1. Selling Strategically with
eBay Marketplace Research
Patti Louise Ruby
eBay University Instructor
and Certified Education
Specialist Trained by eBay
Nick Donelson
Product Management

2. Important Information
© 2007 eBay Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of these materials may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by
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prior permission of eBay Inc.
eBay, eBay Live!, and the eBay logo are registered trademarks of eBay Inc.
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Other trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Please do not take our picture or record the class without asking permission.

3. Agenda
Introducing the eBay Marketplace
•
Research Tool
Making Research-driven Sourcing Decisions
•
Creating High-Performance Listings
•
Available Options: Subscription Tiers and
•
Free Research
Summary
•
Q&A
•

4. Research Can Drive Business Success
Knowing how a product has sold in the past,
•
can help you:
Estimate how the item will sell in the future
–
List the item in a way that has proven to work
–
With 6.4 million new listings per day, eBay
•
captures sales performance information on
items that are directly comparable to the
products you sell

5. Focus: Research-driven Business Decisions
Basing sourcing decisions on research
•
What inventory should I buy?
–
On which products should I focus my selling efforts?
–
How much can I expect to sell—therefore, how much
–
should I stock?
Formulate a listing strategy based on proven
•
techniques
When should I list?
–
Features? Category? Format?
–
Building a listing title?
–

6. eBay Marketplace—Tool Overview
90 days of eBay history
•
Information including
•
average pricing, shipping
costs, numbers sold, listing
volumes, etc.
Advanced search capabilities
•
Calculated metrics/totals
•
Charts/diagrams
•

7. Using eBay Marketplace
Scenario: As a seller, I have an opportunity
•
to buy Polar Watches, model s625x for
$175.00 apiece
Marketplace Research helps
•
evaluate the sales opportunity
Is there demand for these watches?
–
Is $175 a good price?
–
How many should I stock?
–
How strong is the competition?
–

8. Accessing eBay Marketplace Research
http://pages.ebay.com/marketplace_research/

9. Navigating the Tool
Charts and Metrics
•
Historical listings
–
Top Searches
•
Most popular
–
keyword searches
on eBay
Saved Research
•

10. Step 1: Keyword Search
Polar Watch
Search Keywords “Polar Watch”
•
Same as the standard search functionality
•
on eBay.com

11. Step 2: Specify the Appropriate Category
This will refine your results
•

12. Step 3: Gauge the Relevance of Results
Check to see that the search is finding only the
•
items of interest
Research results are only as good as the query!
•

13. Step 4: Refine Your Search with Filters
Filter out irrelevant items
•
Exclude words
–
Set floor and ceiling prices
–
List features and formats
–
Designate specific sellers
–
“Located in” or “available to”
–
Polar Watch Scenario
•
Exclude “accessory”
–
or “sensor”
– Set Min. price of $100

14. Step 5: Verify Your Results
Confirm that all results are relevant and
•
comparable to the product of interest

15. Step 6: View Results—Totals & Metrics
Totals and other metrics are calculated automatically
•

16. Step 6: View Results—Charts
Track data at a glance in easy-to-read charts
•

17. Step 7: Save Your Research Queries
Save your refined research query so you can
•
analyze the results in the future

18. Making Research-driven
Sourcing Decisions

19. Can I Earn a Good Margin?
Average Price:
•
$253.64 Ave.
–
Selling Price
$10.01 Ave.
–
Shipping Cost
$253.64
– $175.00 (COGS)
$78.64 (30%)

20. Analyzing Market Demand
Market size in volume
•
(# of items):
Sold Items = 87 over
–
two weeks
Market size in
•
dollars($):
Sold Items X Ave.
–
Price = market size
in $$$
87 items X $253.64 =
$22,000 every two weeks

21. How Strong is the Competition?
Conversion (sell-
•
through) rate measures
supply vs. demand on
eBay.
Calculating conversion
•
rate:
87 Sold Items/
–
124 Completed Items
87/124 = 70%
–
Seven out of ten Sell

22. Deciding Inventory Levels
87 sell every two weeks
•
124 were available
•
If I list 20 more = 144 will
•
be available
Conversion rate:
•
87 will sell/
144 available = 60%,
or
Six of ten listings will sell
or
12 of my 20 listings will sell
12 items every two weeks

23. Creating High-performance
Listings
Where, When and How to Sell Your Items

24. Listing in the Best-performing Category
Category 1: Cycling
Category 2: Running
Polar watches perform better in the Cycling
•
category than in the Running category

25. Looking at Sales Performance by Day
There is no competing supply on Wednesdays
•
• Selling price is relatively constant on all days
• Listing at a particular time does not always
provide an advantage

26. Building the Most Effective Title
Learn what keywords buyers use to search for products
•
Include common keywords in your listings so more
•
buyers find your items

27. Efficient Use of Listing Features
View the sales
•
performance of listings
using specific features
Use the features that
•
perform the best for
your products

28. Available Options
Subscription Tiers & Free Resources

29. Subscription Tiers
Fast Pass ($2.99/two days)
•
Ideal for occasional buyers and sellers
–
Focus: Additional insight into specific items
–
Basic ($9.99/month)
•
Ideal for frequent buyers and sellers
–
Focus: eBay Marketplace trends and best
–
practices
Pro ($24.99/month)
•
Ideal for top sellers
–
Focus: Fine-tune sales strategies
–

30. Free Research: Completed Listings Search
Search two weeks of historical listings for free
•

31. Free Resource: Using Sales Reports to
Drive Business
Evaluate your actual business performance
•
versus your goals
Experiment with formats, features, pricing,
•
and timing of listings
Track and measure your sales over time
•
Refine your selling strategy based on data
•
Continuously test and implement best practices
•

32. Measuring Success with Sales Reports
Sales Reports provide
•
Sales and fee
–
summaries
A way to measure and
–
track listing strategies
Sales by category
–
and format
Sales by ending day
–
and time

33. Want More Tips on Research?
Stop by the
Seller Tools Pavilion
to try out
Marketplace Research,
Sales Reports
and other seller tools

34. Summary
eBay Marketplace Research can help you
•
access information to directly support
sourcing and selling decisions
Quality inputs are key: your search results are
•
only as good as your query
Multiple subscription tiers accommodate all
•
levels of buying and selling activity
Free tools can further assist you in making
•
research-based decisions

35. Q&A
Q&A
Patti Louise Ruby
PattiLouise@planeteBay.net
Nick Donelson
ndonelson@ebay.com

36. Thank you!
Questions?
To learn more, visit
www.ebay.com/education to see the
eBay University calendar, online
tours, tutorials, and more.