In the boardroom or the stockroom, clothing counts
Style Files runs weekly in Sundaylife.

I bet you, like many eBayer's don't realise the importance of item pricing and some don't even recognise the need for pricing at all, with eBay being an auction site they think why bother, but as we all know an eBay auction is nothing like any ordinary offline auction, where they maybe 20/30 people in a room waving their hand in the air indicating their bid. So in fact one should spend a little time and effort on setting the right price for any item you may have for sale. As you may already know there are three prices of which you can set when listing and item for eBay selling, these are as follows, the [buy it now], the [reserve] and the [starting price].

Out of the three, only the starting price is the one that is actually required for an eBay auction, the buy it now and the reserve price are there for you to set if you so wish. When setting your starting price try to remember this is an auction and the aim of your starting price is to get people biding, so set a reasonably low price no matter what you think your item is actually worth. By starting low you should see people start bidding on your auction almost immediately and start pushing up the price to somewhere around the figure you wanted to start with. When a setting low starting bid price when eBay selling you should always remember to set your reserve price this protects you from losing money on your sale.

Your reserve price should be the very minimum you will accept for your item if sold otherwise you'll be out of pocket, common sense really but I thought I better point it out anyway. If the item does not reach your reserve price you will not be forced to sell at a below reserve price unless of course you forget to set one. So always check your listing before placing it. Basically on eBay if you set a reserve price for $100 and the final bid is $95 you are under no obligation to sell your item. And at the end of the auction you should not receive any negative feedback or bad mouthing of any sort. As I said for eBay selling set your price to the absolute minimum where if you do have to sell your item at that price you are not out of pocket, so keep in mind what you paid for it and what you think or know it is worth.

Which leads us to the buy it now price, which means if someone thinks your item is worth what your buy it now price is they can buy it there and then without having to wait until the end of the auction.

For most eBay auctions this option can be used, and should obviously be set to around the price for which you would be willing to sell your item for, again this is common sense. This is also a great option if you are selling more than one of the same product. When setting your price you should also take into consideration the shipping cost because potential bidder most certainly will as the buyer usually pays for shipping.

So if you can keep your shipping cost down or better still offer free shipping on your eBay selling item you will have more eBayer's bidding on your eBay auction.

If you can offer free shipping make sure you highlight the fact in your listing so potential buyer's can see that it's free. One thing not to forget when pricing your ebay auction items is the actual value of the item. In some markets your ebay selling item may sell for quite a high price. But your selling yours on eBay, and you must not forget this as eBayer's are looking for bargains. so research your similar items on eBay and see what they're selling for, this way you can set your price accordingly. If you are selling an antique or a collectible item if I were you I would have it professionally valued before even thinking about listing it for eBay selling.

Written by: Paul Pepper

eBay Selling: How To Price Your Items ©: Pepinfo Publishing

Check Out My Blog For eBay / Internet Marketing updates & Related Product Offers & Grab Your FREE MP3 Confidential Interview Download @ http://ebaymoneymaking-pepinfo.blogspot.com/