PowerSellers Share Strategies for Increasing Holiday Sales
by Maeve
eBay Staff Member

It's that time of the year again when eBay sellers start to gear up for their holiday sales. Considering shipping times and selling to a global marketplace, it's a good idea to start listing seasonal gifts and decorations by the first part of October to help ensure that bidders will have plenty of time to purchase before their holiday deadlines. Many buyers are attracted to eBay for the wide variety of items they can find shopping from home. The incredible variety of merchandise – from rare collectibles to the season's hottest toys and clothing – provides shoppers with a smorgasbord of opportunities to find the perfect gift. Savvy sellers use many creative strategies to attract bids on their items.

This month we asked the good folks from the PowerSellers discussion board what tricks of the trade they use to help increase sales during the holidays. Here are some of the best.

“I've always found that offering Next Day shipping, or even 2-Day (guaranteed 2 day delivery) shipping, as well as your regular ground or USPS Priority Mail service, is nice for those last minute shoppers. Even if you don't offer faster shipping, always list a 'cut-off date' for shipping items if the buyer is expecting to receive prior to the holiday. I usually make my 'cut-off date' two days before what the carrier is suggesting, just to be safe.”
howlin-moon-bakery

“Offer Gift Certificates for sale in your eBay Store. If a potential buyer just *knows* someone would love your store, but cannot settle on just one particular thing to buy, instead of completely losing a sale, give them the opportunity to purchase a Gift Certificate that they can give.”
owen*and*emma

“I wanted to echo the need to devise a schedule so that your buyers know what to expect and when to expect it. Many buyers order at a specific time, thinking they will receive it by a specific time (maybe they need it by the 20th because they are going on a road trip to Gramma's house). You can't assume that getting it there by the 24th will be good enough.”
wbbell

“Set your buyers' expectations upfront, ship everything with delivery confirmation or tracking, and email your customers with this information when their items ship, so you don't have to deal with as many 'Where's my package?' emails. Also offer gift wrapping, if you can, and ship directly to gift recipients with a personalized gift card. Start stocking, organizing and preparing NOW. The holidays will be here before we know it.”
somethin.special

“Don't stop at Christmas! Very strong sales continue through mid-January, so keep listing as much as you did in mid-December!”
www.wegotthebeats.com

“Have stock deep enough to get through the season. If you don't have it, you can't sell it! LIST, LIST, LIST! Get yourself organized if you haven't up until now – both in accounting and paperwork, as well as your workspace and shipping. Bulk up your office and packaging supplies. Arrange for extra, full, or part-time help NOW. Post at the community college for holiday helpers. If you're not using delivery confirmation now, DO IT ON EVERY PACKAGE. Enjoy the holidays!"
thefrenchybee

“Don't forget to breathe! Don't let this stress you out and try to enjoy the season yourself, otherwise you may miss it.”
gonnaluvit.com

“Offer shipping to gift addresses and include a card with a message from the buyer. I offer that card service all year and it seems appreciated by the people who request it.”
tabberone

“This year Christmas Day falls on a Saturday. That means that anything closing on the weekend before Christmas will get shipped on Monday (at the soonest), and with the Christmas mail crunch, that is going to be a tight window. I strongly suggest that sellers who don't normally use it (like me) add Buy It Now to that last week of auctions to get stuff out earlier. Also quote rates for Express Mail for those people who are really in a tough spot. 'Need it quick for Christmas? Use Buy It Now and pay immediately through PayPal. Your item will be shipped the following day (Monday through Saturday) guaranteed.' One last thing: I am going to have a moratorium on International Shipping that last week before Christmas. Unless someone begs, I want to do everything I can to stay out of those lines at the Post Office and just drop off at the loading dock.”
riorama

“Use Buy It Now during the Christmas season. I didn't start out using it last year and kept getting emails from buyers wanting to BIN. I added it to my auctions and the sales just came rolling in. A lot of moms, aunts, uncles, grandmas didn't want to wait for an auction to end to see if they won that toy. They wanted it RIGHT THEN to know that they could quit looking for it. My after-Christmas sales were fantastic. I sold as much during January and February as I did in November and December. Remember that lots of people get money for gifts and will be looking to find that item they wanted but didn't get for Christmas.”
dunrow2