A Guide to Selling Exercise Equipment on eBay
Updated: Jun 21, 2021
eBay is a selling platform that connects millions of sellers and buyers worldwide. The platform hosts tons of categories for sellers.
So, if you are an exercise equipment seller and haven't utilized eBay to boost your sales, you should consider getting in on the action.
But, selling on an entirely new platform can be a little tricky. Don't worry, though. This article will help you get started on eBay.
And, by the end of it, you'd know how to sell exercise equipment on eBay. You'd also get to know the techniques that can maximize your sales.
Let's dive into the details.
Why Sell Exercise Equipment on eBay?
The data suggests there are 182 million active buyers on eBay all around the world. eBay is one of the largest online eCommerce marketplaces globally; there are around 1.3 billion product listings on the platform.
These facts should be enticing enough to motivate you to list your exercise equipment on eBay and start selling right now. But, you need to be aware of a few things before you jump in.
Why sell exercise equipment on eBay? Because there's enormous potential within the sports and fitness category on the platform. You can list your products under specific or multiple categories and be visible to prospective buyers within minutes.
How to Price Your Exercise Equipment Competitively?
Even if you have been selling your products outside eBay, you should thoroughly search through the exercise products available on the platform and price your products competitively.
So, invest some time observing what other sellers are offering on eBay.
Consider using the practical tool "What's it worth on eBay." It's a Google Play Store app that tells you the average price of a particular product that sellers have sold in the last few weeks.
Pay close attention to existing listings on the platform and ask yourself whether you want to go the auction or "Buy it now" route.
Create an Account on eBay
Creating an account on eBay is pretty straightforward. Anyone can sign up for an account on eBay and be up and running within a few minutes.
You can also create a business account on eBay, which would be a more professional way to run your operation. So, if you want to sell limit-free, consider a business account.
Understand the Basics of eBay Selling
Before you start uploading your products, it's essential to understand the basics of selling on eBay. Knowing the basics allows you to remain in eBay's good graces while avoiding any bottlenecks in your selling journey.
What are the Types of Listings on eBay?
The initial business model of eBay was only auction-style selling. eBay has since introduced the "Buy it Now" listing where you can sell products at a fixed price.
So as soon as the exercise gear sells, you can ship the order. Similar to how other eCommerce stores work.
How much does it Cost to List Items on eBay?
eBay charges a nominal fee from the sellers. There could be different types of expenses, but the eBay platforms mainly charge a fee on the items listed below.
1. Insertion fees
An Insertion fee is when you pay eBay for uploading your listings. It's a pre-sale fee that eBay charges when you exceed the maximum number of free listings.
As a seller, you'd receive 50 listings free every month. If your listings exceed that number, eBay will charge you 35 cents (USD) for every listed item.
If you opt for a monthly subscription plan, you won't have to pay the full fee.
2. Final Value Price
For every item you sell, eBay takes a percentage out of the sale price. The final value price would depend on the category you'll sell your items under.
For instance, if you list your items under "Sports goods," eBay would be taking 9.35% of your sales price against every item.
And, if you don't list your exercise equipment under any category, the default final values price of eBay is 9.35%.
Optimize Product Descriptions for SEO
One of the most important parts of selling on eBay is listing optimization. When your listings are optimized for SEO, potential buyers can easily find them, which, of course, increases the chances of sales.
The first thing you want to do with your listing is, optimize its description. The trick is to get as detailed as possible about what your exercise equipment offers to the end-user.
As you get more detailed, you provide the eBay platform with enough information to understand what your product delivers.
Use words in your description that your potential buyers would be searching for. Use those keywords wherever possible in the description, but naturally avoid spamming as this will result in a negative experience for the users and will naturally hurt your listings ranking.
How do you find those keywords?
Just do a quick Google search and see the most popular keywords related to your specific products.
Let's say you want to sell "Pull up bars." Your potential customers are m
ost likely searching for more than "Pull up bars."
Put the seed keyword "Pull up bars" into Google and check out the suggestions it provides.
You get a few similar keywords that you can incorporate into your product descriptions to attract the right people.
Alternatively, you can use a free keyword research tool for eBay called "Keyword Tool."
Write a Detailed and Convincing Description
Also, make sure you include every piece of information a potential buyer may need about a product to make a confident decision.
If some information is missing about a feature, it doesn't matter if you offer that feature or not. Your prospect might alternatively buy the product from a competitor that did list all the product features.
So, educating the prospect about the product is essential to get conversions.
For instance, you are selling a door pull-up bar. The visitor would want to know whether the bar can withstand their weight. So, they'd look for the weight-holding capacity on the bar.
Anticipate what a prospective buyer would naturally ask about the product and include that information in the description.
Let's see how to write convincing eBay descriptions.
Avoid errors – Spelling mistakes will make your brand appear unprofessional and make the search engine miss essential words.
While your descriptions should be detailed, don't get into unnecessary stuff. Keep it as to the point as possible and highlight the selling points of your exercise equipment.
Invite potential customers to discuss anything they want.
List the terms and conditions.
List your exercise equipment in the correct category – In this case, "Sporting goods."
Make your description easily skimmable and highlight important words
Write Human-friendly Keyword-rich Titles
Your product listing title is the first point of contact with a visitor. It should use the exact words the searcher is using, and in the same order too.
However, avoid keyword stuffing. It's never a good idea to stuff your titles or descriptions with keywords.
For instance, if you are selling a resistance band for men, your potential customers might be searching for "Resistance band men." So, it would help if you put these words in the same order in the title to help the algorithm show your results near the top.
Capture Quality Photos of Your Exercise Equipment
Your potential customers would want to see what they are going to buy. So, it's almost imperative that you include clear and original pictures of your exercise equipment.
You don't have to buy a camera to capture quality photos. A decent smartphone camera is enough when starting.
However, there are a few things you need to be aware of.
How to take eBay Product Photos?
The most important thing is, you use original photos of your exercise equipment. While you can find stock photos and upload them as your product photos, prospects would easily detect that they are not original.
That could hurt your conversion as people prefer to see original photos of the product they are purchasing.
Capture Your Exercise Equipment with Clear Backgrounds
You don't want a cluttered background to rob the product's spotlight. You can find a wall with plain colored flat paint and place the equipment in front of it.
In a perfect world, you would haul your equipment to a studio with excellent lighting and the space for all sorts of wide shots but for now, play with what you've got available.
Take Pictures from Multiple Angles
Your prospects may want to see your product from multiple angles, so make sure to present your exercise equipment from all possible angles.
Consider snapping several demonstrate pictures so people can see what to expect while the product is in use.
Show the Flaws
If there is a flaw, no matter how tiny, in your product, capture it in a different picture. This will not only minimize the possibility of returns but will also build your trust as a seller.
Upload Your Listings One by One
Take your time to get each listing right. While it can be tempting to upload all your listings at once, upload them one by one crafting each one uniquely. eBay's quick listing tool can help you upload your listings the right way.
Establish Trust with the Buyers
You won't see any shortage of scammers and dishonest sellers on digital platforms these days. So, consumers have become extra careful. This calls for extra care on your part as well.
As a seller, you want your potential buyers to trust you. And, when you establish trust, you're sales will be the first to thank you.
So, what can you do to make prospects feel that you are trustworthy?
Trust is gained via small signals and gestures.
The first thing you should do is fill out all the information about your company, your brand, your listings, and your policies. Uploading a headshot of yourself can be a positive sign as buyers want to see the real you. Remember, people want to buy from people, so don't be afraid to expose yourself.
Another effective strategy to win their trust is uploading positive reviews from your past customers. Customer testimonials can provide the necessary peace of mind to potential customers.
If you have previous reviews, add them to your listing. If you don't, ask you're satisfied customers to write one. Happy customers are always ready to provide positive feedback.
Moreover, if your exercise equipment has any imperfections, inform your visitors upfront. If they find out after the purchase, it won't be good for your business' reputation.
Plus, leave seller feedback (thanking them for a smooth transaction). Be courteous, friendly, and helpful in your comments. It will help humanize your brand on eBay.
To get people to leave positive reviews on your listings, you can do the following things:
Answer all the questions and queries effectively and politely
Avoid cancellation of sales
Track shipments and provide your buyers a fixed delivery date
Offer attractive yet competitive pricing
Report any issues with the buyers to eBay instantly
Reduce Your Margins at the Beginning of Your eBay Journey
This may not sound very attractive as a seller, but it can prove to be an effective strategy when you are just starting on eBay. To attract new customers to your eBay listings, you can reduce your standard rates.
Everybody wants to buy their favorite exercise equipment at the cheapest rate possible. When customers come across your gear while browsing through eBay's listings, the more competitive your pricing, the more sales you'll get.
Once you manage to sell a few of your exercising equipment, people will attest to the build quality, and good reviews will begin to flow in. The more reviews and brand advocates you have, the easier future sales become, but initially, you have to find ways to get your product out there, and unfortunately, low margins are at times one of the best strategies.
Plus, eBay allows sorting the search results by price, so if a browser opts to list the items from low to high-priced items, you'd have a better chance at appearing first if your prices are competitive.
However, you don't need to cut your margins down to the bone. Try offering better deals than your competitors, maybe faster lower-priced shipping.
Moreover, the more sales you generate on eBay, the better your organic rankings will be on the platform.
So, low-priced or not, over time, you'd be able to get good visibility on the platform and establish your brand as a trusted one.
Some businesses rely solely on eBay for income and have built million-dollar companies on the platform; However, we don't recommend being so dependent on eBay just think about what would happen if for one reason or another, eBay bans you or if they flat out seize to exist. Yep, you would go down with them.
Offer 30-day Return Policy
Giving customers a 30-day return policy makes your listing stand out from the competition on eBay and helps your organic rankings as well.
Not only that, but when prospects have the option to return the equipment within 30 days of purchasing it, it gives them the necessary peace of mind to go forward with the purchase.
Moreover, if you offer a 30-day return policy, you'd be eligible for the Top-Rated Program on eBay. This gives you a Top-Rated seal that makes you stand out in the search results.
In addition, if you participate in this program, eBay provides you with other exclusive benefits, including 10% off on the final value fees.
What's the catch?
To become a top-rated eBay seller, you'd need to be active on the platform for more than 90 days. Plus, the program also requires that you sell $1000 within a calendar year, a less than or equal to 0.5 % defect rate and 100 or more transactions.
That said, once you get the top-rated badge, you'll be able to scale your exercise equipment business on eBay relatively quickly.
Offer Free Shipping
Another strategy that will kick sales into gear is offering free shipping. When your transaction history is low, offering free shipping can motivate prospects to buy from you because while you don't have an excellent track record, you're offering one hell of a deal.
Consumers tend to avoid shipping charges. And, if you offer that upfront, they won't hesitate to go through with the purchase.
In addition to that, offering free shipping would make the whole process easier for you because you won't have to calculate the shipping cost for every listed item.
However, it won't be practical to offer free shipping when you are shipping internationally. The cost would be just too much to let you make a fair profit.
Ask for Feedback from Customers
Positive customer feedback makes you appear as a trusted seller and boosts your credibility on the eBay platform.
Your existing customers can boost your sales if you serve them right. But, how?
By bringing new customers to your exercise equipment business, their experience with your business decides whether they'd recommend you to their peers or not.
For instance, they've bought a pull-up bar from you on eBay. Your product was top-notch, and the service was so good that they're itching to purchase from you again.
When someone in their circle needs a pull-up bar in the future, they'd recommend you, and you didn't do anything except for fulfilling a consumer's demand.
So you would be getting referral customers coming from sources other than the eBay search.
So, the point is, if someone buys your product, don't hesitate to ask them for a review, as it can improve your sales on the eBay platform.
Another advantage of getting customer feedback is business growth. Keeping your business on the right track is essential.
Who better to tell you what needs improvement in your business than your customers?
Ask them what can be improved in your product/service or the delivery process, and continue to strive for growth and improvement.
Business is not a set it and forget it deal. You will need to evolve with the times, or competitors will pass take your market share.
Respond to Customer Questions
As an exercise equipment seller, you need to have an open line of communications with potential customers. Even if you have stated everything related to your listing, some consumers prefer talking to the seller before committing to the purchase; this is especially true for more expensive items.
So, make sure if anyone asks anything, you reply to them promptly and in a friendly manner. You don't want to lose a sale just because you are out of reach.
Answering customers' question demonstrates that you care about them. By interacting with them one-on-one, you also humanize your brand, improving the chances of sales.
Share Your Exercise Equipment Listings on Social Media
Social media's massive audience makes it ideal for eBay sellers. There are many groups built around exercise enthusiasts on social media that you can join.
Some social media communities are more connected than others. If there is good engagement in a group, chances are you'd be able to get sales from there as well or at the very least get your name out there.
You'd need to focus on forming a connection with them by providing valuable content first. In other words, give before taking. You can then announce your listings in these groups and direct people to your eBay store.
Offer Occasional Discounts
If you think your sales are on the low side, offering occasional discounts is a great way to boost them.
Put your listings on a "sale price" and make it a limited-time offer to attract consumers who are hesitant to go through with the purchase. Sales trigger FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), so they're more likely to go through with the purchase if the offer is set for a limited time.
This will not only increase your sales, but you'll also get a lot of positive reviews, which are great for your reputation as a brand on eBay.
Refresh Your eBay Store
eBay has a bulk editing tool that you can use to refresh your listings quickly and boost your listings in search.
You can edit your items in bulk and save time while keeping them all up to date.
Refreshing your listings lets the eBay algorithm know that your listings are consistently maintained. eBay knows active sellers make for happy customers; therefore, the algorithm rewards active sellers by boosting their search rankings, which will, in turn, help generate more sales. So consider keeping your exercise equipment fresh with any new information that becomes available.
Leverage Email Marketing to Sell More
Email marketing is one of the best strategies to grow essentially any business. Your exercise equipment brand is no different.
Email is a more intimate way of communication. And, your prospects are going to see your message when it lands in their inbox.
eBay offers several email marketing features that can help you keep in touch with your customers. Customers can subscribe to your emails on your eBay homepage.
You can send them emails and update them about a new product addition, offers, discounts, and more.
Once you have a big enough email list, you'd be able to convert one-time buyers into long-term customers. Email is especially great for the follow-up and the upsell strategies, and all good salesmen know that's where the real money is.
Customize Your Store's Look
You can also improve your chances of getting more sales by customizing your storefront. Ask yourself, what would you want the visitors to see on your page?
Are there any offers that may trigger them to take action? Or do you want to put your newsletter sign-up form at the top?
You can also add your logo and other branding graphics. eBay lets you showcase special offers or promotions using the "featured items" feature.
Use Promotions
eBay's promotion manager allows you to create customized offers and coupons to attract relevant people to your store.
Promotions are effective because most consumers look for bargains while shopping online.
For instance, you can offer free shipping to those customers that buy a dumbbell with a pull-up bar. Or offer a percentage discount when a customer buys equipment over a certain amount.
Use Content Marketing
You can use content marketing to convert your one-time buyers into repeat buyers. If your customers have opted for your newsletter, they are probably interested in doing business with you again.
You can educate them about the topics that surround your industry. For instance, write a guide on the benefits of different exercises and suggest the best equipment for those exercises.
Moreover, you can create a blog, write detailed educational articles, and direct prospects to your eBay store.
Possibly start a weekly show on fitness, nutrition, or overall health and wellbeing. Content marketing is all about producing content that provides value to the prospect, so the customer comes to you when in need of your products. It's that simple.
The only way to be effective on social media is with valuable content. People don't care to see your products, not yet anyway.
High-quality content will inevitably establish you as an expert in the industry, building trust for your brand.
Research Sold Items
Doing proper research on already sold items can also help you sell more on eBay. The good thing is, you can do this right on eBay. Just a simple eBay search will do the trick.
Write the name of the exercise equipment you are selling in the search bar and click on the "Advanced" button to the right of the search button.
The advanced option allows you to filter your search results. Check the "Sold items" box and click search.
Browse the sold items until you find an item with a high-price sale. Use this listing as inspiration on things to include in your exercise equipment listing.
Things to look for?
Try to price your product based on the highest bid of that sold item.
Try capture better or comparable images
Read through the listing and get a feel for the attitude of the description.
Offer Multiple Online Payment Options
PayPal is the most used payment option on eBay. And, most buyers that land on eBay to buy something do have PayPal.
But, you can offer other payment options as not to exclude anyone.
For instance:
You can accept checks. But, make sure your check clears before shipping an item to avoid scams.
If you are adding money orders as a payment method, make sure to accept payments within your country only. There will be a high chance of scams if you take money orders from abroad.
Also, make sure you accept credit cards as a payment method as well.
Sell on eBay Globally
Another way to sell more on eBay is by tapping into the international market. eBay's international sites allow you to do that.
To do that effectively, you'd need to use the inventory management software provided by eBay.
The eBay international selling program would be the easiest way to expand your brand's reach to global markets.
All you have to do is offer international postage on your listings. By doing so, you'd be allowing international visitors to purchase your products.
Plus, your exercise equipment will appear on international sites operated by eBay. So, when a user refines the search to include international listings, they'd see your products.
Reset the RSS Feed
An effective way to get your listings at the top of eBay's search engine is by resetting the RSS feed.
RSS feeds are used to distribute information across the web. eBay sends the information related to your listings to Google via the RSS feed.
eBay's search engine prefers fresh content. It likes new listings. But, you've created your listings; How can you keep search engines happy?
You can turn the RSS feed off and then turn it back on.
This can lead to better search engine ranking and, eventually, better organic impressions.
Utilize the Best Offer Feature
Another way to boost your exercise equipment sales on eBay is by offering the best offer feature to the buyers.
Many buyers would like to send you an offer against your listed price. So, if you don't use this feature, you'd be missing out on a substantial number of potential sales.
You don't have to accept all offers, just those that don't completely eliminate your margins and are reasonable.
Avoid Using the Auto-decline Feature
When using the auto-decline feature, you won't receive any offer lower than the set price. This can eliminate offers that are even a tiny amount lower than the set price.
You don't want to filter out those buyers. You can accept or decline the offer or send a counteroffer to such prospects.
Avoid Auction Style Listings
It might seem a little strange, but auction-style listings can send potential buyers away.
You see, consumers these days prefer instant gratification. They don't want to wait for the auction to end to pay for the product.
So, when an item is available for instant purchase, it has a better chance of selling than an item set for auction.
Offer Fast Shipping
Some consumers just can't wait to get their hands on their favorite exercise equipment. And, if you are taking several days to deliver, they might go elsewhere.
So, it would help if you offered a fast-shipping option to your visitors.
eBay guaranteed delivery feature takes care of it effectively. eBay allows consumers to filter results based on the guaranteed delivery date. If your listing is enrolled in the eGD program, it will appear in the search results.
Final Thoughts
eBay is a vast online marketplace for virtually every type of product. If you haven't utilized the platform to sell your exercise equipment, now would be the time to start.
The techniques discussed in this article would help you get the sales needle moving in the right direction.
So, create top-notch listings, keep improving them, and offer fantastic customer service to maximize sales for your exercise equipment brand on eBay.