Selling on a marketplace like Amazon or eBay can be challenging and competitive. But, with ten simple tips on selling, the odds will be in your favour.
With the help of an ex-employee of eBay, as well as a few marketplaces protocols, we want to provide the best selling practices (the Dos and the Don’ts) that can help boost your product sales.
Titles
DO
Do keep 65 -80 characters for the title. You can include brand, model, type, design, material, size, certain popular specifications according to the item etc. Potentially help you sell up to 1-2x on an average estimate.
Terapeak, which is under “research” in the seller hub, can help you improve your titles with relevant keywords vs competitors. One of the best seller tools on the eBay platform.
DON’T
Spam the meta attributes of your title to try and manipulate the SEO. Some marketplaces will reject your product if the product title contains external references or has keywords for spamming.
Images
DO
Please have an additional minimum of 6 images and a maximum of 12. Other additional images can include different angles, directional application use if applicable etc. and should be within the range of 500-1600 pixels at the maximum on each side. This can potentially help you sell up to 5% on an average estimate.
DON’T
Insert any huge logos or watermarks. Ideally, the main image should be on a white background with no watermarks, brand logos, or any graffiti of any sort. If the product image is inaccurate, misleading or of inferior quality, some marketplace will reject it. They will also leave the product if the main product image contains text and logos.
Product Identifiers/Item Specifics
DO
Brand, Model, Size, Material, Colour etc. and MPN (Manufactured Product Numbers) and UPC (Universal Product Code) are the most essential common types of product identifiers to be used. Depending on the item sold, there are other product identifiers such as EAN, GTIN, ISBN. Again, the more, the merrier. Include as many product identifiers as you can find.
DON’T
Provide the wrong/incorrect/misleading information to try and capture the attention of “browsing” customers. Some marketplaces like Catch of the Day will reject products with false information. Do check your grammar and spelling of your product specifics as well.
Catalogue Adoption
DO
The more product identifiers/item specifics you include, the easier it will get for your products to automatically adopt the catalogue on eBay and help improve best match results in the future as well as for Product Based Commerce where e-commerce will be moving into. Highly recommend adding as much accurate product identification as you can.
DON’T
Provide a product title that has formatting issues that deter the customer from identifying the item or the title is not in English (If you are selling in an English marketplace)
Ensure that the Right Parent Category matches the product as well.
Inventory & Price Parity
DO
We would always recommend including as many listings and inventory as you can. The more, the indeed merrier! In time, with a comprehensive library of inventory, you can then truly identify top-selling items, ones that need a little more attention and essential insight into the buyer’s mind. Regarding Price Parity, always keep in mind to maintain prices for all listings across all platforms to maintain parity & instil buyer confidence.
DON’T
Provide incorrect information about your listings and inventory as it can be a hassle to keep track of false accounting. In terms of Price Parity, it is advisable not to have different prices on different marketplace platforms to price discrimination as customers can find out quickly with access to the Internet.
Handling Time
DO
As discussed, I’d highly recommend keeping your handling time up to 0-1 days at the maximum for all listings. This single feature is essential as it is a minimum requirement for benefits such as Fast n Free Badging, eBay Premium Services and eBay Guaranteed Delivery (eGD)
DON’T
Keep your processing time to0 long as any delays in the supply-side process can happen. The quicker the handling time, the better.
Tracking
DO
Please make sure to add tracking on every single order. It is a vast buyer incentive as it instils buyer confidence that they can keep track of their purchase and when it will arrive. This is also a minimum requirement for eGD, and all orders, i.e. 100% of your orders, need tracking.
DON’T
Use shady tracking software that might collect and keep confidential information about you and your customer without any consent.
Shipping/Postage:
DO
To provide free shipping is considered a retail standard now. By providing free shipping and continuing to do this, you can potentially sell up to 70% more frequently than those who don’t. Free shipping is also a minimum requirement for Fast n Free badging and eBay premium services.
DON’T
Over-promise nor underdeliver. Promising a fast delivery time and not hitting them can lower your retention rate of your customers in the long run; underdelivering can also reduce the confidence of your consumers.
Please do not misuse the phrase “free shipping” to trick your customers into adding your products to their carts. Do note that marketplace reviews can either make or break your brand image.
Fast n Free Badging:
DO
This badge is another buyer incentive as it attracts them to your service. To attain and maintain this badge on all listings, you’ll need to have free postage and must ideally have 0-1 handling time as well.
DON’T
Misuse the badge of guarantee (Such as the Fast n Free Badge from eBay) and fall flat on expectations. Despite the initial peak in customer acquisition, you might have a lower retention rate in the long run.
30/60 day returns
DO
Another huge buyer incentive is this shows confidence in your operations and produced provider side returns, with over half of buyers on eBay purchase from sellers who only offer returns.
Providing either 30 or 60-day returns can potentially bring a 26% up to 37% increase in conversions as an average estimate compared to not providing any returns at all. To give a bare minimum of 30 day returns (either free or buyer paid) is another minimum requirement for eBay plus and eBay premium service, so please make sure to provide 30-60 day returns on all listings.
DON’T
Not following up with your warranty or return policy can backfire on your brand perception. So it is crucial to be able to follow up with your customers.
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