1. Listing an
item at the wrong time. It’s a proven
fact more buyers browse Internet auction sites
on Sunday evenings than any other time during
the week.
If your auction is scheduled to end at any other
time than Sunday evenings (specifically between
9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern time), you’re
not getting the maximum exposure for your auction
at a time when people are most eager to buy.
2. Not giving
your photos the attention they deserve. There
are two common mistakes people make with the photos
they use to entice buyers on eBay. One is not
having enough pictures to accompany your item’s
description. Over the years, I’ve learned
pictures of your item are one of the most important
components of
your sales page. (There are many reasons for this,
but I don’t have the space to go into much
detail here.) Multiple pictures from various angles
will ALWAYS help
you get higher bids for your products. The second
mistake is not making sure the pictures are up
and running on whatever server you’re using
BEFORE you list
your item. How many times have you been browsing
an auction site and seen a blank box where a picture
of the item should have been? That’s a seller
who’s losing money because of a very simple,
and very common, oversight.
3. Using "Las
Vegas style" listings. I’m sure
you know what I’m talking about here. A Las
Vegas listing is one that uses all kinds of flashing
animation, multicolored text and other bells and
whistles in an attempt to entice bidders. In fact,
it does just the opposite. Listings like these
are distracting, hard to read, and will always
discourage people from bidding, resulting in a
lower final sales price. The descriptions that
you give of your item on your sales page ARE NOT
designed
to get a buyer’s attention (you already have
that if they’ve clicked on your listing in
the first place). They should be designed to get
someone to actually place a bid.
4. Using a reserve.
Using a reserve to guarantee that you’ll
get a minimum price for an item will absolutely
kill your auction. Trust me, I’ve seen it
happen too
many times to not accept this as a given. In fact,
I often use other seller’s auctions that
have a reserve as a way to pick up items at ridiculously
low prices
that I can sell "the right way" for
a huge profit a few days later -- but that’s
a different article altogether. For now, just
realize that nothing scares away potential bidders
better than seeing the "Reserve Not Yet Met"
tag. If you’re truly concerned about a minimum
price, simply set your starting price a little
higher.
About John Reese:
John
Reese has been actively involved
with online auctions and eBay since 1996. Mr.
Reese has written several articles on the subject
and has recently created the "Internet
Auction Secrets" video for teaching others
how to start, run and manage a successful eBay
auction business from home.
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