An example of tweaking an item to sell better
A step by step example of altering an item for sale online to increase its' sales.
With this example, I will review and update the items title, review and update the items description, and look at ways to promote it that might be outside the norm.
Basically, I take the information my Better Item Descriptions lens and use it to optimize a product at my Bonanzle booth.
With this example, I will review and update the items title, review and update the items description, and look at ways to promote it that might be outside the norm.
Basically, I take the information my Better Item Descriptions lens and use it to optimize a product at my Bonanzle booth.
The Target : Customer picked lots of 50 comic books
Initial thoughts on this item.
I have a few thousand comic books on hand that are mostly valued at under $5.00 in their current condition. (well, they were before the government media complex started admitting that there are some serious problems with our economy)
Selling $1 and $2 comics individually is simply not worth the time, so I quickly placed an item up on my booth offering groups of 50 comics for $20 ( $31 after shipping in the usa ), giving potential customers the ability to choose the fifty comics that interest them and end up paying 62 cents each to have them shipped to their doorstep.
Perhaps that is still too much, perhaps not. For this item, I am going to assume that the price is reasonable and focus only on ways to improve sales of this item.
I chose this item to make major changes to because, unlike most of what I offer, I have the ability to sell thirty or more lots of this item...so the work I do on it will last for quite some time ( unless I am overly successful...and then my wife will stop complaining about excess comic boxes in the office ).
Selling $1 and $2 comics individually is simply not worth the time, so I quickly placed an item up on my booth offering groups of 50 comics for $20 ( $31 after shipping in the usa ), giving potential customers the ability to choose the fifty comics that interest them and end up paying 62 cents each to have them shipped to their doorstep.
Perhaps that is still too much, perhaps not. For this item, I am going to assume that the price is reasonable and focus only on ways to improve sales of this item.
I chose this item to make major changes to because, unlike most of what I offer, I have the ability to sell thirty or more lots of this item...so the work I do on it will last for quite some time ( unless I am overly successful...and then my wife will stop complaining about excess comic boxes in the office ).
Initial Status of this Item
How the listing looked before I began making changes.
The image above shows the display of this item before I began making changes.
Below are the title and description that this item had initially.
Title:
50 Comic Books your choice marvel dc image valiant more
Description
50 Comics, Your Choice, for $20
...and don't forget to grab a freebie!
NOTICE:
Each of these costs $11 in shipping, and NOT the $0.25 added the normally applies to my store...so if you pick up 100 comics, shipping is $22, not the $11.25 that the cart will denote.
Great to pick up missing issues you havent read, comics you are interested in but have not read, or to give as party favors or rewards to kids.
These comics are in various conditions.
Newer comics are typically fine to very fine while older comics are typically very good or better ( though there are a handful of comics in good condition )
These are up here like this as shipping is just too expensive to justify selling low value comics individually, and the comics listed here are typically valued at under $5 each. The vast majority of these comics book out at about a dollar or two each.
As people buy them, I update the list. First come first serve. In the unlikely event you have chosen comics that someone else has already picked up, but which have not been removed from the list yet, I will let you know and you can choose some others or decide not to get them, as you wish.
They are listed according to publisher then in alphabetical order. Publishers are Marvel, DC, Valiant, Image, Dark Horse, and Misc.
Misc includes all other publishers.
Shipping:
- In the United States: $11 per box
- To Canada or Mexico: $27 per box
- Elsewhere: $43 per box
A few extra comics can generally be shipped with one of these lots at no extra shipping charge.
Be well and happy hunting!
---------- after that is the actual list of comics available --------------
Updating the title
Determining what would be found by more people interested in this item.
To start with, I want to get more people looking at this item.
Only two people have even had it shown to them on Google Base and about two people per week stumble across it on Bonanzle.
Clearly, if I hope to sell any of these lots, I need to get this item found...and to get an item found, I should see if I can get more people on search engines to see it.
"50 Comic Books your choice marvel dc image valiant more"
Google External Keyword Search
To start, I will place "comic books" into google's External Keyword Search tool to see how many searches per month there are for comic books and what the most popular related searches are.
For March, there were 1,220,000 searches for "comic book" and 450,000 more for "comic books", so clearly there is some demand out there...and I have these covered already with my title.
Applicable searches for March
"comic book heroes" 14,800 [ heroes not in my title ]
"marvel comic book" 14,800
"value comic books" 9,900 [ value not in my title ]
"marvel comic books" 8,100
"buy comic books" 4,400 [ buy not in my title ]
"comic books for sale" 3,600 [ for sale not in my title]
"comic book sale" 2,900 [ sale not in my title ]
"comic book sales" 2,900 [ sales not in my title ]
"buy comic book" 2,400 [ buy not in my title ]
"comic book for sale" 1,900
"used comic books" 880 [ used not in my title ]
"comic book back issues" 590 [ back issues not in my title ]
Some related searches:
"buy comics" 12,100 [ buy not in my title ]
"old comics" 12,100 [ old not in my title ]
"comics for sale" 6,600 [ for sale not in my title ]
Extra related searches
Doing a quick search for "comic" and "comics" shows me that marvel, dc, hero, and heroes are some of the most popular words related to comics for people searching on google.
Double-checking data provided
Placing some of these terms into Google Product Search lets me see what kinds of things are showing near the top of such searches.
Identifying good and useless words in our title
Keeping in mind that more specific items will be found more often than vague items, I look at a couple of possible tweaks that might show up better. Clearly, if I can fit some of the following words in, my item will show up more often:
hero, heroes, heros, value, buy, back issues, for sale, old
And the following words don't seem to be searched upon enough to help:
50 your choice image valiant more
With these things in mind, I consider the following:
"Old value comic books for sale. Buy 50 marvel, dc, and hero comics of your choice."
This search will match the more popular searches better and it flows just fine...even though it sounds a good deal like some kind of service advertisement.
Considering placement in my store
I want it to show up on the first page of my Bonanzle booth, which I have setup to sort by title, so I need to tweak it slightly:
"A lot of old value comic books for sale. Buy 50 marvel, dc, and hero comics of your choice."
More like a product, less like an service ad
Of course, I could simply tweak the title to something more like:
50 old value comic books for sale - marvel, dc, heroes - you pick
Final thoughts
That puts it at the front of my Bonanzle booth and makes it look much more like a product for sale than some kind of service advertisement.
While good for now, I might find as I continue that it could still use some tweaking.
Only two people have even had it shown to them on Google Base and about two people per week stumble across it on Bonanzle.
Clearly, if I hope to sell any of these lots, I need to get this item found...and to get an item found, I should see if I can get more people on search engines to see it.
"50 Comic Books your choice marvel dc image valiant more"
Google External Keyword Search
To start, I will place "comic books" into google's External Keyword Search tool to see how many searches per month there are for comic books and what the most popular related searches are.
For March, there were 1,220,000 searches for "comic book" and 450,000 more for "comic books", so clearly there is some demand out there...and I have these covered already with my title.
Applicable searches for March
"comic book heroes" 14,800 [ heroes not in my title ]
"marvel comic book" 14,800
"value comic books" 9,900 [ value not in my title ]
"marvel comic books" 8,100
"buy comic books" 4,400 [ buy not in my title ]
"comic books for sale" 3,600 [ for sale not in my title]
"comic book sale" 2,900 [ sale not in my title ]
"comic book sales" 2,900 [ sales not in my title ]
"buy comic book" 2,400 [ buy not in my title ]
"comic book for sale" 1,900
"used comic books" 880 [ used not in my title ]
"comic book back issues" 590 [ back issues not in my title ]
Some related searches:
"buy comics" 12,100 [ buy not in my title ]
"old comics" 12,100 [ old not in my title ]
"comics for sale" 6,600 [ for sale not in my title ]
Extra related searches
Doing a quick search for "comic" and "comics" shows me that marvel, dc, hero, and heroes are some of the most popular words related to comics for people searching on google.
Double-checking data provided
Placing some of these terms into Google Product Search lets me see what kinds of things are showing near the top of such searches.
Identifying good and useless words in our title
Keeping in mind that more specific items will be found more often than vague items, I look at a couple of possible tweaks that might show up better. Clearly, if I can fit some of the following words in, my item will show up more often:
hero, heroes, heros, value, buy, back issues, for sale, old
And the following words don't seem to be searched upon enough to help:
50 your choice image valiant more
With these things in mind, I consider the following:
"Old value comic books for sale. Buy 50 marvel, dc, and hero comics of your choice."
This search will match the more popular searches better and it flows just fine...even though it sounds a good deal like some kind of service advertisement.
Considering placement in my store
I want it to show up on the first page of my Bonanzle booth, which I have setup to sort by title, so I need to tweak it slightly:
"A lot of old value comic books for sale. Buy 50 marvel, dc, and hero comics of your choice."
More like a product, less like an service ad
Of course, I could simply tweak the title to something more like:
50 old value comic books for sale - marvel, dc, heroes - you pick
Final thoughts
That puts it at the front of my Bonanzle booth and makes it look much more like a product for sale than some kind of service advertisement.
While good for now, I might find as I continue that it could still use some tweaking.
Checking the images
In search of clean, sharp, eye catching images
Looking over the initial images, it is clear that I really should replace the fist image.First, my main image is blurry and has glare in it, preventing people from seeing it well.
Second, it is a little small and features a comic that is not terribly popular these days.
As my searches above indicated that marvel and dc comics were the most highly searched for and that Batman, Superman, Spider-man, and the X-men are the most commonly searched for super heroes, I should probably use a spread of such comics for my picture...especially since I have a variety of each of these comics (except superman) available among those I am looking to sell with this listing.
I get out my handy little digital camera and take a new picture using batman, spider-man, and superman comics from among those available since those are the three super heroes most searched for.
The final result is displayed just above. Still not perfect, but much better. I'll have to wait until daylight to get a better picture.
Reviewing the description
Be critical!
Looking over the initial description, we see that it has the following:
-----------
The description
A quick short description of what is being sold
50 Comics, Your Choice, for $20
...and don't forget to grab a freebie!
Any important notices
NOTICE:
Each of these costs $11 in shipping, and NOT the $0.25 added the normally applies to my store...so if you pick up 100 comics, shipping is $22, not the $11.25 that the cart will denote.
Why people might be interested
Great to pick up missing issues you havent read, comics you are interested in but have not read, or to give as party favors or rewards to kids.
Condition information
These comics are in various conditions.
Newer comics are typically fine to very fine while older comics are typically very good or better ( though there are a handful of comics in good condition )
Why these are here at this price
These are up here like this as shipping is just too expensive to justify selling low value comics individually, and the comics listed here are typically valued at under $5 each. The vast majority of these comics book out at about a dollar or two each.
How buying this item works
As people buy them, I update the list. First come first serve. In the unlikely event you have chosen comics that someone else has already picked up, but which have not been removed from the list yet, I will let you know and you can choose some others or decide not to get them, as you wish.
How the list is setup
They are listed according to publisher then in alphabetical order. Publishers are Marvel, DC, Valiant, Image, Dark Horse, and Misc.
Misc includes all other publishers.
Shipping information
Shipping:
- In the United States: $11 per box
- To Canada or Mexico: $27 per box
- Elsewhere: $43 per box
A few extra comics can generally be shipped with one of these lots at no extra shipping charge.
Fluff
Be well and happy hunting!
-----------
Problems with the description
Looking the description over, a few things are quite apparent.
Updating the description
A solid initial summary
As the first couple of lines are what most people read before deciding to keep reading or look elsewhere, I really should take the time to create a short, clean description for people who come across this listing.
--------------------------------
Pick any 50 comic books OR have me pick for you!
...Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Valiant, and more
...popular superheros such as Batman, Superman, Spider-man, and the X-Men.
...shipped to your door for only $11 (usa), $27 (canada/mexico), or $43 (elsewhere) !
...most comics are quite nice, grading out to fine or better.
...and don't forget to grab a freebie for every box ordered!
Not sure of what you want?
Give me an idea of the types of comics you are looking for and whether you want only nice looking books or not and I will put together a lot for you.
Lots of comics like this are great for:
...kids party favors
...waiting rooms in corporate offices
...incentives for young comic book fans
...simply seeing what you think of a variety of different comic heroes
...filling in random gaps in a comic collection
...getting children to be more interested in reading
...artists wanting a variety of drawing styles to reference
PLEASE NOTE:
Unlike most items in my booth, these boxes ship for a flat rate each.
If possible, I will combine shipping with other types of items.
If you order multiple boxes, shipping is per box, not $11.00 + $0.25 per box.
When ordering, please be sure to either let me know which specific comics you want or the general type of comics you are interested in. If you would like faster processing in case I have questions, feel free to provide a phone number, name, and best time to call.
How comics are listed below:
Comics are listed under their publisher in alphabetical order.
Popular DC superheroes are Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.
Popular Marvel superheroes are Spider-man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, etc.
Free free to ask if you have any questions!
----------------------
As you can see, I tightened up the information provided quite a bit, let people know what, specifically they were looking at right up front, fixed some spelling problems, added in a few of the keywords we found, added in a few ideas as to how one might use such a product, and generally made it look cleaner.
-----------
The description
A quick short description of what is being sold
50 Comics, Your Choice, for $20
...and don't forget to grab a freebie!
Any important notices
NOTICE:
Each of these costs $11 in shipping, and NOT the $0.25 added the normally applies to my store...so if you pick up 100 comics, shipping is $22, not the $11.25 that the cart will denote.
Why people might be interested
Great to pick up missing issues you havent read, comics you are interested in but have not read, or to give as party favors or rewards to kids.
Condition information
These comics are in various conditions.
Newer comics are typically fine to very fine while older comics are typically very good or better ( though there are a handful of comics in good condition )
Why these are here at this price
These are up here like this as shipping is just too expensive to justify selling low value comics individually, and the comics listed here are typically valued at under $5 each. The vast majority of these comics book out at about a dollar or two each.
How buying this item works
As people buy them, I update the list. First come first serve. In the unlikely event you have chosen comics that someone else has already picked up, but which have not been removed from the list yet, I will let you know and you can choose some others or decide not to get them, as you wish.
How the list is setup
They are listed according to publisher then in alphabetical order. Publishers are Marvel, DC, Valiant, Image, Dark Horse, and Misc.
Misc includes all other publishers.
Shipping information
Shipping:
- In the United States: $11 per box
- To Canada or Mexico: $27 per box
- Elsewhere: $43 per box
A few extra comics can generally be shipped with one of these lots at no extra shipping charge.
Fluff
Be well and happy hunting!
-----------
Problems with the description
Looking the description over, a few things are quite apparent.
- It lacks a lot of the keywords we found above when deciding on how to revise the title.
- It is quite long.
- A couple of things are not spelled quite right.
- And finally, the overall listing is a bit of a jumble.
- There are no obvious target markets...besides general collectors
Updating the description
A solid initial summary
As the first couple of lines are what most people read before deciding to keep reading or look elsewhere, I really should take the time to create a short, clean description for people who come across this listing.
--------------------------------
Pick any 50 comic books OR have me pick for you!
...Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Valiant, and more
...popular superheros such as Batman, Superman, Spider-man, and the X-Men.
...shipped to your door for only $11 (usa), $27 (canada/mexico), or $43 (elsewhere) !
...most comics are quite nice, grading out to fine or better.
...and don't forget to grab a freebie for every box ordered!
Not sure of what you want?
Give me an idea of the types of comics you are looking for and whether you want only nice looking books or not and I will put together a lot for you.
Lots of comics like this are great for:
...kids party favors
...waiting rooms in corporate offices
...incentives for young comic book fans
...simply seeing what you think of a variety of different comic heroes
...filling in random gaps in a comic collection
...getting children to be more interested in reading
...artists wanting a variety of drawing styles to reference
PLEASE NOTE:
Unlike most items in my booth, these boxes ship for a flat rate each.
If possible, I will combine shipping with other types of items.
If you order multiple boxes, shipping is per box, not $11.00 + $0.25 per box.
When ordering, please be sure to either let me know which specific comics you want or the general type of comics you are interested in. If you would like faster processing in case I have questions, feel free to provide a phone number, name, and best time to call.
How comics are listed below:
Comics are listed under their publisher in alphabetical order.
Popular DC superheroes are Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.
Popular Marvel superheroes are Spider-man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, etc.
Free free to ask if you have any questions!
----------------------
As you can see, I tightened up the information provided quite a bit, let people know what, specifically they were looking at right up front, fixed some spelling problems, added in a few of the keywords we found, added in a few ideas as to how one might use such a product, and generally made it look cleaner.
Finishing touches
cleaning up and finalizing the changes made
Looking over the revised listing, I believe that it is much improved.
Search engines should be able to match it up to searches better.
The primary image catches the eye a bit better.
The description is much cleaner and helps search engines find the item as well.
I even make note of the fact that one gets a freebie with each box.
Price tweaking
However, the price to people in the several united states still comes out to be $0.62 per comic and, after typical fees, I will be getting $18.00, or $0.36 per comic.
To both decrease the cost to my customers and potentially increase the money I make from each sale, I will add a note about my Bonanza coupon special near the top, reading:
...reduce shipping with a $10 coupon from http://tinyurl.com/LUCoupon !
If someone overcomes their fear that my coupons might be a scam ( they aren't...but how would anyone who does not know me be sure ), they can get comics from me delivered to their door for only $0.42 per comic...and I could get a bit more per comic, depending on what the chosen trial products creator pays for a finder fee.
The main point being that customers now have the following added value:
+ A freebie for each box
+ The option to get $10 off of a box a well as a free trial product
Where else is someone going to get fifty comics of their choice plus a freebie for $31 shipped to their doorstep?
And where else are they going to get an extra ten dollars off if they decide to choose a free trial service or product?
If someone sees this listing who is even remotely interested in buying, chances are that they will make the purchase now. Of course, chances are not as good as they might sound because of the simple fact that most people cannot fathom getting a reduced price for simply accepting a free trial product or service.
Other things to offer
As this listing is for comics, I might also consider:
Other thoughts on getting these comics found
I could go hang out at some comic forums, but I don't typically do that and prefer not to just pop in and advertise.
I could create an adwords campaign.
If I did so, I would probably target some of the non-traditional comic buyers out there such as people looking for interesting collage or paper-mache paper, people looking for party favors or incentives for their kids, people looking for a variety of different art styles to practice drawing, doctors offices, etc. The reason I would target non-traditional audiences is because it would be trivial to rank my ads for such with little cost. People selling comics almost exclusively target "comic books"...and the competition makes pay per click advertising a bit spendy...especially for such low value books.
Search engines should be able to match it up to searches better.
The primary image catches the eye a bit better.
The description is much cleaner and helps search engines find the item as well.
I even make note of the fact that one gets a freebie with each box.
Price tweaking
However, the price to people in the several united states still comes out to be $0.62 per comic and, after typical fees, I will be getting $18.00, or $0.36 per comic.
To both decrease the cost to my customers and potentially increase the money I make from each sale, I will add a note about my Bonanza coupon special near the top, reading:
...reduce shipping with a $10 coupon from http://tinyurl.com/LUCoupon !
If someone overcomes their fear that my coupons might be a scam ( they aren't...but how would anyone who does not know me be sure ), they can get comics from me delivered to their door for only $0.42 per comic...and I could get a bit more per comic, depending on what the chosen trial products creator pays for a finder fee.
The main point being that customers now have the following added value:
+ A freebie for each box
+ The option to get $10 off of a box a well as a free trial product
Where else is someone going to get fifty comics of their choice plus a freebie for $31 shipped to their doorstep?
And where else are they going to get an extra ten dollars off if they decide to choose a free trial service or product?
If someone sees this listing who is even remotely interested in buying, chances are that they will make the purchase now. Of course, chances are not as good as they might sound because of the simple fact that most people cannot fathom getting a reduced price for simply accepting a free trial product or service.
Other things to offer
As this listing is for comics, I might also consider:
- Offering to ensure that every comic comes with a bag and board
- Noting that every comic is at least bagged, if not boarded
- Including a free recent copy of comic values monthly
Other thoughts on getting these comics found
I could go hang out at some comic forums, but I don't typically do that and prefer not to just pop in and advertise.
I could create an adwords campaign.
If I did so, I would probably target some of the non-traditional comic buyers out there such as people looking for interesting collage or paper-mache paper, people looking for party favors or incentives for their kids, people looking for a variety of different art styles to practice drawing, doctors offices, etc. The reason I would target non-traditional audiences is because it would be trivial to rank my ads for such with little cost. People selling comics almost exclusively target "comic books"...and the competition makes pay per click advertising a bit spendy...especially for such low value books.
The revised look
The final product of my quick revisions
- 50 old value comic books for sale - marvel, dc, heroes - you pick
- This takes one to the current listing as it exists after my recent updates. I will update this lens in a week or so to note whether or not these changes had any noteworthy effect.
I expect that this listing will get a few more views from search engines now.
Updated statistics, two weeks later
Quite a bit better now
Since taking the time to make changes to this listing two weeks ago, this product has gone from being rarely viewed to the top viewed product on my store by quite a ways.
In the last seven days, this item has gotten 28 views (averaging four per day...where it was getting about five views per week previously) and been shown in google product search to 27 people ( much better than the near zero views it was getting previously...though none have checked it out there ).
Additionally, I have sold one lot this past week to someone who decided to pick up a few other books as well, the first sale for this listing since it went up.
In the last seven days, this item has gotten 28 views (averaging four per day...where it was getting about five views per week previously) and been shown in google product search to 27 people ( much better than the near zero views it was getting previously...though none have checked it out there ).
Additionally, I have sold one lot this past week to someone who decided to pick up a few other books as well, the first sale for this listing since it went up.
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Other thoughs?
Share them!
Home-Interior-Designer wrote...
Great information. I read your lens word for word with great interest. Well put together. Favourite and 5*
Posted May 18, 2009
sellingnicestuff wrote...
Another great value lens packed with information for editing and tweaking. Thanks
Posted April 11, 2009
by LibertyUnchained
I am the stay at home father of two and spend my free time studying mostly law and sales related topics.
I started out simply looking for ways to mak... (more)
I started out simply looking for ways to mak... (more)
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