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Auction Tips Marketing

 

 Marketing

Photos

1.       Always use photos of your items in your auctions. I don’t know of any successful seller that doesn’t use photos.

2.   If you purchased your auction item from Fresco’s contact us to obtain your copy of the picture of your item. You will need to complete a short form that authorizes the use of the photo.

3.   Buy a digital camera if you are selling items not purchased from Fresco’s. Contact your ISP to see if you can post the picture on their servers for free. Or, some ISPs offer free personal web sites. You can point the auction to the photos file on that site. If you can’t find a free way to host your photos, there are several sites that will host your photos so that they show up on the auction site for a fee:
www.tpdigital.com
www.imagehost.com

Also, E-bay and most other auction sites will host your pictures. Note: Fresco’s has a large digital photography department so we’ve never used an image hosting service. Therefore, we can’t make a recommendation on any of these services. Use at your own risk.

4.   If you’ve never taken digital photos, this Photo Tips Site has some good tips/tutorials for including images in your auctions.

Writing an Item description:

          Developing an accurate, detailed description of your item is important in            establishing your level of knowledge of the product with your bidder. Here are some tips we’ve developed: 

  1. Be accurate-Bidders want to know that you are an expert in your field. So, the more accurate information you can provide them about the product, the better. However, as I say be accurate. You can get descriptions of some consumer items from the manufacturers Web site or from your owner’s manual. Do not plagiarize editorial information, but you can include the technical information about the product.
  2. Be brief-We’ve found that when you begin to get flowery with your description is when you get into trouble. This is especially important when you answer questions directly from your bidders/potential bidders. Make sure their questions are answered unequivocally. To clarify, for example, if your bidder asks you for the color of the item, tell them the item is red. Do not go into a long discussion of how you picked out the color, etc. Your answer may get lost.
  3. Condition-Accurately describe the condition. If you have a brand new product, unopened, still in the package, indicate as much. If the item has any scratches, dents, discoloration, you must include these in the description. This is important if you are not highly versed in the product’s field. What you as a layperson may consider “pretty good” condition, may, in fact, be poor condition to the eyes of a collector or expert. The auction sites are full of these guys and they will hold you to your description. There are sites dedicated to assessing the condition of your item. Do a search at a major search engine to find one addressing your specific item. You should also include a description of how you used the item. If you used it once, shelved it and forgot about it. Say this. But, if you have used it every day for ten years, you should also indicate this.
  4. Value-State a creditable source that has evaluated the object. Also, consider selling lower-priced items within your chosen field before you begin selling more valuable objects. Build up feedback with less expensive items to help you build a reputation before you move on to your more precious products. A valuable item will fetch a higher price if sold by a person with a good feedback profile than a newbie.
  5. Related items-Selling any owners’ manuals, accessories or original packaging you have with the item can increase the value of the object to a bidder.
  6. Include your shipping and payment policies-Do not forget to include these issues. If they are included and understood up front, your auction will be more likely to succeed. See Shipping and Payment for the most common issues that arise in these two areas.
  7. Do what you can to build trust-Include your name and location. Describe your company. Tell how long you’ve been in business. Include a second e-mail address in your description so that they can contact should your primary e-mail address encounter technical difficulty.

Pricing 

  1. Compare similar items on auction sites to get a feel for the value of the object.
  2. If you are selling Fresco’s items, we generally recommend marking up products 2-3 times for retail sale. However, for auctions, you may want to start the auction at the price you paid Fresco’s for the item.

 Auction Length

 1.  Anticipate the general schedule your target market keeps and choose the length of the auction based upon the best time to reach them. For example, do not end an auction for an item that teenagers want during the time when they should be in school.

Feedback

 

Feedback is an important part of marketing your company.

  1. Do whatever it takes to satisfy your customer and avoid their sticking you with negative feedback. Balance your decision on refunds, etc. with the cost of having bad feedback on your record.
  2. You will probably need to build up positive feedback as a buyer at use the auction site you choose before you will be able to sell widely. This will also help you familiarize yourself with the processes before you begin selling.

Auction Title

 

Because your character space for your title is limited you need to choose the words you include in your title very carefully and strategically.

 

  1. The majority of buyers find auctions by using the auction site’s search feature to search the titles of auctions for what they want. Therefore, consider the keywords your target is searching for and include them.
  2. Some searchers search for specific brand names but a lot search for general product categories. So, along with the brand name, “Acme” include the product category, “widgets” as well.
  3. Leave out non-descriptive adjectives such as “great.” No one will search for a “great necklace.”
  4. If space allows, include “New” for brand new objects or “used” if you think doing so is important for the item. Some people do search for used objects to save money.

 

Communication

   1.    Respond to your customers’ or prospective customers’ e-mails promptly.

  1. Check your e-mail often during the auction and more frequently as the auction nears the end.
  2. Stay in contact with your client until they have let you know that they have received the item. Then, thank them and ask for/post positive feedback.

General Marketing Tips 

  1. HTML formatting can greatly improve the appearance of your auction. This can be important in establishing yourself as a vendor. Consistent formatting/image is also important as a general marketing principle.

     2.  Promote your auctions on your web site.

 

 

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