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 | Pricing Strategies for Selling Antiques
| Earning top dollar for your antiques -- that's the goal. Use these pricing strategies to make that goal a reality.
#1 Market Intelligence: Use eBay's Completed Items feature in Advanced Search to create your own market-pricing guide. Save up to 15 Competed Item searches to your my eBay page to track prices realized for your property daily. Receive emails alerts as new completed items appear.
#2 Competitive Advantage: Leverage eBay's powerful set of my eBay search tools to track competing sellers and stores. Take a daily inventory of what competing sellers are listing, using the Favorites tab. Distinguish yourself by listingwhat they're not. Learn more.
#3 Proper Positioning: Before listing,evaluate what type of item you are selling. Is it a truly exceptional, market-provenantique, a mid-range estate item, or lower-priced decorative collectible? Then, select the most appropriate listing format for your item.
- List high-end items as auctions. If eBay prices are strong, list without a reserve and include "NR" in your listing title. Also, quote the appraised value and reference favorable completed auctions in your description.
- List mid-range pieces as auctions with a Buy It Now price but no reserve. Open at a median price to protect your investment. Earn a higher margin with the Buy It Now. The goal: quick turnover at an acceptable price. Include "NR" in your listing title.
- Liquidate lower-end objects or consignor inventory with the Fixed Price format. Include the appraised value in your listing title. Quote the appraised price in your description. Create a "Liquidation" category in your eBay Store. Example: Art4Sale.com.
#4 Cost Analysis: Assess what your costs would be if you had a retail shop or gallery. Compare them to your online expenses to determine how much you should be investing in promotion and product discounts to drive increased sales.
Higher antique sales—they're easier than you think.
Have a suggestion for a future Antiques article -- let us know!
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Antiques Promotional Calendar
Over the next few weeks, eBay will be promoting a "Mother's Day" theme to buyers. Some of the items featured:
Be sure to take advantage of increased buyer traffic -- start listing in these areas today!
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 | ancient_treasures (4202), Ancient Treasures
Modern Thinking
| Some of Plamen Arsoff's antiquities date back as far as the Greek and Roman eras. Yet, his merchandising and selling techniques are anything but old world.
Besides the most obvious example -- using eBay as his core sales channel, which accounts for about 90 percent of his company Ancient Treasures' total sales -- Arsoff says he takes a cue from today's superstores. Day in and day out, he provides a steady supply of goods that his buyers can depend on.
"Our concept is sort of like Home Depot and Costco," explains Arsoff, who has been selling on eBay for close to five years. "When you go there, you know exactly what you want and you can make your purchase without much assistance."
Ancient Treasures strives to offer volume, efficiency, and convenience via its no-reserve auctions. Online payments via PayPal and easy-to-understand flat-shipping rates are also part of the equation. Most vital of all, according to Arsoff, is consistency: "People can count on the fact that we'll be there every week with a variety of antiquities."
Among the artifacts that Ancient Treasures carries are rings, earrings, brooches, pendants, coins, arrowheads, and more, all of which offer buyers a glimpse into the past. The company lives up to its About Me page slogan: "Discover a World of Ancient Civilizations."
Not surprisingly, Arsoff says professional images are one of his highest priorities. He estimates that he attracts 50 percent more business because of his high-quality photos, which include museum-quality backgrounds. In addition, he believes in writing concise, no-nonsense item descriptions, which highlight only the most important details, such as dimensions, country of origin, and defects.
The approach has attracted both sides of the collecting spectrum, from novices to seasoned collectors. His customer base features an even mix of both types of buyers, reports Arsoff.
"The ratio is approximately 50/50," he says. "And from our feedback, you can tell that we have a lot of repeat buyers, as well."
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Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
