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Split Testing Software For Ebay
 

Does anybody know of a good A/B split testing program that will work for ebay auctions?

A/B Split testing? You might need to give more information, but maybe someone knows what that is.

Yes please explain what this is.

Split Testing - What is it
 

OK guys, here you go.

Split testing is a way of continually improving your website or in this case your ebay listings incrementally over time.

The way it works is you create two or more ebay listings you want to test, each one slightly different than the other. You “split” your traffic between these two versions and see which one performs better.

For example, if you’re selling a dog leash you might split test two different images: One of a dog on a leash, another of a pet owner who’s smiling.

After testing the images, you might find that surprisingly the pet owner smiling brings in more sales than the dog on a leash picture.

Instead of just creating a listing and hoping that it sells, split testing allows you to increase your conversions over time.

Types of Split Testing: A/B Tests and Multi-Variable Tests

There are two well recognized types of tests you can conduct: A/B tests and multi-variable tests.

A/B tests are the tests we talked about above, where you test two different listings against each other and see which performs better. It’s called A/B because there are two sites, one called A and the other called B.

The other type of test is called multi-variable testing. It’s a type of testing where you test many variables at once and use software to mathematically figure out the best combination of variables. It is highly unlikely you'll find this type of software for ebay purposes. Finding the A/B type software may be feasible.

For example, you might test the headline, the layout, the picture, the price and the shipping cost, all at the same time. The software will tell you which is the best combination of all the data.

What Should You Split Test?

There are a few things that affect conversions more than anything else. Start by testing these factors, then test less important factors later.

The Price

The price will often affect your conversions more than anything else. Should you charge $20, $40, $80 or $100? The only way to really know is to test it.

But be careful when testing prices. Generally you want to test it only for a limited time, or else you’ll be sending mixed messages to your market about what your price is.

If someone buys a product and later realizes someone else paid less, always refund the difference for them.

Headline

Next to the price, the headline is often the highest impact factor to test.

The headline’s main job is to capture the reader’s attention and get them to keep reading. It’s their first impression to your website.

The Layout/Design

The layout or design of your listing speaks to your users emotionally, non-verbally. By layout/design, I mean things like: font color, font size, width of the page, background color, etc.

Studies have shown that certain layouts can increase conversions quite drastically in certain markets, while reducing conversions in others.

A good example is color. Red headlines tend to work great for markets that aren’t heavily marketed to.

In markets like marketing, weight loss and dating tips however, people are so sick of seeing red headlines that a red headline actually reduces conversions. Instead, a deep blue headline which builds trust actually tends to convert best in these low-trust high-competition markets.

For those of you that have web sites or do work outside ebay you should be testing all the time. Hope this helps everyone understand split testing. If anyone finds software that will split test on ebay please let me know.

Thanks everyone.

Sounds like a cr@pload of work, but good luck.

Sounds bloody interesting! Im especially interested in the photos used and how buyers interact with them...particulary from a psychological viewpoint. Could easily conduct research on this...one way ANOVA...woo hoo!

How about list the same item on 2 different accounts with different photos, listing info and all that good stuff and see which sells faster?

Done.

^^theres other independent variable that way....e.g. there may be different feedback/longevity of the 2 accounts...keep thinking though..

Marysman,

If you listed the exact same item on two different accounts with several different characteristics like picture, listing info, etc., there's usually one problem.

When you see the winner, the one that sells quickest, you have no idea which characteristic was responsible for selling the item faster. Was it the picture, the listing info, the price of shipping.

That's why it is best to start with A/B testing versus multi variable testing. It is easier to determine which characteristic led to the fast sale. Hope that makes sense.

I like this - makes a lot of sense - definitely going to look into this and take it further

:thumb:

The split testing then is really relevant to websites then not ebay listings.

Marysman,

That is incorrect. Split testing is valid for any type of print. Whether it is a post card, a sales letter, an ebay listing, an Amazon or Craigslist headline, etc. It was used to improve direct mail sales long before the Internet in the print world. My asking about doing it on ebay was merely to try and increase my conversions, but you are correct in that it is used much more on web sites. I was just thinking out of the box.