eBay Connects Sellers To Buyers Across The Globe This Holiday Season

[webfact]

eBay Connects Sellers to Buyers Across the Globe This Holiday Season

Tips on how to sell successfully and take advantage of the festive demand

For most, Christmas and New Year holidays are the highlights of the year. It is a time when shoppers are in the mood to spend more on gifts, parties and celebrations.

eBay is an ideal channel to tap into a global marketplace of potentially 93 million shoppers this holiday season. The period starting around the US Thanksgiving holiday in late November through most of December is an opportune time for sellers to take advantage of festive shopping demand. On eBay, more than US$50 million in Gross Merchandise Volume is sold on Thanksgiving Day alone. Last year, over 20 million items were sold to eBay shoppers from 200 countries.

Closer to home, eBay sellers in Thailand sold more than 750,000 items in last year’s holiday season, with the biggest sales in the categories of jewellery, gems and watches, clothing and accessories, automotive parts as well as sporting goods.

Here are a few tips for sellers who want to increase their sales on eBay during the holiday shopping spree:

• Items listed in the Buy-It-Now format attract buyers that are after an instant purchase. It works best for items that are clearly competitive and offer great value, or if multiple quantities are available. Auction listings work best for highly sought after and unique items that are not available locally or when the buyer is not looking for an instant purchase. Often, the format in which you list your products can be a winning formula.

• Be clear about delivery times in your listings and reassure buyers you will ship immediately after payment to give them confidence that they will get their items soon.

• Make sure you get your items listed early, at least by the first week in December. Buyers from overseas will be concerned about international shipping, so many will want to buy well in advance to ensure the items arrive well before Christmas on December 25th.

• Think beyond just selling gift items. There will also be high demand for decorative items, party favours, ornaments, wrapping paper, ribbons and fabrics, clothing and other items related to the holiday season.

• With the Christmas deadline approaching, buyers may be more concerned than usual about the date that the items they ordered will arrive. Be clear about delivery times in your listings and reassure buyers you will ship immediately after payment. Always maintain a high level of communications with buyers to keep them relaxed, and your feedback positive.

• You may find that your sales jump early in the holiday season" make sure you are geared up to handle the extra business in terms of staff to handle the orders and shipping materials. The speed at which you get items out to customers is more important than ever during the holiday season.

• Red and green are traditional for Christmas, so you may want to focus on special items that reflect these colours.

• Give your buyers some Christmas cheer" consider adding in an inexpensive, nicely-wrapped item as a small gift for the buyer. You will make a great impression that can lead to positive feedback and a repeat customer.

• Do not include a Christmas card as an extra treat for the buyer, as not all of them personally celebrate Christmas and a few may not even like it. If you want to wish the buyers well, stick to “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy New Year” messages.

• Millions of kids receive toys as gifts, and every holiday season popular toys sell out early. Buyers who have waited too late often are willing to pay extra to get a popular toy. Look out for hot toy trends in your target markets" if you can find these toys in Thailand, you may be able to sell them for a premium.

eBay sellers in Thailand can use the above tips to boost their revenues as millions of people all over the world anticipate the biggest holiday season of the year. With a little imagination and a focus on great customer service, Thai eBay sellers will be able to enjoy their holidays as well through increased sales. For more information on how to sell successfully this holiday, visit http://export.ebay.co.th/sellingsuccess2010/merchandise-in-demand/buyer_wish_list.html

-- The Nation 2010-11-09

[mightyharriss]

one word... <deleted>

Ebay are nothing but cheap penny pinching thieves and this is their way to get their grubby little hands on more money. They are only looking out for the buyer never the seller. There are morons on Ebay that can not read simple instructions it annoys the hel_l out of me... If you want to sell something best set up your own website

[NMK0789]

one word... <deleted>

Ebay are nothing but cheap penny pinching thieves and this is their way to get their grubby little hands on more money. They are only looking out for the buyer never the seller. There are morons on Ebay that can not read simple instructions it annoys the hel_l out of me... If you want to sell something best set up your own website

Mmm, I agree entirely... They ain't known as FEE-bay for no reason.

It seems every way you turn there's a fee for this and a fee for that!