Summary
Top tips to help you make the most of the eBay platform and…your chance to win an eBay onboarding package
Since the pandemic started, more people than ever are preferring to shop from the safety and convenience of their own homes – garden products are no exception. The garden sales market is strong and growing, with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of garden tools, materials and plants sold on eBay UK last year.
Top tips to help you make the most of the eBay platform and…your chance to win an eBay onboarding package
Since the pandemic started, more people than ever are preferring to shop from the safety and convenience of their own homes – garden products are no exception. The garden sales market is strong and growing, with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of garden tools, materials and plants sold on eBay UK last year.
So how can you make the most of the second most popular e-commerce site in the UK, with approximately 26 million active buyers, to launch or grow your garden product sales? Roz Bridges, business development manager at eBay, provides support for new sellers coming on to the platform, from initial contact and scoping, then managing integration support, all the way through to launch.
Here are Roz Bridges’ top five tips for success:
1. Utilise market data
Our data shows that the most established garden retail sub-sector is garden and patio furniture, with one item sold every 16 seconds. The top emerging areas are landscaping and garden materials, with one item sold every 44 seconds, and plants, seeds and bulbs, with one item sold every 120 seconds. We can share market data such as current top trending products, so you can gauge demand and set your sales strategy accordingly.
2. Analyse your competitors
We work with garden retailers small, medium and large – Forest, Mr.Fothergill’s, and Spear & Jackson to name a few. Some offer unique products that you won’t find anywhere else. Have a look at what other companies are selling on eBay, which products are doing well? Where are there inventory gaps? We can support you on which products to list first.
3. Optimise your product listings
Make it as easy as possible for your customers to find your products. Make sure you list your items in the correct category and consider listing them under more than one category, if relevant. You have up to 80 characters to create a compelling title, so make the most of this to capture attention. Include keywords that people use to search for your product and avoid acronyms or abbreviations. Add a selection of high quality images that show off your products in the best possible way. Select the most appropriate shipping service and ensure you avoid any delays in sending out your products. You can save yourself time by using the bulk upload function to create listings with a csv file.
4. Get your pricing right
Do your research to ensure you have set the right pricing for your products and review this periodically so you can adjust it according to market changes. Make sure you’re in-line with, or competitive against, other similar sellers and products. As part of our onboarding package, we offer an integration workshop to help you with the nuts and bolts before launching on the platform, including how to set the right pricing strategy for your business.
5. Use promotional tools
There are self-service marketing tools enabling you to run various promotions on eBay and give your company and products more visibility. For example, you could create multibuy offers to increase basket size, with a proportion of postage savings passed on to customers. Our eBay trading team can advise you on how best to use the promotional tools to maximise your sales potential.
