Originally Posted by
theElench
@JanetB.
"Where else on the internet will you find such a platform that offers you so much for so little?"
I agree with you and I don't have time or the inclination to use social media to self advertise. Yet last year I made 17 sales in a niche glass category (obay managed only 13). This year I've sold 4 items already, on obay only 1. The big plus for me is on ebid it's hassle-free compared to obay (which is now a disaster area for sales of collectables due to their changes) and even paying 10p to list an item still costs me less than half the fees on sales than obay.
I put my sales down to two reasons.
1) The search here is better, not messed-up like on obay, by the site manipulating visibility for its own profits, rather than using the search to sell sellers goods. I'm careful to use Key-Words that I think my buyers will use when searching. Ebid search is Key-Word based and I can usually find my items using only one or two taken from an ad. title.
2) Exposure on Google Shopping. I've just searched there for "Art Deco Glass" and found 5 of my items on P1 of the results and another 5 on P2.
(I'd be grateful if someone else would verify this please, as I wonder about "Mirroring". I'm also seeing "Ebid - TheElench" in the left-hand side-bar of sites searched. If others are seeing this, Ebids visibility is increased.
RE. Feedback.
I always leave FB when an item has been paid for and I put it in the post. I don't know if it encourages buyers to reciprocate, somehow I doubt it. I leave it as it gives me an accurate count of my sales. I've sold 105 items in total and my FB score stands at 63, so about 60% of my buyers leave FB.
I think google shopping is probably where most of my sales come from although I do have one or two "Followers" who have become repeat buyers. But most of my sales are to buyers with 0 FB and newly opened accounts.
I'd ask anyone with tips on using google shopping or just observations on what you've found when using it, to add them to my thread on the "Website Suggestions" Forum. I think the more we understand about GS and how it influences sales on ebid, the more we can use it to increase sales for many more sellers, if it turns into a useful knowledge base.