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Can someone please explain to me what starter subscription actually means? I really would like to know because I've had some excellent things on auction here on this side and have had no bids or just wondered and have had to give my things up for very very cheap and I'm getting really fed up so please explain to me what starter subscription means and explain what I need to do to get more bids
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Maybe people aren't buying from you, because your prices are too high. Maybe you don't have enough items to bring buyers into your store. You say you have "excellent things". That's your opinion, but it's the buyers who determine what really is excellent or great or fantastic. Restaurants all say they have "great food". Do you believe that?
You are in retail. You are running a store. Retail work isn't easy, and it takes many hours. If you're fed up already.....well, you'd better get over that if you plan to be successful.
Spend some time looking at other stores to see how other sellers do it. You do need to expand the number of items you are selling to really get noticed, and even then it may take you a while to get regular sales. The greater the variety of things you offer for sale, the more you'll sell and eventually you'll get a feel for any trends you might want to concentrate on. All this takes effort and time...
Advice: wander around the site and see how other sellers do things. Note their pricing, look at their sales numbers and how long they have been here. Notice how they list their items: what they put in the description and details. Post your items in large but workable groups following what you have learned. It takes time to settle in to your customer base and what they like. You can do it. Best of luck to you and WELCOME.
Other sellers only run auctions. I believe they play the averages. Some of the material is sold "cheap", but they must have enough higher dollar sales to make it worthwhile. It only takes two people to really "want" the same item to drive up the price. Sometimes to unrealistic levels where they will never recover their investment. But they own the stamp they wanted at the time of the auction. I like buying in auctions. I sometime get many "good deals" because I didn't have anyone bidding against me. Many times, I take the item and list it in my store at twice what I paid and wait. Someone will see it and pay my asking price. I also spot good buys in stores and do the same time. That's part of the fun for me.
As others have said, Welcome. Good luck in discovering what type of business you want to operate. But most important, have fun doing it.
Those are called "loss leaders" in retail. The idea behind it is that people will take a look at the cheap stuff, buy it, and also buy other items that turn a profit. This is true online as well, like here, where people will not want to buy just one item, but several to spread the shipping costs across more items rather than just one. It's a good idea to do.
Also, buyers new to you may buy a couple of low-priced stamps to "try you out" to see how you handle sales. Once your feedback score increases, buyers will see that as well, and that will help sales.