Selling Low ASP Items on eBay
by Carrie Hinkel on November 6th, 2007
Selling higher priced items may mean a bigger chunk of profit, but items with a low selling price have the ability to sell quicker and in higher quantities. Items like CDs, DVDs, coffees & teas, and health & beauty items are considered to be impulse items and are many times purchased within seconds of seeing it for the first time. Higher priced items don’t always work that way. Typically, with high-cost items, buyers will “shop around” to make sure they’re getting the best price.
The key with selling low ASP (average selling price) items is to convince buyers that your prices are lower than the manufacturer’s retail price, and give them the ability to purchase the item immediately. Here are some tips for successfully selling items with a low retail price on eBay:
Have a Buy-It-Now price - Remember, low ASP items are impulse items. Just like gum in the grocery store checkout lane – when you want it, you want it now – not a week from now. Let buyers give into their impulse and allow them to get the item they want now. Because prices are so low, buyers typically aren’t interested in waiting the auction out to see if they’ll save 25%. They want that discount upfront!
Offer low or free shipping - With lower-priced items, the shipping will most likely represent a big portion of the purchase price. Keep customers interested by offering them free or low shipping – usually low ASP items are small, lightweight and don’t cost very much to mail via U.S. Postal Service. Of course you may need to add that into the cost of the item, but the lure of free shipping will help entice customers to buy. No one wants to pay $4.50 in shipping on a $5.00 item. Your goal shouldn’t be to make profit on shipping with “handling” fees. That might work with higher-priced items, but there’s not enough pricing room to work with when selling low ASP items.
Sell complimentary products in a group - One way to increase your profit is to group similar items together – for instance, shampoo, conditioner and bath gel – offering customers a kit. This saves you additional listing fees and the customer on shipping charges. Plus, it allows buyers a chance to purchase product they may want but wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
Compare your price to the manufacturer’s retail price - Buyers want to know they are getting a good deal, that they can’t just run to Wal-Mart and get the same price (or less). Tell them what the actual retail price is and how much money they are saving. Buyers want to feel good about their purchase.
As you can see, the strategy for selling low ASP products isn’t the same as selling high ASP products. You need to think like the consumer purchasing these low-cost products, realizing that they want to buy it quick and easy and don’t have the time to check around for prices – so you must convince them that your prices truly are a good deal.