What if your goods don’t sell?

If an item doesn’t sell no matter what you do, don’t panic.
There was an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal about a couple who owned a gift shop in an economically-depressed town. Not only couldn’t they sell their merchandise. They couldn’t even give it away! They discovered eBay and are now, according to the “WSJ,” making $600,000 a year. They say that only 40% of their merchandise sells the first time around.

If an item doesn’t sell well enough, you have several choices like:

1) Re-list it. If you are selling a one-time item, this experimentation
may not be worthwhile. But for a repeat-seller you need to know.
Simply changing categories can make a huge difference because
your customer base is so different.

2) Lower the price. Knowing the value of any object is an art, not a science.
Your best method of research is to look at similar items but even that does not
guarantee exact conclusions. Sometimes, we have started too high and must
make the choice of making less money or no money. In other words, be flexible
in your assumptions.

3) Try a different auction site. If you are selling on a general site like
eBay or Amazon, try a specialized site, or vice versa. Some
expensive stuff that you are selling may not be appreciated by the
general public. In contrast, someone on a specialized site might be drooling
for them, ready to mortgage the house and take out a bank loan.
As well, some sites just don’t have lots of traffic. Others seem to cater to more
inexpensive items and your merchandise is too costly. There are a lot of
differences among sites and you may have to experiment to find the best match
for your interests.

4) Store it for a while and try again later. Hold it for a period of time
and try again. Rafts and snowshoes definitely have seasonal value i.e.
certain products are sold only on certain time of the year. And fads
come and go.

5) Group it with other merchandise. Include your unsold item with some
other merchandise, as part of a package. Many auctioneers can make more
money for three items included as a bundle than they make for the three sold
separately. And many buyers will purchase items because there is something
in the group that they really want.
It is a standard practice in the mail order business to include a lot of items for a
higher price because weight sells, believe it or not. Entrepreneurs are taught
that there is more money in bundling than in “cafeteria” selling.

Keep in mind that the market is inexplicable. There are items which sell really
well at one time, and very poorly at others. Who knows why. Even though we
should try to understand why an item sells, or doesn’t, there is simply just no
way to know for sure.
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