The online buying and selling platform is ever changing. Even if you have been selling and buying for years there’s always something to learn. However, there are some core knowledge that you should follow. Here we will discuss a few tips on setting up and maintaining your online antique shop on eBay.
Doing Research for Your Antiques
There are plenty of antique shops and sellers on eBay who do not do proper research before listing an item. Buyers love these sellers as they can buy products on a bargain time after time from them. This allows them to resell the same antique with a better title and a better description at a much higher price.
You should be using books on antiques collectibles as well as online sites and other shops to find more about the antiques you have. Make sure you find out the right market value before you start listing the product. Being in conversation with other sellers as well will let you have an idea about the platform and market.
Not Ending the Antique Auction Early
The buyers on eBay are often expert snipers. This is when bidders wait till the last minute to hold out on bidding for a product. If you have a listing that isn’t bringing in as many bids as you wanted, then don’t worry. Because you may be in a sniping war. You should not think about ending your auctions early as product prices can double or triple during the last few moments of an auction.
Additionally, you should never think about ending the bid early because someone emailed you to do so. This is obviously against eBay’s policy as this cheats them out of the ending fee as well as the fact that you may be accepting a low ball offer from the bidder. You have to make sure you are doing the right thing for your antique store or you may be losing easy money.
Putting Search Keywords in Titles
The title space in your eBay product listing is valuable real-estate. This is because most searches are done through title search. While your description may provide a grander picture, it is your title that informs the buyer that your product is what they are looking for. You should be considering replacing extraneous words and putting in words of a more descriptive nature.
One way to do this would be if you put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. When buying the bidders search with specific keywords that describe the product or some other pertinent details. So, considering the type of search phrase and implementing words that are descriptive of the antique is a better route to follow.
Not Overpricing the Shipping & Handling Costs
Bidders tend to avoid listings with a higher shipping and handling charge. You should only charge the exact shipping cost and nothing more. You can put in the labor cost and packaging cost within the starting bid price of the product. This is a good way to keep the bidders satisfied and makes sure people don’t veer away from your antique shop.
Packaging
This is extremely important if you are shipping fragile antiques. Imagine you didn’t package the item properly and shipped it, there’s a high chance that the product will be broken when the customer receives it. You don’t want that, this will result in returns and refund claims for your product as well as damaging future business chances. So make sure you are investing time and money in good packaging for your online antique shop.
Be Friendly and Have Conversations
These are some of the tips you should always be following when opening an antique store on eBay. Additionally, you should be friendly with your bidders and create a pleasant environment in your shop. On top of that talk to your best bidders and returning customers take their emails and build up an email list. Before sending emails make sure you ask their permission as you don’t want to be considered as spammy.
Well, these tips will ensure that your online antique shop runs smoothly. Follow them wholeheartedly and see the difference for yourself.
