[Spridgets] Ebay - Analysis of Sales

Tim Collins thcollin at mtu.edu
Tue Jun 23 08:01:49 MDT 2009


No LBC content unless you buy and sell LBC stuff on Ebay.

Ebay seems to have a "love / hate" image with Spridget listers so 
here's some info to think about.

I just came across an analysis of Ebay selling by Don Lancaster, an 
engineer, who concludes:

Around 75 percent of eBay sales lose money.
Less than 5 percent of eBay sales exceed $100.
Price and sellthru are only weakly related;
With an 0.4 sellthru being typical.
A buyer is nearly THIRTY TIMES more likely
to make a $20 purchase than a $100 one.
The eBay market for big ticket items is much
lower than most people suspect.
The "best" eBay selling price is $24.95. And
quite possibly the most profitable.

You can read his interesting analysis leading to these conclusions in 
a pdf file at: http://www.tinaja.com/glib/ebaystat.pdf.
Warning: His paper is kinda "mathy" but if you stick with it and just 
read around some of the equations, you might learn something about 
how to adjust your Ebay strategies - from a mathematical perspective. 
I believe he has several other papers on Ebay strategies that are 
probably good reading too.

If Ebay and math aren't of interest, you might find his biography 
interesting: http://www.tinaja.com/glib/waywere.pdf
If you ever picked up an electronics, radio, or computer magazine you 
have probably already read his writings. Maybe you even built one of 
his electronics/computer kits!


Tim Collins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/ 


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