How to boost your eBay sales

How to Boost Your eBay Sales

It’s time to explore a powerful concept that can make a real difference in your business: Sell-Through Rate (STR). This comprehensive guide will delve into what sell-through rate is, why it’s essential, and how you can calculate it effectively to drive success in your eBay business.

Understanding Sell-Through Rate: Why It Matters

Sell-Through Rate (STR) is a valuable metric showing how well an item sells, expressed as a percentage. But why is it important?

It will keep you from buying stuff that either will never sell or will sit in your inventory for a very long time before you sell it. Sometimes at a loss or break even.

The mistake new sellers (and some seasoned ones) make, is that they buy into the thrifting craze and buy items based on the wrong knowledge. They think that because an item is vintage, or trendy, or popular, they will make a profit just by buying it.

That is rarely the case. The items that will sell are those that people are actively looking for to buy, is that simple.

If your item is also easily available anywhere for the same price, trust me people would rather just buy it at the store, it is just more convenient.

But how do you know if an item you’re looking to buy is good for resale or not? By knowing its Sell Through Rate.

Knowing the Sell Through Rate allows you to calculate the number of times this item has been listed and sold in the last 90 days. This is the time period eBay gives us in the search results.

Why the Sell-Through Rate is Important

The sell-through rate measures the percentage of inventory sold over a given period (90 days in the case of eBay). It serves as a measuring stick for product performance and market demand. Here’s why understanding this rate is essential:

Inventory Management: It helps resellers understand how quickly their items are being sold. This insight is crucial for avoiding overstock situations (the Death Pile), and reducing inventory and storage costs.
Financial Health: A high sell-through rate often indicates that the inventory is turning over quickly, leading to better cash flow. The more you sell, the more profits you can have to buy more inventory.
Purchasing Decisions: By analyzing sell-through rates, resellers can identify which products are performing well. This information is vital to STOP BUYING STUFF THAT WILL NEVER SELL.
Pricing Strategies: Understanding sell-through can also help you in developing an effective pricing strategy. Products with lower sell-through rates (selling slowly) might need promotional efforts or price adjustments (or reductions.

Calculating the Sell-Through Rate

Calculating the sell-through rate is straightforward but requires consistent tracking of your inventory and sales. Here is a simple step-by-step guide to determine this metric:

Formula:

Sell-Through Rate (%)=(Number of Items Sold/ Total Number of Listings)×100

Step-by-Step Calculation:

Identify the total number of listings: This includes all items that were available for sale during the period you are analyzing.
Determine the number of items sold: This is the count of how many items from the listings have actually been sold in the same period.
Apply the formula: Divide the number of items sold by the total number of listings to find the ratio of sold inventory. Multiply this number by 100 to convert it into a percentage.

Let’s take this formula Step by Step:

Step 1: Gather Data

How to get the number of listings of any item:

For our example, we will use a pair of Beats headphones Solo 3 that you want to sell; they are used but in good condition, still work well, have been cleaned, and are ready to be listed.

Enter your product name and any model number for further accuracy in the eBay search bar. In this case, Beats Headphones Solo 3

2. Select your condition in the filters on the left side of your screen.
(Since our item is used, we will click on “Used.” if your item is new, go ahead and select New.)

The page will reload to reflect only used items; let’s take a look at how many are listed by scrolling up to the top of the page:

As we can see, there are 1,300 used headphones listed at the moment.

Do not get over-excited or fooled by listing prices. Just because an item is currently listed for $100, does not mean it will sell for that much.

Always check the sold listings to verify the item’s desirability.

Let’s see how many have actually sold, and for how much:

How To Get The Number Of Sold Listings:

Go back to the filters on the left side of the page and scroll down until you get to the “Show Only” section.
Here, you will find the filter for “Sold Items.” Click this option to be shown all the sold listings for the past 90 days:

You will notice the prices have turned green; that is the sold price.

Scroll up the page to see the number of sold listings:

Over 1,900 used Beats Solo 3 were sold in the last 90 days.
If priced correctly, your item should sell in a few days (or sooner!). This makes it the ideal item to pick up for resale. How do we know that?

Step 2. Calculate the Sale-Through Rate by taking the data we have gathered.

There are 1,300 units listed and 1,900 units sold.

1,900 / 1,300 = 1.46
Multiply the result by 100 to convert it into a percentage.
1.46 x 100 = 146% is the sale through rate.
This means that your item, if priced correctly and listed correctly, should sell in no time at all!
(Yay no more death piles!!)

Interpreting Your Sell-Through Rate:

A high sell-through rate (e.g., above 50%) indicates a strong demand for your product. This rate is the minimum percentage I go for when I source items for my eBay store.
A low sell-through rate (e.g., below 20%) may suggest that your item may not be as desirable and will probably take a long time to sell. (Avoid these products)
If you cannot find any sold data on your item, it doesn’t mean it is undesirable; maybe it has never been listed on eBay. Do a quick Google search to see if it has sold elsewhere.
However, as a rule, I don’t pick up items with a sale-through rate below 50%.

Other uses for the Sale Through Rate:

Knowing how desirable your items are, can help you adjust your pricing, listing titles, descriptions, and keywords to enhance visibility and attract more buyers.
If you have a rare item with a lot of demand, demanding a higher price may be the right strategy.
If the item is common (like an iPhone) but highly desirable, lowering your price just below the competition can translate to quick sales.
Improve your eBay sales by helping you pick items in demand that will sell fairly quickly.
This will also increase views on your items, so if somebody does not buy one thing from you, they may stay in your store and buy other things.
Offer promotions, discounts, or bundled deals to stimulate sales and increase your sell-through rate.
Use the sale-through rate percentage when you receive offers. Sometimes, a low offer on an item that has been sitting for a while in your inventory and has a very low sell-through rate can be the right way to get rid of it.
As long as you cover your costs or lose a little (make it a lesson learned), get rid of it and move on to better items.

Conclusion:

Before I buy any items for my store, I always check the sale-through rate and make sure it is an item I can sell in a reasonable amount of time and for a decent profit.

You repeat this process over and over with each item you pick up, and over time, you will build the knowledge of not having to look at the sale through rate anymore.

You will build a nice list of items that you know are profitable; and build a nice store and income with those items that you know are going to sell.

That is how you sell out your store every 90 days, and boost your eBay sales. You buy the items that are going to bring you the profit and the sales that you need to make it in your reselling career.

To your success!

Cheers!

P.s. Let me know if you have questions in the comments!