Need some EBay selling advice?

[znjndmawn]

3 hours ago, Seal Cutter said:

Sometimes takes longer than you think to come up in searches, even though the listing is live. Not sure why. Never had a problem with the listing not appearing on searches within a couple of hours

My previous listing for the same item was up for days and searching for it using the set # didn't show my listing in the search results. I even paid the 50 cents 'Subject' value added service.

Only thing I could think of that may be causing this is that I had an outstanding balance in eBay fees which I just paid prior to my latest listing.

Currently talking to eBay senior tech support. Hopefully he fixes it.

3 hours ago, BrickLegacy said:

If you still don't see it show up after an hour or so, double check the category for your listing and your search.

 

Category looks good. Same category as my previous 4 listings for the same item.

[znjndmawn]

They said that this is an issue affecting random users which has been happening for 80 days. They're going to do a manual fix and will get back to me within 48 hours. I want my 50 cents back!?!?!?

ex. LEGO Architecture Imperial Hotel 21017 - My listing will appear if 'LEGO Imperial' is used when doing a search. Using 'LEGO Imperial Hotel' and 'LEGO 21017' won't show mine.

 

[Zelgazra]

Maybe this belongs in the fruitcake thread....

So, I had a buyer purchase a set from me last Thursday. I shipped as Expedited on Friday using ebay's label service (meaning buyer is supposed to get a confirmation email when item is scanned... I got mine). All good, went on my merry way. Today I wake up to see my relist of the same set had sold at my $3 price hike. Sweet! I go in to check the Ship Now notification, and I usually contact my buyer with a thanks and questions opportunity. I notice it's the same buyer... odd. I had listed as quantity 1, and then relisted as quantity 1, so I thought perhaps they wanted 2 and didn't realize I had 2 (or 5). So I message them and double check. Some confusion ensues, clarity is had, and the buyer confirms they accidentally bought the item twice. (It was never explained why... Did they not see the shipping notification? Did they forget they paid? Did they forget they'd ordered at all in the first place?  Fruits.....and cake?)

So I issued a cancel order and refund. Got confirmation that money was refunded from buyer, all ends well. Fun story right? Here's my question:

When performing a refund through ebay, the 3.2% or whatever it is that Paypal creams off the top... what happens to that money? Does it get redeemed and factor into the funds I've refunded my buyer, or is Paypal still taking their cut and us sellers are getting screwed? I feel like it must get redeemed otherwise I would've read something about this on here somewhere.... Anyone confirm for me? Cheers guys! 

Edited January 25, 2016 by Zelgazra

[gregpj]

Maybe this belongs in the fruitcake thread....

So, I had a buyer purchase a set from me last Thursday. I shipped as Expedited on Friday using ebay's label service (meaning buyer is supposed to get a confirmation email when item is scanned... I got mine). All good, went on my merry way. Today I wake up to see my relist of the same set had sold at my $3 price hike. Sweet! I go in to check the Ship Now notification, and I usually contact my buyer with a thanks and questions opportunity. I notice it's the same buyer... odd. I had listed as quantity 1, and then relisted as quantity 1, so I thought perhaps they wanted 2 and didn't realize I had 2 (or 5). So I message them and double check. Some confusion ensues, clarity is had, and the buyer confirms they accidentally bought the item twice. (It was never explained why... Did they not see the shipping notification? Did they forget they paid? Did they forget they'd ordered at all in the first place?  Fruits.....and cake?)

So I issued a cancel order and refund. Got confirmation that money was refunded from buyer, all ends well. Fun story right? Here's my question:

When performing a refund through ebay, the 3.2% or whatever it is that Paypal creams off the top... what happens to that money? Does it get redeemed and factor into the funds I've refunded my buyer, or is Paypal still taking their cut and us sellers are getting screwed? I feel like it must get redeemed otherwise I would've read something about this on here somewhere.... Anyone confirm for me? Cheers guys! 

You should get full credit for all the fees.

[hockeyweasel]

2 hours ago, Zelgazra said:

When performing a refund through ebay, the 3.2% or whatever it is that Paypal creams off the top... what happens to that money? Does it get redeemed and factor into the funds I've refunded my buyer, or is Paypal still taking their cut and us sellers are getting screwed? I feel like it must get redeemed otherwise I would've read something about this on here somewhere.... Anyone confirm for me? Cheers guys! 

I think you might lose the $.30 "swipe" fee.  Looking at the paypal activity report that I exported to Excel, there was an item I sold for $259.95.  The fee was $7.84 (2.9% + $.30).  The person requested to cancel the order; so the next line is my refund to the buyer, -$259.95, but my cancelled fee credit is only $7.54

[thoroakenfelder]

1 hour ago, gregpj said:

You should get full credit for all the fees.

maybe it's just me, but anytime I've had to do a refund, I lost the $.30 that paypal tacks on.

[minicoopers11]

Can confirm, have always lost the $0.30.

[trstnkn]

Two random eBay questions...

Have considerably upped my sails volume this month.  How do you print post office manifest?  My PO keeps referring to this.  I cannot find it anywhere in eBay help.  It is printout sheet with one scan for all packages dropped off I believe?

 

If you need a seller to send you more photos, how do you typically do this since eBay does not allow e-mail addresses sent?

[Quagmire]

More of a curiosity thing - but what's the point of some people charging insane shipping rates? I could understand back in the day before they starting tacking on the shipping cost to the final value fee, but now shipping is including in the final value fee. 

 

Maybe to entice buyers to click on their auctions since the bid price is usually lower? 

[justapilgrim]

Insane shipping rates are good if you use "or best offer". It allows you to screen your sales to sell to people closer with cheaper shipping

[El Guapo]

7 minutes ago, justapilgrim said:

Insane shipping rates are good if you use "or best offer". It allows you to screen your sales to sell to people closer with cheaper shipping

Living on the West Coast I do this.  But I don't have high shipping rates...its just a good way to screen items that are proportionally low sales price to their shipping weight.

I think some people have crazy shipping rates because they can "trick" uneducated buyers into buying their item for $19.95 + $12 shipping instead of $29.99 + free shipping.  Some people just look at the sales price.

[minicoopers11]

2 hours ago, trstnkn said:

Two random eBay questions...

Have considerably upped my sails volume this month.  How do you print post office manifest?  My PO keeps referring to this.  I cannot find it anywhere in eBay help.  It is printout sheet with one scan for all packages dropped off I believe?

 

If you need a seller to send you more photos, how do you typically do this since eBay does not allow e-mail addresses sent?

The CAN SCAN form? I think it's a checkable option when printing off eBay.

[Kenxxx]

I just sold something on eBay. When I go to My eBay and click on the Alert that says "Ship NOW", it takes me to a Paypal log-in page... which, in turn, takes me to a Paypal shipping interface.  I've never seen this before. Is this new for everybody, or did I select some option without knowing it?

[BrickLegacy]

5 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

I just sold something on eBay. When I go to My eBay and click on the Alert that says "Ship NOW", it takes me to a Paypal log-in page... which, in turn, takes me to a Paypal shipping interface.  I've never seen this before. Is this new for everybody, or did I select some option without knowing it?

I shipped a set this morning and it took me to the same shipping page I've been using for months.  Did you try clicking Print Shipping Label from your orders / awaiting shipment list instead?  Does that take you to the same Paypal screen?

[Kenxxx]

Just tried it... same thing... it's taking me to Paypal.  It's a $500+ sale... perhaps I may have specified UPS as the shipper (something I never do)... could that make a difference?

[ravenb99]

8 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

Just tried it... same thing... it's taking me to Paypal.  It's a $500+ sale... perhaps I may have specified UPS as the shipper (something I never do)... could that make a difference?

Yes that is what you did. If its not something ebay integrates it sends you to paypal.  Probably just have ups selected for that listing.

[Kenxxx]

OKay. Thanks for the great answers. Now... on the same sale, I have another issue.  So I listed this 10224 as BIN at about $530 plus shipping. I input all the correct info up front: weight 11 lbs, and box 24" x 24" x 6" (my box is actually a bit smaller). And offered UPS ground as shipping service. The buyer is across country in New Mexico. eBay charged him about $22 shipping, making his total ($530 + $22 = $552). So I go to use the Paypal shipping tool to ship it... register as an eBay user to "qualify for eBay discount", etc... put in the exact same weight & box size, and... shipping cost for me is about $44!  Not sure what I'm going to do about this.  I'm inclined to continue the sale - don't want to disappoint a paying customer... but I feel like eBay / Paypal screwed the pooch on this one and I'm getting stuck with the bill.  Do I have any recourse?

[Phil B]

9 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

OKay. Thanks for the great answers. Now... on the same sale, I have another issue.  So I listed this 10224 as BIN at about $530 plus shipping. I input all the correct info up front: weight 11 lbs, and box 24" x 24" x 6" (my box is actually a bit smaller). And offered UPS ground as shipping service. The buyer is across country in New Mexico. eBay charged him about $22 shipping, making his total ($530 + $22 = $552). So I go to use the Paypal shipping tool to ship it... register as an eBay user to "qualify for eBay discount", etc... put in the exact same weight & box size, and... shipping cost for me is about $44!  Not sure what I'm going to do about this.  I'm inclined to continue the sale - don't want to disappoint a paying customer... but I feel like eBay / Paypal screwed the pooch on this one and I'm getting stuck with the bill.  Do I have any recourse?

Not directly answering your "recourse" question, but are you able to compare other services (e.g. USPS or FedEx)? I have switched from USPS to FedEx SmartPost in some of my sales because their rate was lower (especially with Ebay's discount). If your box is a little smaller than 24x24x6 you should fit into the "under 84 inches" dimension requirement for USPS packages as well (length + 2x(width+depth)) ...

NOTE: I mean I switched shipping company AFTER completing the sale - not sure if that's considered a No-No but timings are the same, tracking is there etc so I don't see why the buyer would mind (especially since most of my listings are Free Shipping).

Edited February 15, 2016 by Phil B

[randrace]

38 minutes ago, Kenxxx said:

OKay. Thanks for the great answers. Now... on the same sale, I have another issue.  So I listed this 10224 as BIN at about $530 plus shipping. I input all the correct info up front: weight 11 lbs, and box 24" x 24" x 6" (my box is actually a bit smaller). And offered UPS ground as shipping service. The buyer is across country in New Mexico. eBay charged him about $22 shipping, making his total ($530 + $22 = $552). So I go to use the Paypal shipping tool to ship it... register as an eBay user to "qualify for eBay discount", etc... put in the exact same weight & box size, and... shipping cost for me is about $44!  Not sure what I'm going to do about this.  I'm inclined to continue the sale - don't want to disappoint a paying customer... but I feel like eBay / Paypal screwed the pooch on this one and I'm getting stuck with the bill.  Do I have any recourse?

1.Try shipping from within EBay (not PayPal shipping tool) and see if you get the same result.

Edit: just read a few posts back, seeing this may not be an option for you.

2. Compare rates within EBay shipping and see if you can get the rate down (Smartpost, Parcel Select, Priority may be cheaper.) If you are close to the buyer, Priority will be less than $44 for sure.

I wouldn't hesitate to ship this one another way other than UPS.

3.If you have time, take it to a box-and-ship place and get some prices. I was shocked recently to find my local box-and-ship could beat my EBay Commercial Plus pricing for a large heavy box.

Good luck!

Edited February 15, 2016 by randrace

[randrace]

Also, try going to My EBay>Sold

Click on the box next to the left of your sold item

At the bottom of the page click Print Shipping Labels

This (normally) takes you to EBay's Bulk Shipping which is different than their regular shipping page.

There, maybe you can change from UPS to another service.

[Kenxxx]

Thanks again. Looking at all the options, I may be able to get it down about $10 using my own UPS account... When going through the Paypal interface, here's something I just noticed. Fine print says:

If you have recently opened a new UPS account and requested enrollment into the UPS Special Pricing Program for eBay/PayPal sellers, please note it takes 4-6 business days for UPS to confirm your enrollment status.

 

[kfishe2]

I have called ebay before when the price they charged the buyer was significantly less then what the actual shipping was. Didnt know what to expect and certainly didnt ask for it, but they told me to pay the higher shipping price and then refunded me the ebay fee, which was on the order of $80, so ended up with a net gain. They said there is sometimes a glitch in the payment rate calculator and they didnt know how to fix it, fwiw.

[Kenxxx]

Great advice. Just got off the phone with eBay - guy was not much help and I'm not even sure he understood what the problem was, but he was smart enough to tell me that this was a Paypal issue, and connected me to them.  When I explained it to the Paypal rep, he seemed to immediately understand what I was talking about (must happen a lot). He said, if it is your first UPS shipment thru eBay, you sometimes will get regular "retail" pricing when you print the label. It takes UPS a few days to confirm your eBay account.  Often, they will do this shortly after item item is scanned in and shipped, and you will receive an automatic credit to your account via Paypal... if you don't, just call Paypal a week or two later with all the info: what the buyer paid, what you were charged, tracking number, etc, and they will get you a credit somehow.

Thanks for everyone's help... I probably wouldn't have arrived at this solution without your suggestions.

To all you other eBay noobs like me... get your eBay account registered with UPS, so - if you ever use UPS someday - you won't have this trouble.

[AirborneAFOL]

I just had a record weekend with my Ebay storefront (veritasbricks).  Went from an average of 2% conversions, 5 listings sold to 21% conversion and ~45 listings sold.

My single biggest piece of advice to anyone struggling in the current Ebay sales environment is to invest an hour into Google, particular "Ebay selling SEO" and "Ebay selling tips & tricks".  I spent an hour on Friday doing that, then 2 hours Saturday updating my ~100 listings, and the results were instantly a 500%+ increase in sales.

I don't have the time to delve into all the nuances, but feel free to check out my listing formats, and/or msg me with any particular questions.  I'm selfishly not inclined to spend an hour sharing my "secret sauce" here, but if you're seriously interested in comparing notes I'd be happy to do so offline.  Maybe we could at least share a link to one another's storefront on our respective Ebay sites so we can mutually benefit instead of direclty competing

[AirborneAFOL]

Alright, I put together some notes.  Bear in mind this is just my experience and by no means definitive (or even 100% accurate for that matter).

Ebay currently uses a search engine called “Cassini”.  This was a relatively substantial upgrade, occurring sometime around 2013, as Cassini is much more akin to Google in terms of being “smart”.  This was a tetonic shift in Ebay's search engine, and really means any pre-Cassini "Tips" should be disregarded.  Rather than just pulling results based on keywords spammed into a listing title, it curates results based on likelihood of a best match based on a plethora of data points, from the listing title, item specifics, and description, etc.  Worth noting that Cassini’s algorithm is naturally a closely guarded secret, and nobody knows exactly how it works.  The other major impact of Cassini is it factors in your conversion rate – the percentage of people who purchase an item in your listing compared against how many view the listing.  As a result, you need to be ever vigilant to avoid a listing that may pull highly in search results (think “New Lego Smaug!!!” for an unrelated product) but doesn’t result in many sales.

 

Aside from Cassini, you need to be aware that Google is a major driver to your Ebay listings.  Search for a Lego product in Google, and a well crafted Ebay listing will appear in the results.  Hence your SEO (‘Search Engine Optimization’) needs to consider equal parts Cassini and Google.  The following are key considerations for a listing that will maximize the visibility (coming up high in search results) as well as sales (coming up high in results that are actually looking for a product like yours).  All in all the impact of Cassini is that your Conversion Rate is now the end all be all metric that you should be tracking and targetting (sidenote: a 2% conversion rate seems par for Lego on Ebay, while anything north of 10% is extremely strong).  Worth noting conversion rates inherently apply to listings with a quantity >1, but it's believed Cassini accounts for your Conversion Rate *on the whole* (as a seller account generally) as well, and rewards/punishes your single-quantity listings accordingly.

1.       Listing Title.  Use keywords such as “Lego”, set/part number, set/part name, quantity (i.e., “x32”) for items in bulk, and condition keyword (other than “New” or “Used”).  Avoid the temptation to use CAPS or adjectives (“New”, “LOOK!”, etc); both Cassini & Google tend to punish listings with these elements.  My template tends to be as follows:x[quantity] Lego [element/set name] [theme] [elementID/set number] [designID] [alternative element names]

2.       Item Category.  Use appropriate Lego subcategory as accurately as possible.  Unless you have 4+ variations, listing a “You Pick” style (Other Wholesale Lots category) is inadvisable.

3.       Item Specifics.  When possible, use Ebay’s Product Catalogue.  This can work for some complete sets, but rarely works for parted-out sets or bulk bricks.  Add specifics for Element ID, Design ID, Color, Size, etc. (particularly for lots of bulk bricks).  Cassini & Google will both draw from anything in your Item Specifics as keywords, so don’t short change things here (and be as accurate as possible to avoid the trap of high short-term views, poor conversion, low long-term search results).

4.       Item Description.  Use your keywords in the first 1-2 sentences.  Set the general font size to no larger than 12-pt, and put the keywords (culled from your item specifics / listing title) in 14-pt, and bold or italicize them.  Cassini & Google will both disregard font larger than 14-pt, but will identify as keywords anything in a larger-than-body font and/or in special font style (bold, italic, etc).  Apply any generic terms & conditions that apply to your sales in a 2^nd paragraph.

5.       Photos.  Enough emphasis cannot be placed on this one – take live photos with a high resolution camera, and spend 2-3 minutes editing them for color/cropping/etc.  Good photos can make up for a lot of shortfalls elsewhere, or sabotage doing everything else perfectly.

6.       Store Categories.  Use them.  Further, go into the keyword builder and appropriately apply (accurate) keywords.  Ebay/Google will utilize these fields in curating their search results.  Ebay’s default settings are atrocious, so take some time on this front to apply befitting keywords that are generic to the respective Store Category (i.e., if you sell Minifigures, keywords such as “Lego, New, Used, Minifigure, Minifig, Collectible”, etc.).

7.       Listing Format / Price.  Fixed price is preferable to Auction.  You should set a reasonable pricetag though based on the competition (and having done some quick research there for the “sold” price on similar items).  Avoid using GTC on items until they have sold.  If the item has not sold, it inherently has a poor conversion rate, and the conversion rate follows with the item as long as it’s listed.  For items that have sold (and have a decent conversion rate), feel free to use GTC.  Otherwise, let it expire as 7-30 days, and relist the item (having reviewed your listing and updating it as necessary); this resets your conversion rate for the listing and gives it “new life” in terms of coming up higher in search results.

8.       Shipping.  Anything under $20 I’ve found to be a poor option for “free shipping”.  Charging a flat USPS-actual rate encourages individuals to buy multiple low-cost items.  Make sure you’re taking advantage of the “combined shipping” and/or “promotional shipping” settings.  I’d also recommend applying a “same business day” shipping time, but using a cutoff time (i.e., same day if sale is before 11am).

9.       Returns.  You’ll want to ensure you’re using Ebay’s 14-day moneyback return policy by default; consider setting it for 30-days if you want to distinguish yourself as having the utmost confidence in the quality of your product.

 

Edited February 15, 2016 by AirborneAFOL
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