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"Dressing Up v Dressing Down?  And Which Is

Best for eBay Sellers?"

I could have called this article ‘All that Glitters is Not Gold’ especially if, like me, you’ve bought things that look just amazing in a catalogue or on a website and which in real life are better described as ‘worthless grot’.  Well, maybe not ‘worthless grot’ but certainly not worth the price you paid for them!

Such as a dress I bought from a catalogue, way back in the early 70s, it was blue and looked amazing on the woman modelling it.  The material looked like silk and the design was better than you’d expect from a top designer of the day.  I think it cost me twenty pounds, a huge sum about forty years ago, and I was so excited I couldn’t sleep until it arrived.

When it arrived the dress looked pretty much like the uniform the girls wore down at the local crisp factory.  The material was shabby, the stitching was falling apart, and after one wash the dress looked more like a dish rag than an elegant designer masterpiece.

What had happened?

Well effectively the catalogue company had made something quite cheap and nasty look magnificent, using a beautiful model, good lighting, stunning photographs, and effectively dressing up a shabby item to make it look way more than it was actually worth.

Much the same thing happened today when I discovered a pile of presentation boxed coins I bought in the 1970s and 80s, then worth about two pounds for their currency value, and costing ten pounds extra for the plush velvet boxes and certificates of authenticity accompanying them.  I no longer like them, and I’ve decided to sell them, first by researching their value several decades after purchase, and then by listing them on eBay.  I should point out I have hundreds of these boxed coin sets that must have cost me two or three thousand pounds about thirty years ago.

Why?  I thought they’d be a good investment!  Today I realise I was wrong!

Because here’s the big problem - those coins, with boxes or not, are still worth just their currency value - if anyone wants them, which few people actually do.  So a ten pence coin is still worth ten pence, similarly for fifty pence coins and any other coin without some rare distinguishing feature, such as rarity or printing error.  The boxes?  Not worth the velvet they’re created from, and in fact I discovered the same sets of coins fetching their basic currency value on eBay with their boxes and without them!

Am I downhearted?

Absolutely not, in fact I’m thrilled to bits, because I have finally woken up to the fact that dressing up in the manner of taking quality photographs and adding perceived value to common-a-garden goods is the best way to make sure my products fetch much higher prices on eBay than other people selling similar items - without the added dressing!

And from today, I’m going to dress up whatever goods I’m selling on eBay, but never at the risk of disappointing buyers and generating complaints or requests for refund or, worse still, NEGATIVE FEEDBACK!

You see the dressing has to be more than just visually appealing, it must have some extra benefit also, such as adding value to the main item, or making it more appealing when given as a gift.  Or maybe the dressing up saves time and effort for buyers or simply makes your listing stand out from the crowd of hundreds of other eBayers selling similar items at similar prices. 

The dressing up must never be designed to deceive buyers or to artificially increase the price of whatever you’re selling.  Essentially the dressing should be given free of charge or have some definite additional benefit.

So how can we add value to an item in a way that maximises our sales over similar goods selling on eBay, while also keeping customers happy?  We could, for example, using real life examples:

*  Add something that makes the item look better as well as benefitting the new owner.  A good example is military prints I am currently selling, costing £99.99 each, and which attract regular sales.  That is WITHOUT the frame I recently added, costing just £2, which has now doubled my sales, and could soon tempt me to increase my prices also.  That frame it seems has attracted buyers wanting the print for display purposes and not wishing to buy a frame separately.   Other ideas:

-  give gift boxes with jewellery and other small gifts, both to protect the contents and make them more appealing to recipients.  These boxes cost pennies and if you give them free of charge you’ll win sales over sellers offering similar items without the packaging!

-  give wrapping paper and gift tags and notelets with those small gift items, and save buyers time and money buying those items elsewhere.

-  if you’re selling coins or other small collectibles - such as cigarette cards, clipped autographs, badges - deliver them in see through plastic wallets, you’ll get them from most office stationers - and include a certificate of authenticity testifying they are genuine and from a specific date.  Illustrate your product inside its new casing with your certificate of authenticity at the side.  This makes the item more visually appealing as well as protecting the item and increasing its perceived value as a gift.

*  Combine items related by theme, such as same perfumed soap and talc, add a pretty box,  call it a limited edition, which it is because you’ll download your listing at the 1,000^th sale.  Give the package an awesome title, include a numbered certificate along with each order, something like ‘Your Dream Rose Fragrance Ensemble is number 121 of a 1,000 set limited edition.’  Alternatively add something only you can provide and call the package ‘exclusive’ and sell as many as you like from now to forever.   Either way your listings will stand out from the crowd, as long as they offer value for money!

But wait ….

…..  didn’t I also mention ‘dressing down’ products in the title of this article?  Yes I did, and I want to tell you why - sometimes - removing all the gloss and glitter from something you bought way above real value can often recoup your losses and even return a profit.  Case in point, one box of coins costing £200 back in the day, and containing twenty American dollars, is worth about £250 ‘as is’ on eBay right now, and closer to three hundred pounds for all of those coins sold individually and the box thrown in the rubbish bin.

And that means, when you’re researching value of some items, it’s best to check their current value in sets and as solitary items, then list according to what makes the most money for you.

Another key point: the fact some accumulations are dismantled and listed separately can start a bidding war among people who want just one or two items, and will pay proportionately more for those items but won’t ever consider buying them in sets.

Just a thought: does anyone want several hundred plush velvet coin presentation boxes before the refuse man calls next week!

Oh no, please retract that offer, I’ve just realised, with their innards removed, the bits that mention brand names and contents, those boxes are just perfect for filling with low value bits and pieces and selling at immense mark ups on eBay!