While there are plenty of items listed on eBay, what most visitors don’t see is the number of items that don’t sell. As a new seller, you may consider selling many of the popularly listed items on eBay, but these items may never sell for you. There are many factors that go into why an item doesn’t sell. Here are a few that you shouldn’t consider selling on eBay.
- Antiques. When you think of eBay, you think of antiques. Antiques have made up much of the market on eBay. This has caused a surplus of antiques being on eBay. There’s just too much choice. So what happens when there’s too much choice? Buyers get picky. It’s becoming harder to find what types of antiques will sell and as older generations die out, the demand for antiques dies out. Also, selling antiques has much room for failure. Antiques that sell have to be from a specific time period, from a specific area and possibly from a specific event. This doesn’t leave much room for the demand for the thousands of antiques that are out there. A better alternative to this is the profit accumulator. Click on Welcome to Profit Accumulator to learn more about it.
- Store items. As a seller, it has been interesting to see big box stores come on eBay only to find that they don’t generate that many sales. This is because eBay buyers are looking for a bargain more than an item. It doesn’t leave room for retail priced items. Also, most people don’t have the time or the resources to spend on eBay bidding on something they could get from the store.
- Handmade items. This saddens me because so many artisans put lots of work and effort into their items only to garner no sales from them. eBay is not a social site so there is no community to find common interests in craft sellers. People simply think of something they need, type it into the search engine, and bid. They generally don’t search for handmade goods. Also, handmade items tend to be more expensive, and even though they are of higher quality, buyers often neglect them when they are looking for a bargain.
- Slightly damaged items. There’s a real paradox on eBay where buyers often want below reasonable pricing but expect above reasonable quality. So that means, even if you’re giving away something for practically free, you still need to make sure it’s functional and in reasonably great condition. Normally, when something is listed as broken, slightly damaged, or stained, buyers assume the worst and tend to steer away from them.
- Clothing. While it’s true that certain types and brands of clothing do occasionally sell on eBay, most don’t. There are simply too many factors that exclude clothing from being in a high selling and highly profitable category. If you wanted to get rid of an old dress, you’d have to consider the style, size, and even the cost of shipping which can put your garment an unmarketable price.
