Question:
How is eBay for selling industrial stuff? I haven’t tried before. Is there a large enough audience? Do you get decent return on investment? Is there room for CNC control drivers, encoders, and industrial electronic equipment? — * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Add your site 1000+ search engines http://www.sadoun.com/submit * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – * I don’t sell servo motors, but I do sell duplicates of a lot of things, * so here’s my rule of thumb. If the item is common enough that you * generally have some competition, but not a lot, list one every other * week. Listing every week indicates an unending supply, and it will hurt * your bids on week three when people search completed auctions and keep * finding yours. Every other week spreads it out that this doesn’t seem * to be a problem. I’ve bought lots of glassware with several dozen of * each piece, and even grouping it together it took several months to * unload it all without destroying the prices. Makes sense. That’s what I think too. —
Response:
Hey Igor, post your ID, I want to see your auctions. Bill Shaw toppsoft
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – * How is eBay for selling industrial stuff? I haven’t tried before. * Is there a large enough audience? * Do you get decent return on investment? * Is there room for CNC control drivers, encoders, and industrial electronic * equipment? It all really depends on the particular item you are trying to sell. But basically, anything heavy is hard to sell. Anything really expensive is hard to sell. Electric motors are hard to sell too, but I have been having great luck, so far, selling my electric motors. Maybe it is because I take time to make decent photos, test them and write decent descriptions. (and I try not to buy garbage motors) Many technical listings are clearly made by idiots who should confine themselves to selling children clothes and toys. No understanding of what they are selling. igor
Response:
I don’t sell servo motors, but I do sell duplicates of a lot of things, so here’s my rule of thumb. If the item is common enough that you generally have some competition, but not a lot, list one every other week. Listing every week indicates an unending supply, and it will hurt your bids on week three when people search completed auctions and keep finding yours. Every other week spreads it out that this doesn’t seem to be a problem. I’ve bought lots of glassware with several dozen of each piece, and even grouping it together it took several months to unload it all without destroying the prices. If the item is rare enough that you are generally the only one up when you’re selling it, waiting three or four weeks between listings seems to work best. If the losing bidder has had to wait for a few weeks before finding another one, it seems to maximize their willingness to do what it takes to get yours. If you always have a lot of competition, just post one every week and don’t worry about it. Spreading out the supply only works if the competition is limited. This all presumes that a strategy that works on pottery and glass works on servo motors, not a given by any means. Richard Ward – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have three identical Aerotech 1410 Servo motors, and also 3 identical Aerotech 1135 Servo motors. I would like to sell them on ebay (duh). There is steady demand for good quality servo motors, however it is a somewhat limited market. My question is, how frequently should I auction them? Should I just put all of them at once (seems dumb), or with the interval of a couple of weeks? I am not desperate for immediate cash, I would like to get optimum prices. igor
Response:
If you’ve got unlimited supply, that is more important. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snip They may be getting maximum dollar per month. igor <snip
Response:
I had a dozen of an item that was selling every couple of weeks between $150 and $200. I made the mistake of slamming the first few up there back to back and saw my FV on the last one drop to $70. After that, I spaced them out a bit more and cleared them out at an average price of around $180. I sure wish I could get more of them! Bill Shaw toppsoft
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If I could get 50 to 100 of an item with the type of item I sell (primarily glass and pottery), it wouldn’t be rare. I’ve had a few dozen identical stems of a certain pattern of Tiffin a while back that would fit in the "some competition though not a lot" category, I grouped it in pairs and sold it over several months. If I’d put it up every week, the price on the final pair wouldn’t have been anywhere near the price on the first pair, becuase I’d be selling to the same people every week. If you saw someone selling the same pattern of glassware every week, and the price started going up, wouldn’t you be likely just to wait it out and see what the bidding went to next week? I can’t really compare my situation to yours, because my supply is continually fluctuating. I don’t sell anything that I can buy in unlimited quantities. I sell a lot of Frankoma pottery, but what I sell depends on what I can buy, and what I buy depends on what people owned who’ve either gotten tired of it or die. Fostoria Buttercup is a great pattern right now in glass, because it it was only produced between 1941 and 1960. People who got it in the forties and fifties as wedding crystal are starting to die off, producing a slow but steady supply at estate sales. Richard Ward I don’t sell servo motors, but I do sell duplicates of a lot of things, so here’s my rule of thumb. If the item is common enough that you generally have some competition, but not a lot, list one every other week. Listing every week indicates an unending supply, and it will hurt your bids on week three when people search completed auctions and keep finding yours. Every other week spreads it out that this doesn’t seem to be a problem. I’ve bought lots of glassware with several dozen of each piece, and even grouping it together it took several months to unload it all without destroying the prices. If the item is rare enough that you are generally the only one up when you’re selling it, waiting three or four weeks between listings seems to work best. If the losing bidder has had to wait for a few weeks before finding another one, it seems to maximize their willingness to do what it takes to get yours. I’m curious to know what you would do if you had 50-100 of an item that was either in the "some competition, but not a lot" or in the "rare" (on eBay, but not in other parts of the world) categories. Or if you didn’t have such a large supply but had access to it at extremely low prices. In other words, running out was not an issue. No opportunity costs (I could have got more for my 5-10 items if I waited longer), just pure revenue maximization. BTW, very nice post.
Response:
Excellent advice. In some of my "favorite" searches in My eBay, I keep seeing some of the same items from the same sellers week after week. On some of these items, which I know are only available to employees of a particular company, the weekly availability of numerous items leads me to question the origin of those items. I also doubt they are getting maximun dollar by being so frequent in the listings. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I don’t sell servo motors, but I do sell duplicates of a lot of things, so here’s my rule of thumb. If the item is common enough that you generally have some competition, but not a lot, list one every other week. Listing every week indicates an unending supply, and it will hurt your bids on week three when people search completed auctions and keep finding yours. Every other week spreads it out that this doesn’t seem to be a problem. I’ve bought lots of glassware with several dozen of each piece, and even grouping it together it took several months to unload it all without destroying the prices.
Response:
My question is, how frequently should I auction them? Should I just put all of them at once (seems dumb), or with the interval of a couple of weeks? I am not desperate for immediate cash, I would like to get optimum prices.
Not familiar with the product (price range, etc), but your best bet is to spread them out. The time interval is left to your judgement. You might mention in the ad that this is one of three identical units, which could lead to inquiries about the others, if a user wants more than one. It also eliminates the need to rewrite copy on the relists, and explains why you are running the same item more than once. You might want to protect yourself with a reserve, if you feel there will be insufficient interest to have two solid bidders. Another thing to consider is whether the market is seasonal in any way. —
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