The algorithm favoring multi-quantity listings is something I have taken advantage many times. For those type of listings, I initially include 2 items. When one of them sells, the listing will show then a "Last Item Available" message. Usually, the remaining item will sell very quickly (in my experience). After that, I just kept updating the item quantity by 1 or 2 at a time based on how many I have already sold (ex. 2 solds - update quantity to 1) to avoid losing the message on the listing.This trick usually helps me sells my inventory faster.
The single best way to create a title that will successfully navigate the eBay algorithm and show up on the first page is ask yourself what you would type into the search box if you were looking to buy the item you are listing. Then use that information to create your listing. For example, I have a seiko pogue chronograph watch that I want to sell. When I search for examples to determine what I should price the watch at I searched the following: vintage seiko pogue watch. Therefore, this was the title I used: “Vintage Seiko Pogue Chronograph Men’s Watch” I got so many views it was insane. It’s not rocket science. This video is the best I’ve ever seen about the eBay algorithm. Great job!!
I agree! When I have an obscure item that may not be searched by brand or style, I try to use keywords that would be searched by describing the item as if I had no pictures to go by. It has really helped!
I think so, since it creates a new ID for the item. And no its not a dumb question because I really never thought about that until he said when you do end a lising then repost it, it creates a new ID. I didn't know that 😂!@@Joe-Skier
I had a Juicy Couture hoodie that I kept dropping the price on - it was down to $12 or so. I wasn't trying to sell it for that low of a price, so I ended it and relisted it. It sold at $22 two days later. So definitely don't forget to do that from time to time, if not regularly. :)
Hi Justin!! I want to thank you for this video! Personally I found this the most informative video yet. With this information and a my Flipwise subscription I have watched my sales jump by at least 25%! Thank you!!
25:48 I have to agree with Julie... i've promoted at eBay suggested amount and yes I have paid up to 19% to sell items and I did not sell more items than I normally did. I have done 10% across the board and heard crickets. just like you said you do good at 2% I feel good at 5%. 8% might've been a little bit better but not enough for the difference. Like very few more sales at 8%. maybe it was worth it maybe it wasn't but I had the feeling that it wasn't so I went back to my 5% I always seem to go back to my 5%. i've ran sales and heard crickets for the entire time of the sale until like the last day. I think I fall into a category of picking up items that are for specific people and not for the masses so in my case it doesn't matter how much I promote it or how much I do sales I'm still waiting for that special buyer to buy that item and therefore the promoted listings does not do a lot for me.
Hi Justin great info, as usual, ty. QQ I heard that when making a new listing you should not copy it from another listing, that you should always start the listing from scratch because if you piggyback from another listing, such as "Have one to sell? Sell now" or "Sell One like this" from other sellers or your own will also piggyback all the data and positioning of that listing, such as if is an item has been listed for long w/o selling, etc... Thanks in advance!
Excellent presentation on the EBay algorithm. I’m still stuck on the fact that eBay only gives us a certain amount of traffic daily instead of letting it keep going throughout the day.
I was about to close my store altogether but your videos convinced me to try the suggested extortion rates for marketing. So I did, i even went over the recommended rate for some older items. For about 10 days I suddenly got a ton of orders, but it has now dropped to 0 basically, even worse than before.. I have been selling there almost 15 years, but lately most of my orders seem to come from dropshippers, which are clearly using recycled ancient accounts, very few feedbacks. It is pretty obvious what is going on. I have had about enough..
Hey Justin, Great video. To clarify with sell similar and relist. Your almost right , but the main difference is relist holds metadata from the ended listing where as sell similar starts with a clean slate for metadata and indexing for search. Littke tip when doing either though is to rework the titel and descriptions before making them live in new listing too.
@@justinresells Conversion rate of the ended listing, click through rate of ended listing, Solds (if multi listing) indexing info (if you dont make any changes before "relisting") etc All this carries over with relist as opposed to sell similar which does not bring this info across from ended listing. So you only get a cleanslate as it were with "sell similar". :)
@@justinresells I was given the information initially from an ebay supervisor when I was questioning the end sell similar craze that many community members have been using for the last year (which has been coined phrased "nuclear reset" When they end everything and relist which gives an initial 24-48 hr boost in impressions.(of which the strength of this has diminished over time. ) The benefits of end sell similar over relist was discussed at the last 2 years ebay open also. Im sure I have also ready it somewhere to. If I can find it I will circle back to you with the link or info. (Sorry I can be more helpful than that at the moment, it was a good while ago it was covered) I do believe a few YT'bers have also covered it but I couldnt pin point which content it was sorry.
@@EbayLife got it. I am just going by what I can test and see for myself, and everything I see (both within the eBay interface and via the API) suggests that they are the exact same. in fact, both "relist" and "sell similar" invokes the same API endpoint "RelistItem" - maybe it wasn't always this way, but that is how it works now
Justin, got to tell you, I thought for sure this video was a click bait. That there is nobody that knows the answer. “Just list and shut up about it”. Great video.
Thanks forbthe content ! Your definitely one of my more favorite Reseklers to listen to to get Illuminated and affirmation by listening to , appreciate ya!
More clothing resellers are requiring buyers to pay for return shipping. An item that "doesn't fit" or is the "wrong color" never should have been purchased in the first place. If the buyer pays for shipping both ways, the seller has some protection against looky-loos.
As a clothes seller this is the thing that most annoys me. I put measurements in photos and description, and people return because it "does not fit". 🤬
Buyers just put not as described and return anyway. It doesn't matter why they think it wasn't as described. I've had "Not a 36" when the pants say 36 and they measure exactly what a 36 should measure. I just put on free returns then withhold original shipping for those now. I provide measurements and do not take lightly to people not using them.
@@michaels5676 I understand what you're saying. But let's say you buy a Peter Millar polo at Goodwill for $4.50 plus tax and that it sells for $20.00 plus shipping. Since it was promoted, ebay takes its slice, and you make about $8.00 net on the sale. Great! But wait, it was the wrong shade of purple, and the buyer wants to return it. After you pay shipping to get the shirt back, your profit to find that shirt its forever home is considerably reduced. I asked a big-time ebay reseller (and TH-camr) about this, and he said he doesn't pay shipping for buyers remorse returns. Only if he made a mistake or missed a flaw, etc.
I don’t give free shipping so that the non-scammers think twice ab returning. I also cross my t’s + dot my I’s to make it harder. So far, so good. I’ll get returns, it’s inevitable, but I haven’t yet.
@@valeriesantos8178Well I just had a scammer lie on me and say that I didn't send her everything in the pictures because she knows she is supposed to pay for return shipping. These people are low lifez
Great informative video. I agree with all of the tips on how to boost the algorithm in a sellers favor. I offer returns with the buyer paying for the return shipping. I feel that with Free returns it encourages buyers to not put much thought into purchasing an item and that's why the return rate is much higher and if they are not in love with the item they return it. Also with clothing I believe some people buy with the intent on wearing the item a time or two and then return it. Most commonly for a special event like a ladies formal dress or a men's suit that the buyer only plans on wearing once then returning it for free. Because of the risk involved- Ioffer returns with the buyer paying for the return. I have close to 100% STR so I don't feel like it hurts my sales much. In my opinion free returns is for Amazon and not small businesses. The only way it makes sense for a small business on Ebay in my opinion is if the seller is mainly only purchasing from the Goodwill bins. The reason being is because they have very little money in purchasing inventory and with every return they get back its deducting the amount they have to pay in taxes for the year. I have a friend that sells on Ebay and mainly only purchases from the Goodwill bins so he spends very little money on inventory all year long. Once tax time hits he has to pay thousands in taxes bc his business expense is very low. He even goes up north several times a year to thrift as a business expense and he still has to pay a lot of money in taxes. So I feel like if he was offering free returns it would help offset some of the money he has to pay in taxes for the year due to operating expense. Thanks for all of the informative videos. What sets you apart from most TH-cam Ebay sellers is that you are putting out very informative content. I believe a lot of Youtubbes just focus on pushing out content to try to generate a decent amount of income on TH-cam and not focus on helping sellers like you do. Hats off to you!
Hi Justin. As a person who waits to watch an entire video before deciding to hit the like button may I suggest you add a 10-15 second period ending your videos. Derek at Vice Grip Garage does this well and has over a million subscribers. I appreciate your content and I want you to see greater success on TH-cam. Thanks for your hard work!
Thank you! Part of what the TH-cam algorithm looks for when scoring and ranking videos and determining which get eyeballs and which don't is retention, or how much of a video users watch on average. If I put 10-15 seconds at the end of each video, that will negatively impact my retention because most people will click away before the entire video is actually over. Maybe when I hit a million subs I will consider doing it! ;)
Justin your production quality keeps going through the roof, b-roll, music?!, these videos must be so fun for you to make now. Keep up the great work. One thing I'd love to be able to do on Flipwise is to add a receipt in full from sourcing and then link each listing to that receipt, this would help me better understand my cost of goods and how effective that individual trip of sourcing was. Keep up the great content.
Hi Justin, just a heads up on ending/selling similar. I sell as a personal seller on ebay UK. They are the test market for future changes and their system just changed on the 16th. There are no longer any value fees (except some international ones) and you can no longer schedule payments, funds accrue until you withdraw or spend on ebay. Also, you get 300 free listings (400 if you have a store subscription), after that, you pay 35 pence for a new listing, which can be problematic if you relist 1000s. But just letting ebay renew doesn't deduct a listing from the 300 (unlike Etsy). Thanks for dropping the 411, ltr!
Off topic question, what do you suggest to get for backdrop for photos? Thank you in advance and thank you for all these wonderful and helpful videos!!
Great video. You've mentioned it in the past but it's worth repeating, promoting items that aren't in demand or are rare isn't going to speed up those sales. eBay isn't going to serve buyers results for items they aren't looking for and conversely, if someone is looking for something very specific and you have the only one (or one of a few) the buyer will find it but it will probably take longer than you'd like because its a niche item that people aren't looking for daily.
Great video..,will keep this list for all my listings. By the way, I ask my wife or friends how they would describe an item they want to buy, and this seems to work great.
Hello Justin, I follow you from Paris and I am starting to be a fan of your excellent work, very professional and without commercial abuse. As a fan of eBay, I think that mastering the agloritme is one of the keys to success so great video as you have the secret. See you soon
18:30 on the subject of Offers... we now have a banner above our active listings telling us how many items we can send out offers to interested buyers. If we "x" out of this to clear the banner we then get a message say we've lost out on an opportunity to try to sell those items. I will no longer "x" out of it because I worry the Algorithm will take this action as a negative. There are times when there has been too much time pass and I can no longer send an offer to that buyer but the banner does not acknowledge this but if I "x" out of the banner it still says I have missed out. Ebay is so tricky tricky tricky. 😅
Thankyou for another great video! If I may offer some feedback on your presentation, it would be to slow down a bit. To many of us this is all new information, and its difficult to absorb it all at such a speed. (Some of us may also be trying to take notes!)
When it’s considering lowest price, is it adding shipping cost into that? So for example, if a customer is selling an item for 15.99+4.99 shipping (so 20.98 total) does that listing show higher up in the search results because it’s only 15.99 compared to a listing that was say 18.99 free shipping?
Creating a listing in 4 minutes sounds really super. I would probably create a CD listing in 4 minutes but anythings that requires some research and learning comps takes me 15 minutes. Sometimes more. If item needs some cleaning or taking photos requires some modeling lets say jewlery it takes even more time. Lately i have been posting things literally 5 hours without stopping and what do uou think. I have posted 8 listings only😂
It takes time to create a routine/set-up so that listing is as swift as possible. Justin has space for a standalone photographing station, packing station and computer desk which helps, whereas many of us have to adapt tables etc., for different uses each time we list. Experience brings confidence so you know what photos to take and the easiest way to do that in your environment. A photobox is ideal for jewellery if you can keep it set up permanently. A mannequin for clothing etc. Good luck!
After a lot of research and observation of several stores vs. mine I'm absolutely convinced ebay's algorithm will always favor the bigger stores that list 50+ listings a day over someone like me that lists 5-10 items a day! Case in point, a popular youtuber that sells postcards - he sells ALOT and almost always at higher prices than competitors - I'm pretty sure if the buyers would actually "SEE" the identical item at a lower price they'd buy it, but ebay isn't showing them the little guys items :(
I don't think you're wrong. But a seller who lists 50+ a day probably has other qualities that the algorithm finds appealing beyond listing output, so it's hard to say one variable like that is the sole reason. Thanks for watching!
I have watched a great many of your videos and find them very informative and entertaining. Thank you for that. I have been an occasional seller over the last two decades. I have several questions. 1. How much cash do have tied up in inventory? It almost seems your weekly earnings go back into inventory - Ok that was not a question. 2. How much free cash flow do you actually generate specifically from your eBay business? It is great that you have multiple income streams, but it seems harder to sell on eBay as a casual once-in-a-while seller. I've watched your videos debunking the idea that eBay is harder these days, however, 3. Do you think that a casual seller can still be successful on eBay or is there a better forum for the once-in-a-while seller? Have a great day.
Tech Thanks for great video. I went to NY last year walked around like a tourist. I could have been garage selling… dang I have so much to learn. When I retire I am going to take the initiative! If you don’t go you don’t know. Be Great! AMEN Todd Pearl Picker- Corpus Christi
EXCELLENT video Justin!! Me: immediately searching banana plants on eBay! I have a question. I do next day shipping, but often times ship the same day. I am afraid to change to the same day because I am on the East coast. Whenever someone has bought from me in Pacific time zone before midnight there , but 3am here, eBay has the ship time as the same day for me. If I change to same day shipping and a purchase is made at 7pm my time, but 4pm for the buyer, will I need to run to the post office that evening ? Thanks again for your wealth of information!!!
ps - whaddya think about offering free returns for lighter items and not for heavier ones? which means you'd have to do this on case by case listing basis, rather than as an auto-list - do you think the almighty algorithm would balk at this?
Justin, TH-cam was showing me click through ads no less than 3 minutes apart during this video. That's a far higher rate than most of my other viewing. Just a FYI for your YT algorithm speculation.
That stinks! I can't control how many ads you get served unfortunately. I can only suggest when in the video they get served (to minimize disruptions). It's only a suggestion though, and TH-cam will still show ads whenever they want.
Hello Justin, another great vid. Here's a question I don't think gets addressed. I have over 800 listings currently on eBay and I perform an inventory audit every six months. During these audits I find that some listings are no longer listed on eBay, yet the item is in its location on the shelf. How does this happen? Does eBay end listings that don't sell? End listings that are old? End listings that have no buyer interest? I wouldn't think the eBay software would do this, but I have been unable to find an answer as to why this happens. What's your take?
End and Sell Similar can and will be more effective if you improve the title, keywords and improve with new pictures. I had items since 2022 when i began working on them and they not only got a new id but ebay indexed them differently and it worked. So selling similar for a low demand item will reproduce the same thing exactly as it was. Hot items like iPhones and iPads we just don't need any bells and whistles in the listings and promotions or titles as they just sell as hot cakes.
This video was incredibly informative and interesting. Thank you. Something I have always wondered as a clothing seller, do I have to put "womens" or "mens" in the listing title or do you think the algorithm is smart enough to pull those up in the right category if a buyer enters either in their search?
How many items should be listed to be able to expect a sale a day? I understand the more the merrier but what is a ballpark to be shooting for that you think is a starting point for constant sales? I’ve been watching a lot of people’s videos and can’t find this ballpark anywhere
Hi Justin, I think you've actually mentioned this happening to you, but several times I've handled an item that I have for sale, and even if its been for sale for ages it sells shortly afterwards. This has happened to me twice this week - must be the halloween effect! I also had an in person customer come to collect a large item today and he picked up and looked at something else then shortly afterwards it sold.
I'm still unclear on something. When filling out item specifics, and drop down boxes like character, if you don't know what to put, is it better to leave it empty? or always select something even if it isn't really relative to your item? A lot of the stuff in drop down boxes aren't relative to a lot of things I sell. So there's not really a character or theme, etc. Also I wish I could search ebay by highest to lowest sold prices, without having to choose a category. Or type in a word.
Ebay needs a 14 day return window option. Expecting small sellers and businesses to do 30 and 60 days returns is ridiculous and unrealistic. We can not afford to have items in limbo for 2 months while people decide if they want to keep it or not.
I've had a draft for about 3 weeks deciding if I want to list the item ( vintage dress that needs minor repairs). A couple of times I was getting messages from Ebay to "finish that draft so people can find your item". I finally figured out how to stop those messages. Thanks ebay, I see it every time I open my Ebay app to list other items so I don't need your reminders.
I too rec’d msgs to finish Popular football item drafts + to list lower than others… I listed, but not a lower asking price than others. They sat… didn’t move.
Do you think that free shipping outranks calculated shipping even if the total cost for the calculated shipping is less. I think many people sort results by lowest total cost
For buyers who sort by lowest price first, a listing with calculated shipping that has a total that is less than a listing with free shipping would appear first.
Hi love your channel!Just question on the EBay listing please, when you sell clothing as buy now with free postage, is the postage cost gets deducted from the total sell price? Or you ended up paying the postage cost yourself comparing with selling as plus postage cost. Thank you so much
"Cheap shipping" is an increasingly elusive goal as shipping costs rise out of control. If you're selling relatively low-priced items, it barely pays to sell them after Ebay takes its cut -- and with free shipping, it may actually 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 you money to sell the item. There have been many times when the Post Office has made more on an item than I have.
There is no single “Algorithm”. They continually run experiments, like in thousand or millions of tiny A-B tests to see what works better in many many different situations. Based on the results of those experiments “The Algorithm” can be modified so often that even if they told all of us what “It” was in the morning, it could be significantly different in the afternoon. That difference might even be accelerated by a bunch of sellers trying to game it. The good news is that eBay’s goal is the same as ours should be - to sell more good items, well listed at a good price, and followed up with great service (fast shipping, etc)
My only gripe with Item Not As Described is that buyers lie about the reason for it. I sell clothing and ive had many buyers return something because it didnt fit but they put it in the Item Not As Described category. Which then reflects bad on me even though I gave them correct measurements.
That's why, unfortunately, it's best to just offer free returns. A common seller scam I've come across as a buyer is the seller refunds and asks you to return the item at your expense (so they do not have to pay for the postage label). My response to this scam as a buyer now is to simply keep the item and the refund.
@@an1_uk You sound more like a scammer than the seller. This is why I don't issue a refund until the item is delivered back to me. (Which is what Ebay tells sellers to do)
@HammockHutOn3rd I fear you've misunderstood. Sellers think they have the upper hand by refunding and thinking you'll feel obligated to pay for postage to return the item. When the seller refunds, Ebay considers the matter dealt with and will ignore any complaints by the seller. Therefore, the buyer is no longer obligated to return the item. My point with highlighting my response to this seller scam is to show the pitfall in trying to do this for the seller, and that sellers can't rely on getting away with such a scam (and as you say should not refund until they have received the item). As a buyer I'm certainly not going to pay postage to return an item that was not as described, (significant damage not mentioned in description).when the seller has purposefully refunded so they do not have to pay for the postage label. It shows the seller was dishonest both in not describing the item correctly and in refunding and asking you to pay for return shipping.
They put ‘not as described’ bc they want their money back w/o an eBay hassle since u have measurements. Bc it’s diff from Amazon where u can simply say, ‘ I changed my mind’, + u’re refunded as soon as the postal service says u’re returning even part of the item.
I tried doing "end and relist" recently, and the listing date is still 6 months ago, when I originally listed it. That makes it seem like it isn't creating a new listing...
Nice video! I am from Germany, and we don't have those big thrift stores like in the US. Do you know from where I can get cheap products to sell with some profit on eBay? I just started 4 weeks ago and listed 140 products on eBay, but when everything getting sold, I don't know from where I can get new ones. I thought maybe I can try it with Temu or Alibaba? Buying stuff which has high demand and then sell it on eBay with profit? idk if it's a good plan or not. Maybe you can give me some nice ideas. We also don't have a lot of garage sales or something like that in Germany.
Hi Justin, I’m new to the channel, absolutely love your content so thank you. I have a question in relation to images, should I use the images everyone else is using which has been taken from the supplier so the customer knows that it’s the same item but on at a cheaper cost, or am I better taking my own images of the product to personalise it and make it look exactly how they’ll receive it? Thank you - Kenny
I forgot to ask you in my previous message what do you think of artificial intelligence for the optimization of titles on Ebay? Thank you in advance for your response.
As far as returns go, do you find that it matters if a seller uses "doesn't fit" as the return reason? I've had a couple of those lately, even though all my measurements are in the listing. So do you think that will hurt my sales in the end? I'm having a seriously slow period right now, which really sucks seeing as it's right before Christmas, and I thought sales would be way better. Thanks!
@justinresells do deductions and write offs lower what is owed? This will be my first tax season with selling on ebay so I'm curious how much I would have to pay back? Thank you
The algorithm favoring multi-quantity listings is something I have taken advantage many times. For those type of listings, I initially include 2 items. When one of them sells, the listing will show then a "Last Item Available" message. Usually, the remaining item will sell very quickly (in my experience). After that, I just kept updating the item quantity by 1 or 2 at a time based on how many I have already sold (ex. 2 solds - update quantity to 1) to avoid losing the message on the listing.This trick usually helps me sells my inventory faster.
Thanks for sharing
Interesting. Thanks.
I do this also and it works well.
The single best way to create a title that will successfully navigate the eBay algorithm and show up on the first page is ask yourself what you would type into the search box if you were looking to buy the item you are listing. Then use that information to create your listing. For example, I have a seiko pogue chronograph watch that I want to sell. When I search for examples to determine what I should price the watch at I searched the following: vintage seiko pogue watch. Therefore, this was the title I used: “Vintage Seiko Pogue Chronograph Men’s Watch” I got so many views it was insane. It’s not rocket science.
This video is the best I’ve ever seen about the eBay algorithm. Great job!!
I agree! When I have an obscure item that may not be searched by brand or style, I try to use keywords that would be searched by describing the item as if I had no pictures to go by. It has really helped!
also what is more important is the first 3 to 5 keywords in a title
"Indignation"? lol
@@petrushka1611 I didn't think anyone else noticed that 😂
not true!
My favorite thing about this video: YOU CHANGED THE TITLE OF THIS VIDEO to hit the TH-cam algorithm better!
I do that on most of my videos!
Maybe a dumb question but if I end and relist something do I loose all of the "watchers".
Thanks for all you do!
@@Joe-Skier yes you do
@@justinresells I figured. Thanks again Justin
I think so, since it creates a new ID for the item. And no its not a dumb question because I really never thought about that until he said when you do end a lising then repost it, it creates a new ID. I didn't know that 😂!@@Joe-Skier
I had a Juicy Couture hoodie that I kept dropping the price on - it was down to $12 or so. I wasn't trying to sell it for that low of a price, so I ended it and relisted it. It sold at $22 two days later. So definitely don't forget to do that from time to time, if not regularly. :)
Absolutely ... after it sits it gets buried I do this all the time and usually end up with a couple sales quickly ...
Great video. Have you ever considered doing a video on common and the best abbreviations to use and what they mean?
Who searches for abbreviations?
Also, Google lens is gold. Often helps identify items, providing key words as well as demand/supply. So easy to use.
Heavily agree here, Google Lens almost 97% of the time pulls the right results. Really impressed honestly
Thank you very much!
How do you use it?
I tried ending and relisting some of my older items and one of them sold within a day. Thank you so much for all the helpful knowledge you share.
Hi Justin!! I want to thank you for this video! Personally I found this the most informative video yet. With this information and a my Flipwise subscription I have watched my sales jump by at least 25%! Thank you!!
Bro the Police reference was Gold. Keep up the great work
I enjoyed that, too.
Justin, been watching you for 6 mo and this video by far is the best one you have ever made
This video popping up in my feed did it for me. You sir have earned my subscription
lol “they’ll be watching you”. Great reference and love the way you worked the song in.
25:48 I have to agree with Julie... i've promoted at eBay suggested amount and yes I have paid up to 19% to sell items and I did not sell more items than I normally did. I have done 10% across the board and heard crickets. just like you said you do good at 2% I feel good at 5%. 8% might've been a little bit better but not enough for the difference. Like very few more sales at 8%. maybe it was worth it maybe it wasn't but I had the feeling that it wasn't so I went back to my 5% I always seem to go back to my 5%. i've ran sales and heard crickets for the entire time of the sale until like the last day. I think I fall into a category of picking up items that are for specific people and not for the masses so in my case it doesn't matter how much I promote it or how much I do sales I'm still waiting for that special buyer to buy that item and therefore the promoted listings does not do a lot for me.
All your videos are awesome! Keep it up. Always watch while listing!
Hi Justin great info, as usual, ty. QQ I heard that when making a new listing you should not copy it from another listing, that you should always start the listing from scratch because if you piggyback from another listing, such as "Have one to sell? Sell now" or "Sell One like this" from other sellers or your own will also piggyback all the data and positioning of that listing, such as if is an item has been listed for long w/o selling, etc... Thanks in advance!
Love the new background. The fact you are in your store “ warehouse” makes you seem like EVEN MORE of a real deal reseller 👍👍 good job
Excellent presentation on the EBay algorithm. I’m still stuck on the fact that eBay only gives us a certain amount of traffic daily instead of letting it keep going throughout the day.
So that is why I haven't been selling as much as I have been. It's sad because I'm a top rated seller. Guess it's time to start cross listing.
I was about to close my store altogether but your videos convinced me to try the suggested extortion rates for marketing. So I did, i even went over the recommended rate for some older items. For about 10 days I suddenly got a ton of orders, but it has now dropped to 0 basically, even worse than before.. I have been selling there almost 15 years, but lately most of my orders seem to come from dropshippers, which are clearly using recycled ancient accounts, very few feedbacks. It is pretty obvious what is going on. I have had about enough..
Hey Justin, Great video. To clarify with sell similar and relist. Your almost right , but the main difference is relist holds metadata from the ended listing where as sell similar starts with a clean slate for metadata and indexing for search. Littke tip when doing either though is to rework the titel and descriptions before making them live in new listing too.
thank you! not sure what you mean by "metadata" exactly but they both bring over the listing data
@@justinresells Conversion rate of the ended listing, click through rate of ended listing, Solds (if multi listing) indexing info (if you dont make any changes before "relisting") etc All this carries over with relist as opposed to sell similar which does not bring this info across from ended listing. So you only get a cleanslate as it were with "sell similar". :)
@@EbayLife interesting! I have not heard that. do you have a source for this information or some way to test?
@@justinresells I was given the information initially from an ebay supervisor when I was questioning the end sell similar craze that many community members have been using for the last year (which has been coined phrased "nuclear reset" When they end everything and relist which gives an initial 24-48 hr boost in impressions.(of which the strength of this has diminished over time. )
The benefits of end sell similar over relist was discussed at the last 2 years ebay open also. Im sure I have also ready it somewhere to. If I can find it I will circle back to you with the link or info. (Sorry I can be more helpful than that at the moment, it was a good while ago it was covered) I do believe a few YT'bers have also covered it but I couldnt pin point which content it was sorry.
@@EbayLife got it. I am just going by what I can test and see for myself, and everything I see (both within the eBay interface and via the API) suggests that they are the exact same. in fact, both "relist" and "sell similar" invokes the same API endpoint "RelistItem" - maybe it wasn't always this way, but that is how it works now
It was absolutely amazing work creating this video.
Another great info and entertaining video. Thank you for sharing with us your research, knowledge and laughs.😊
Justin, got to tell you, I thought for sure this video was a click bait. That there is nobody that knows the answer. “Just list and shut up about it”. Great video.
Thanks forbthe content ! Your definitely one of my more favorite Reseklers to listen to to get Illuminated and affirmation by listening to , appreciate ya!
This is a packed video, I need to rewatch it!!
Same. Could only listen w/o watching.
Wow! This video was amazing Justin! Love this format.
More clothing resellers are requiring buyers to pay for return shipping. An item that "doesn't fit" or is the "wrong color" never should have been purchased in the first place. If the buyer pays for shipping both ways, the seller has some protection against looky-loos.
As a clothes seller this is the thing that most annoys me. I put measurements in photos and description, and people return because it "does not fit". 🤬
Buyers just put not as described and return anyway. It doesn't matter why they think it wasn't as described. I've had "Not a 36" when the pants say 36 and they measure exactly what a 36 should measure. I just put on free returns then withhold original shipping for those now. I provide measurements and do not take lightly to people not using them.
@@michaels5676 I understand what you're saying. But let's say you buy a Peter Millar polo at Goodwill for $4.50 plus tax and that it sells for $20.00 plus shipping. Since it was promoted, ebay takes its slice, and you make about $8.00 net on the sale. Great!
But wait, it was the wrong shade of purple, and the buyer wants to return it. After you pay shipping to get the shirt back, your profit to find that shirt its forever home is considerably reduced.
I asked a big-time ebay reseller (and TH-camr) about this, and he said he doesn't pay shipping for buyers remorse returns. Only if he made a mistake or missed a flaw, etc.
I don’t give free shipping so that the non-scammers think twice ab returning. I also cross my t’s + dot my I’s to make it harder. So far, so good. I’ll get returns, it’s inevitable, but I haven’t yet.
@@valeriesantos8178Well I just had a scammer lie on me and say that I didn't send her everything in the pictures because she knows she is supposed to pay for return shipping. These people are low lifez
Great informative video. I agree with all of the tips on how to boost the algorithm in a sellers favor. I offer returns with the buyer paying for the return shipping. I feel that with Free returns it encourages buyers to not put much thought into purchasing an item and that's why the return rate is much higher and if they are not in love with the item they return it. Also with clothing I believe some people buy with the intent on wearing the item a time or two and then return it. Most commonly for a special event like a ladies formal dress or a men's suit that the buyer only plans on wearing once then returning it for free. Because of the risk involved- Ioffer returns with the buyer paying for the return. I have close to 100% STR so I don't feel like it hurts my sales much. In my opinion free returns is for Amazon and not small businesses. The only way it makes sense for a small business on Ebay in my opinion is if the seller is mainly only purchasing from the Goodwill bins. The reason being is because they have very little money in purchasing inventory and with every return they get back its deducting the amount they have to pay in taxes for the year. I have a friend that sells on Ebay and mainly only purchases from the Goodwill bins so he spends very little money on inventory all year long. Once tax time hits he has to pay thousands in taxes bc his business expense is very low. He even goes up north several times a year to thrift as a business expense and he still has to pay a lot of money in taxes. So I feel like if he was offering free returns it would help offset some of the money he has to pay in taxes for the year due to operating expense. Thanks for all of the informative videos. What sets you apart from most TH-cam Ebay sellers is that you are putting out very informative content. I believe a lot of Youtubbes just focus on pushing out content to try to generate a decent amount of income on TH-cam and not focus on helping sellers like you do. Hats off to you!
Hi Justin. As a person who waits to watch an entire video before deciding to hit the like button may I suggest you add a 10-15 second period ending your videos. Derek at Vice Grip Garage does this well and has over a million subscribers. I appreciate your content and I want you to see greater success on TH-cam. Thanks for your hard work!
Thank you! Part of what the TH-cam algorithm looks for when scoring and ranking videos and determining which get eyeballs and which don't is retention, or how much of a video users watch on average. If I put 10-15 seconds at the end of each video, that will negatively impact my retention because most people will click away before the entire video is actually over. Maybe when I hit a million subs I will consider doing it! ;)
The content is always awesome, now the 'polish' is REALLY well done as well Sir. Thank you for taking the time to help us out!
Justin your production quality keeps going through the roof, b-roll, music?!, these videos must be so fun for you to make now. Keep up the great work. One thing I'd love to be able to do on Flipwise is to add a receipt in full from sourcing and then link each listing to that receipt, this would help me better understand my cost of goods and how effective that individual trip of sourcing was. Keep up the great content.
Thanks! You can do what you're asking about already using Purchase Locations. hit me up at support@flipwise.app if you need a hand
Hi Justin, just a heads up on ending/selling similar. I sell as a personal seller on ebay UK. They are the test market for future changes and their system just changed on the 16th. There are no longer any value fees (except some international ones) and you can no longer schedule payments, funds accrue until you withdraw or spend on ebay. Also, you get 300 free listings (400 if you have a store subscription), after that, you pay 35 pence for a new listing, which can be problematic if you relist 1000s. But just letting ebay renew doesn't deduct a listing from the 300 (unlike Etsy). Thanks for dropping the 411, ltr!
Amazing information! You've helped so much with my journey!
Off topic question, what do you suggest to get for backdrop for photos? Thank you in advance and thank you for all these wonderful and helpful videos!!
Great video. You've mentioned it in the past but it's worth repeating, promoting items that aren't in demand or are rare isn't going to speed up those sales. eBay isn't going to serve buyers results for items they aren't looking for and conversely, if someone is looking for something very specific and you have the only one (or one of a few) the buyer will find it but it will probably take longer than you'd like because its a niche item that people aren't looking for daily.
Great video..,will keep this list for all my listings. By the way, I ask my wife or friends how they would describe an item they want to buy, and this seems to work great.
Awesome awesome as always!! You are so helpful.
Your work is just getting better and better. This video is super concise and on point!
Hello Justin, I follow you from Paris and I am starting to be a fan of your excellent work, very professional and without commercial abuse. As a fan of eBay, I think that mastering the agloritme is one of the keys to success so great video as you have the secret. See you soon
18:30 on the subject of Offers... we now have a banner above our active listings telling us how many items we can send out offers to interested buyers. If we "x" out of this to clear the banner we then get a message say we've lost out on an opportunity to try to sell those items. I will no longer "x" out of it because I worry the Algorithm will take this action as a negative. There are times when there has been too much time pass and I can no longer send an offer to that buyer but the banner does not acknowledge this but if I "x" out of the banner it still says I have missed out. Ebay is so tricky tricky tricky. 😅
Wow, Justin this was a very informative video. Your editing was fantastic. This should do very well for you.
Thankyou for another great video! If I may offer some feedback on your presentation, it would be to slow down a bit. To many of us this is all new information, and its difficult to absorb it all at such a speed. (Some of us may also be trying to take notes!)
Thanks! You can change the playback speed by clicking the gear icon on the video player. Or watch it multiple times. :)
When it’s considering lowest price, is it adding shipping cost into that? So for example, if a customer is selling an item for 15.99+4.99 shipping (so 20.98 total) does that listing show higher up in the search results because it’s only 15.99 compared to a listing that was say 18.99 free shipping?
Futzing 😆 love it. Haven't heard that word forever.
Your videos are so informative. Thanks so much.
Creating a listing in 4 minutes sounds really super. I would probably create a CD listing in 4 minutes but anythings that requires some research and learning comps takes me 15 minutes. Sometimes more. If item needs some cleaning or taking photos requires some modeling lets say jewlery it takes even more time. Lately i have been posting things literally 5 hours without stopping and what do uou think. I have posted 8 listings only😂
It takes time to create a routine/set-up so that listing is as swift as possible. Justin has space for a standalone photographing station, packing station and computer desk which helps, whereas many of us have to adapt tables etc., for different uses each time we list. Experience brings confidence so you know what photos to take and the easiest way to do that in your environment. A photobox is ideal for jewellery if you can keep it set up permanently. A mannequin for clothing etc. Good luck!
As usual, great video. Thanks for info.
After a lot of research and observation of several stores vs. mine I'm absolutely convinced ebay's algorithm will always favor the bigger stores that list 50+ listings a day over someone like me that lists 5-10 items a day! Case in point, a popular youtuber that sells postcards - he sells ALOT and almost always at higher prices than competitors - I'm pretty sure if the buyers would actually "SEE" the identical item at a lower price they'd buy it, but ebay isn't showing them the little guys items :(
I don't think you're wrong. But a seller who lists 50+ a day probably has other qualities that the algorithm finds appealing beyond listing output, so it's hard to say one variable like that is the sole reason. Thanks for watching!
I have watched a great many of your videos and find them very informative and entertaining. Thank you for that. I have been an occasional seller over the last two decades. I have several questions. 1. How much cash do have tied up in inventory? It almost seems your weekly earnings go back into inventory - Ok that was not a question. 2. How much free cash flow do you actually generate specifically from your eBay business? It is great that you have multiple income streams, but it seems harder to sell on eBay as a casual once-in-a-while seller. I've watched your videos debunking the idea that eBay is harder these days, however, 3. Do you think that a casual seller can still be successful on eBay or is there a better forum for the once-in-a-while seller? Have a great day.
Tech
Thanks for great video.
I went to NY last year walked around like a tourist. I could have been garage selling… dang I have so much to learn.
When I retire I am going to take the initiative! If you don’t go you don’t know. Be Great! AMEN
Todd
Pearl Picker- Corpus Christi
EXCELLENT video Justin!!
Me: immediately searching banana plants on eBay!
I have a question. I do next day shipping, but often times ship the same day. I am afraid to change to the same day because I am on the East coast. Whenever someone has bought from me in Pacific time zone before midnight there , but 3am here, eBay has the ship time as the same day for me. If I change to same day shipping and a purchase is made at 7pm my time, but 4pm for the buyer, will I need to run to the post office that evening ?
Thanks again for your wealth of information!!!
lotsa work here King Justin - you are ramping up your 'tube game - love that. thank you
ps - whaddya think about offering free returns for lighter items and not for heavier ones? which means you'd have to do this on case by case listing basis, rather than as an auto-list - do you think the almighty algorithm would balk at this?
Also how often would you recommend ending and selling similar? Currently I do it after 6-7 months
A very helpful video - thank you.
Great video. Many of these factors are revealed in section 6 of the eBay User Agreement.
True. But most people don't read it. 😅
EBAY doesn't inform about it anybody.
Justin, TH-cam was showing me click through ads no less than 3 minutes apart during this video. That's a far higher rate than most of my other viewing. Just a FYI for your YT algorithm speculation.
That stinks! I can't control how many ads you get served unfortunately. I can only suggest when in the video they get served (to minimize disruptions). It's only a suggestion though, and TH-cam will still show ads whenever they want.
Hello Justin, another great vid. Here's a question I don't think gets addressed. I have over 800 listings currently on eBay and I perform an inventory audit every six months. During these audits I find that some listings are no longer listed on eBay, yet the item is in its location on the shelf. How does this happen? Does eBay end listings that don't sell? End listings that are old? End listings that have no buyer interest? I wouldn't think the eBay software would do this, but I have been unable to find an answer as to why this happens. What's your take?
Hi me too , I find some on the unsold section , some times one third of my shirts are unstocked.
End and Sell Similar can and will be more effective if you improve the title, keywords and improve with new pictures. I had items since 2022 when i began working on them and they not only got a new id but ebay indexed them differently and it worked. So selling similar for a low demand item will reproduce the same thing exactly as it was. Hot items like iPhones and iPads we just don't need any bells and whistles in the listings and promotions or titles as they just sell as hot cakes.
Great presentation. Thank you
This video was incredibly informative and interesting. Thank you. Something I have always wondered as a clothing seller, do I have to put "womens" or "mens" in the listing title or do you think the algorithm is smart enough to pull those up in the right category if a buyer enters either in their search?
It’s smart enough to know, but if you think your buyers are searching with those specific keywords it’s best to include them in the title.
How many items should be listed to be able to expect a sale a day? I understand the more the merrier but what is a ballpark to be shooting for that you think is a starting point for constant sales? I’ve been watching a lot of people’s videos and can’t find this ballpark anywhere
Good question! I'll address this one in next week's video!
Hi Justin, I think you've actually mentioned this happening to you, but several times I've handled an item that I have for sale, and even if its been for sale for ages it sells shortly afterwards. This has happened to me twice this week - must be the halloween effect! I also had an in person customer come to collect a large item today and he picked up and looked at something else then shortly afterwards it sold.
Another super helpful video. I don't know how you find the time. 💙
I'm still unclear on something. When filling out item specifics, and drop down boxes like character, if you don't know what to put, is it better to leave it empty? or always select something even if it isn't really relative to your item? A lot of the stuff in drop down boxes aren't relative to a lot of things I sell. So there's not really a character or theme, etc.
Also I wish I could search ebay by highest to lowest sold prices, without having to choose a category. Or type in a word.
Ebay needs a 14 day return window option. Expecting small sellers and businesses to do 30 and 60 days returns is ridiculous and unrealistic. We can not afford to have items in limbo for 2 months while people decide if they want to keep it or not.
💯
They need to not allow buyers the right to destroy the sellers item before the return it! BS
Agree if you cant decide in a week if you want the item then..........
Thank you for the Sting and LOTR analogy! :D
Whoever edited this video........Great job!!
thanks!
I've had a draft for about 3 weeks deciding if I want to list the item ( vintage dress that needs minor repairs). A couple of times I was getting messages from Ebay to "finish that draft so people can find your item". I finally figured out how to stop those messages. Thanks ebay, I see it every time I open my Ebay app to list other items so I don't need your reminders.
I too rec’d msgs to finish Popular football item drafts + to list lower than others… I listed, but not a lower asking price than others. They sat… didn’t move.
Do you think that free shipping outranks calculated shipping even if the total cost for the calculated shipping is less. I think many people sort results by lowest total cost
For buyers who sort by lowest price first, a listing with calculated shipping that has a total that is less than a listing with free shipping would appear first.
Justin - to clarify, to manually delist/relist also creates a new item number like sell similar? Thanks
that is correct
@@justinresells. I thought ending auctions was viewed negatively. How can I do it and not get dinged
Great content Justin. Thanks!
Hi love your channel!Just question on the EBay listing please, when you sell clothing as buy now with free postage, is the postage cost gets deducted from the total sell price? Or you ended up paying the postage cost yourself comparing with selling as plus postage cost. Thank you so much
"Cheap shipping" is an increasingly elusive goal as shipping costs rise out of control. If you're selling relatively low-priced items, it barely pays to sell them after Ebay takes its cut -- and with free shipping, it may actually 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 you money to sell the item. There have been many times when the Post Office has made more on an item than I have.
There is no single “Algorithm”. They continually run experiments, like in thousand or millions of tiny A-B tests to see what works better in many many different situations. Based on the results of those experiments “The Algorithm” can be modified so often that even if they told all of us what “It” was in the morning, it could be significantly different in the afternoon. That difference might even be accelerated by a bunch of sellers trying to game it.
The good news is that eBay’s goal is the same as ours should be - to sell more good items, well listed at a good price, and followed up with great service (fast shipping, etc)
My only gripe with Item Not As Described is that buyers lie about the reason for it. I sell clothing and ive had many buyers return something because it didnt fit but they put it in the Item Not As Described category. Which then reflects bad on me even though I gave them correct measurements.
That's why, unfortunately, it's best to just offer free returns. A common seller scam I've come across as a buyer is the seller refunds and asks you to return the item at your expense (so they do not have to pay for the postage label). My response to this scam as a buyer now is to simply keep the item and the refund.
@@an1_uk You sound more like a scammer than the seller. This is why I don't issue a refund until the item is delivered back to me. (Which is what Ebay tells sellers to do)
Hopefully you are reporting these buyers, misusing Not As Described will get them banned if they do it enough.
@HammockHutOn3rd I fear you've misunderstood. Sellers think they have the upper hand by refunding and thinking you'll feel obligated to pay for postage to return the item. When the seller refunds, Ebay considers the matter dealt with and will ignore any complaints by the seller. Therefore, the buyer is no longer obligated to return the item.
My point with highlighting my response to this seller scam is to show the pitfall in trying to do this for the seller, and that sellers can't rely on getting away with such a scam (and as you say should not refund until they have received the item).
As a buyer I'm certainly not going to pay postage to return an item that was not as described, (significant damage not mentioned in description).when the seller has purposefully refunded so they do not have to pay for the postage label. It shows the seller was dishonest both in not describing the item correctly and in refunding and asking you to pay for return shipping.
They put ‘not as described’ bc they want their money back w/o an eBay hassle since u have measurements. Bc it’s diff from Amazon where u can simply say, ‘ I changed my mind’, + u’re refunded as soon as the postal service says u’re returning even part of the item.
Great info !!! Thanks Justin ☺️
Do most people not simply sort price low to high, then scroll through to find the most agreeable?!
No
Great content as usual, but let's talk about that vintage Apple mug... 🤤
I tried doing "end and relist" recently, and the listing date is still 6 months ago, when I originally listed it. That makes it seem like it isn't creating a new listing...
Great topics. Thank you!
Should I copy from a sold listing for new similar items I have for sale?
How revising affects item?
Wow greatest vid so far. Much better then other ahem TH-camrs ahem
How do you know people are not just buying to wear once then returning
Can't you just look at the top item when you search something and use the list similar item option? Feel like that seems to work.
I promote at 2% and when scrolling through Facebook I would see some of my listings in the eBay ads on Facebook
Excellent video!
I see all your inventory in the background. How much $ do you have invested unsold items?
Good question! Just checked. Total unsold inventory cost is $3,270.67 which has a list value of $31,652.48.
Thank you. ❤❤❤❤ from Malaysia
Nice video! I am from Germany, and we don't have those big thrift stores like in the US. Do you know from where I can get cheap products to sell with some profit on eBay? I just started 4 weeks ago and listed 140 products on eBay, but when everything getting sold, I don't know from where I can get new ones. I thought maybe I can try it with Temu or Alibaba? Buying stuff which has high demand and then sell it on eBay with profit? idk if it's a good plan or not. Maybe you can give me some nice ideas. We also don't have a lot of garage sales or something like that in Germany.
Great info! Thank you!
I'm with you sir on TH-cam
I drive a truck for a living I fine it easier to create all my listing's over the weekend and schedule them out every day for the following week
Excellent job! Thanks
Hi Justin, I’m new to the channel, absolutely love your content so thank you.
I have a question in relation to images, should I use the images everyone else is using which has been taken from the supplier so the customer knows that it’s the same item but on at a cheaper cost, or am I better taking my own images of the product to personalise it and make it look exactly how they’ll receive it?
Thank you - Kenny
Take your own images. Buyers want to see what they are actually going to get.
@@justinresells thanks for answering, I will I’ve ordered some equipment
It became a nightmare to find certain tools sometimes when I’m buying for things I need I have to scroll 1-2 pages
Awesome video, I enjoy giving tips like this in my videos as well.
I forgot to ask you in my previous message what do you think of artificial intelligence for the optimization of titles on Ebay? Thank you in advance for your response.
As far as returns go, do you find that it matters if a seller uses "doesn't fit" as the return reason? I've had a couple of those lately, even though all my measurements are in the listing. So do you think that will hurt my sales in the end? I'm having a seriously slow period right now, which really sucks seeing as it's right before Christmas, and I thought sales would be way better. Thanks!
I don't think it matters.
Do you promote all your listings or just the listings that have competition?
i promote almost all. most of the stuff i sell has significant competition
How much do you typically pay back at tax time? Is it possible to deductible enough to not pay anything?
To not have to pay any taxes, you would need to make no profit!
@justinresells do deductions and write offs lower what is owed? This will be my first tax season with selling on ebay so I'm curious how much I would have to pay back? Thank you