Selling advice/thoughts needed, caravans but anything could help , also any Ebay?

[random]

Hi people , been awhile , so much going on .
Any selling tips or advice among us, also anyone up with Ebay stats-tricks , anything selling ?

l buy and sell caravans and campers . l don't have a yard , l mainly just deal from home and with around 2 to 6 caravans at a time . Our place is on an ac so plenty of room.

My problems been selling at a 1/2 reasonable price.
Luckily l usually have pretty good margins so I do have wiggle room but in many cases l often see exact same vans sold and fairly quickly at even double what l manage to get . Can be the exact same van , hell sometimes mines even better, extras or condition . Yet one a few ads or auctions up or down brings double , twice the interest or maybe it only gets one bid or offer even , doesn't seem to be a pattern to it at all.
That's a typical anytime l use Ebay actually , drives you insane and means l have to work twice as hard for 1/2 the money.
And unfortunately given even worse prices this yr l've been forced to use Ebay quite a bit of late just to meet repayments and bills.
I've even copied wording from high priced sellers, same types of pics , use the same times and end dates , even offer delivery because l am out of the way a bit up on the Sth West coast . No luck !

The other thing is using papers , which seems to have the same crazy no pattern you can tap into.
When l do sell through papers l do get much better prices but often too no calls at all yet there'll be the same van in following week at 70% more money and it goes that day - again drive you crazy .

l've read many ad tips and as l say often copied other ads that went well , no glory !

Any tips or experience in getting better prices in selling , or any Ebay knowledge on same .

There are other net mobs to l know but geez , every time you read any stats Ebay still as far as l know gets far more viewers than anything else.
Although l'm sure 3/4 of people buying anything big on Ebay now all have the bidding apps or read heaps on how to bid and keep the price down.
Dunno if it's the economy or just people getting smarts but on Ebay alone l'm getting 30-40% less for vans now than l was 2 yrs ago, youch !
And , it's all cutting in so much lately that before l know it the end of the mth has rolled round or past again and l'm left needing to put one out quickly to meet the bills .

Anyway , any advice, experience you'd like to share would be muchly appreciated .
Cheers

 

[Indifference]

Well, some people have realised importing like items directly from the USA saves 25%+ after costs... that dries up a few potential buyers.

The economy is not as flash as Canberra keeps flogging... many people have lost or are about to lose their j.o.b.'s.... that dries up a few potential buyers.

A lot of people I know are knuckling down for the next financial storm... discretionary spending is being tightened in favour of clearing debt while they still can.

Lastly, many advertised prices for such items are heavily reduced by the time the deal is done...


just a few thoughts.... because I have been looking at campers / toy haulers myself lately!

 

[random]

Thanks Indiff . Yeah l've noticed a big difference lately . Some l blame the net but l'd go with you economically too. See it across the board last 6-12 mths , never seen such ongoing sales like this before , pretty well non stop since Christmas . Harvey Normans been going crazy all year

Funny , just thinking too the other day. Every man on the street now to is a wake up thanks to the net on just how cheap stuff from China is . But hey ever since we were kids just about everything you bought had a made in China label. So does this mean we've all been getting ripped of by 1,000s of % forever-we just know it now?

Anyway , l can not though for the life of me figure out how an ad a few down from mine still gets 30 or 50% more for the same camper l'm selling !
There's gotta be secrets of something in this - maybe l need a good luck spell

PS , so are you living in the States or , what do you think of it ?

Cheers

 

[marg4000]

I would expect that buyers would want to inspect caravans or campers before buying, so if you live in an out of the way place it may be difficult to attract too many buyers which will affect the price you get.
Marg

 

[random]

Yeah that'd be a good point Marg seems l rarely have one sell locally.
l mean other people getting better money , their buyers are probably getting out to see it first.
l get heaps nagging me to come and see one advertised but they usually waste 1/2 my w/end texting and organizing and the don't get here anyway , it's a real pain.

Youknow what though . lf l found somewhere/someone , say 1/2 way between me and Melbourne , that'd make it pretty central to get too.
Maybe l could find somewhere to drop them off and leave for selling , hmmm , gonna give that one some thought.
l could advertise from home but use that add and just send them there. l'd tripple my views, hmmm.

You have something there Marg , thanks.

 

[westminster]

do the others offer transport of the vans to other locations for buyers or 3rd party inspection certificates (does such a thing exist?)

ie
transport: you can arrange to have van transported to the winner at a reasonable price
inspection: a report written that prospective Buyers can read like a RACV report on a second hand car

After that it's down to how your ad reads, your photos, templates and feedback.

Remember that Ebay does report to ATO so don't try hiding income.

Also advertise on gumtree and trading post.

 

[lizzie]

Big items I tend to buy from Gumtree nowadays ... have been stung a few times with rubbish products via Ebay so don't even go there unless it's something dog cheap.

As Marg said - location is a big thing when buying an expensive item. I don't know where you area but I wouldn't even go "halfway" ... I'd go all the way to where you market is.

I also prefer Gumtree because it has a negotitable price listed - not bidding.

Other than that - I like to go to direct websites like Wayfair and Bigbrownbox

 

[skater]

I sell on Ebay.

Ebay has some VERY frustrating aspects and some that are great. You will find if you are operating as an individual (non shop), and you are up against a store that has a top-rated badge, then they will often come up earlier on searches than yours does. This can affect the amount of sales that you get.

Also location! I know that's been mentioned, but if someone sees that you are in the middle of nowhere, then honestly, they are not going to go to inspect it.

I have a friend who sells cots on Ebay & Gumtree. She tries to use Gumtree more than Ebay as you don't have all the fees. She is now listing on Gumtree in a Regional area where a friend lives as well as locally. The idea being that she can deliver the cot while visiting her friend AND get a better price than she can locally as there are multiple people selling the same product nearby.

Using the same idea, do you have a friend that lives closer to civilisation, that would be willing to have a caravan parked at their place, for customers to view?

 

[topcropper]

My problems been selling at a 1/2 reasonable price.

Cheers

Don't take this badly, but isn't the reason that people use E-bay and gumtree is to cut out the middle man, [as in say the retailer] and in theory get a better deal for both buyer and seller? Your going in there now, being a middle man, take your bit, and trying to make a profit and the buyers and sellers still have to be happy with what they get too? Tough thing to do I'd reckon, but then I've never tried doing it and have no intention of trying.

Good luck anyway.


See ya's.

 

[marg4000]

My daughter recently bought a camper caravan (top goes up, beds slide out each end). After inspecting lots in our capital city and nearby towns, she got a great deal by buying around 350km away. Fortunately they were visiting relatives in the area so no big deal to inspect, but just showed us that location can be a big factor.
Marg

 

[Indifference]

Yeah, location is definitely a big factor if you are that far out (didn't realise you might be talking hours from Melbourne)

In my recent searches, I've used "nearest first"..... also, think about it from the buyers perspective: if I'm looking at 5 different sellers and 4 of them I can get to in one day whilst the 5th takes a whole day out/back, which ones am I likely to view first?

If I saw one of your adds perhaps a more targeted response could be devised...

 

[skater]

One more thing about Ebay. Sometimes there is just no rhyme or reason as to why someone buys something from someone & not someone else. For instance:

In my store, I have a product that was selling really well, until the newer model came in, it was still selling, but a little slower than before. Next, a competitor starts selling the same item at $30 cheaper than mine (this is the older model). There are only the two of us with this product on Ebay.

So......thinking I don't want to lower my price in my store, but really want to get rid of the older stock, I list it on Hubby's Ebay account, at the same price as the other seller. Now, I have two of the same product listed, one a lot cheaper than the other. To the customers there are 3 of this product now listed. One of them $30 more expensive than the other two.

I wake up this morning & I've sold one of them, but NOT at the cheaper price.

 

[robbiejuve]

I agree that location appears to be an important issue here, the first thing I ever do when buying an item of this type (one I need to inspect) is to enter search criteria "location < 50km" from my postcode.

I also check the sellers reputation in particular any negative comments in the last 6 months and whether the seller has replied to those negative comments. It says a lot about a business when the owner cannot be bothered defending negative comments

 

[wylie]

I agree that location appears to be an important issue here, the first thing I ever do when buying an item of this type (one I need to inspect) is to enter search criteria "location < 50km" from my postcode.

I do this too, search by location.

I also check the sellers reputation in particular any negative comments in the last 6 months and whether the seller has replied to those negative comments. It says a lot about a business when the owner cannot be bothered defending negative comments

I thought that a seller could no longer reply to negative comments?

 

[skater]

I thought that a seller could no longer reply to negative comments?

A seller can not LEAVE negative feedback, but they can leave a follow-up to negative feedback left for them. In many instances, it can look worse if the seller comments on the negative feedback left for them, especially if the seller gets really defensive.

At the end of the day, you can't please everybody & no matter how good you are as a seller, eventually you will encounter someone trying to get something for nothing or with unreal expectations. I usually look for the percentage of negative feedback, not whether or not the seller has given the purchaser a caning in the follow-up.

 

[random]

do the others offer transport of the vans to other locations for buyers or 3rd party inspection certificates (does such a thing exist?)

ie
transport: you can arrange to have van transported to the winner at a reasonable price
inspection: a report written that prospective Buyers can read like a RACV report on a second hand car

After that it's down to how your ad reads, your photos, templates and feedback.

Remember that Ebay does report to ATO so don't try hiding income.

Also advertise on gumtree and trading post.

Ebay and the ATO eh , that'd be right . But nah , pretty safe.
The delivery thing , yeah well others will arrange it , they don't exactly push it though because it's around 1.50 a k and then you've gotta get one in the time frame.
I did try that but if they're ony a couple of 100k I deliver them myself now. It's like moving your own furniture compared to a removelist. Costs you nothing, no migraines, crazy quotes or time frames and you can just start loading your trailer anytime you damn well please.

But I don't like delivering them . Did one today , 200k each way , got lost , wasted a whole day.
People pretty well do their own checks mostly , talking round 10yr old vans mostly . They move much quicker and we don't need crazy capital.
Gumtrees ok but very slow , haven't used the TP since in went net , use to be the best , is it any good now ? Zillion vans in there .

 

[random]

I sell on Ebay.

Ebay has some VERY frustrating aspects and some that are great. You will find if you are operating as an individual (non shop), and you are up against a store that has a top-rated badge, then they will often come up earlier on searches than yours does. This can affect the amount of sales that you get.

Also location! I know that's been mentioned, but if someone sees that you are in the middle of nowhere, then honestly, they are not going to go to inspect it.

I have a friend who sells cots on Ebay & Gumtree. She tries to use Gumtree more than Ebay as you don't have all the fees. She is now listing on Gumtree in a Regional area where a friend lives as well as locally. The idea being that she can deliver the cot while visiting her friend AND get a better price than she can locally as there are multiple people selling the same product nearby.

Using the same idea, do you have a friend that lives closer to civilisation, that would be willing to have a caravan parked at their place, for customers to view?

Yeah Ebays one of the bizarrest things sometimes. People are getting pretty gamesy , sneaky to with bigger stuff now .There's even bidding apps you can get to keep prices low .

Yeah gonna look more at stuff your saying , even if l can fire Gumtree up to. Do use it , it's good but takes wks for my stuff , mths even.
Thinking about finding somewhere closer to yeah, it's a good idea.

 

[random]

Don't take this badly, but isn't the reason that people use E-bay and gumtree is to cut out the middle man, [as in say the retailer] and in theory get a better deal for both buyer and seller? Your going in there now, being a middle man, take your bit, and trying to make a profit and the buyers and sellers still have to be happy with what they get too? Tough thing to do I'd reckon, but then I've never tried doing it and have no intention of trying.

Good luck anyway.


See ya's.

Thanks TC . Yeah I use to make a very good, quick and very hassle free , simple living from Ebay alone . Prices ahve dropped so much though . As I was saying to there's bidding apps , everyone's an expert suddenly .
Some still do very very good prices on Ebay but mine aren't any more , good feeback and stuff.
Not all though , even as a guy down in Melbourne that was selling my stuff from down there for awhile said - " That Ebays the craziest fkg thing l've ever seen - how come this how come that "
Tell me about it mate - no clue !

 

[random]

A seller can not LEAVE negative feedback, but they can leave a follow-up to negative feedback left for them. In many instances, it can look worse if the seller comments on the negative feedback left for them, especially if the seller gets really defensive.

At the end of the day, you can't please everybody & no matter how good you are as a seller, eventually you will encounter someone trying to get something for nothing or with unreal expectations. I usually look for the percentage of negative feedback, not whether or not the seller has given the purchaser a caning in the follow-up.

Yeah that stuff too is like a lot of things net as apposed real world.
A bad customer real world and it's ohwell , blows over moves on . Ebay or net it's like woooooooo, and drags on to haunt you.
I've only had one or two that weren't even my fault but I get the feeling people check them out none the less. Forget the other excellent 150 and soak up the one neg - it's pretty bizarre.
And yeah they can say what they want about you on yours but all you can do is answer and people don't seem to take any notice of that either.

One guy his van got hit by a car the day it was leaving for his place. Ring him up , say we have to cancel , what happened - he friggin jumps on Ebay and leaves this big long rant .
So I answered back and said what - you still wanted it after it got hit by a car ! People are morons, just couldn't be bothered with the fool !
l mean yeah sure , could've give some bla bla reply to it but hey , that was just such an idiot thing for him to even bother doing . It cost him nothing , I refunded his deposit , apologized , what else could a do a damn car ran into it ?