How HOT is your item? How to tell a good item from a great item
6 June 2007One of the most important things you can do right away before trying to sell anything online is to determine just how hot of an item it really is. I don’t mean hot as in stolen, I mean Hot as in popular. It goes without saying that the more popular an item is, the better your chances of selling that item.
With eBay, the main topic of conversation here, it can be really quite easy. You can check the Pulse and see what items are the most watched in an category. You can use eBay MarketPlace Research, but it does carry a monthly fee. Or, you can just do a quick search for the item your thinking of selling.
You’ll want to look for two things. The first is usually indicative of a really, really popular item. It’s the HOT logo next to the listing. This only shows up when an item has over 30 bids placed on it. In other words, it’s an all out bidding war. The only caveat to that is that it could be a unique item with special circumstances. The second way to check the popularity is to do a search of the completed listings.
You do a search of the completed listings by searching for your item and then checking the “completed listings” box on the left side and then clicking “show items.” What you’re looking for is the rough percentage of items that sold and a rough average of what they sold for. If nearly all of the item sold, it probably is a very popular item. You’ll also want to check the average selling price against your cost. When computing your cost, make sure that you account for shipping to you, eBay fees, and PayPal fees. Not accounting for the extras can mean a non-profit shipment and a non-profit item.
Many will tell you that doing your research on an item is a science. Only with the algorithm that they developed will you be able to tell the true saleability of your items. That’s simply not true. You may get a better picture of it, but it’s not the only way. You can get a very good estimate by the steps that I just outlined.
Make sure you do your research and create a stellar listing and you should be selling for big profit in no time.
[tags]ebay,selling,howto,how to,wholesale,items[/tags]
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June 15th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
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