower insertion fees.
- Private Listings: In standard eBay auctions, everyone can see the user IDs of eBay members who have bid on the item. Private auctions veil bidders’ user IDs from everyone except the seller. This format may be helpful when you think protecting the identity of potential buyers might encourage more bids, such as when selling sensitive items, such as hair-loss prevention products or a collection of vintage adult magazines.
Fixed Price
The fixed price listing format guarantees your item will sell at the Buy It Now price you set or not at all. Fixed price listings also include a Best Offer option that allows buyers to send you offers to pay prices below your Buy It Now price. Selling at a fixed price makes sense in certain scenarios:
- A fixed price works for several identical items that you’d sell for the same price to various bidders.
- Items with a set price in the broader marketplace that probably won’t get bid up to a higher price would benefit from a fixed price. For instance, if you’re selling an unopened DVD that retails for $19.95, you should sell it on eBay for a fixed price of a bit less than $19.95 to attract buyers looking for a discount on the standard retail price. Selling the DVD with the auction listing format probably won’t get you more than $19.95.
When Not to Use Fixed Price
Consider an instance in which you’re posting a used CD that you wouldn’t mind selling for $5 but that could sell for $15. If you used the fixed price format and set your Buy It Now price at $5, you might lose out on a higher bid, as a strong market exists for the item. If you listed it for a fixed price of $15, you might miss out on buyers willing to pay over $5 but less than $15 for the item. Using a fixed price in this example would make sense only if you’d accept no less than $5 for the item and were almost certain no demand would exist for the item at a price much beyond $5.
How to Combine an Auction and Fixed Price
Adding Buy It Now to an auction makes sense if you can pinpoint a price at which you’re willing to sell the item and forgo the prospect of selling it for more by letting the
auction run its course.
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