I sell a lot of clothes. I always include all measurements and at least 10 photos. I offered free returns and I got 11 returns for “doesn’t fit” in a month! I also offer free shipping, so that means I paid shipping both ways on 11 items. I don’t think that free returns or free shipping works for every category😔 I wish it did, but I just can’t absorb those shipping costs on bread and butter items. I do love these videos though! You are a good tutor Mel❤️
@@backfromburnout I know right? Yes I do waist, rise, inseam for pants, waist, hip, shoulder to hem, or waist to hem for skirts and dresses, chest, and shoulder to hem for shirts. I sold 81 items of clothing in August and 11 returned for doesn’t fit/change of mind. One said I don’t like the colour on me, and one 2 said found cheaper price🙄 I’ve never had that many before. End of July EBay put EBay plus badge on all my items because I offered free shipping, returns, and express option. I think maybe they have been advertising the free returns option to get more EBay plus members. 8 out of the 11 returns were rural buyers so even on a level 5 discount with Aus Post, the shipping discount was only minimal, not to mention EBay plus Is express post delivery. Anyway that, as well as twice I was scammed by buyers (EBay refunded me, but also refunded the buyers🙄) and now I have changed all clothing items to buyer pays both ways. My sales have dropped about 15% but my frustration and anxiety has improved about 200% 😅 It will have to take a change from EBay or a 30% drop in sales for me to go free shipping on clothing again. EBay is doing it to compete with Amazon.
I'm about to remove promoted listings and do a test. Most of my items "Suggest Rate" for promotions is 7-9%. I did a quarter with Suggest Rate promotions and sales skyrocketed, did another quarter with about 3-4% promotions and sales actually remained the same. I ran a 10% Coupon for 1 weekend and my sales tripled in just 3 days, my Promoted Sales stayed the same but Organic sales increased by alot. So it got me thinking, why give eBay 3-9% for promoted listings if I can just do a 3-9% Coupon/Sale and get more sales.
You and everyone are confused on what promoted listing does. It DOES not increase listing rank, rather what it does is broaden the reach of your listing (to google ads, facebook, etc). The percentage depends PER ITEM based on the SEO cost.
Interesting thanks for sharing. eBay did say it’s important to build your own seller history and make choices for what works in your store. So it’s really important to try different things with promotions and run experiments with coupons and sales. I’ve found doing the coupon experiments really interesting in my own store.
Yes, the promoted listings get shown in the search engines which helps bring in much more external views. It’s interesting to look at your seller hub and see how many external views you get and the % of your traffic that comes from it. It makes you realise how important it is to get those external views!
@@backfromburnout It be nice to see how many of the External Views convert to sales. I didn't record external views back when I did the Suggest Promoted Rates but even if I assume all my promoted sales are external I don't think it's converting as much in sales compared to if I just did coupons. My store is in the collectibles category so most of my buyers will use "Lowest First" so a Sponsored Item of mine is just free money for eBay as my items are always lowest or competitive pricing. I might have to use a balance of the two.
I was part of a similar advocacy/focus group with eBay UK along with some other very well known sellers/youtubers in the UK. It started off well, we fed back lots of ideas and suggestions and complaints, we had a direct contact with eBay. It was very good. Then, they just slowly fizzled it out, they stopped replying to messages, they changed staff members that were in charge of our group and now its basically non existent. They missed out big time by allowing this to die out, we gave them so much community info and they just dropped us without contact.
Yikes! that is very discouraging. I keep hearing that all eBay cares about is the buyers, and too bad if the sellers are unhappy because they can always get more sellers. I try not to believe that but then I hear things like this and I have to wonder what their mission statement is. I know things changed a lot with new management, so hopefully if we get another change in management it will be for the betterment of life for resellers!! Because if they keep making life suck for resellers, good people are going to leave and more shady, scammy sellers are going to stay. And that is going to hurt eBay in the long run. Why can't people look at the bigger picture?!
That's fantastic. eBay has been a black box for a long time. So much info I have been guessing. I have been doing a few things wrong too. Pop that on the to do list. Thanks Mel.
Hi Mel, Just be mindful that Ebay's trying to compete with Amazon and is encouraging sellers to offer free postage and extra fast shipping to the detriment of seller's profits. Love your channel btw and hope your back gets better soon.
if eBay actually wants sellers to compete with Amazon they'd better get their own fulfillment warehouses setup all over the country... until then they're nuts
I try and build the shipping into my listing so it works out the same. I either charge $11.00 + $8.95 shipping or $19.95. Same same. But in the book niche it’s almost expected to sell with “free postage”.
Hi Mel glad to see you looking a bit more relaxed and that you enjoyed your outing with Ebay. Lots of very interesting information. Looking forward to your forthcoming videos but dont forget to take it easy and dont over do it.
Thank you Mel for sharing these excellent tips, really appreciate it. Hope your back is better, I had similar experience few weeks ago, the pain was 'painful than pain' I lifted a very heavy bag. I am on the mend now. Greetings from London 🇬🇧
This was very helpful info on getting more sales on my listings. I'm all in for it and the way that you talked about it, I know for sure that I will see more sales in my store. Thank you for I'm a part time seller from Canada.
Free shipping isn't really feasible for a lot of items and the cost here in the US is highly dependent on location. I live in the mid-South and it costs me a LOT more to ship to the coasts than anywhere else. I shipped a group of items this morning that weighed 56 pounds and cost $47.47 Media Mail. If I were to offer free return shipping, I'd lose money. I don't mind paying fees for the selling platform, but I won't work for free...it does more to generate revenue for eBay than anything else.
I do agree it probably depends on the niche. Books and media it’s almost expected. But if you’re selling large bulky fragile heavy items I think it’s harder.
Excellent video. Thanks Mel really helpful insights. On the free hidden post v customer paid post, I found it easier to negotiate or reply to offers if the post was separate. But I guess that's from a sellers point of viewer. But from a buyers viewpoint it seems like they prefer the one figure. Further to that point did ebay say if the analytics are consistent across the whole of ebay. Will give post 'free' a try out.
Hey Mel, great vid - once again.... Having an eBay Sellers Panel and advocates of the selling community is amazing, and to be honest to be on that Panel myself, i can openly share with your army that Sellers ARE being heard and issues/positives are being pushed back to eBay... Aside from the panel chat, the overview and tips you have passed on in this vid to your community is - goodness, GOLD... Can't wait to watch what you do with it, the upward trends that can come from implementing some of these.. Look forward to catching up soon 🙌🏻 Jason
Great video Mel, full of helpful information! I wouldn't be too keen though on changing to "Seller pays for return postage", if the same buyer did it twice I think I'd be inclined to block them lol. Having said that, if the majority of items in store had reasonably low postage costs, I'd probably switch the free returns option on. Good to see you putting in the work, doing your own tests and data collection, seeing what achieves the best results! Thanks for sharing!!
I was so scared to offer it but I haven’t had anyone abusing the system. I think it’s definitely worth trialing. Maybe items that are large and bulky like furniture that need couriers though I’d be hesitant on those particular listings.
Good to see you looking better, Mel, I hope you're feeling better as well. Thank you so much for sharing all these tips and info directly from eBay. I'm definitely going to use that chart you shared!!
Thank you so much for this show! What a wealth of information. It was just the inspiration I needed to do some work on my ebay pages. I just wish my body could cope with what my mind wants to do!
Great information! Thank you for your rime and effort. I've been selling off and on for about 20 years on Ebay, and I've wondered about much of what you mentioned, and now I know!
Hi ! I m on ebay France , here the postage is between 2 and 6 eur and i used to judged it too expensif 😳 on the other hand a lot of People sell book for 2eur free shipping ... oui oui ....... 🥴🥴 Thank you for your Channel ! Very helpful 👌 Melanie
I switched away from Free Shipping because the postal service here is raising rates every 2 or 3 months, or changing the services available and what qualifies for that service. If prices stabilize with USPS and inflation cools off, I will switch back to free shipping.
This is exactly why I am currently using calculated shipping. With thousands of items listed, it was just infeasible for our little startup to spend the time adjusting prices when we can input the weight and let the price adjust itself.
for moving merch I see what the other sellers are doing - if I can stand out I may have calculated shipping and be same price in total as the free shipping item to have that "perceived" value - One thing to take into account are eBay's fees - they have a flat rate % on final value fee for what you charged on shipping but your item category may be at a higher rate like books so if you include shipping you are billed at the category rate. May be pennies but they add up on volume so should be a consideration.
It’s great to be aware and look at what the competitors are offering. I like looking at the quality listing report where it shows you what your competitors offer compared to you.
Good Video - we do alot of the things you mentioned and i think they do work. alway good to hear more things and getting as much information as possible
Thank you Mel, very interesting video. There's a couple of things there which I shall be doing in future, for instance, the ISBN number. I've not been putting that in as I thought people wouldn't search by ISBN.
You have a good sell w ur books and are offering free shipping bc your able to list them at media mail prices which is insanely cheap in comparison to non media items.
Mel, that's great that free returns work for you. But in my case, unfortunately, it happened as I thought it would. As soon as I turned on free returns my store became a magnet for people who like to buy something, try it, or even wear it for some time and then return it! It was crazy. I had to turn it off...
@@tracygarrett3952 I don't really know what it depends on. I'm selling clothing. Daily Refinement is selling clothing too. And he also says that the free returns option doesn't raise the number of returns. I don't see how it works. It doesn't work for me. It's not that I sell garbage or something. I always clean clothes and give detailed descriptions with measurements. This sweet word "free returns" makes people crazy.
@@bmw123203 I would automatically be very afraid of the free returns for clothing. What would happen if you received returns from the same buyer more than once? IDK, but it seems that if you sell clothes for example, there will be a lot of returns, perhaps even worn and returned. So here's a question...when a seller says free shipping, are they actually including the shipping in the price?
@@cassfonnesbeck8057 definitely test their recommendations and they did strongly suggest building your own sales history and doing your own experiments.
@@cassfonnesbeck8057 Absolutely! The free post has never worked for me, selling pre loved clothing. But I have found most other suggestions have made a difference.
Really interesting information. Im still not convinced free shipping in a big converter of sales. If i look up individual categories e.g nike shoes, look at used sold comps, of the first 40 listings only 5 were with free shipping. Womans dresses, used, first 40 sold only 1 offered free shiping. Levis only 6 were with free shipping. Books only 1 offered free shipping ect. So how does those stats align with what ebay is saying? 🤔
I'm waiting for the online niche platforms to strengthen and hand eBay its hat! It's bound to happen sooner than later. With the success of WhatNot, a lot of other entrepreneurs are looking at that exact avenue!
I am an Etsy seller and they have been steadily training their sellers to offer a better service for the last few years by changing Etsy rules and requirements. I think it has been a good thing to get all sellers to a higher level of professionalism. It sets businesses apart from hobbyists but I do think that the hobbyists have been squeezed out of Etsy now. It gives customers more confidence.
Great video Mel thanks. Have been doing most of those things anyway but still room for improvement. I need to work on my photos as I have a few with overlays and borders from years ago. Also have put in NA in some item specifics! Yikes!! Best of luck with the scans today, hope you get some answers. X
In Canada we still can't do the shipping options properly. I have talked to eBay several times oer 4 years and they will not change it. I now list all my stuff on eBay USA and now that has the near identical problem.
Free postage and pricing is a real balancing act. With Australia postage on most of my items being over the $13 and sometimes for bulky jackets and jumpers up to $16 + (plus the cost of the packaging as I use Aus' post satchels) when I add it to the price of the item I believe is reasonable to the consumer and giving me a decent profit to make it worth my while to sell, I can't see the item being able to compete 😞At least when I list my price and then say what the postage is the consumer gets to see the correct breakdown and not a 'con' FREE statement. Nothing is free as you say Mel. I'll run an experiment for a month and see what happens. The 'FREE RETURNS' is something else I haven't tried as I am concerned about being taken advantage of. Maybe that's really not going to happen???? An experiment could maybe prove me wrong in my thinking. Great video and thanks for the info. Will watch again to absorb the content better. Cheers, Marylyn.
I hear you about free returns but I'm going to do it after hearing this. Lets face it eBay will always side with the buyer if they want a return, it's extremely unfair.
I hear you about free returns but I'm going to do it after hearing this. Lets face it eBay will always side with the buyer if they want a return, it's extremely unfair.
Australia post is expensive especially if your not selling volume to get the bigger discounts. I heavily rely on being on Band 5 to get my shipping discounts. I thought the same as you with returns but it really hasn’t had any impact on my business. I was so scared of offering it.
If you put the postage on the item and offer free postage doesn't the person who has postage and price of item separate show up higher in the matrix as he is offering the product cheaper?
Hi Mel, Glad to see your sparkle ✨ is back. Can I ask - did you go to the conference off your own bat or were you invited to go. ? I love a conference, cos you can learn so much and mix with people, you never know who you’ll speak to. Also on free postage, I seem to stuff myself up often with the postage costs. Can I ask when you list do you know straight away what the postage costs will be particularly with bundles and therefore price your goods for sale accordingly . I’ve had buyers who are in the middle of nowhere and their postage is always dearer- I know it’s only a dollar or two but it makes a difference. Great content as always , thanks Mel- look after yourself lovey 😄
eBay sent a message to me about the event via the app. It wasn’t a personal invite for me just a generic one so I went on my own bat. The networking is invaluable for me and also the part I enjoy the most. :) I am very familiar with what size bundle will fit in what size mailer and sometimes I do make my bundles up according to the size. If I know the bundle is large and will be a cheaper bundle to sell I want to try and keep them to medium size parcels so might change a bundle from 4 books to 3 instead. I try to look at the shipping on an average overall but I do rely heavily on my postage discounts and volume discounts for mailers to keep my shipping costs down as much as possible.
Because once you end it you will lose all your history and any watchers etc. and if you have a repeat buyer who wants to come back and buy again they won’t be able to find it.
Free returns makes sense for some items but not clothing. I provide detailed pictures and measurements and even still get return requests because they didn’t look at the measurements… You would be surprised how few people won’t even look at all of the pictures… Personally, I accept returns but buyer pays return shipping unless it was due to an error on my part and typically at that point; I just let them keep the item and I reimburse them. Free returns just isn’t happening for me.
Yes by law you will be required to refund anyone anyway if the item is faulty or INAD but for change of mind they will have to pay. That’s a good balanced policy to have I think.
I also sell clothing and do not offer free return shipping. I will add that I rarely have any returns or complaints since I also add lots of measurements and photos. No free return shipping for my buyers!
I've got data that if eBay decrease their fees then 62.444 % more people would sell on eBay do you think they would listen to me ???? i think not lol great video Mel really was helpful keep up the good work
Hi Mel. Very useful intel thanks for sharing. Did they say anything about consistent listing? Ie daily and/or how many and the impact that has on sales?
I did ask. And I said it was exhausting and many resellers are tired. They didn’t confirm or deny it. They said set your own rules for your own store and what you can manage.
Welcome to my channel! Thank you for subscribing and I hope you like my videos! I highly recommend listening to this one (it's long so listen while you work) th-cam.com/video/c6NM3rSXJWw/w-d-xo.html
I am more likely to buy from someone that offers free returns and shipping verses those that don’t. If shipping isn’t free then I check against others to see if the shipping costs are running similar among the different offerings.
Interesting. I do agree if I was shipping and there were two items the same and one offered free returns and the other didn’t I would also choose the one with free returns just for peace of mind.
It’s such a shame the UK group stopped Peter. It’s nice to know we have people advocating for us and actually talking about the problems people are experiencing.
This was a great video. I just opened a store today, so I can stay on target with my goals. I have been playing with titles recently, now to test free shipping. 70% is really high. I wonder how many with free shipping have “or best offer” on their listings?
Great vid ms Mel… so if eBay is watching I got something… how come I listed 50 items today… and I have zero view on every single one of the items listed.. zero. They’ve been listed since 7am eastern time in Florida.. and not one single view.. 🙋♂️
Maybe they just haven’t categorised yet. I’ve been noticing most of my sales lately are from July so maybe it takes a little while for some of them to index.
@@backfromburnout yeah that might be the case… it’s just so odd especially since there are a few apple products that were listed and Apple gets views no matter what it is haha
Great video Mel, thank you for sharing your experience with us. I have a question, is the Product Identifier for books for example just the number on the barcode?
Where are you meant to provide Feedback to Ebay? I dont really have any but just curious as you said "they are listening to sellers" where are they getting the feedback from?
The panel of resellers who talks directly to eBay read what’s being said in the Australian reselling Facebook groups and they watch TH-camrs videos so they know what problems we are dealing with.
Thanks for the breakdown Mel. All sounds pretty standard to me but it’s nice to have everything confirmed. I think I do most things they like except free shipping. I do it on a lot of media but anything that goes in a parcel or box I don’t. My reasoning is due to the offer feature, i seem to get more of a lowball set up. When I used to do it I just found that if someone was to offer me $15, they’d offer that regardless of post not knowing I’d be putting that into my costs. I found it to be time wasting but it may be something I need to look at again down the track. Great breakdown 👍
Hey Judda, yes it seems the best practices are all the things we’ve been trying to do but it’s definitely nice to see some offical stats behind them and the increases they can potentially add to to our sales by following them. Free postage definitely surprised me at a 70% increase but it’s been so long since most of my items included postage that I don’t have any personal data to go off for my own store experience. I appreciate you watching! If you’re going to the Melbourne one I think you will enjoy it :)
Yeah that’s a huge percentage isn’t it! I’m happy with the volume I move so if it could potentially increase that then it’s worth looking into for the sake of a few lowballs. I’ve considered the Melbourne one but I’m going to skip it. It’s a fair way for me and you’ve done all the dirty work for me haha 🙌
The free post stat is founded on mostly brand new item sales which make up the majority of eBay items being sold. My sales increased when I removed free postage, & I received far less lowball offers too. I also experienced this phenomenon on another selling platform too ( who also offer that statistic & recommendation)! Chopping off $9-$10 for postage from the final selling price seems to be perceived differently by buyers. I’m more likely to get a $20 offer on a $40 “free post” vintage tee than a $30 + post vintage tee.
@@jetblackstonecold it’s good you are experimenting for your store and they did say how important it is to build your own sales history from your own experiments.
Hey Toby, eBay originally sent an email inviting me to the Perth one (the eBay robot must think ACT is closer to Perth then Sydney lol) and so I googled if they had it in other states and it came up so I grabbed a couple tickets. I also did notice though that it was advertised on my seller hub. So I’m not sure if everyone got it or just some people. Seems like they had spots for about 200 people each event.
I think when you’re listing consistently and buying things on a regular basis with the intention to resell them. The store gives you some great benefits and allows you to see more analytics which all help you to grow
@@backfromburnout I’m small but over this last month eBay has really started to take off for me. I just don’t want to do something too quickly. Thanks for your videos. I’ve learned a lot. My book sales have really picked up.
E-bay: 70% more sales if you do "free shipping." Me: Pics or it didn't happen e-bay. I have done both free shipping and pay-for shipping and have seen very little difference. The only time free shipping really matters is when someone checks free shipping in the sidebar or you are selling in categories where most sellers do free shipping.
the free returns worries me with electronics.. I've heard of nightmares of customers returning electronics that aren't what they purchased. I've had it happen a few times without having free returns on... just is annoying to have my funds put on hold for over a month. Not really a fan.
Electronics might be a hard category to offer it or categories selling large bulky items. But if you have anything going out in easy mailers or satchels it might be worth experimenting with.
82%??? That's remarkable! TY! I'm going to change to free returns excluding heavy items and priority mail. To bulk edit this I found this short video: How to Turn on Free Returns: Bulk Edit in eBay Hasty Hippo Hint #14
I sell a lot of clothes. I always include all measurements and at least 10 photos. I offered free returns and I got 11 returns for “doesn’t fit” in a month! I also offer free shipping, so that means I paid shipping both ways on 11 items. I don’t think that free returns or free shipping works for every category😔 I wish it did, but I just can’t absorb those shipping costs on bread and butter items.
I do love these videos though! You are a good tutor Mel❤️
That’s a lot of returns. Are they all for does not fit? Are you showing the measurements in your photos for the clothing?
@@backfromburnout I know right? Yes I do waist, rise, inseam for pants, waist, hip, shoulder to hem, or waist to hem for skirts and dresses, chest, and shoulder to hem for shirts.
I sold 81 items of clothing in August and 11 returned for doesn’t fit/change of mind. One said I don’t like the colour on me, and one 2 said found cheaper price🙄
I’ve never had that many before. End of July EBay put EBay plus badge on all my items because I offered free shipping, returns, and express option. I think maybe they have been advertising the free returns option to get more EBay plus members. 8 out of the 11 returns were rural buyers so even on a level 5 discount with Aus Post, the shipping discount was only minimal, not to mention EBay plus Is express post delivery.
Anyway that, as well as twice I was scammed by buyers (EBay refunded me, but also refunded the buyers🙄) and now I have changed all clothing items to buyer pays both ways. My sales have dropped about 15% but my frustration and anxiety has improved about 200% 😅
It will have to take a change from EBay or a 30% drop in sales for me to go free shipping on clothing again. EBay is doing it to compete with Amazon.
I'm about to remove promoted listings and do a test. Most of my items "Suggest Rate" for promotions is 7-9%. I did a quarter with Suggest Rate promotions and sales skyrocketed, did another quarter with about 3-4% promotions and sales actually remained the same. I ran a 10% Coupon for 1 weekend and my sales tripled in just 3 days, my Promoted Sales stayed the same but Organic sales increased by alot. So it got me thinking, why give eBay 3-9% for promoted listings if I can just do a 3-9% Coupon/Sale and get more sales.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. I might have to have a play.
You and everyone are confused on what promoted listing does. It DOES not increase listing rank, rather what it does is broaden the reach of your listing (to google ads, facebook, etc).
The percentage depends PER ITEM based on the SEO cost.
Interesting thanks for sharing. eBay did say it’s important to build your own seller history and make choices for what works in your store. So it’s really important to try different things with promotions and run experiments with coupons and sales. I’ve found doing the coupon experiments really interesting in my own store.
Yes, the promoted listings get shown in the search engines which helps bring in much more external views. It’s interesting to look at your seller hub and see how many external views you get and the % of your traffic that comes from it. It makes you realise how important it is to get those external views!
@@backfromburnout It be nice to see how many of the External Views convert to sales. I didn't record external views back when I did the Suggest Promoted Rates but even if I assume all my promoted sales are external I don't think it's converting as much in sales compared to if I just did coupons. My store is in the collectibles category so most of my buyers will use "Lowest First" so a Sponsored Item of mine is just free money for eBay as my items are always lowest or competitive pricing. I might have to use a balance of the two.
I was part of a similar advocacy/focus group with eBay UK along with some other very well known sellers/youtubers in the UK. It started off well, we fed back lots of ideas and suggestions and complaints, we had a direct contact with eBay. It was very good. Then, they just slowly fizzled it out, they stopped replying to messages, they changed staff members that were in charge of our group and now its basically non existent. They missed out big time by allowing this to die out, we gave them so much community info and they just dropped us without contact.
That’s such a shame Chris! They really need to stay listening to the buyers as it’s a 50/50 platform
Yikes! that is very discouraging. I keep hearing that all eBay cares about is the buyers, and too bad if the sellers are unhappy because they can always get more sellers. I try not to believe that but then I hear things like this and I have to wonder what their mission statement is. I know things changed a lot with new management, so hopefully if we get another change in management it will be for the betterment of life for resellers!! Because if they keep making life suck for resellers, good people are going to leave and more shady, scammy sellers are going to stay. And that is going to hurt eBay in the long run. Why can't people look at the bigger picture?!
Ebay sucks, its a horrible company.
Wow, 3 videos in 1 week. We're so lucky.
This was helpful thanks. Hope you're feeling much better.
I think only two lol. Tuesday and Friday this week :) Thank you for watching! The store is in time away so I have some extra time. :)
That's fantastic. eBay has been a black box for a long time.
So much info I have been guessing. I have been doing a few things wrong too.
Pop that on the to do list.
Thanks Mel.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks
Oh Tim, I just saw you super thanked me! Thank you so much, that’s so kind and I really appreciate your support ❤️
Hi Mel, Just be mindful that Ebay's trying to compete with Amazon and is encouraging sellers to offer free postage and extra fast shipping to the detriment of seller's profits. Love your channel btw and hope your back gets better soon.
if eBay actually wants sellers to compete with Amazon they'd better get their own fulfillment warehouses setup all over the country... until then they're nuts
They have got fulfilment here now in Australia. It’s expensive though!
I try and build the shipping into my listing so it works out the same. I either charge $11.00 + $8.95 shipping or $19.95. Same same. But in the book niche it’s almost expected to sell with “free postage”.
It's a way for ebay to get rid of low value items as they want higher end merchandise.
Brilliant... this is the most helpful eBay info video I have watched in ages... super pleased you are feeling better, from the UK
Thank you!
Hi Mel glad to see you looking a bit more relaxed and that you enjoyed your outing with Ebay. Lots of very interesting information. Looking forward to your forthcoming videos but dont forget to take it easy and dont over do it.
Thank you Joan, I’m feeling much more mentally rested and having my scans today x
Hope all goes well. Xxxx
Thank you Mel for sharing these excellent tips, really appreciate it. Hope your back is better, I had similar experience few weeks ago, the pain was 'painful than pain' I lifted a very heavy bag. I am on the mend now. Greetings from London 🇬🇧
Thank you for watching all the way from London! I’m having some scans today so fingers crossed nothing too serious ❤️
Being on eBay for so many years, this is very insightful for me. So glad I found your channel and I will be following your steps. Thank you!!!
Great to hear! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing! I’ve been complaining about eBay and their changes. Will try your tips. Love from UK 🇬🇧
Thank you, good luck!!
This was very helpful info on getting more sales on my listings. I'm all in for it and the way that you talked about it, I know for sure that I will see more sales in my store. Thank you for I'm a part time seller from Canada.
Thank you I’m glad it helped you!
Excellent Video! Thanks for sharing the information! Keep up the good work! Love your Accent! 👍
Thank you!
This is an AWESOME video, very informative, love it!
Thank you for watching and the feedback!
Free shipping isn't really feasible for a lot of items and the cost here in the US is highly dependent on location. I live in the mid-South and it costs me a LOT more to ship to the coasts than anywhere else. I shipped a group of items this morning that weighed 56 pounds and cost $47.47 Media Mail. If I were to offer free return shipping, I'd lose money. I don't mind paying fees for the selling platform, but I won't work for free...it does more to generate revenue for eBay than anything else.
I do agree it probably depends on the niche. Books and media it’s almost expected. But if you’re selling large bulky fragile heavy items I think it’s harder.
Agreed!
Excellent video. Thanks Mel really helpful insights. On the free hidden post v customer paid post, I found it easier to negotiate or reply to offers if the post was separate. But I guess that's from a sellers point of viewer. But from a buyers viewpoint it seems like they prefer the one figure. Further to that point did ebay say if the analytics are consistent across the whole of ebay. Will give post 'free' a try out.
Hey Mel, great vid - once again.... Having an eBay Sellers Panel and advocates of the selling community is amazing, and to be honest to be on that Panel myself, i can openly share with your army that Sellers ARE being heard and issues/positives are being pushed back to eBay... Aside from the panel chat, the overview and tips you have passed on in this vid to your community is - goodness, GOLD... Can't wait to watch what you do with it, the upward trends that can come from implementing some of these.. Look forward to catching up soon 🙌🏻 Jason
Thanks Jason, I appreciate you watching and your feedback on the video :)
Great video Mel, full of helpful information! I wouldn't be too keen though on changing to "Seller pays for return postage", if the same buyer did it twice I think I'd be inclined to block them lol. Having said that, if the majority of items in store had reasonably low postage costs, I'd probably switch the free returns option on. Good to see you putting in the work, doing your own tests and data collection, seeing what achieves the best results! Thanks for sharing!!
I was so scared to offer it but I haven’t had anyone abusing the system. I think it’s definitely worth trialing. Maybe items that are large and bulky like furniture that need couriers though I’d be hesitant on those particular listings.
That's for sharing this! It was super informative 🙌❤️
You're so welcome!
Mel!! Such a great video full of much needed information! Thank you :)
Thank you!
I’m going to use the chart to make sure all of my titles are optimized. Thanks Mel! 😊
That’s a great chart and worth printing out to put near your computer.
Good to see you looking better, Mel, I hope you're feeling better as well. Thank you so much for sharing all these tips and info directly from eBay. I'm definitely going to use that chart you shared!!
You are so welcome!
This was so helpful, Mel. Thanks so much
Thanks for watching!
Great videos Mel - that title structure chart is brillant
Thanks, hope it helps you
Thanks for sharing all of this with us Mel! I'll be watching for the other related videos soon!
Thank you! I’m trying to film the next one tomorrow if all goes to plan!
Thank you so much for this show! What a wealth of information. It was just the inspiration I needed to do some work on my ebay pages. I just wish my body could cope with what my mind wants to do!
Thank you! I understand, my body isn’t being friendly to me either lately! Good luck with getting your eBay work done!
Thanks for the info Mel. Looking forward to the coupon video, that’s one area I want to start using within my store.
Thanks Cherie, it should be out on Friday or Sat if all goes to plan here :)
Thanks for this, Mel!
Great information! Thank you for your rime and effort. I've been selling off and on for about 20 years on Ebay, and I've wondered about much of what you mentioned, and now I know!
I’m so glad the information helped you and gave you some ideas for experimenting with things in your own business
Thanks Mel, great info.. will certainly be implementing the changes suggested and see how it goes.
I don’t think it can hurt to experiment within your store and try things they recommend
Hi ! I m on ebay France , here the postage is between 2 and 6 eur and i used to judged it too expensif 😳 on the other hand a lot of People sell book for 2eur free shipping ... oui oui ....... 🥴🥴
Thank you for your Channel ! Very helpful 👌
Melanie
Thank you for watching Melanie
I switched away from Free Shipping because the postal service here is raising rates every 2 or 3 months, or changing the services available and what qualifies for that service. If prices stabilize with USPS and inflation cools off, I will switch back to free shipping.
Did you notice a drop in sales Josh when you switched it off?
@@backfromburnout Honestly, not really (less than 10%)
This is exactly why I am currently using calculated shipping. With thousands of items listed, it was just infeasible for our little startup to spend the time adjusting prices when we can input the weight and let the price adjust itself.
for moving merch I see what the other sellers are doing - if I can stand out I may have calculated shipping and be same price in total as the free shipping item to have that "perceived" value - One thing to take into account are eBay's fees - they have a flat rate % on final value fee for what you charged on shipping but your item category may be at a higher rate like books so if you include shipping you are billed at the category rate. May be pennies but they add up on volume so should be a consideration.
It’s great to be aware and look at what the competitors are offering. I like looking at the quality listing report where it shows you what your competitors offer compared to you.
Good Video - we do alot of the things you mentioned and i think they do work. alway good to hear more things and getting as much information as possible
Great job. It’s nice to see the actual data analytics behind the best practices.
Huge help. Great video. Thank you 😁
Thank you for watching
Great info Mel
Thank you for watching and the feedback!
Thanks Mel for the info. Happy to see your bounce is coming back. Take care of you!!
Feeling much more mentally clear after a couple of weeks break and going for some scans today ❤️
Great video, good to see you feeling better. Thanks for all the great tips and hard work you put in. ❤
Thank you for watching
Very helpful video, thank you for sharing the screenshot on how to optimize titles! 👍
No worries! That came directly from eBay for business. Thanks for watching!
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Thanks guys :)
I resell on eBay but I also keep other options like other local apps and I been selling much more locally
That’s great to hear you’re having success moving along your stock and making sales :)
Thank you Mel, very interesting video. There's a couple of things there which I shall be doing in future, for instance, the ISBN number. I've not been putting that in as I thought people wouldn't search by ISBN.
I haven’t either! I always leave it but I’m going to look at adding it
I doubt people do but I would see it as letting the search engine know other products are the same with a matching ISBN number.
Thanks for sharing Mel, some great tips and advice. Take good care of yourself 😊😊
Thank you
Hey Mel!! Hope you’re having a wonderful day!! ❤️❤️
Thank you Dawn!
As always, excellent content that helps me be a better eBay seller. Thank you
Thank you Neill!
You have a good sell w ur books and are offering free shipping bc your able to list them at media mail prices which is insanely cheap in comparison to non media items.
Mel, that's great that free returns work for you. But in my case, unfortunately, it happened as I thought it would. As soon as I turned on free returns my store became a magnet for people who like to buy something, try it, or even wear it for some time and then return it! It was crazy. I had to turn it off...
It probably depends on what you're selling, right? People are less likely to return books, especially multiples of books, but not so with other items.
@@tracygarrett3952 I don't really know what it depends on. I'm selling clothing. Daily Refinement is selling clothing too. And he also says that the free returns option doesn't raise the number of returns. I don't see how it works. It doesn't work for me. It's not that I sell garbage or something. I always clean clothes and give detailed descriptions with measurements. This sweet word "free returns" makes people crazy.
@@bmw123203 I would automatically be very afraid of the free returns for clothing. What would happen if you received returns from the same buyer more than once? IDK, but it seems that if you sell clothes for example, there will be a lot of returns, perhaps even worn and returned. So here's a question...when a seller says free shipping, are they actually including the shipping in the price?
Interesting, what do you sell?
I do think there is a higher return on clothes in general though. How many returns do you think you get a month compared to how many you sell a month?
Time to watch a video. Hope your back is feeling better!
Thank you!
Having scans today :)
Mel, great content. Looking forward to your next video explaining eBay.
Thank you
Great information. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for watching
Thank you Mel, this info is really helpful.
Glad it helps you!
Thank you for passing on all that interesting info. It makes sense that if we do what Ebay suggest, they will reward us with sales.
Hopefully!
Don't build your business on what ebay says without testing yourself.
@@cassfonnesbeck8057 definitely test their recommendations and they did strongly suggest building your own sales history and doing your own experiments.
@@cassfonnesbeck8057 Absolutely! The free post has never worked for me, selling pre loved clothing. But I have found most other suggestions have made a difference.
Fantastic video Mel! Thanks so much for sharing all that helpful information 😊
Thanks for watching!
Good video Mel. You make it all much easier to understand 👏👏👏🤗🥰
I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Really interesting information. Im still not convinced free shipping in a big converter of sales. If i look up individual categories e.g nike shoes, look at used sold comps, of the first 40 listings only 5 were with free shipping. Womans dresses, used, first 40 sold only 1 offered free shiping. Levis only 6 were with free shipping. Books only 1 offered free shipping ect. So how does those stats align with what ebay is saying? 🤔
I guess they are looking at the overall sales not just the most recent.
I'm waiting for the online niche platforms to strengthen and hand eBay its hat! It's bound to happen sooner than later. With the success of WhatNot, a lot of other entrepreneurs are looking at that exact avenue!
eBay mentioned they will be bringing in live streaming like eBay!
Truthfully, whatnot has a loooooong way to go to catch up with eBay.
Great tips! Thanks for making this video and the reminder about making a seller video.
Thanks Jackie glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for all the info 😊 you are great. Are you living in Melbourne?
No worries, I live in Canberra :)
Great video, Mel - thank you!
Thanks for watching
I am an Etsy seller and they have been steadily training their sellers to offer a better service for the last few years by changing Etsy rules and requirements. I think it has been a good thing to get all sellers to a higher level of professionalism. It sets businesses apart from hobbyists but I do think that the hobbyists have been squeezed out of Etsy now. It gives customers more confidence.
Thanks for the video Mel, good stuff!
Thank you!!
That's what I say as well. Run test draw conclusion. How can anybody know what works, what's not, if they never tried it?
Yes what works for one night not work for another. Good to build your own sales history
Thank you!
Thank you!
Great video, as always! Thanks for the info!
Thanks for watching!
Awesome Mel! Thanks for this!
Thanks for watching!
Great video Mel thanks. Have been doing most of those things anyway but still room for improvement. I need to work on my photos as I have a few with overlays and borders from years ago. Also have put in NA in some item specifics! Yikes!!
Best of luck with the scans today, hope you get some answers. X
Great to get those tips so you can make some small tweaks!
*Great Content ... thanks Mel*
Thanks for watching
Great video Mel - thanks for sharing the info. Very interested in your next video on promotions/marketing.
Thanks Brooke
Hello Mel form OHIO, great video, lots of helpfull information!
Thank you!!!
Thanks Mel, great video and very informative!
Thanks for watching!
In Canada we still can't do the shipping options properly. I have talked to eBay several times oer 4 years and they will not change it. I now list all my stuff on eBay USA and now that has the near identical problem.
Oh no, thats annoying!
@@backfromburnout I forgot and thanks again for your time making the video!! Always enjoy them!!
Free postage and pricing is a real balancing act. With Australia postage on most of my items being over the $13 and sometimes for bulky jackets and jumpers up to $16 + (plus the cost of the packaging as I use Aus' post satchels) when I add it to the price of the item I believe is reasonable to the consumer and giving me a decent profit to make it worth my while to sell, I can't see the item being able to compete 😞At least when I list my price and then say what the postage is the consumer gets to see the correct breakdown and not a 'con' FREE statement. Nothing is free as you say Mel. I'll run an experiment for a month and see what happens. The 'FREE RETURNS' is something else I haven't tried as I am concerned about being taken advantage of. Maybe that's really not going to happen???? An experiment could maybe prove me wrong in my thinking. Great video and thanks for the info. Will watch again to absorb the content better. Cheers, Marylyn.
I hear you about free returns but I'm going to do it after hearing this. Lets face it eBay will always side with the buyer if they want a return, it's extremely unfair.
I hear you about free returns but I'm going to do it after hearing this. Lets face it eBay will always side with the buyer if they want a return, it's extremely unfair.
Australia post is expensive especially if your not selling volume to get the bigger discounts. I heavily rely on being on Band 5 to get my shipping discounts.
I thought the same as you with returns but it really hasn’t had any impact on my business. I was so scared of offering it.
That is correct, most times they do side with the buyer so it’s better to offer it and have some protection.
If you put the postage on the item and offer free postage doesn't the person who has postage and price of item separate show up higher in the matrix as he is offering the product cheaper?
Yes but many people will also filter by free postage
Hi Mel, Glad to see your sparkle ✨ is back. Can I ask - did you go to the conference off your own bat or were you invited to go. ? I love a conference, cos you can learn so much and mix with people, you never know who you’ll speak to. Also on free postage, I seem to stuff myself up often with the postage costs. Can I ask when you list do you know straight away what the postage costs will be particularly with bundles and therefore price your goods for sale accordingly . I’ve had buyers who are in the middle of nowhere and their postage is always dearer- I know it’s only a dollar or two but it makes a difference. Great content as always , thanks Mel- look after yourself lovey 😄
eBay sent a message to me about the event via the app. It wasn’t a personal invite for me just a generic one so I went on my own bat. The networking is invaluable for me and also the part I enjoy the most. :) I am very familiar with what size bundle will fit in what size mailer and sometimes I do make my bundles up according to the size. If I know the bundle is large and will be a cheaper bundle to sell I want to try and keep them to medium size parcels so might change a bundle from 4 books to 3 instead. I try to look at the shipping on an average overall but I do rely heavily on my postage discounts and volume discounts for mailers to keep my shipping costs down as much as possible.
@@backfromburnout Thanks Mel , I’m going to be more mindful on parcel size . Great tips
Great video Mel 😊 thank you 😊 hope your feeling better
Thank you, having my scans today so fingers crossed x
what about a multiple quantity listing that is 9 months old or more but has several sold. Better to leave it as is or end and sell similar?
I would leave that if you can still see it in search
Because once you end it you will lose all your history and any watchers etc. and if you have a repeat buyer who wants to come back and buy again they won’t be able to find it.
Free returns makes sense for some items but not clothing. I provide detailed pictures and measurements and even still get return requests because they didn’t look at the measurements… You would be surprised how few people won’t even look at all of the pictures… Personally, I accept returns but buyer pays return shipping unless it was due to an error on my part and typically at that point; I just let them keep the item and I reimburse them. Free returns just isn’t happening for me.
Yes by law you will be required to refund anyone anyway if the item is faulty or INAD but for change of mind they will have to pay. That’s a good balanced policy to have I think.
I also sell clothing and do not offer free return shipping. I will add that I rarely have any returns or complaints since I also add lots of measurements and photos. No free return shipping for my buyers!
Did they mention when they were bringing in automatic payments when offers accepted?
They didn’t mention that but I’ve heard that has started to be rolled out in America
Great informative video.
Thank you for watching and glad it helped
I have been charging for returns and shipping, Maybe I will need to explore that.
Maybe try some experiments on some new listings and track it. It can’t hurt to try.
I've got data that if eBay decrease their fees then 62.444 % more people would sell on eBay do you think they would listen to me ???? i think not lol great video Mel really was helpful keep up the good work
It would be nice though lol
Hi Mel. Very useful intel thanks for sharing. Did they say anything about consistent listing? Ie daily and/or how many and the impact that has on sales?
I did ask. And I said it was exhausting and many resellers are tired. They didn’t confirm or deny it. They said set your own rules for your own store and what you can manage.
GREAT VIDEO! New Subscriber here, Thanks for the tips!
Welcome to my channel! Thank you for subscribing and I hope you like my videos! I highly recommend listening to this one (it's long so listen while you work) th-cam.com/video/c6NM3rSXJWw/w-d-xo.html
Great info Mel! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
I am more likely to buy from someone that offers free returns and shipping verses those that don’t. If shipping isn’t free then I check against others to see if the shipping costs are running similar among the different offerings.
Interesting. I do agree if I was shipping and there were two items the same and one offered free returns and the other didn’t I would also choose the one with free returns just for peace of mind.
They really should have kept a group like that here in the UK to hear what we are saying and report back to eBay but tgat fizzled out.
It’s such a shame the UK group stopped Peter. It’s nice to know we have people advocating for us and actually talking about the problems people are experiencing.
This was a great video. I just opened a store today, so I can stay on target with my goals. I have been playing with titles recently, now to test free shipping. 70% is really high. I wonder how many with free shipping have “or best offer” on their listings?
I think it’s more common in some niches more then others. Like with books and media it’s almost expected by buyers to see “free” shipping!
Great vid ms Mel… so if eBay is watching I got something… how come I listed 50 items today… and I have zero view on every single one of the items listed.. zero. They’ve been listed since 7am eastern time in Florida.. and not one single view.. 🙋♂️
Maybe they just haven’t categorised yet. I’ve been noticing most of my sales lately are from July so maybe it takes a little while for some of them to index.
@@backfromburnout yeah that might be the case… it’s just so odd especially since there are a few apple products that were listed and Apple gets views no matter what it is haha
Great video Mel, thank you for sharing your experience with us.
I have a question, is the Product Identifier for books for example just the number on the barcode?
That’s correct! I will have to start adding it my listings I think as I always ignore and leave it.
Where are you meant to provide Feedback to Ebay? I dont really have any but just curious as you said "they are listening to sellers" where are they getting the feedback from?
The panel of resellers who talks directly to eBay read what’s being said in the Australian reselling Facebook groups and they watch TH-camrs videos so they know what problems we are dealing with.
Thanks for the breakdown Mel. All sounds pretty standard to me but it’s nice to have everything confirmed.
I think I do most things they like except free shipping.
I do it on a lot of media but anything that goes in a parcel or box I don’t.
My reasoning is due to the offer feature, i seem to get more of a lowball set up.
When I used to do it I just found that if someone was to offer me $15, they’d offer that regardless of post not knowing I’d be putting that into my costs. I found it to be time wasting but it may be something I need to look at again down the track.
Great breakdown 👍
Hey Judda, yes it seems the best practices are all the things we’ve been trying to do but it’s definitely nice to see some offical stats behind them and the increases they can potentially add to to our sales by following them.
Free postage definitely surprised me at a 70% increase but it’s been so long since most of my items included postage that I don’t have any personal data to go off for my own store experience. I appreciate you watching! If you’re going to the Melbourne one I think you will enjoy it :)
Yeah that’s a huge percentage isn’t it! I’m happy with the volume I move so if it could potentially increase that then it’s worth looking into for the sake of a few lowballs.
I’ve considered the Melbourne one but I’m going to skip it. It’s a fair way for me and you’ve done all the dirty work for me haha 🙌
The free post stat is founded on mostly brand new item sales which make up the majority of eBay items being sold. My sales increased when I removed free postage, & I received far less lowball offers too. I also experienced this phenomenon on another selling platform too ( who also offer that statistic & recommendation)! Chopping off $9-$10 for postage from the final selling price seems to be perceived differently by buyers. I’m more likely to get a $20 offer on a $40 “free post” vintage tee than a $30 + post vintage tee.
@@DiaryofaFlipper ha ha.
@@jetblackstonecold it’s good you are experimenting for your store and they did say how important it is to build your own sales history from your own experiments.
Thanks Mel! I'd love to know how u got invovled with this so i can earmark for when they have an SA one :)
Its by invite and there was 4 and I think you can go to whichever one you want. Perth, Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane.
Hey Toby, eBay originally sent an email inviting me to the Perth one (the eBay robot must think ACT is closer to Perth then Sydney lol) and so I googled if they had it in other states and it came up so I grabbed a couple tickets. I also did notice though that it was advertised on my seller hub. So I’m not sure if everyone got it or just some people. Seems like they had spots for about 200 people each event.
When is the right time to switch and get an eBay store
I think when you’re listing consistently and buying things on a regular basis with the intention to resell them. The store gives you some great benefits and allows you to see more analytics which all help you to grow
@@backfromburnout I’m small but over this last month eBay has really started to take off for me. I just don’t want to do something too quickly. Thanks for your videos. I’ve learned a lot. My book sales have really picked up.
@@lisahart2093 fantastic. Just grow slowly. After a few months you can make the switch at anytime if you feel you’re ready to grow more :)
When I buy items on Ebay I never check the free shipping.
Because I think like seller and I know free shipping to me is more expensive the item.
True. But many people do filter and search by free postage
*W@$$UP!!* Thanks for the #tips Have a wonderful rest of the week & weekend.
Thanks Johnny swag!
sell great brands at great prices- that's all you need to know-
Definitely will help!
E-bay: 70% more sales if you do "free shipping."
Me: Pics or it didn't happen e-bay. I have done both free shipping and pay-for shipping and have seen very little difference. The only time free shipping really matters is when someone checks free shipping in the sidebar or you are selling in categories where most sellers do free shipping.
the free returns worries me with electronics.. I've heard of nightmares of customers returning electronics that aren't what they purchased. I've had it happen a few times without having free returns on... just is annoying to have my funds put on hold for over a month. Not really a fan.
Electronics might be a hard category to offer it or categories selling large bulky items. But if you have anything going out in easy mailers or satchels it might be worth experimenting with.
82%??? That's remarkable! TY! I'm going to change to free returns excluding heavy items and priority mail. To bulk edit this I found this short video: How to Turn on Free Returns: Bulk Edit in eBay Hasty Hippo Hint #14