Last week,
I posted that Ryan from Terapeak is looking for Terapeak success stories to post on the Terapeak blog. The
first post of that series is up today! Ryan is still looking for more Terapeak success stories.
Do you use Terapeak? Has it saved you from underpricing any items that turned out to be home runs? If so, please share your store in the comments here. I'll forward it to Ryan, and you may see your story on the Terapeak blog!
If you don't use Terapeak ... what are you waiting for??
Terapeak is an extremely useful tool for eBay sellers! Suppose you've found something that you'd like to list. You bring it home and do a search on eBay, but nothing comes up. So you search completed listings ... STILL nothing. How do you know if you've got a rare item or an item that's such a huge dud that no one bothers to list it?
Completed listings on eBay only go back 14 days (90 days in some categories). But let's suppose that item is a Christmas decoration, and it's June. It's probably pretty likely that this item sold better before Christmas than it has sold in the last 14 or 90 days. But how can you find out for sure?
You check
Terapeak, that's how! Terapeak will allow you to search back through a full year of eBay completed listings!
So returning to my original example, let's suppose you've found a Christmas item that didn't show up in current or completed listings. Using Terapeak, you can search back a full year to see how that item did at Christmas time last year.
Once you log in to Terapeak, you'll see this:
We're going to do Product Research. Just type what you're looking for into the "Search for a product" field, and click on Go at the right. The first set of search results that come up will only go back 90 days. They are sorted by ending price, highest to lowest. Items that didn't sell are listed last. This way, you can tell at a glance what the potential is for your item.
But again, if it's June and you're looking up a Christmas item, you'll want to go back further than 90 days. So you need to find the current date range and change it by clicking on "Custom." This will bring up two calendars. Set new starting and ending dates, and click on "Go" again.
You can do that 3 times, for a total of 4 sets of search results. By doing this, you can get a better idea of how well seasonal items can sell at the right time.
But that's not all! Terapeak has several other features that can really help eBay sellers out! Let's take a look at the Title Builder. It's the top right tab on the Terapeak website.
Let's say I'm trying to sell a set of 3 Wise Men candle holders. I want to build the best title I can, using the most effective keywords to get the most searchers, which will hopefully lead to the best (highest-paying) buyer. So in the search field, I'll type in "3 Wise Men candle holders" and Terapeak will give me suggestions for other effective keywords to add to my title.
I can see that the highest-priced listings include the keyword "Wisemen" in addition to the "Wise Men" that I had originally. "Wise" and "Men" are both on this list separately, so I'll include both variations in my title. "Holder" and "Nativity" are also on the list, so I'll add those in. It looks like it would help to write out the word "Three" and include the word "Christmas" too. Obviously, only use the keywords that are pertinent to your item. If my candle holders were made in Japan, I'll add that as a keyword, but if they weren't, then I won't use that.
The Title Builder can really help you catch more searchers, which increases your listing's exposure, which increases the chances that it will sell!
But that's STILL not all! What if you just can't decide what to sell? You like to sell toys, but you aren't sure what the hot toy sellers are right now. Terapeak can even tell you that!
Let's check out the Hot Research tab. You don't even have to type anything here. Terapeak will automatically show you the current hottest-selling categories.
It looks like gun stuff is selling pretty well right now - loading equipment, powder measures, smithing equipment... Maybe that's because hunting season is over, and hunters are using this time to fix up their guns, reload their shells, and get them all ready for next year.
Shortwave radio stuff is selling well now, as are certain stamps and coins. But I know nothing about any of those categories, so I'll save myself the embarrassment of even attempting to comment on those :)
You'll want to look over this list from time to time and make mental notes. Then, if you happen to spot reloading equipment or coin albums in the thrift store, you'll know to scoop them up!
You can also check and see what your competitors are selling their items for, by using the Competitor Research tab.
The Category Research tab is interesting. Take a look at this:
Let's say a pet supply store in your town is going out of business. Take a look at the pet supplies section. According to this chart, you'll want to focus on the Dog supplies and Aquarium/Fish stuff, but you won't want to bother with Bird, Cat, and Horse Supplies. This could come in really handy!
I've given you lots to think about. Terapeak has a lot of awesome features, not just the ability to search completed listings. It's GREAT for researching what to sell. If you're interested in signing up, you can find out about their
different plans here
.
