 |
| | |
| | |
|
 | Strategies for Selling High-End Art
| Provide your customers with the confidence they need to invest in your high-value art. Let eBay's tips on selling high-end items help you get the attention you deserve.
- Independent Verification: Verify the authenticity of your piece with the help of a professional appraiser. Include a scan of your appraisal report in your listing.
- Visual Proof: Include a gallery of images in your listing with different views and close-ups. Photograph the signature
- Provenance: Provide a detailed history of ownership for the item, which can increase its value. Also, consider listing reference texts in your description to validate your object and market. Help potential bidders conduct their own research.
- Guarantee: Stand behind your sales. Offer a money-back guarantee, minus shipping and third-party fees.Suggest an escrow service for the safe transfer of funds and property.
- Feedback: Maintain a high positive feedback rating. Offer PayPal and ship the day payment clears for increased feedback.
- Marketing: Toot your horn by listing degrees, accreditations, professional affiliations, and honors on your About Me page. Then, link to it from your listings. See example.
- Promotion: Invest in promotion, particularly eBay listing upgrades such as Bold, Gallery and Featured Plus!
Develop trust and credibility with your high-end art buyers from the start.
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|
Choose the Right Art Category
Serious collectors are particular. They expect property to be catalogued correctly. Don't jeopardize your success by carelessly categorizing your pieces.
Take note of these important category-selection tips:
- Use eBay's "Other Art" category sparingly. eBay research indicates that items in this category obtain lower conversion rates than in targeted Art categories.
- Leverage eBay's "List in 2 Categories" feature to simplify category selection. eBay research indicates that it can increase bidding and price by 15% and 18%*, respectively. Learn more.
Consider the drawbacks of improperly selecting your art categories. Miscataloging...
- Diminishes credibility with serious collectors.
- Limits your items' qualified audience.
- Encourages unsatisfactory transactions and poor feedback.
Reach the right collectors the first time. Be precise with your category selection and realize results.
* This represents an average based on data from February 2002 transactions. No representation is made that a seller's final price or conversion rate of a specific item will increase by the average percentages noted above.
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|
Promotional Calendar
Over the next few weeks, eBay will be promoting the following products buyers:
Be sure to take advantage of increased buyer traffic -- start listing in these areas today!
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|
 | congogrey (2002), Warren N. Baggett Rare Prints
Building Repeat Patrons
| Generating repeat business ranks as one of the best ways to stay in business. Art PowerSeller Warren Baggett has made the process into something of an art form.
Take, for example, this startling statistic: Baggett's feedback rating is currently just shy of 2,000, but his total number of transactions stands at more than 10,000 without a single negative comment. Approximately 80 percent of his sales have come from repeat purchases.
"That's a high ratio," admits Baggett, who sells under the username congogrey and has six full-time employees. "It's an indication that people are pleased. Practically everybody who buys from us has bought from us before. We have customers that have been with us since we started."
Baggett brought his business to eBay four years ago, after having been a collector and seller of antique prints since 1980. Specifically he focuses on natural history prints from the 17 th to 19th century, featuring, says Baggett, "some of the finest works ever produced" and including such renowned artists as Audubon, Gould, and Bode.
Baggett says his success with repeat business is largely the result of cultivating an expertise in his subject and communicating his knowledge and passion to his buyers„a fact that's made visible in his outstanding listings. They're thorough, thoughtfully laid out, and contain crisp, clear photos, which effectively reproduce the stunning prints of birds, nature scenes, and other subjects.
Moreover, according to Baggett, the secret of luring buyers back consists of a few simple selling strategies: shipping promptly, selling undamaged items, packing items securely, maintaining a large inventory, and offering stellar customer support. By adhering to these basics, Baggett has not only been able to please his customers, but also transform and expand his business in ways he never imagined.
"We now have more customers in Australia and Japan than we do in our home state of Tennessee," he says.
| | |
| | |
| | |
Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
