Niche market item listed on ebay. When are you happy??

[NJ Marty]

Well folks, when are you happy with that particular item you listed and know It has some value but the item falls in such a niche market its not getting many views. I got an album, its house music early 80's stuff. I did research and was able to contact the person who mixed the album. He emailed me back and said it was low production and scarce. I looked on discgogs and see lesser quality ones going for good $.
Its something I will never listen to and paid$1 for it. Have any of you had a similar item you just wanted gone and knew you could eventually get more but just let it go and made a little profit and smiled? Or would you hold on to it and wait and see and list it in the future?

 

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[cheese]

I put a buy it now price on it that I feel is a shade less than market value and let it run until it sells. I have had items that ran for 6 months or a year before selling. This is where strategic use of keywords will make a difference. You want to attract views from folks who may not be looking for just this specific thing, but who would like to own it.

 

[Iron Patch]

Never use a buy it now for your first run or two on a rare item. List it as an auction at that same high price, even plus some .... it only costs a quarter! So many people make that mistake and sell it fast and too low! There's even been a few to come in here and brag about it.

 

[cheese]

I agree, I list it as auction at first if I'm not sure of the actual value. Sometimes I'll let it run as auction for a month or so before switching to BIN. When I know what something's worth, I make it BIN nearly every time though.

 

[Iron Patch]

I agree, I list it as auction at first if I'm not sure of the actual value. Sometimes I'll let it run as auction for a month or so before switching to BIN. When I know what something's worth, I make it BIN nearly every time though.

I'd always go auction if I didn't list so much.... but even quarters add up when you times them by hundreds. I'm still looking for a balance with this system because listing too much at auction with low starts breaks even too often, listing high runs up fees with too many unsold, and too many as store items ties up too much cash. I've come to the conclusion for a good part of my items and that is I have to take one run at getting my price, but if unsold relist low and let it go. I sort of have everything planned out in my head and it's just a matter of starting to do it and see how it goes.

 

[jerseyben]

Direct marketing.

Niche items require that you reach out to the people who will pay the most for such items.

How can the #1 buyer pay top dollar for your item if he doesnt even know it is for sale?

 

[trdhrdr007]

I call those "high value low demand" items. You really have 3 choices. Auction with high start price, BIN or sell direct. It's not easy to know where the niche is to sell direct. You can get seriously burnt if you list that type item without a high start price because there may not be 2 people looking for it at that time.

 

[NJ Marty]

Never use a buy it now for your first run or two on a rare item. List it as an auction at that same high price, even plus some .... it only costs a quarter! So many people make that mistake and sell it fast and too low! There's even been a few to come in here and brag about it.

Well I changed it over to auction at a high price last night. I got more views in 11 hours than I did in 7 days, and even 2 watchers. I figured buy it now would have been the ticket but now I see this was the way to go.

 

[Iron Patch]

Well I changed it over to auction at a high price last night. I got more views in 11 hours than I did in 7 days, and even 2 watchers. I figured buy it now would have been the ticket but now I see this was the way to go.

There's a really weird psychology to it because I have done the opposite, ran items through auction with no success, than priced them the same or higher as a buy it now and it sold right away. When a buyer sees a buy it now the first reaction is likely that there is no deal to be had, so might as well move on... and your views and watchers indicate this is likely true.

PS: If you didn't, spend the extra quarter and add a 2nd category. Again, that is something else I would always do if I only had a handful of items to sell, but the quarters would add up too much. oh yeah, just for the heck of it if you have watchers you might want to throw on the 30% higher buy it now when you hit 24 hours left. It might pressure someone into making that bid, or better yet, hitting the BIN.

 

[gilgar]

Ebay psychology is weird. I've listed cds I didn't think would get many bids at the price I wanted to get and got no bids at all, only to turn around and list them at a quarter and have them sell for more than the original listing. Once somebody bids they feel an ownership & then if someone outbids them, the war is on

Also remember that the few people hunting for a low demand item may not be looking for it all the time. Sometimes when rare things I'm looking for never show up on ebay, I stop looking for awhile. I just get tired of searching I guess and then sometimes find out one sold for a lot less than I would have bid when I wasn't looking, arrrrgh!

 

[jerseyben]

Also remember that the few people hunting for a low demand item may not be looking for it all the time. Sometimes when rare things I'm looking for never show up on ebay, I stop looking for awhile. I just get tired of searching I guess and then sometimes find out one sold for a lot less than I would have bid when I wasn't looking, arrrrgh!

This happens to me all the time.

SOO frustrating!