With more than 135 million members globally, eBay is a powerful platform for sellers looking to maximize their target audience. Whether you're a seasoned seller or new to the site, optimizing your presence will substantially boost your sales.
This article explores tactics for improving your performance, helping you to increase your eBay sales.
Optimize your listings
With approximately 1.7 billion active listings, standing out on eBay requires more than a generic approach. Effective optimization means using high-quality photos, thorough and keyword-rich descriptions, and listing management tools to ensure consistency with your other sales channels.
One study found that shoes with high-quality images were 1.17 times more likely to sell than those with low-quality photos. On top of that, 87% of consumers say they are unlikely to make a repeat purchase if they do not see an accurate product description.
An optimal listing strategy should include:
- A concise but compelling title with precise spelling, no more than 80 characters.
- An accurate description, utilizing product facts from the eBay catalog whenever possible.
- High-quality images taken from all angles, highlighting any faults or imperfections. You may include up to 24 photos for free.
- Item characteristics, such as make, model, size, color, and style.
Maximize positive reviews
Online review statistics show that 72% of prospective customers will convert only after reading a positive review, and customers will spend 31% more on a business with "excellent" reviews. On eBay, buyers leave positive feedback on 20-30% of successful transactions, whereas unhappy buyers leave feedback 90% of the time.
It is essential to seek positive buyer feedback to sell more on eBay. Some approaches to achieving that include:
- Ensuring you give your buyers feedback to open a dialogue for them to return the favor.
- Responding to negative feedback in an empathetic and professional tone.
- Send personalized messages to buyers and keep them updated on their product status.
- Specifically, request feedback. For example, send a request explaining why feedback is important to your business after shipping.
You will maximize your chance of receiving positive reviews if you consistently provide a great customer experience and ensure products meet expectations.
Get eBay top rated seller status
eBay will reward sellers that provide first-rate customer service with better visibility in search results, lower selling fees, and a "Top Rated Seller" status. There are several criteria to qualify as a top-rated seller, which include :
- $1,000 in sales and 100 or more transactions during the last 12 months
- A defect rate below 0.5% with three or fewer defects
- A late shipment rate below 3%
- Carrier validation for 95% of transactions
The additional visibility typically leads to increased sales as potential buyers see your products before non-rated sellers.
Use eBay sponsored listings
Investing in eBay Sponsored Listings can expose your products to a broader audience. In one case study, TekReplay increased sales by 179% and attained a 43:1 return on ad spend through sponsored listings. According to eBay, sponsored listings receive 36% more views than organic listings.
The ads appear on the eBay homepage and at the top of search results to increase exposure. It is helpful for new products when trying to build up sales and positive reviews quickly. However, it is worth noting that you must be an above-standard or top-rated seller to access eBay sponsored listings.
eBay sponsored listings get you in front of a wider audience, and you will only be charged for the ad if your item sells.
Optimize for Cassini (eBay's search engine)
Cassini, eBay's search engine, functions similarly to Google by striving to provide users with a good experience. eBay consistently updates its search engine and algorithms to match customers with relevant products better. As an eBay seller, optimizing your listings, providing exceptional customer service, and increasing traffic to your listings are essential strategies to enhance your visibility and rank higher in eBay search results.
Product titles with 15 to 18 words tend to perform best on eBay search results. Ensure you avoid acronyms; buyers don't typically use them in searches and include as many keywords as possible in your listing.
Ensure your item titles and descriptions are unique and not lifted from another listing. In addition to being bad practice, it violates eBay's terms of service and is frowned upon by Cassini.
The quality and relevance of the item description, comprehensiveness of item specifics, pricing, return policies, and quality of images and photos all contribute to the Cassini algorithm.
Manage returns effectively
While returns typically come at a cost, efficient returns management is vital to increase your sales on eBay. Almost 80% of shoppers expect free shipping and will buy more when free returns are available. eBay boosts listings that have a 30-day free return policy included in their terms.
Your eBay marketplace strategy needs to include a free return policy to convert and retain customers, as well as help elevate you to top-rated seller status. Free returns mean increased inventory, packaging, and reselling fees for sellers. However, if you have provided quality product descriptions using the tips in this article, you should be able to minimize return volume.
Remember, if you achieve Top Rated Seller status, you can benefit from lower listing and final value fees. Those features can soak up the expense of offering free returns.
Sell at the right price points
Although eBay is an auction site, 80% of product listings sell through the "Buy It Now" option. That means competitive pricing strategies are pivotal in converting browsers into sales.
Consider offering discounts for bulk purchases with virtual product bundles or tiered pricing on single products where applicable. Bundles are a particularly great way to push complimentary products or to generate sales from replenishable items.
Although the buy it now option is the most popular, auctions can work well for more unique products or those that are in high demand. You can still set a reserve price during auctions to ensure the product does not sell for less than your minimum value.
Once you settle on a pricing strategy, tweaks will be needed occasionally due to new competition or changes in demand. Continue to be diligent with your approach and monitor the marketplace to keep your price points accurate.
Optimize listings for mobile
Over 60% of eBay sales are mobile, meaning optimizing listings for all devices is non-negotiable. There are several ways to ensure your listing is mobile-friendly.
- Ensure your fonts are readable on mobile devices. Generally speaking, avoid font sizes below 12px, which negates the need for users to zoom in. The base eBay font is 16px.
- Scale listing information to fit on a mobile screen to avoid horizontal scrollbars.
- Formatting must be simple and easy to read. Although there are many style options, try to keep to a white background and black text. Avoid HTML as it may not render well on mobile.
- Do not insert photos in the description. Only use the photo uploader tool. Images in product descriptions can become misaligned on mobile.
- Use the fields designated for item specifics, shipping, and returns. The Item Description is shortened on mobile devices and will lead to the buyer seeing incomplete information if you only include it in there.
Failing to optimize your listings can significantly dampen your sales and revenue due to the volume of eBay users with mobile devices.
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