To give free shipping on all jewelry an books

[jbirdlady]

Should I ? will it get me more sales if I give free shipping?? Should I sell outside of US?? Who should I sell to outside US?? Been here for 6 months an no sales, Pics are great, an prices are very reasonable, Ive been told an yes I use facebook, wanelo, tweet, an pinterest, HELP an thanks for your input, I will try anything Jean

[suesjools]

Not sure about the free shipping bit; when I used to frequent the other place some years ago, I noticed the sellers who offered free shipping generally charged more for items to compensate, so IMHO it all evens out in the end. I do think offering international shipping whenever possible is a good idea, as roughly half my sales to date have been to overseas customers.

You're obviously networking, so that's not an issue. My experience with sales has been up and down, not sure why, though I suspect in my case it has something to do with the fact that I sell as a hobby, not to make a living, so I don't devote the time that others do who have full time online businesses. I also expect the poor worldwide economy has something to do with the downturn in sales; in a bad economy, luxury items are usually the first to take a hit.

Aside from promoting your listings, I'm not sure what to tell you, except that I've viewed your items for sale and like a good number of them; if I ever get back on my feet financially, you'll have a customer for sure. Hopefully someone who has more and better sales experience than I do will have more ideas. I did post a bit on another thread for new sellers, will see if I can find it and repost here.

Hang in there!

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[suesjools]

Found it.

Posted this to another thread, but it may be helpful here as well. Some suggestions for selling on eBid, if you haven't already tried them:

1) Add a signature link to your posts, so members can click to view your listings.
2) List as many items as you can; it's free to list and relist and the more items you list, the more potential sales.
3) Use 7-10 day auctions with auto repost to ensure your items move up searches.
4) Let former customers from other sites know you're selling here.
5) Use social networking (Twitter, Facebook, personal blog) to promote your listings.
6) Use Plug Your Auctions on the forum (1x per 24 hours - delete old post before starting new one) to promote your listings.
7) Offer international shipping whenever possible to widen your potential customer base.
8) Tell everyone you know and meet about eBid.
9) Buy a few inexpensive items to increase your feedback and support the site.
10) Get involved in eBid activities, as the monthly YDC charity auctions, if you're so inclined; it's a great way to raise monies for good causes and it helps raise your profile in the eBid community.
11) Check out the Help videos and read Astral's FAQs page, lots of good info. in both places.

http://www.mootango.webspace.virginmedia.com/ebidkb.htm

Oh and have fun.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[JanetB]

Should I ? will it get me more sales if I give free shipping?? Should I sell outside of US?? Who should I sell to outside US?? Been here for 6 months an no sales, Pics are great, an prices are very reasonable, Ive been told an yes I use facebook, wanelo, tweet, an pinterest, HELP an thanks for your input, I will try anything Jean

The problem I see with

free shipping

is purchasing multiple items. As Sues stated, sellers usually add on to the item price to compensate for the

free shipping

so generally, I, as a buyer, would avoid such auctions because I really don't know if I am getting a good deal or not. I prefer shipping prices up front with generous reduced shipping prices on multiple purchases. As a seller, this is what I offer and it is usually the actual cost of shipping for total amount of weight of package plus a little extra for packing costs.

[jbirdlady]

Hi again Sue Your the only one so far that has given me any hope thanks question; have I added a signature to my post?? , don't know what that is. How do I plug my auction in the forum?? Tell me more about international shipping, can I do it all from my computer at home?? What places should I send to?? Do I have to figure out how much postage to charge for each country or does the usps do that??? sorry about all these questions. What countries do you ship to?? we live close enough, I could ship to the same ones or don't we have a choice?? Thank you so much for all your help. My phone # is 904-819-9633 if that would be easier to help me. Jean

[jbirdlady]

Hi Jan Now I feel just the opposite,I always look for free shipping when I buy things, all my jewelry on Artfire is free ship an also my books an jewelry on Ebay is free ship, in fact the office at ebay told me to try free ship on all my books just add more to the postage, so I did that an I still get sales, Maybe I will put more jewelry on an free ship on it just to see what happens, can't be any worse, no sales yet. Thank Jean

[suesjools]

Hi again Sue Your the only one so far that has given me any hope thanks question; have I added a signature to my post?? , don't know what that is. How do I plug my auction in the forum?? Tell me more about international shipping, can I do it all from my computer at home?? What places should I send to?? Do I have to figure out how much postage to charge for each country or does the usps do that??? sorry about all these questions. What countries do you ship to?? we live close enough, I could ship to the same ones or don't we have a choice?? Thank you so much for all your help. My phone # is 904-819-9633 if that would be easier to help me. Jean

Hi Jean,

What Jan said, though if free shipping works for you, then by all means do it.

Per your questions:

1) Check my post above for the link to Astral's page, this tells how to add a signature link to your posts.

http://www.mootango.webspace.virginm...idkb.htm#a0017

2) Plugging your auctions is easy, just go to the area of the forums called Plug Your Auctions, start a new thread, add something about your items and post. eBid rules are 1 plug per 24 hours, so don't forget to delete the old post/plug before adding a new one.

3) You can add international shipping to listings by editing listings and ticking the boxes for the countries you wish to ship to, then saving the edited version of listings. You can use bulk edit to edit multiple listings at one time, though do back up your listings on your hard drive or a thumb drive beforehand for safety's sake.

4) Regarding postage, I use Priority Mail and print postage labels online, alternatively you can use Paypal to print postage or just take items to your local P.O.. Depending on what shipping method you use (Priority, First class, Second class, etc.) and the weight, size and destination of the package, the cost of shipping items varies; you can add a fixed rate to listings or add calculated shipping if you're unsure of the cost. USPS prices are listed online; if you go to their website, add the destination country/region and the size and weight of your package you'll get a shipping estimate, or you can take packages to your local P.O. for checking. I use flat rate shipping in my listings as it's easier to calculate, maybe not 100% accurate, but a few cents here or there doesn't bother me and I've yet to have a buyer complaint about this.

With Priority Mail, it's one price per country/region for whatever fits in the box and the boxes are free (you can order them from USPS online for free or pick up at the P.O. for free, this is why I use Priority Mail, makes it easier for me, plus I can offer combined shipping to buyers, as whatever items fit in the box can ship together for one price). I ship worldwide on smalls (jewelry and books), as it just makes sense to me sales-wise, but to each his/her own in that regard.

5) You can ship to whatever countries/regions you choose, just tick the country/region boxes in your listings, save, and your listings will be visible to buyers in those countries. As said, I ship to all worldwide; with Priority Mail it's easy enough to do and it increases my potential buyer market, or at least I like to think it does.

Hope this is some help, do PM me if you have questions or post here, there are lots of great members with loads of experience who will be happy to help. Oh and do remove your phone number from the above post for safety reasons.

Best wishes for many sales to all,