March 6th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Selling jewellery on eBay - the good, the bad and the ugly
eBay - a dream for the buyer and a nightmare for the seller.
The buyer can seek a bargain, compare prices, submit best offers and is overwhelmed with choice. The seller has masses of competition, high fees from ebay and therefore low profit margins.
It isn’t all bad for the jewellery seller though. eBay is extremely accessible, you can learn jewellery making and start selling it online all in one day. eBay is a fantastic marketing tool and you can use it’s popularity to your advantage and channel customers to your own site. The feedback system is also a great feature, your excellent service will be celebrated amongst users.
There’s a few steps you can take and factors to consider in order to sell your jewellery successfully on eBay.
Timings. When you list your item, make sure it’s finishing time will be appropriate to your audience. 7 to 11 pm is a peak browsing time, preferably on a week day. Mondays are always busy. Of course experiment with this, you will find what works best for you.
Price. You will need to price your jewellery reasonably here. Buyers are out for a bargain on the bay of e. Do not overprice. Sell some of your more reasonable pieces and then gain regular customers who buy through your website. Earrings always do well. When you sell them you could send the buyer an email thanking them for their purchase and then say “come check out the matching bracelet / similar pieces at my website, www….”
Don’t be afraid to start bidding low. In most cases you will get a reasonable price for your item, I’ve rarely made a loss this way. Making a profit is a bonus - directing new customers to your website - priceless.
Photography The most important thing ever. Tasteful, crisp photography is the key to being successful on eBay. A textured darker background (slate is awesome) taken in bright daylight never fails to look good. See this seller who does it so well. Use the macro mode on your digital camera for a professional look. I can personally recommend the Canon Ixus series to achieve this at a reasonable price.
Themes and layout. Have a look at this seller. Her theme is so inviting, it’s the online equivalent of stepping into a nice boutique. You really feel like browsing in her eBay shop. Make it simple, make it clear, make it modern and make the navigation easily accessible. You can buy themes for eBay shops at very reasonable prices (about 5 to 10 pounds.)
Keywords and listing. Cram all the words you can in that title, so you show up in all the searches possible. Try to use whole words. Somehow symbols and abbreviations just don’t look classy, they won’t do you any favours, you want the browser to understand what the listing is for. Always include the best features e.g - Unique, hand made sterling silver and moonstone bracelet. A descriptive word (like unique) is nice but not essential.
Always use the picture gallery feature in your listing. This is the only way to stand out and attract people to your jewellery. The description itself should be practical but start with an inspirational line, because your piece of jewellery is unique and an object of desire. We want your potential customer to know this. Say it concisely with a few descriptive words. I love to use the thesaurus for this if I’m stuck.
The jewellery itself. The two sellers I mentioned above both sell the most gorgeous, wearable jewellery. It is unique, they know how to make things look nice. The materials they have both used are top quality. This all comes through in their listings and if you see their feedback you can see that several others agree. Don’t let eBay distract you from what you’re trying to achieve with your jewellery. eBay won’t make you rich but it is a very useful tool so why not give it a try!
The buyer can seek a bargain, compare prices, submit best offers and is overwhelmed with choice. The seller has masses of competition, high fees from ebay and therefore low profit margins.
It isn’t all bad for the jewellery seller though. eBay is extremely accessible, you can learn jewellery making and start selling it online all in one day. eBay is a fantastic marketing tool and you can use it’s popularity to your advantage and channel customers to your own site. The feedback system is also a great feature, your excellent service will be celebrated amongst users.
There’s a few steps you can take and factors to consider in order to sell your jewellery successfully on eBay.
Timings. When you list your item, make sure it’s finishing time will be appropriate to your audience. 7 to 11 pm is a peak browsing time, preferably on a week day. Mondays are always busy. Of course experiment with this, you will find what works best for you.
Price. You will need to price your jewellery reasonably here. Buyers are out for a bargain on the bay of e. Do not overprice. Sell some of your more reasonable pieces and then gain regular customers who buy through your website. Earrings always do well. When you sell them you could send the buyer an email thanking them for their purchase and then say “come check out the matching bracelet / similar pieces at my website, www….”
Don’t be afraid to start bidding low. In most cases you will get a reasonable price for your item, I’ve rarely made a loss this way. Making a profit is a bonus - directing new customers to your website - priceless.
Photography The most important thing ever. Tasteful, crisp photography is the key to being successful on eBay. A textured darker background (slate is awesome) taken in bright daylight never fails to look good. See this seller who does it so well. Use the macro mode on your digital camera for a professional look. I can personally recommend the Canon Ixus series to achieve this at a reasonable price.
Themes and layout. Have a look at this seller. Her theme is so inviting, it’s the online equivalent of stepping into a nice boutique. You really feel like browsing in her eBay shop. Make it simple, make it clear, make it modern and make the navigation easily accessible. You can buy themes for eBay shops at very reasonable prices (about 5 to 10 pounds.)
Keywords and listing. Cram all the words you can in that title, so you show up in all the searches possible. Try to use whole words. Somehow symbols and abbreviations just don’t look classy, they won’t do you any favours, you want the browser to understand what the listing is for. Always include the best features e.g - Unique, hand made sterling silver and moonstone bracelet. A descriptive word (like unique) is nice but not essential.
Always use the picture gallery feature in your listing. This is the only way to stand out and attract people to your jewellery. The description itself should be practical but start with an inspirational line, because your piece of jewellery is unique and an object of desire. We want your potential customer to know this. Say it concisely with a few descriptive words. I love to use the thesaurus for this if I’m stuck.
The jewellery itself. The two sellers I mentioned above both sell the most gorgeous, wearable jewellery. It is unique, they know how to make things look nice. The materials they have both used are top quality. This all comes through in their listings and if you see their feedback you can see that several others agree. Don’t let eBay distract you from what you’re trying to achieve with your jewellery. eBay won’t make you rich but it is a very useful tool so why not give it a try!
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This is a wonderful article! Thank you for all the effort
you have put into helping other jewelry makers.
I thought I would alert you to the fact that the two
ebay sellers you link to above are gone from ebay.
How disappointing!! If you could find an alternative
for us, it would be greatly appreciated. Not that you have
time to cruise ebay for us!!!
You might also consider referring people to sell on the U.S.
site called ETSY. It is growing and growing. Its a very classy
site to sell handmade or commercial items. Check it out etsy.com
Warmly, Susan
June 1st, 2008 at 7:39 pmThanks for passing on these useful tools, this will help me alot.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 pmI want to thank you for teaching me a lot.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 amGreat post, very informative, hopefully it will bring some of those lurkers out into the open.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:03 amNice work:) brilliant and well deserved!
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 amThank you for another insighful post!
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:22 amYou write clear, thorough posts,thank you!
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:48 amHi
August 22nd, 2010 at 1:35 pmI think that ebay is past its sell by date, most honest people are leaving and it is full of scams. Any opinion?
I have tried ebay a few times, with only one sale to date.
September 11th, 2010 at 6:33 amAfter reading this I am going to refresh my webite and try again.
Thank you so much
Jackie
Thanks for the great article - I collect silver jewellery and this is perfect infomation for me
October 13th, 2010 at 3:19 pmI dont usually comment on blogs but i have to tell you awesome job
October 26th, 2010 at 7:20 pmhi.Great article I really enjoyed reading it.but i got told that when you sell in ebay te people can claim their money back off your account once they’ve got their piece of jewellery or whatever youre selling.have you expirienced that?is it true? I really don’t know if i should use ebay or not.
April 9th, 2011 at 10:32 amThanks.
Great post , I am going to spend more time researching this topic
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November 26th, 2011 at 3:17 pmParticularly educational cheers, I think your trusty followers will likely want even more reviews of this nature carry on the excellent work.
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January 2nd, 2012 at 11:37 pmHi there,
February 4th, 2012 at 12:22 pmThanks for this, I have been looking into Ebay and jewellery in specific so this is a good starting place.