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Last Post Mar 30, 2006 3:03 PM by: deirdre@ebay.com
Replies: 57
deirdre@ebay.com
Posts: 3,846

eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Feb 23, 2006 3:19 PM
Topic: eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking your Price

Host: eBay Staff
Date: Thursday 03/30
Time: 14:00 to 15:00 PT
Location: Workshop Board

Description: Buying an item? What price are you willing to pay for the item and what price is realistic? Selling an item? What price can you expect for the item or what should your BIN price be set to? Buying and selling activities are both driven by pricing decisions. Please join John Bodine for a discussion on picking prices and learn how you can use eBay Marketplace Research to be a more informed buyer or seller! During the workshop, we'll also analyze elements of listings (such as listing features used, day the listing closed, duration, etc.) for members who attend the workshop.

Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development
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deirdre@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 1:55 PM
Welcome and thanks for joining us today!

We love workshops to be interactive, so please feel free to ask your questions that directly relate to this topic.

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Cheers,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development
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johnb@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 1:59 PM
Welcome


Good afternoon! Welcome to this month’s eBay Marketplace Research workshop. Today JohnB and Lomax will be discussing how you can leverage eBay Marketplace Research to Pick Your Price whether you are buying or selling.


We have prepared several posts in advance which will help illustrate the main points of the topic but will also be answering questions you might have and providing recommendations based on your questions!


Before we begin, I should mention that all of the data used in today’s workshop was obtained by using eBay Marketplace Research. If you are not familiar with the product you can click the link to find out more about eBay Marketplace Research.


Thanks for joining us today, if you have any questions, please jump right in and ask!

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johnb@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 1:59 PM
As you know, pricing is a key factor in most buying and selling decisions, especially within the eBay Marketplace…


Buyers must answer questions such as:


  • What price am I willing to pay for the item?

  • Am I willing to pay the fair value for the product, or am I only looking for a deal?

  • Will I pay a premium?

  • Is there better day or time to buy when prices are lower?

  • How do I know what I should expect to pay?


Sellers often need answer to the following:


  • How much is my item or inventory worth?

  • At what price should I list my item(s)?

  • Which listing features will help me command the highest price?

  • When should I list, and when should my auction close?


Knowing the fair market value of an item, the price at which an item of interest is regularly bought and sold, can help provide answers to those questions.

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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:00 PM
Where can I find the fair market value of an item that I am buying or selling?


In addition to capturing data on what items are for sale and the prices sellers started these items, eBay ALSO captures the pricing data for items that are ACTUALLY selling. When you consider how many items sell on eBay each day, the pricing information captured by eBay is very comprehensive, valuable, and accurate.


eBay Marketplace Research provides access to 90 days (actually 91 days) of transactional information, allowing a subscriber to see pricing levels and trends for nearly any product*.


*Please note that Motors data is not currently available in eBay Marketplace Research.

*91 days of information is available at the Pro Tier, 63 days of information is available in Fast Pass and Basic

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johnb@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:01 PM
How does eBay Marketplace Research work?


eBay Marketplace Research provides subscribers with an intuitive interface to for running simple to complex queries across those 90 days of pricing data. This begins with a simple key word search.


Let’s say that I am interested in buying or selling a 2 gigabyte iPod Nano. To research this, I would start by entering a few key words iPod Nano 2GB, and then clicking Run Research.


The Charts and Metrics screen is displayed. Notice the following sections on the page:

  • Keyword search box
  • Filters
  • The chart and metrics within the Completed Items tab

  • The Completed Items listing



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shanfam4qkk
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:01 PM
I see how starting listings ridiculously low, i.e. .99, can generate excitement and bidding, but I am also worried about getting stuck selling the item at an overlow bid, if there aren't many bidders on it. How do you decide whether to start so low and take a chance on selling it too low, or just start it higher, but take a chance on losing the interest of bidders who are looking to get the item as cheaply as possible?
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johnb@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:03 PM
Navigating Charts and Metrics


The “keyword” field and the “Filters” section of the page are where users define their search query. These areas allow you to specify exactly what you are searching for, by keyword, product category, product attributes, and other advanced filters.


The lower half of the page within the Completed Items and Active Items tabs shows the results of your search, including charts, metrics (calculations, totals, averages), and a sample set of the listings returned by your search.

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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:05 PM
How can I trust this information to be correct?


You can trust the information to be accurate, however the relevancy of the results are only as good as your search query.


In this case, the key word search for iPod Nano 2GB has returned information about Nano’s, BUT also includes information about all Nano accessories, such as cables, cases, etc.




The Completed Item listing that appears at the bottom of the page is a set of actual completed eBay item listings returned by your search. This information is very useful in performing a “sanity check” and in helping you gauge the relevancy of the results to the item you are researching.


In this case, most of the items listed are not Nano’s but are accessories. The values such as Average Sold Price are skewed, because they are calculated based on the irrelevant accessories, not just the Nano unit itself. Notice how the Average Sold Price, or fair market value, of the Nano is very low at only $65.10.


Therefore it is vital to refine your research so that you can include only the relevant listings and pricing information that you need. Let’s explore how eBay Marketplace Research can help you do this.

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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:05 PM
Refining Your Search by Category


One way to find information only for a certain product or type of product is to refine your search results by category.




Navigating through the appropriate category links will narrow the search, in this case from Consumer Electronics all the way to iPod Nano, 2GB > White.


All Categories >
Consumer Electronics >
MP3 Players & Accessories >
MP3 Players >
Apple iPod >
iPod Nano, 2GB
White


NOTE: The levels of categorization are available to different degrees depending on the item of interest. In some cases, refinement can be performed down to individual product attribute, such as the color “White” above, while others may stop at a higher level more general product category (such as MP3 Players).

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johnb@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:06 PM
We'll take a little break from posting our prepared content to answer any questions you might have at this point.

johnb
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lomax@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:08 PM
shanfam4gkk

If you look at the Average Selling Price displayed within eBay Marketplace Research, you should trust that that is the price at which your item will sell.

Of course you want to make sure that your auction does not end at an obscure time and that your item is listed correctly to ensure visibility.

Did that answer your question?

Lomax
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johnb@ebay.com
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:10 PM
At this time we'd be happy to look up items for any workshop partipants and provide some guidance on pricing.

johnb
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reliantonlineservices
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:10 PM
Does Marketplace have any competetive advantage over other market research options such as TerraPeak and HammerTap?
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mermaidstudiobeads
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eBay Workshop: eBay Marketplace Research: Picking Your Price - March 30th

Mar 30, 2006 2:11 PM
Hi, Thank you for sharing this information.
What time frame can be accessed through this service? Is it possible to forecast the market for any given category based on past events? I mean can you forecast busy seasons, average price, number of listings for the same item, closing price, success ration, keywords used, day of the week and time of day for maximun results, etc?
If so, what is the time span covered?
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