Watch those ending days and times!
Posted on 17. Dec, 2009 by Brigitte in Uncategorized
As discussed in my book you really have to be aware of ending days and times. I know this may seem obvious to all of you but even with my 10 years selling experience I forget! For example, next week is Christmas I’m driving out of town Christmas Eve. Which means the few days beforehand I will be busy getting ready for my trip. Well if I have items ending on those days AND , this is important here………..I allow time for receiving payment (ex, 3 days) than I am not going to be around to ship on the day I say I am going to on my listings.
As you know, you have to tell your customers when you ship. I have a 3 day handling time frame. I also allow a few days for payment. So although you may be available for shipping on the day the items end, you may not receive payment for several days afterwords.
There are other times to be mindful besides holidays. What about game nights on TV ? Are you selling something that appeals to men? Well ending on a Monday night football night might get you less traffic. Same goes for things like the weekend of a big movie premiere. No wonder some people don’t have high success sales rates.
Ending times are also HUGE! Are you appealing to moms (like with the lot items I show you in my book) , well they’re probably online early in the morning or late evening…..before and after the kids get up and go to bed. Some items do well at lunchtime because people at work use their computers at lunch.
I could go on and on about this because it’s really important and something we may not think about in depth. So think ahead when listing your items. If you choose a 7 day listing make sure you are available that day and several days afterwords and also make sure there are no major events for that ending day or week.
(see Hammertap for more on ending times)
Betty Fastenberg
19. Jan, 2010
I am in florida…it appears that most of my listings end with the sale being in California…I know this is elementary, but how can I end my listings differently..postage is also higher to CA. thx
Brigitte
19. Jan, 2010
If you are not using Hammertap or something like it to determine the best ending times, then you’ll want to end at times that are not too late for your area and too early for ours. I usually end at 6:30 to 7:00 pm CA time so that the east coast can see it too. That is “if” that is the best time to end.
As for postage, if you charge actual shipping charges than there is nothing you can do. You can eat up some of the postage and offer it lower perhaps. Keep in mind flat rate shipping is “sometimes” a better deal if you have heavy items as is First Class for anything under 13 oz.