8 Ways to Increase eBay Sales
eBay is a highly competitive marketplace, and there will come a time when you feel stuck with your sales performance.
Fret not, as we will provide you with a guide on:
- How to increase your impression and click-through-rate
- Way to improve your conversion rate
- Understanding the eBay algorithm
eBay is like any other marketplace like Etsy and Amazon. The big difference comes from eBay’s seller standards and marketing options.
In the end, we are hoping that these tips to increase your sales can add value to your business. Let us start!
How Does the eBay Algorithm Work?
eBay’s search engine is not that complicated. However, it does consider several factors to decide which item to show in the search results or product recommendations.
These factors are, but not limited to:
- The listing title
- The product category you selected as the seller
- Your product rating; your rating as a seller
To give you a better perspective, eBay uses the Cassini search engine. This algorithm tracks things like the number of views of a product, the number of clicks it received, the bids in the product, and the number of items purchased.
In addition to all these, the machine also tracks the following:
- Complaints and disputes about a listing
- Your response time as a seller
- Your shipping policies and the delivery period
As you can see, Cassini tracks anything that has something to do with the buyer’s experience. As far as the formula goes, no one knows how exactly the eBay algorithm calculates all these factors to decide which one to show in the results pages or product feed.
As such, there is no magic formula to follow—do not expect your listing to be at the top simply because you followed a set of listing instructions. Your listings will appear at the top if you meet many conditions that are favorable to the buyer.
To increase your likelihood of being at the top of eBay’s search results, concentrate on the following:
- Use keywords that a buyer is likely to use when searching for a product
- Maintain a positive seller rating
- Ensure that your thumbnails are enticing enough to get clicks
Overall, you want the system to recognize that your listings are getting clicks, that if the consumer clicks, he is likely to buy, and that if he buys, he is satisfied with the purchase. All these will send a signal to Cassini that your listings are favorable to the consumer, and subsequently, favorable to eBay’s business.
Ways to Increase Your eBay Sales
- Optimize Your Listing with SEO
- Invest in Photography and Videography
- Use Competitive Pricing
- Advertise on the eBay Platform
- Make Your Customers Happy
- Ship Free and Ship Fast
- Share on Social Media
- Create Hard-to-Resist Offer
1. Optimize Your Listing with SEO
People need to see your listing. If they don’t, nobody would know that your product even exists. To make your listings visible, SEO is the default tactic to implement.
There is no formula to fully optimize a listing, at the very least, do these things:
- Use keywords in your title
- Use keywords in your product description
One thing to take note of is that keywords are not magic words that will put your listings at the top of the search results pages.
Keywords are basic expectations. If you do not have them, your listing will not rank. If you do, it won’t make you sell more. However, it is a must—it is a basic expectation that should never be absent in your listing.
2. Invest in Photography and Videography
Do not underestimate the power of photography. All professional companies that make marketing materials invest in this, and so should you.
Photography matters for the following reasons:
- Photography establishes your brand
- You can standardize your product images
- You can control how to present your goods
What if other people steal my photography? They certainly will. If you do catch these copyright violators, report them to eBay.
3. Use Competitive Pricing
Another tactic you can use is to compete against prices. I am not saying that you undercut your prices, as it is not a healthy practice. Rather, study your competitors and find a sweet spot for your product price.
Here are some tips about pricing your eBay items:
- Do not undercut your price for the sake of sales
- Incorporate your business expenses, if any
- Go to the completed listings of eBay and see how much others have sold items similar to yours
To view the completed listings, follow these steps from eBay. This process will allow you to see how much your competitors sold their products. If you have this information, you will have an idea of how much buyers are willing to pay for a product like yours.
4. Advertise on the eBay Platform
You can advertise on eBay in two ways. The first one is buying listing highlights, which you can do on an individual listing. The second one is by buying ad spots that turn items into sponsored listings.
The former allows you to have bold text and a different background for your listing. When a customer sees it, he will notice that your listing looks different. Yours is more eye-catching and will therefore get more clicks.
However, this trick is rarely in use now because paying for a highlight does not necessarily mean getting your product at the top of the search results.
A better solution is to pay for sponsored listings, as they are more likely to appear in the search results, but then there's no guarantee that they will be at the top.
Sponsored listings look like this:
5. Make Your Customers Happy
Once you have mastered SEO and you are making sales, the next step to improve your conversion is to make your customers happy. Your feedback score has a big impact on how eBay views your listing and your business.
If your feedback score is low, the eBay algorithm is not likely to show your other listings to buyers anymore. Why would they recommend your product knowing that you do not keep your end of the bargain?
In addition, people are more likely to buy from you if you have a high feedback score. There is always a higher degree of trust in sellers who have high ratings than those who have low scores.
6. Ship Free and Ship Fast
Free shipping is always a sales magnet. Many people do not want to pay for shipping, thinking that this money could have been spent on another product.
If the cost of shipping is negligible, it is reasonable to let it eat through your profits. Another tactic you can use is to charge the shipping cost from the buyer by adding it to your listing price (but do not tell the buyer this).
Make it a point to review the speed of shipping carriers and replace them if there is a better option. Better yet, you can give your buyers shipping options (if you do not want to offer free shipping).
7. Share on Social Media
Create social media for your eBay store and make it a habit to post images and videos to entice buyers to check out your eBay store.
Refrain from posting marketing materials, as buyers tend to dislike this. Instead, post videos that show your product in use. For example, it is a good idea to show a person having his morning coffee (using your coffee mug product) rather than just showing a photo of your product.
8. Create Hard-to-Resist Offer
eBay now allows you to make offers such as discounts. Here are some examples:
You can create discounts for all buyers or create coupon codes usable for a limited time only. If people buy and you have lots of inventory, the eBay algorithm will notice this and include your item in the Trending Deals section.
How to Be a Top-Rated eBay Seller
There are three types of sellers on eBay—top-rated, above-standard, and below-standard. Once you become a Top-Rated seller, you will be eligible to receive a blue-ribbon badge in your listing, which indicates to buyers that you are a dependable seller.
Here is what the blue badge looks like:
To become a Top Seller, you must meet the following conditions:
- Your account must have been active for the last 90 days; you must have logged in at least once
- Your total transaction in the last 12 months is not below 100 units or sales, and the total should not be less than $1,000
- Your feedback score must be high, with a defect rate of not more than 0.5%.
- Your resolution or dispute cases must be less than 0.3%; in addition, you must have less than two cases
- Your rate of late shipment must be less than 3%; the late shipment must not be more than five instances
The Top-Rated Seller is mainly available to US sellers, but eBay has provisions for international sellers. Just take note that if you sell on eBay.com, eBay will treat your store as a US store. Below are some of our guidelines to achieve a Top Seller status on eBay.
1. Manage Your Shipping
If you can ship within a day, do not tell your customers that you will ship in one day. Instead, tell them that you will ship in three days.
The principle here is what we call under promise, over deliver. If the customer expects that you can ship in three days, and then you ship in one day, you are increasing your likelihood of getting positive feedback.
In addition, eBay’s algorithm will record it, and think that you are shipping earlier than expected. Because of this, you will not get dinged for points in the shipping expectations of eBay.
2. Increase Your Sales
You have 365 days to meet 100 units in sales, and the total has to be $1,000. As far as your products go, you must do the math and set a target. Think of it this way:
- 100 units at $10 each = $1,000
- 10 units at $100 = $1,000
- 50 units at $20 each = $1,000
This mathematical exercise helps you determine the amount of effort you need to put in to achieve $1,000 sales. The next step now is to determine how to sell a total of 100 units.
In your case, do you think it is easier to reach 100 sales totaling $1,000, or is it easier to sell 100 units at $20 each and achieve $2,000 in sales?
You can always use an eBay product research tool to find winning products that will help you achieve these requirements.
3. Be a Dependable Seller
Lastly, make sure that your customer gets what they expect. Do not use stock photos of brand-new items if you are selling pre-loved goods. Customers would expect a brand-new item, only to get disappointed that you sent them second-hand products.
Do not con people, and do not lie in your listings. Overall, you must do what it takes to be an ethical seller and make your customers happy. Winging it or scamming people just to make a sale will always end up in a dispute. The more disputes you have, the less likely will you become a Top-Rated Seller.
Top 3 Common Challenges of eBay Sellers
The three main challenges on eBay that you will face are fraudulent bidders and buyers, high levels of competition, and the visibility of your listings. In this section, we will go through each one and provide solutions to help you increase your sales.
1. Fraudulent Buyers
Fraudulent buyers refer to those who place bids but do not proceed with the transaction. It also refers to scammers who would ask you to take the transaction out of eBay.
Do not ever make any transaction out of eBay (do not accept payments out of eBay). If you qualify as a seller to accept payments via eBay (PayPal), do it because you will qualify for eBay’s seller protection.
Some buyers will file a dispute and say that they did not receive the item. To prevent this issue from being favorable to the scammer, always get a receipt of your shipping document, and keep a digital copy of it.
Once a buyer opens a dispute against you, you can present this to eBay as proof that you fulfilled your duty as a seller, and you will win the case.
2. Extreme Competition
Many sellers give up saying that the market is too “saturated.” All markets, even sports and dropshipping or Shopify, are saturated.
The key here is to make sure that your product listing is enticing enough for the searchers to click your listings. In addition, your listings must be competitive enough as far as pricing goes.
Here are some more tips on how to fight against extreme eBay competition:
- Maintain high standards for your product and customer service
- Ship fast and ship cheap
- Sell only high-quality products; nobody likes poor imitation and counterfeit
- Make a clear return and refund policy; make a refund policy that is generous enough for a buyer
- Ensure that your item is as described; do not mislead buyers
I want to add here that it makes perfect sense to go through the sales and review of your competitors. Find their weaknesses and be better than them in these areas.
3. Impression Rate and Click-Through Rate
Impression refers to the instance in which eBay showed your product to a user during a search or in a product feed. Click-through refers to the instance in which a customer clicks your product listing.
These two metrics are equally important. Impression is important to you as a seller because this is the instance a customer sees your listing. If a customer does not see your listing, how can he click on it and buy it?
On the other hand, if a customer sees your list along with other listings, but does not click on it, you also will not make a sale.
To increase your impression rate, use the right keywords that customers are likely to type in search of a product similar to yours. The other thing you can do is to advertise on eBay. Sponsored listings will always be at the top of the search results.
To improve your clickthrough rate, ensure that our product image is attractive enough. in addition, you must also use the right keywords that entice a customer to click your listing instead of the others. You can improve your thumbnails and listings by reviewing what your competitors do.
How Do I increase the eBay Selling Limit
eBay imposes a selling limit on new sellers as part of its strategy to reduce financial fraud. If you are new to eBay, you will have a limit, and this can be infuriating, especially if your business is growing.
To increase your limit, you have to request it by going to your Account Overview page and clicking on the corresponding button.
To increase your eBay selling limit, take note of the following things:
- Your account age matters to eBay’s decisions
- You have to confirm your identity
- Your country must be approved by eBay
- Your selling performance is a key factor
- Your product risk or account risk is also a factor
The volume of your sales is also critical, and eBay will take a good look at your buyers, too. The way I see it, eBay does not want to become a hub for money launderers who pretend to make sales to “wash” their cash clean.
Sadly, eBay does not have specific guidelines on how to increase the limit. What it means is that there is no hard and fast rule to circumvent this rule. According to eBay, each limit is independent or unique per seller.
FAQ: How to Increase eBay Sales
How to increase sales on eBay?
You can increase your sales on eBay in so many ways. The most important thing to consider is your listing’s visibility. To improve your impression rate or visibility rate, you must either use SEO perfectly or advertise your listing.
How to sell 100 items a day on eBay?
You can sell 100+ items on eBay a day if you have thousands of products listed. If not, then your marketing strategy is an important factor. If you can create demand through your marketing efforts, then you can easily sell hundreds of units in a day.
How can I make my eBay items sell faster?
First, you must investigate your competitor and find weaknesses in their listings. Position your product in such a way that the customer sees better value in your offer than your competitors.
How do I boost my eBay listing?
You can boost your eBay listing by purchasing advertising services. You can also buy the highlight feature where your listing will have bold text or a different background color for the thumbnail.
Summary
Increasing your eBay sales is similar to how you can improve sales on other platforms. In a nutshell, you need to be in tune with what your target market wants and what your competitors are doing. From here, you can study patterns and trends and apply them to your business as you deem fit.
You can also use our tool to determine what items are in demand. In this case, the best tool I suggest is our product database which allows you to find winning products. Sign up now and use our tool through our 7-day free trial offer!
