5 Ways to Be a Successful eBay PowerSeller
by Ryan Dube on March 6th, 2008
There are a number of ways to successfully advance as an eBay PowerSeller. As an 8 year Seller on eBay, with a 100% feedback rating of over 1000, I’ve come to recognize several things that work, and several others that don’t, when trying to build a successful business as a PowerSeller on eBay.
What is an eBay PowerSeller?
eBay is constantly monitoring the volume of sales of its members. Any seller that can achieve a consistent Sales volume (at least $1000 in gross sales, or 100 items sold per month) for three consecutive months, as well as maintaining a feedback rating of 98% or better, will qualify to become a PowerSeller. These qualifications are reviewed every three months, so a long-time Seller may shift in and out of PowerSeller status depending on sales volume.
However based on those qualifications - there are two obvious secrets to becoming and remaining an eBay PowerSeller: (1) Sell high volume. (2) Keep your customers happy.
To become a PowerSeller, you do nothing except sell. eBay will invite you when they determine you meet the criteria.
Why Become a PowerSeller?
There are a number of fantastic ways that eBay rewards their PowerSellers. These include the following benefits:
- Priority eSupport, Toll Free Phone support, and even an Account Manager (for higher tier/volume sellers).
- Since Feb 20, 2008, PowerSellers enjoy up to 15% discounts on Final Value Fees.
- 5% to 25% more exposure than average sellers for those with ratings over 4.6 in the last 30 days.
- Unpaid Item Protection - crediting Listing Feature Fees when a buyer doesn’t pay.
- Personalized sales and Feedback data
- Nifty looking PowerSeller icon next to your user ID (attracting more sales!)
- Exclusive access to the PowerSeller-only discussion board.
Obviously the benefits are not only useful to save money - but those benefits will lead to a higher volume and higher sales. Essentially, becoming a PowerSeller on eBay ensures that with continuing work, you will remain a successful PowerSeller.
5 Most Effective Ways to become a Successful eBay PowerSeller
Being a successful eBay Seller demands discipline, good time management, and excellent organization. These are critical to managing all aspects of an eBay business. The general steps of eBay selling include Photography, Posting, Packaging, and Shipping. Each of these steps can consume much of your time if you are not smart and efficient in managing your time, and if you’re not smart where you invest money into those resources that will save you the most time. Some of the most critical resources into which you should invest include bulk-listing services, remote (cell phone) advanced research services, and photo management services. We will explore each of these in a moment.
1. Quality Photographs
One of the most important factors in not only whether an item sells, but also how much the item sells for, is how well the item is photographed. This means that the seller with the best camera that can take the closest, clearest photo wins. Most new digital cameras now have a "macro" feature that provides clear and focused close-up photos. If your current camera doesn’t have that feature, junk it and buy a new one. Again - I cannot emphasize enough how critical the photos are in selling your items…almost more important than the item itself! Beautiful photos sell an item. Typically 3 to 4 nice, clear, photos are just enough - 6 to 8 can be too much. Try to get as many angles of the item as possible, including a close-up of all markings or imperfections.
2. Reliable and High-Speed Image Hosting
This is absolutely critical to cutting down on costs. A small monthly investment will save a fortune in eBay costs. To list multiple pictures on eBay, fees are about 15 cents for each additional photo. If you want to have four additional photos on your listing, that comes to a whooping 60 cents. If you list up to 40 items in one week - that’s an additional cost of $24 a week.
A much more cost effective technique, and a well-kept secret of most PowerSellers, is using a high quality Image Hosting service such as MyPhotosHub.com . I personally prefer this particular service above any other because of the very reasonable rates. Purchasing the gold plan at under $7 a month gives you 80 MB of space and 2000 MB/month of bandwidth - more than enough space and bandwidth to handle high volume sales. This particular service even offers 360 degree spins, slide shows, and Auction Galleries - all unique features that attract buyers (and encourages sales).
3. Detailed Descriptions
When you are writing your eBay Descriptions, do not make the mistake of most beginning eBay Sellers…skimping on the description. While pictures may tell a thousand words - a well-written description is the salesman that closes the deal. You need to explain to the buyer why they cannot live without the item - how it’ll improve their d�cor, or the many uses that they will have for it in their everyday life. Be creative. You don’t need to write a book; but you should at least write a quick creative paragraph of about three to four lines that describe what the item is, the colors and size, the condition, and how and where it could be used (why the buyer can’t live without it!).
If you want a well-formatted auction, create a template in Word (or HTML) and simply edit the parts of the template that you need to for each item. This will save you a great deal of time when you are listing a high volume of items.
4. Effective Headlines
Keep in mind when you are trying to stuff as many keywords as you can into the one-line provided for the headline, that it isn’t so much the quantity of words - but the quality. You want to make sure that the specific words that buyers are looking for are placed in your headline. This is where research is critical. Before listing your item, make sure to do a "completed item" search on the item, and observe which items that have sold in the past that are most similar to yours sold for the highest price. Make note of the descriptive headline for the item, and what keywords were used. Use the same keywords and simply tailor the headline for your item.
5. Easy Payments make a Happy Seller
It may be a pain to have to swallow an average of 3% in fees for accepting Paypal payments - however the benefits far outweigh the costs. According to eBay, listings that offer Paypal are 6% more likely to sell - and typically sell for 5% more. Clearly eBay buyers prefer sellers who accept Paypal. This means having a Paypal account and accepting payment from buyers is absolutely critical if you expect to become a successful eBay PowerSeller!
It is also important to provide flexibility - so buyers who don’t have a Paypal account can still buy from you. This means accepting alternate forms of payment such as a Money Order. Some sellers don’t accept Checks, because of the possibility of check fraud; however if you make note that items will not be shipped until checks clear, then you can even safely accept personal checks without worry. Remember - the more payment options you accept, the more buyers will likely be willing to buy from you.