EBay Relisting Strategies to Increase Profits

Any time eBay gives a seller a choice, eBay tactics are in play. You make a small decision, and it has consequences. One of the options at eBay that demands a little thought is the relist button. If an item does not sell, you can click on the relist button and put it up again. You have the option of changing the price or the description, or of leaving it all the same.

I sell used books. Early in my career, before my Power Seller days, I didn't even know that one could relist items. I do not know what I was thinking, but I would put an item up for sale, and if it did not sell, I would just take it down and try something else.

I quickly learned, though, that if I sold 50 percent of my items at auction, if I relisted the unsold items, I might sell 25-50 percent of them. There were diminishing returns each time the group of items was relisted. Sooner or later I would just label the unsold stuff as unsellable, and donate it somewhere.

For the most part, I just hit the relist button. I did not drop the price.

Then, for a time, I would run an auction, and if the item did not sell, I would lower the price a bit in an effort to get some bids. And I would lower it even more on the next relist, and so forth, until eventually, just as an experiment, I would relist the unsold items starting at a penny (with a suitable amount to cover the shipping). I really think that smart buyers figure out this strategy. They might follow your auctions, knowing that if they just wait, they'll get a discount. Now, a buyer can't do that with a really attractive item. Others will bid, forcing other buyers' hands. But with items that do sell, but with only one bid, the buyer's wait and see strategy is effective. I would advise avoiding too many sales.

Another way to relist is to put the unsold item into your eBay store if it fails to sell in the first auction. This has some strong points. I have actually taken nine dollar unsold items and put them into the store, but raised the price to $12.50, and then gotten sales.

I think that consistency is the key. And in the long run, it is best to just stick to your price. If the item is worth ten dollars, get ten for it. Do not reduce the price. Relist it at ten. If it fails to sell, put it in the store at ten. Sooner or later it will sell for what it is worth.

One last point. Some sellers like to delay their relists. They know that if they do so, they might get a few inquiries from people who did not bid on the item, asking if it is going up again. The seller waits a few days for those offers, and then puts up buy-it-now auctions to let the late comers get the item. Only then do they relist what is left.

Whatever you decide to do, give it some thought, and record the results of your actions, so that you can compare the results later on in your late night strategy sessions.