Key Concept
Seller Research
Learning from the experience of others is the meaty part of research: it demonstrates what currently works in the eBay marketplace and what doesn't.
Here's a rule of thumb on how to spend your time:
New sellers & non-specialized sellers:
research 75% on products and 25% on sellers.
Established power sellers who specialize in a few brands/products:
research 25% on products and 75% on sellers.
Tutorial
How to Use Seller Research
Would you like to know exactly how other sellers are doing? Do you want to know which products are successful?
Fortunately for us eBay sellers, eBay has recently authorized seller research! Seller research lets you see other sellers' sales results so you know what sells and how to improve your sales without trial and error. Make your major decisions, like buying inventory or forecasting income, wisely by looking at other sellers' sales performance.
Here's how to do it: Find an seller who specializes in selling a product that you are interested in using either eSeller Street market research or eBay's completed listings page. The best sellers to study are Power Sellers who specialize in a few types of products. Cut-and-paste their eBay ID into the eSeller Street research page and hit search. This is the seller profile you will receive:
- What they sell - Top selling listings and categories
- How they sell - Avg start price and listing format - store, fixed or auction
- Are they successful? - Avg sold price, success rate and total revenue
- How much work (listing and shipping) do they do? - Number of items listed and sold/shipped.
Revenue:  |
$6,306 | Average Sold Price: |
$114.66 | |
| Total Listings: | 158 | Lowest Sold Price: | $4.04 | |
| Successful Listings: | 55 | Highest Sold Price: | $162.50 | |
| Bids: | 107 | Frequent Sold Price: | $119.99 | |
| Items Sold: | 55 | Average Start Price: | $100.77 | |
| Items Offered: | 158 | Lowest Start Price: | $0.99 | |
| Success Rate: | 35% | Highest Start Price: | $119.99 | |
| Frequent Start Price: | $119.99 |
| Type | Listings | Successful | Sell-Through |
| Bid Auctions: | 120 | 42 | 35% |
| Store: | 26 | 10 | 38% |
| Fixed Price: | 12 | 3 | 25% |
| Category Name | Listings | Sell-Through | Ave Sell Price |
| Clothing, Shoes & Accessories > Women's Clothing > Suits: | 156 | 33.97% | $117.96 |
| Item Title | Start Price | End Price | Bids |
| NWT 300 TAHARI Brown & Ivory "Orillia" Pant Suit Sz 16 | $119.99 | $162.50 | 8 |
| NWT 290 TAHARI Navy & White Pinstripe Pant Suit Sz 18W | $119.99 | $152.50 | 5 |
| NWT 290 TAHARI Black Shadow Stripe Pant Suit Sz 16 | $119.99 | $145.99 | 7 |
Sales summary:
- Products sold: Majority of sales is in 1 category, Women's suits. Tahari is the primary brand.
- Sales strategy: Avg start price of $100.99, majority of the listings are auction format. This seller has a high-price, low-volume strategy because further research (not shown here) on the type of product sold shows the average sold price is just $76.
- Sales effectiveness: Avg sold price of $114.66, 35% success rate. This seller is very effective. The sold price is ~$40 more than the market average for this product and the success rates are about the same.
- Listing and shipping effort: 158 items listed, 55 shipped. This seller ships a modest 14 packages each week.
This seller has an effective business. New sellers and current sellers in similar markets can pick up sales strategy tips by studying this business in detail.
How do you know if you have been researched? If you have an eBay store, go to your eBay Selling Manager page and click on Traffic Reports->Finding Methods->Referring Domains. If you see esellerstreet.com on the list of referring domains, then you or a product of yours has been researched!
Disclaimer of Liabilities and Warranties:
ENDORSEMENTS AND VIEWS. The views, conclusions, findings and opinions of the authors are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of individual eBay sellers, eBay or DataUnison.
