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The problem, not just for free shipping, but for any differences in listing methods, is coming up with meaningful results when the majority of us sell unique items, rather than either multiples of identical items, or items that are competing apples to apples with other sellers.
Despite the majority falling into one general category (CSA), my inventory is always changing and my sales swing so wildly from week to week that there’s just no way to come up with valid results from a basic experiment like rolling the cost of shipping into the item cost.
During any discussion of listing practices with people who carry a variety of items, I generally dismiss 90% of the reports that contend “I (* fill in the blank) and haven’t noticed any difference in sales”.
*started free shipping
*stopped free shipping
*started including measurements
*stopped measuring
*spend a lot of time on my photos
*stopped editing photos
*use a mannequin
*throw stuff on the floorIt’s tough getting data. Like someone pointed out, for Ebay’s statistics to be meaningful for my business, they’d have to exclude sellers like those who have thousands of identical items. Although anecdotal to some extent, word on the street from Facebook posters or Mike’s friend, might deserve attention.
The “semantics game” is how I always looked at it, too. I figured anybody can see through that “free” shipping guise. That’s why it was a little alarming to see that even some other Ebay sellers exclude anything other than those listings that have “free” shipping.
The vast majority of my listings are in the clothing, shoes and accessories category and range in weight from 8 oz. to 3 lbs. Right now, I only offer free shipping on about 8-10% of my items. When I’m doing pricing research prior to listing an item, sometimes I notice that in a particular category or for that specific item, most of the high completeds offered free shipping. If that’s the case, I’ll usually list with free shipping.
On everything else, I use calculated. Since I live on the east coast, this makes my items more competitive from Maine to North Carolina. If I lived in the center of the country, I’d be more likely to build the shipping cost into the price of the item and offer free shipping.
I’m toying with the idea of expanding free shipping to more items, though. Recently, I was reading a topic about free shipping on a seller Facebook group and was very surprised at the number of people who said that they only buy items with free shipping and actually use the drill down on the left side to only show items with free shipping when they’re shopping. That made me wonder how many potential buyers do the same and never even see my listings.
Sounds like someone needs to read Dale Carnegie. I’ll never understand that tactic either.
11/27-12/3/2016
Approximate # of Items in Store: 265
# of Items Sold: 13
Average Cost of Items Sold: $7.92
Total Sales: $714.92
Highest Price Sold: $125 – Shoes
Average Price Sold: $54.99
Returns: 1 – $35.98
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $34.76
Number of items listed this week: 28Gray felt background example:
My dark felt is navy blue but it ends up looking black in most photos, which is fine:
Failed attempt to post pics. Tried Imgur and one showed the photo and the other showed a link. Tried to correct that and things went from messed up to really messed up. I’ll try again later.
A fellow seller who was active in the Ebay forums before Lithium took over several years ago and made them useless, developed this cobbled together lighting setup:
Probably hundreds of us followed that basic blueprint to come up with our own version. If you decide to buy the light fixtures, make sure they’re the ones with a cord.
Mine uses IV poles for hanging the lights. I’ve been using this setup for several years and have never even had to replace a bulb. IV poles can sometimes be found at thrift stores, although I bought mine new one time when Vitality Medical had them on extreme discount. I ended up paying about $25 shipped for a pair of them. Before I bought the poles, I actually attached the lights to one of these cheap Walmart clothing racks that I already owned, one on each side:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Honey-Can-Do-Garment-Rack-in-Black/15641246
Not exactly the perfect setup because you have to remind yourself not to trip over the horizontal bottom bar and you can’t control the distance between lights, but it worked until I found something else.
Hanging on one spare bedroom wall, I have both light and dark felt backdrops. Bought the felt by the yard at Walmart and attached it to the wall with 3-M velcro strips along the top. I just roll the lights back and forth depending upon which background will work best.
For table photos (i.e. shoes, knick knacks), I just roll the lights over to a long table I have set against another wall in the room. I use white or black foam core board with one piece flat on the table and another against the wall behind the table.
These lights can easily tuck into a corner or a closet and it’s very freeing, not to mention much more productive, to be able to take photos at any time of the day or night and not be dependent upon natural light.
I’ll dig up some photos and figure out how to post them here so people can see an example of the final product using this setup.
I’m probably the only one who will post here saying that I include length and width insole/footbed measurements and heel height. Takes me about 30 extra seconds and I’ve actually had people write and ask a question based on the measurements given so some people do pay attention.
For fashion boots, I also include the shaft height (measured from arch to the top of the boot) as well as the calf circumference (measured on the inside around the top of the boot).
The only time I include the EU size is for shoes that are only sized EU (i.e. Dansko clogs, Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo). Since Ebay forces you to put a US Size in the item specifics, even when there’s only a EU Size on the shoe, I look up the manufacturer’s size equivalent chart and choose the appropriate US Size. When there’s a range, like there is for Dansko shoes, I put the smaller number of the range in the item specifics and I put both sizes of the range in the title (39 8.5 9)
Like Suzanne, I take a minimum of 7 photos if the shoes are pre-owned.
1. View from the top with shoes side by side
2. Side view of one shoe
3. Eye level view of toes of shoes where they meet the outsole
4. Eye level view of heels of shoes where they meet the outsole
5. Photo of insole showing brand
6. Photo of printed size inside of shoe
7. Photo of outsolesIf there are any specific flaws, I take a close-up shot of the flaw.
A large percentage of my overall sales are from shoes/boots.
I don’t share my store name on a public board, but if you’re interested in taking a look at some of my shoe listings, let me know how to contact you.
I love sorting stuff, too! Pretty mindless, yet you still feel like you’re accomplishing something. Sorting through and researching new finds is probably my favorite part of the entire Ebay process.
11/20-11/26/2016
Approximate # of Items in Store: 260
# of Items Sold: 24
Average Cost of Items Sold: $8.33
Total Sales: $1,360.59
Highest Price Sold: $250 – Briefcase
Average Price Sold: $56.69
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $49.50
Number of items listed this week: 11Very happy with the number of items I sold this week since it’s more than double what I’m used to. Sold seven things on the 20th and again on the 26th. Like JtotheNessa, I’ve curtailed my shopping over the past couple of months and have been working on fall/winter inventory purchased in past years that’s still unlisted. For the last year or two, I’ve stayed current listing what I buy, but these are things that were purchased and stored away in 2013-14. Even had a couple of things from 2012. Oddly enough, I listed those two 2012 things and one sold within 24 hours and the other within a couple of days. Both sold for decent amounts, too. Guess it’s a good thing I lean toward purchasing classic fashion rather than trendier stuff. I did go to my favorite consignment store for half price Black Friday morning and spent the $49.50 referenced in my stats on a Tory Burch purse that should realize a profit of about $100. Also got a great North Face jacket for myself for $17.
I’m forever grateful to my parents for the strong work ethic and good financial sense they instilled in me. My husband and I followed their blueprint when raising our own three children who are now financially independent 20-somethings with college degrees, decent jobs and money in savings. Each have, on occasion, expressed their gratitude to us for teaching them to work hard and not overspend.
11/6-11/12/2016
Approximate # of Items in Store: 225
# of Items Sold: 9
Average Cost of Items Sold: $6.02
Total Sales: $515.86
Highest Price Sold: $100 – Tote
Average Price Sold: $57.32
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory: 0
Number of new listings: 12Enjoyed your video. I grew up with the double-version of the lights you sold hanging on the wall behind the full-size bed I shared with my sister. Have fond memories as a small child of being read to under that light. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
10/30-11/5/2016
Approximate # of Items in Store: 275
# of Items Sold: 10
Average Cost of Items Sold: $8.66
Total Sales: $690.87
Highest Price Sold: $225 – Dress
Average Price Sold: $69.01
Returns: 1 – $36.44
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $25.09
Number of items listed this week: 4
