Finding what sells on ebid ?

[andypenn]

Hi, on eBay you can see how many of an item has sold. How do you find what sells on eBid.

[Maelbrigda]

go to my ebid> items i've sold

[cornishmaid1961]

Hi, on eBay you can see how many of an item has sold. How do you find what sells on eBid.

You can't really. There is a small section of items that have sold on the main page and also if you click on popular items and then click 'more' it comes up with items that have sold that still have multiple items left to sell and also things that are being bid on at the moment.
However It does not show single items that have sold or things that have finished being bid on. There is no advanced search that just shows sold items like the other side.

[littledelving]

Hi, on eBay you can see how many of an item has sold. How do you find what sells on eBid.

In my experiance = NOTHING, NADA, REIN, ZILCH
I tried to buy some bits and bobs to boost my feedback but eBid wouldnt allow me to do that for some reason either - perhaps thats why nothing sells. But if you like to list all the contents of your stamp collection and waste your life doing so - feel free

[BigKidsAttic]

In my experiance = NOTHING, NADA, REIN, ZILCH
I tried to buy some bits and bobs to boost my feedback but eBid wouldnt allow me to do that for some reason either - perhaps thats why nothing sells. But if you like to list all the contents of your stamp collection and waste your life doing so - feel free

In my experience = Some things do sell.
I've bought (not many things), but I do sell in the categories of Comics, Toys, Posters, DVD's.
As for ebid stopping you from buying, that sounds weird, why would they do that. Surely only the seller of the item can stop you.
Also, feedback isn't automatic. It all depends on the Buyer/Seller if they want to leave feedback.

[rocks2dust]

In my experience = Some things do sell.

Same here: things do sell. Your point about Feedback being optional for both buyers and sellers is also true. There is no automatic positive feedback for buyers (which isn't a good way to build up seller feedback on any site).

As to the OP question about a site-wide search on sold items: that isn't available. I'm unsure whether those figures on some other sites are reliable in any event. The figures offered don't give granular details (results from entire categories on some sites are dominated by spammed titles containing inaccurate, misleading or completely fraudulent terms). As opposed to sites with a huge amount of traffic, sales here currently depend more heavily on your promoting your own listings (through your web site, people who come across your posts on social media, your blog, existing customers you direct to here, etc.) than someone chancing upon your item based upon past sales. About 1/3 of my sales have been to previous customers from other sites that have come here. The others have landed on my items through browsing or been directed here by search engines.

If you are casting about for something to sell, I'd suggest finding niches that are not widely represented (rather than high-volume sold items - you likely won't be able to compete with mass merchandisers and manufacturers in those areas on any site). Simply browsing through the categories and looking at the number of listings will allow you to do that. Things that you yourself would want (and/or which it would be more convenient to buy online) are good possibilities. In my own case, I'm a hobbyist collector who invariably ends up with duplicates that I list here. They are things I thought desirable enough to buy for myself (or was forced to buy multiples in order to get a piece I wanted). The same things that attracted me also appeal to others, and I get to free up some shelf space and have a bit to acquire things that I'm missing. Sell what you know, love and in most cases others attracted to the same things will find your items - though you may have to help direct people to them.

[theElench]

In my experiance = NOTHING, NADA, REIN, ZILCH
I tried to buy some bits and bobs to boost my feedback but eBid wouldnt allow me to do that for some reason either - perhaps thats why nothing sells. But if you like to list all the contents of your stamp collection and waste your life doing so - feel free

The likely reason why that happened was explained on the "Very important issue...." thread. If I may say so, I hope without causing offence, you have not been here very long. Your questions are being answered by people who have been here longer and who are making sales (some more than others) but all of whom have more experience of how the site works than you do. When someone like you asks interesting questions I for one am still learning about the subtleties of the site and parts of it I've never needed to use. From those with greater experience who are taking the time to help those of us with less.

I would recommend that you try buying from a different seller, perhaps the one who answered your question, who seems more set up to sell to a new buyer like you. The one you tried possibly hasn't had that many sales and was unfamiliar with how to do what you wanted and didn't manage to do as asked.

I think it was in reply to one of your earlier posts that I said that everything on this site is slower than on some others. Take some time to appreciate that, develop a little patience and learn to proceed at its more relaxed pace as you learn its ropes and peculiarities. As I and others have said, you can sell here. But every site is different, you will need to experiment, develop different strategies and find what works for you HERE. Or, like the seller you mentioned, you can fall flat on your face if you try to rush into it without knowing what you are doing or how to do it properly.

[rocks2dust]

I have a similar situation that I hope to get an answer to, which is this: Is there a way on eBid to find out how much a given item sells for on eBid? That would give me some idea as to what to sell my items for.

Despite the "Bid" in the name, my experience is that more items sell as Buy Now or at auction starting prices here (indeed, that is probably true of most auction sites). While you cannot search for prices on sold items, you can search on similar items currently available. The Buy Now or Auction price is a good guide to the price most sellers expect to garner.

I'll also note that many websites started blocking the prices on sold items several years ago. As frustrating as this can be when trying to determine the going rate for an item, the reason for blocking is that it tended to fuel a "race to the bottom" depressing prices and hinder necessary price rises. It would be nice if bona-fide sellers of an item could search sold listings here while protecting against the negatives, but I find that it is workable simply to compare to asking prices (or just start auctions at the minimum you are willing to accept for an item). Prices vary so much and change so quickly, that something sold last year (or last month) here or elsewhere, often are outdated.

[johnwash1]

... The Buy Now or Auction price is a good guide to the price most sellers expect to garner.
...

Is it? Or could it be described as a good guide to the unrealistic optimism that many sellers display?

Without a sold items search it's very hard to know.