Ahh TradeMe, we all love it 
Don’t you think it’s amazing how much gold people will pay for your junk?
Do you want to squeeze every last dollar out of each TradeMe sale?
You are about to find out how.
Think of the process of selling on TradeMe as a funnel
Above the funnel is the entire TradeMe audience. Your task is to push a volume of prospective buyers down your funnel.
You have 4 Goals:
- Get as many page views as you can
- Get as many people on the watchlist as you can
- Get as many bidders as you can
- Get a bidding frenzy going in the closing minutes
How do you achieve these goals?
Here are 6 simple but cunning tips about how to turn your junk to gold using TradeMe.
1. Research how your other sellers are selling the item
For the few days before you list your item, check out the competition.
What headline are they using? How can you improve on it? What extra keywords are they missing?
What photos have they taken? How can you improve the angles and detail?
What questions have bidders asked? Avoid annoying them by answering these questions ahead of time in your description.
What do they say in their description? What extra details are they missing? Can you tell a story (about the reasons your selling) or write something amusing?
You task is to learn from their mistakes.
2. Start your auction on Sunday afternoon
This catches a lot of people at home in the earlier stages of the auction, and more importantly, they’ll all be back again next Sunday afternoon for the closing minutes.
If your auction ends on a weekday, or too early in the morning, or too late at night, you will miss out on that bidding frenzy in the closing minutes.
3. Be ridiculously honest in the description
I mean over-the-top honest. When you describe the defects and imperfections in detail, buyers get giddy with trust and bid more.
Your natural tendency is to not mention these defects. You think it will scare some people off. Sure, some people will be scared off. Let them go. Lot’s more people will be attracted like seagulls to fish n chips. So fight your instinct to hide the defects. This tip will make you money.
4. Always sell at $1 No Reserve
What is the number one reason people flock to TradeMe in their millions every day?
To find a bargain.
And nothing screams “BARGAIN!!” more than “$1 No Reserve”. Put “**$1 NO RES**” at the end of your title.
This works because it gets bids very early – within hours of listing you should have a few.
And most important of all, each person who places a bid is automatically adding your auction to their watchlist, so they will get emailed next week to say your auction is about to close. That gives them another chance to make another bid, and that’s when you get a last minute bidding frenzy.
I know, I know, it’s a little bit scary selling at $1 No Reserve. But if it really isn’t working out for you, know that you do have the option of withdrawing the auction (TradeMe will charge you a $3 withdrawal fee).
5. Pay for extra photos
Yes, yes, it is a bit cheeky that TradeMe charges you an extra 10c for photos these days, but its worth it.
Upload about 5 photos of your item from a variety of angles. Include a few photos of all the items laid out nicely on a table, photos of the packing/box, and most importantly: close-ups of any defects or damage – this is less about being honest and fair and doing the right thing (although that’s important), and more about boosting your credibility so the bidders trust you more and bid more.
6. Pay the extra $3.95 for Feature Combo
This adds a photo beside your listing, TradeMe says its “twice as likely to sell” (and I believe this claim), the title is bold, and it features your auction first in the categories.
This is a classic Return on Investment decision: ask yourself the question “will I get more than $4.00 extra for my auction with this extra exposure?” Yes, yes you will.
That’s it from me. What other ideas can you think of?
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
These tips are SO GOOD you could almost sell them, A++ Would trade again!
Another reason to have the start price be $1 is a lot of people will browse a category by price so if your reserve is low it will also be near the top.
Thanks for the tips I’ll take it as my new gospel when using trade me.
Great tips. You can also come directly to http://www.goldsmart.co.nz and avoid the hassle and fees of TradeMe when selling your old gold jewellery!
A friend of mine just provided me with a cunning addition to these tips for businesses selling products.
The idea is to sell one item using the techniques above, and then list the same item again but this time with a normal start price and buy now price. Many people will see your other item and this creates a value in their mind so when your $1 no reserve item sells you will find that it sells for very close to your normal price plus you’ve got loads of brand and product recognition for your business!
And I thought I was the senbslie one. Thanks for setting me straight.
Great tips and am definitely taking the one about over the top honesty on board.
If you’re not selling junk and have an inkling of its worth, I also like to set a buy now price. While it may deter some, it also prevents that inevitable question cluttering up your inbox, and plants a suggested value in the prospective buyer’s mind because they will always suspect that you want more than it is worth.
While it wasn’t developed specifically for this scenario, I apply the 80:20 Pareto principle to calculate this, because it’s a recurring figure in human behaviour. Simply pick a fair price and add 25% and set this as your Buy Now, thus making the fair price 80% of your unrealistic Buy Now.
There’s a chance you will hit paydirt and have someone opt for the Buy Now, but in my experience, most auctions spookily hit 80% of the Buy Now, and everyone still wins.
oooo I like that! Thanks Tim
Great read, good article… I just shared on FB. Had to use software on my pc to do so, would be much more awesome if you could add your own share buttons?
Good idea Erin. Done!