Why you should ignore Chinese sellers on eBay…

by | May 8, 2015

The two things you should add to your eBay listing description to instill trust and increase your sales potential I spend a lot of time each week online, researching products and investigating different niches – mostly as research for my hot product reports and profit calculations that I write exclusively for the benefit of The Source Report members  You might be surprised to learn that even though I have many years of experience in researching and sourcing products, I often find it a very frustrating process – just like you do! Sometimes it’s simply not straightforward. Let’s imagine you spot what initially appears to be an in-demand niche so you delve deeper into the research process and narrow it down to a really hot product within that niche. You’ve researched suppliers, done your profit calculation and you know you can make a decent profit on the product. Next, you look at the number of sellers listing similar products and the sold prices of those products…and that’s when it all goes a little bit pear-shaped! I’m certain this will have happened to you at some point – the niche is filled with sellers from China, listing the very same product and at dirt-cheap prices. It’s easy to become disheartened at this point, throw in the towel and moan about all those lost hours of research, but it doesn’t have to be like that – you can overcome this issue and the first step is a simple one: Ignore Chinese sellers! I mean it – you should actually ignore them. Pretend they’re not there. If you see them, pretend that you didn’t because in all honesty, in most niches, Chinese sellers are not even your real competitors. I say in ‘most niches’, because there are a few niches that are totally dominated by Chinese sellers such as ‘tablet accessories’ and so that would be one to avoid. There’s no point in even thinking about products that are being sold for 99p with free shipping! And that’s the thing here. You may notice that these types of items are small and lightweight and that’s why Chinese sellers can offer the prices they do – it costs them next to nothing to post via Hong Kong Post or China Post and it’s rare to see a Chinese seller offering a ‘luxury’ or ‘higher end’ line of products. So, if you really want to sell ‘tablet cases’ or similar, source and sell a luxury version that commands a much higher price – there will be far less competition. As a rule, the larger or heavier the item, the less competition there is from Chinese sellers! Honestly, take a look and see. So, here’s a question. Do you buy on eBay? I expect you do because most sellers buy as well as sell. If you do, think about whom you buy from. If I was to answer this question myself I could quite categorically state that I have NEVER purchased from a Chinese seller on eBay – that’s in a whole 10 years of having an eBay account. Now I know we are all different and of course some buyers will have no qualms about who they purchase from as long as it’s cheap because all they care about is the price, but to the majority of eBay buyers when they see a product for sale from a seller based in China or Hong Kong their immediate thoughts are:
  1. The item might be shoddy
  2. It will probably take forever to arrive
  3. There may be customs charges to pay
  4. If it’s faulty or needs to be returned it may not be a simple process and could be expensive
  5. There may be a language barrier with customer support
So actually this list of negatives is plenty to put buyers off right from the start – and that’s not a particularly good position for a seller to be in! The price of their product is the only advantage they have – and there are plenty of buyers out there who would rather pay more for a higher quality product from a trusted seller, with better service, faster dispatch and delivery times and no quibble returns – all of which you can offer as a UK based seller with UK based stock. Back to price again and this is the only disadvantage you will have. So here’s the deal… If you can’t compete with a Chinese seller’s price then don’t even try. Ignore them. You may think that this puts you at a complete disadvantage, but it won’t. Remember what I said earlier; you’ll have a higher quality product, you are a trusted seller, with better service, faster dispatch and delivery times and no quibble returns AND you’re in the UK. First and foremost you’ll actually avoid all the bargain basement types who are determined to buy at the cheapest price possible. Instead you’ll attract all the people who are determined to avoid ordering from Chinese sellers and specifically want to purchase from UK sellers like you. You are aiming at a completely different pool of people, which means that Chinese sellers are not your competitors. The key is to ensure that you are ‘similar but better’ than your true competitors – in other words, other UK sellers – because they are your real competition – and you may find that most are not really competition at all once you look closely. And as for your Chinese ‘competitors’ you can blow them out of the water, even if your price is higher – pounds higher!
  • All it takes is offering buyers exactly what they want – and I don’t mean a cheap price.
  • Easy to read listing descriptions
  • Lots of good quality images of the product
  • Features and Benefits of the product
  • Super Fast Dispatch
  • Free Delivery / Next Day Delivery Option
  • Full Warranty on the product if applicable
  • No Quibble Returns
And if you do nothing else, do these two things:
  1. State in your listing description, somewhere obvious, that you are a UK based seller with stock located in the UK and that you give superb customer support via email (or telephone if applicable).
  2. If there are lots of Chinese sellers in your niche listing inferior products then tell people! How? By stating it in your own listings:
“Please beware of poor quality imitations of this product being sold by some Chinese sellers. We care about our customers and only sell products of the highest quality” No one wants to buy a product that could potentially fall apart after one use – and this really reiterates the point! You should never try and compete with Chinese sellers. If you let them infiltrate your thoughts you’ll end up going round in circles trying to match their prices – so don’t even try. Instead, keep a clear head and concentrate on making your business the best that it can be by offering quality products and great service and making it known that this is all on offer from the UK!