• Welcome from Brian McGregor
• 1. Thought for the Day
• 2. Testing Your Auctions
• 3. eBay Testing on You!
• 4. News & Views:
  Don't Get Caught Out
  If you Can't Beat Them…
  Well, What's a Girl to do?
  That's What I Call an eBay Bargain
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One of the benefits of selling via eBay is that it lends itself to testing. In many businesses, it is can be very time consuming not to say impossible to easily test variations in how you present your offer. With eBay, not only can you try different elements in your auction, you get the results of these test within days. Here are some useful tests you can run on your auctions.

Your auction title is the best chance of compelling people to visit your auction page. So it's worth testing variations of keywords, brand names, abbreviations like NR (no reserve), or variations of descriptive words. For example, one eBay seller tested two auction titles over last Christmas season. One title contained the word "reindeer", whilst the other contained "sleigh". The result? The title with the word "sleigh" performed twice as well, and increased his final selling price by an average of $15 per item!

Usually the Gallery image, that is the "thumbnail" version of your picture in the search return list, increases the number of people who will click through to your auction page. But are you sure? Try testing a few listings without the Gallery image. If it doesn't affect your final sales price or your sales volume, you could drop the picture. Eliminating the 35 cents (15p) it costs per listing can add up to considerable savings over time.

It could be worthwhile testing different auction ending days and times. You may be surprised at the results! Because of eBay's default setting on search returns, your auction will get the most attention the first day it's posted and a few hours before it ends. You will find it helpful to think about your target market in the context of auction end timings. Auctions aimed at business buyers are better timed to end during work hours. Items targeted at moms of young children could do better ending during daytime too. If you're selling to hobbyists, then the classic preferred end time is Sunday evening. But you can easily test all of this, and determine the optimum time to start and end your auctions.

Having great pictures is one of the key elements of your sales process. They can play a major role not only in generating more bids, but also in raising the final sales price. But it is advisable to run some test auctions with different numbers of photos to measure the impact they have your sales. Taking top-quality pictures of the items you're selling can take considerable time and effort. If you find that certain items sell for the same amount whether you use one picture or eight, then don't waste your time snapping a lot of photos that don't add any value to your listing. Whilst this is more likely to be true for less costly items, assume nothing, and test!

Auction expert Derek Gehl, also suggests you your choice of font and the colors used in your auction description. The power and influence of color is frequently overlooked in auction page creation, and indeed in web page design. You can read more about this aspect interesting topic here:

http://www.cash-colors.com

eBay is currently testing what they call "semi-extended" Buy It Now (BIN) on auction listings. As you probably know, the BIN price on a normal auction listing disappears as soon as a bid is made. Now, eBay is testing keeping the BIN option on the auction until the bidding amount reaches a specific percentage point of the BIN price e.g. 50%. Other test variations eBay are trying include keeping the BIN available until a certain amount of time is left in the listing, or until a certain number of bids have been placed.

What eBay is looking for is the best balance possible, whereby sellers benefit from selling their items for the highest possible price while giving buyers the maximum chance to win the item they're after.

Currently, tests are being limited to the Parts & Accessories category in eBay.com Motors and in the Tickets category.

It's definitely worth keeping an eye on the progress of these tests so you can start thinking about how your pricing strategy on BIN auctions might change as a result. You can find out about the latest tests and results in the eBay Motor discussion thread.

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=1000509583&tstart=0&mod=1182446254836

I believe that we will need to employ new pricing strategies when this gets rolled out, but I'm hopeful it will ultimately result in higher sale prices.

Don't Get Caught Out

Whilst fraud on eBay occurs on only a tiny fraction of eBay auctions, that's no consolation if you are the victim.

Here is a useful checklist which could help you to avoid being the next casualty.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/personal-finance/ebay-8-07/overview/0708_ebay_ov_1.htm

If you Can't Beat Them…

You will know that concert tickets are often re-sold on eBay, resulting in significant profits for the original ticket owners. Such enterprising sellers are often known as ticket scalpers.

But did you know that Ticketmaster runs its own auctions? Instead of selling tickets at a fixed price, Ticketmaster run official auctions for the best seats in the house at selected concerts. So, if you're planning to go to a concert, check out Ticketmaster in good time. You might just get your hands on a ticket at a lower price than you have to pay a scalper on eBay!

Well, What's a Girl to do?

Meg Mathews divorced Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher in 2001 after four years of marriage. Now, she is selling the couple's belongings on eBay. Prized possessions include a Gothic style PVC sofa, a Gucci dinner set and even the marital bed. The notional value of the items is $28,000 (£14,000).

Wow, think about those final value fees! No wonder eBay is doing so well.


That's What I Call an eBay Bargain

You know what it's like. You're 16 years old, and you live in Norfolk, England. You win a Playstation 2 on an eBay auction. But when it arrives, it comes without the 2 Playstation games which the auction page indicated was part of the package.

You resign yourself to the fact that you're going to have to contact the seller. So you have one last rummage around the parcel. And that's where you find it!

65,400 worth of euro notes! That's about $90,000 (£44,000).

You tell your parents, who inform the police. The police hold onto the cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act while the matter is investigated.

An eBay spokesman said the parcel's contents were "somewhat unusual". Yup!

If the money remains unclaimed by September, the family can apply for the money to be returned to them under the Police Property Act.

As I said, a bargain, or what?