Pricing Items to Sell on eBay

One of the most frequent questions I receive from readers is, “How do I determine how what price to set for an item for sale on eBay?” You just need to do a little research on eBay and gather some information to make an educated decision on pricing. Follow these steps:

1) Log on to your eBay account.

2) Select the ADVANCED SEARCH tab at the top of the page.

3) Enter the key words for your particular item. For example, let’s use “Youth football shoulder pads.”

4) Click the box underneath to select COMPLETED LISTINGS.

5) Your search will result in all listings that have ended in the last 30 days with the same key words. You’ll see items that have sold, and items that have not sold.

6) You many need to play around with the key words to catch all relevent listings.

7) The most important step. STUDY THE RESULTS. Look at the sold listings – starting price, ending price, shipping fee. Pay close attention to the unsold listings. Perhaps the price was too high, the shipping fee excessive, the item was being offered by a seller with poor ratings, or the item was of low quality.

The most important rule of eBay selling is this: An item’s value is determined by what someone will pay for it, not what you think it is worth. eBay is all about supply and demand. To make sales, your prices have to be in line with the competition and relevant to what a buyer will pay.