How to Increase Ebay Profits by Researching Completed Sales

Maximizing your profit on items sold at ebay can be very simple. It is all about having a desirable product, a well-written listing and getting bidders emotionally involved. Follow these steps to earn more money on your ebay auctions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• computer
• something to sell

1. Check the recently completed auctions on similar items. Most importantly check the final sale price, the number of bids, and the shipping price.
   The final sale price will give you a ballpark estimate of what to expect. This will help you decide if your item is worth the effort to sell.

2. The number of bids is incredibly important. Large demand for a product will make it cheaper to list, as will be shown, and also more profitable. Use the techniques below when the item in question is popular.

3. Noting the shipping price of similar items will show both what people expect it to cost and what people are willing to pay for shipping. Do not be one of the people that tries to profit from charging absurdly large shipping costs.

4. Make the starting price less than $1. This will minimize the insertion fee that ebay charges to use the site, which currently ranges from $.20 to $4.80. A low starting bid will get people interested, at least watching the auction if not bidding. On that note, don't use reserve prices if your item is popular enough, i.e., if your research showed a large number of bids. It encourages early bidders by letting them think they could get a great deal. It is important to get bidders emotionally invested in your auction. Keeping it No Reserve should also save a few bucks.

5. Pictures also make an item seem more real to bidders. Use them liberally.

[starlet67]

on 7/7/2009 Great Ebay tips!