I haven’t shopped on eBay in over 15 years. I used to use them a lot and would sell used things there. I listed a few things and things about 6 months ago, sold something on day 1, that’s it. I know there’s a different audience on each platform based on your product. I sell well on Amazon.
I can’t figure out if it’s my product, or not listing correctly.
I also noticed many photos on eBay are terrible, someone spent 2 seconds and took pictures of the item on their table. Mine are professional ones, so they do stand out ( not sure if it’s in a good way or bad but it’s definitely different).
So my question is what works best on eBay?
I’m contemplating whether I’m going to spend some time and perfect my listings or if it’s a waste of time.
It is totally dependent on what you sell, whether there is a lot of competition and whether the potential buyers visit the site.
I sell a variety of media products and collectibles, particularly paper collectibles.
In 2008 I migrated from my own website and Ebay to Amazon. The prices I got on Amazon were higher, the volume of sales were higher and Amazon basically took over my business.
Amazon has become less hospitable to sellers of what I sell over time. After a health scare in 2020, I put my Amazon listings on vacation. When the time came to start up again, I started Ebay first - it meant less work than Amazon to meet acceptable standards of service.
Listed 1/4 of the number of items that I had up on Amazon. There was no difference in prices realized and I sold as much as I did on Amazon each month.
No reason to reactivate my Amazon listings. I only wanted to make a targeted amount of sales. Ebay was less work for the same profit.
A big difference between Ebay of the past and Ebay today is the relative unimportance of auctions. It is an atypical auction which gets more than one bid, and the high bidder might no pay.
My pictures are of the same quality as my pictures on Amazon, and my listings for items which are on a shared product detail page on Amazon are usually superior on Ebay.
I have loyal repeat customers on Ebay and my store has 100 followers who are active buyers when I have new merchandise they seek.
If it works for you, sell there. If it doesn’t. why bother.
Loyal, repeat customers are definitely a thing for us on eBay. We are using quantity discounts and eBay promotions. You only pay IF it sells so for us it’s worth it. I am using variable bids for ads and am happy with it so far.
When I’m on eBay as a buyer, I am put off by amateurish pictures, of course. My mind makes a connection (deserved or not) between the quality of the images and the quality of the product.
But professional-looking photos can concern me as well. If they’re too perfect, I’m left wondering if they’re stock photos.
Find a happy medium. Maybe a nice, well-balanced, well-lit picture, but with the very tip of your finger over the lens.
I’ve been listing stuff on eBay that for various reasons have slowed or stopped on Amazon*. And some of my regular stock. I use the same photos I took for Amazon. The first year went quite well, it slowed down from there to a trickle. There’s been an uptick the past few weeks but not near what it was that first year.
The buyers have been great, no one has tried to scam me, rarely any returns and the few I’ve had have been justified. I get much more, and more enthusiastic, feedback.
*
Some are items that stopped selling on Amazon because they suppressed search due to ‘missing attributes’ that are and always have been filled in on the backend of the listings. Stupid bots.
Came here to say what @Diane already said! On eBay, I don’t want to see your filthy garage, but I also don’t trust photos that look like they were provided by your drop shipping manufacturer.
To me, it’s like the difference between school clothes, funeral clothes, and semi/formal clothes: I trust the funeral clothes most.
