How deep does eBay bury a fairly new seller?

[pod]

I am getting pounded by a competitor that actually has an inferior product. Like 5 to 1 in sales! And it simply shouldn't be that way....

Only difference is my account is about 5 months old, his 5 years.

I ran some searches and he is top end of first page and I'm bottom end second page. But for no reason other then eBay put me there.

The only difference is age/feedback. I have perfect DSR. He is not a PS or TRS or anything. Just older, that's it...

We are the only two going at this product. Niche and low volume. And he is killing me, badly. I mean this cat is kicking my ass! AND I have a better product... And no way do I want to go into a price war. So is just being a young account mean I'm beat right out of the gate? Bloody eBay best match is killing me...

I wouldn't even mind 2 to 1. But 5 to 1 and I feel like packing this one in.

Will ANYTHING that can be controlled now raise that best match?
eBay Store bring you up?
I do free shipping when I can.
What is exactly factored into best match? Or is that not public? It cant just be so simple as age gets you highest bump.

Short of having an affair with the dudes wife and making him an emotional wreck so his service drops, I gotta do something to get higher on that best match...

[holyhell]

I just checked one of my items since you brought this up. I usually don't do any research on this, if I am getting a decent amount of views, I'm alright with that.

Surprisingly, I was the very first item, first page. Second was a Power Seller, which was shocking. This account is 3 weeks old with feedback less than 20, perfect DSRs across the board, and free shipping.

I always do auctions, which seems to move me up. Whenever I tested the waters with BIN, I was buried on page 3. I had pondered at times to kinda take a polite cheapshot at my competetion in the listing, but decided not to start any trouble.

Hope everything works out for you.

[pod]

Originally Posted by holyhell

3 weeks old with feedback less than 20.

Really? Huh... There has to be a reason he's killing me. And its not product or pricing.... I do all BIN. Auctions give a good bump? He does have half at auction. Are people really so simple they want to play the bidding game and still pay the same anyway? I find that a hard pill to swallow. But I guess if thats what they like I could try. Fees are way higher...

I have been giving myself a headache trying to figure out what I'm missing here. But if you are getting top spot on a fresh account I have to be missing something else

I wont play dirty, not my style.

My product is better
My ads are nicer
My photos are nicer

He even beats me when the search includes words in my tittle but not in his. Bitch of it is he doesn't have counters so I cant tell if he is getting more views. He's higher in the search I know that. But 2nd page shouldn't be that bad. I know people are short in the attention area, but they cant always stop on page one...

[holyhell]

This is definitely an odd situation. Concerning the BIN, I abandoned it for a couple reasons-
*It was more expensive for me
*I was buried in the listings
*People would just put items on their watch list, and forget to buy.

I have a lot of "drive by" buyers, and it seems that with an auction, they MAKE SURE they get a bid in. Because they don't know if/when they will see it again. But I personally think that with BIN, they just add it to their watch list and forget about it.

[pod]

Originally Posted by holyhell

they just add it to their watch list and forget about it.

May be a good point. I have a couple products with 40 people watching. And they aint buying!

I just dont have the balls to start anything I want $150 for at a buck. All I need is one sale at $40 or something crappy and it washes out 4 other sales. I just dont have the guts

So if I start out at a higher price I may defeat the whole purpose. Guess I have no choice but to risk a couple at cost and see how it plays out....

[holyhell]

I hear you, it can be a gamble at times. I had a hot new item recently, and I was positive it would fetch about 30 bucks each time. So I was comfortable starting at a buck.
Eventually, all the die hards got a hold of one, and it got to the point where the more casual "I wouldn't mind having that" people came in. Not as adamant about having one, so the prices didn't go so high. What I did was pull the item for a while. Then they think, "Oh f**K, where did it go?" And after a few weeks I put it up again and do better with it.

Figuring out buyers is really difficult, and the product itself triggers different responses. What eventually will happen with this particular item is that I will start the bid at around 15 bucks. Then they will at least CONSIDER it. But not if it is at near full price.

If you are expecting 150 each time, would it be safe to start it at around 70 or so?

[pod]

I just sent 3 of my items to auction starting at 99 cents

I put a reserve of my cost to be safe. Worth breaking even to see what happens. If I get just a few nibbles and it doesn't go for cost so be it.

BUT. Immediately all 3 top of page in best match results now. So auction plays a role for sure. Fees are higher so if this gets any worthwhile attention I will have to crunch the numbers and see if they are covered

Just have to wait and see if I get any extra action.... If they don't sell, I will have to see what else I'm missing.

[lostsub]

Best Match = Mystery, but one thing factored in for sure is completed sales at least when using Fixed Price BIN listings....which I use pretty much exclusively. The listings I have that have sold lots of items consistently produce for me even though I'm not the lowest price by any means. I specialize in low priced items, so maybe that could mean that things could change in your case.
I presume that even though you describe this as one item it can described in many different ways? You can list with many different titles and maybe gallery pic (getting around the duplicate listing policy) to see if you can climb the best match ladder without having to resort to risky auctions that may or may not bring a good price.
Just my 2 cents, and I hope I didn't miss something obvious about your post.

[pod]

Originally Posted by lostsub

one thing factored in for sure is completed sales at least when using Fixed Price BIN listings

I suspect that low volume of sales with the BIN has set me back a little in getting attention then.

Originally Posted by lostsub

it can described in many different ways?

Ya, I mix it up to avoid the listing policy

If the low sales history and BIN combo hurts sales and ranking I will have to learn how to tweak with auctions. I have been a BIN guy for years and years. I find the whole idea of auction for a new item silly. But I'm not the one buying

[123]

The more buys your bins get the higher it goes in search, also keep treating your customers right and become a trs then you'll be on top.

[pod]

Originally Posted by 123

The more buys your bins get the higher it goes in search,

That would explain the noticeably lack of status in search. Its a higher priced and lower volume item[s] - So not a lot of sales compared to most stuff on eBay.

eBay used to be great for this kind of thing. You threw it up, left it, people seen it and bought whenever. Now you have to fight with the damn system just to stay on the page

[123]

Originally Posted by pod

That would explain the noticeably lack of status in search. Its a higher priced and lower volume item[s] - So not a lot of sales compared to most stuff on eBay.

eBay used to be great for this kind of thing. You threw it up, left it, people seen it and bought whenever. Now you have to fight with the damn system just to stay on the page

I remember back in the day anyone could pay for featured listing, I use to pay for it on my popular items and it would be the first item on the 1st page all the way on the top was amazing.

[pod]

Ya, it was expensive but it paid off huge. I could drive a huge spike in sales with a few key featured ads. Now the fees are more brutal for nothing. They decide what goes where and who gets what...

[kris]

I personally find that buyers LOVE the $0.99 auctions. I sell at higher final prices in these, than I do it BINs, for the most part. Its strange... but its true.

[shogun1]

is his auction title different enough from yours to where he is getting more traffic through keywords you dont have? does he have a subtitle with more keywords then you maybe?

even if your selling the same thing,alot of it has to do with the words you choose.I am still not 100 percent on how this works.Ive been the new guy and at the top and ive been the old guy on page 3.I find that auctions give me better placing then bin listings.Alot of times competition changes a letter or 2 in there title to get around the duplicate listing and gives them an unfair advantage.Even if your on page one then if 80 percent of the ads are his to your 20 percent then you are gonna lose big.My philosophy in that case is fight fire with fire

[shogun1]

Originally Posted by kris

I personally find that buyers LOVE the $0.99 auctions. I sell at higher final prices in these, than I do it BINs, for the most part. Its strange... but its true.

i assume you set a good reserve though? what is the price range they typically sell in?

[pod]

Originally Posted by shogun1

what is the price range they typically sell in?

$100-$600. Its a niche market and pretty low volume. This time last year I was selling around $2500-$4000 a week. This year less than half that a month. There really inst room for too many people on this island anymore.

Originally Posted by shogun1

does he have a subtitle with more keywords then you maybe?

No. In fact his ads are quit lacking. I was giving this some thought and I think he is killing me with an outside following. I can bet he belongs to a few related forums and pushes and supports his product there. That goes a long way in a specialized market. A very long way. I did this a couple years ago and it was a massive boost for sales.... But it became a burden. People expected replies on the forums in minutes and couldn't be bothered to just contact me direct. And 80% of the questions were redundant and repeated over and over. It became a full time job keeping up with managing a website, eBay and a couple forums. Left no time to get the orders out... Something had to go.

And I see the results. I think my time in this field is running thin. I sell a great product and great service. But it appears there needs to be a high level of hand holding to make it work [on eBay]. The margins are too thin to justify it. It was great when I was doing 600%. But at 50% its too much grief. eBay always had deal hunters. But there also used to be buyers looking for quality... I'll find another product line to get into for eBay. Leave this product on my website alone. May sound lazy. But net gain for the time needs to be factored in.

Sounds harsh, but a big majority of eBay shoppers these days seem to have parents that were cousins.

[Pasicel]

Similar problem. The only difference was that my competitor had " High Quality " in his item.
Tore me apart, until i wrote the same with a penny cheaper then his
Just have to get around it.

[pod]

Originally Posted by Pasicel

Similar problem. The only difference was that my competitor had " High Quality " in his item.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to stress the differences in quality. Without a direct attack, not my style. But I could focus attention on what I have that he doesn't... I always make the mistake of assuming the buyer knows what they are looking at. Always a big mistake! I should "idiot proof" my ads and beat them over the head with the obvious....

[liimey]

Pod,
I think you are way too nice of a person. Business is business ans especially in this economy survival of the fittest. There are many ways you can circumnavigate you concerns and get either your listings up or make his go down. Just depends on what you are prepared to do.
I always use .99c lisitngs and just as another person in this forum stated, these do actually sell for more that the BIN lisitngs. Not only do you get better exposure from ebay but you also attract his buyers to your auctions as everyone is looking for the deal. If you have 40 watchers then surely you should have no issues. Worst case scenario is you can always get a "friend" to ensure the price of you item doesnt undersell.

[pod]

I am all for being competitive. For sure.

But I draw the line at hurting another seller. He tried that with me and I would burn him to the ground. So if you mean by not hurting the seller I'm being too nice, then I'm too nice.

[pod]

Take this sh!t somewhere else. At least start a new thread so it can be locked down...