Here are some important actions you should take to draw as many people into the crowd as possible:
1. Find the right time. Usually Sunday evening is considered the best Ebay traffic time. But some categories are different, you’ve got to test things to see what’s best for your category.
2. Tell people in all the appropriate places you can what you’re going to sell, and when you’re doing it. (For example: We list our items on Sunday evenings around 6pm Pacific for a seven day, no reserve auction). Telegraphing your punches is huge.
3. Have your newest listing overlap your auction that’s just about to end. So the maximum traffic brought in for the ‘dramatic conclusion’ of one auction see the next cool thing they’re going to want to watch, bid on, and win.
4. If you have a store, you can create a newsletter – Send your Newsletters out 4 hours before your most important auction ends. That way all your ‘fans’ are prompted just in time to participate.
5. In your newsletter, when you feature an item, ensure you show a listing that has a high number of bids on it to demonstrate to people that you have exciting things going on.
6. Grow your following in the forums or old-styled message boards, where your target buyer hangs-out.
7. Have a Facebook fanpage and, if you can afford it, advertise to find fans. Put “Auction Updates” with details about the auction in your FB updates.
8. After the auction ends, put a FB message up that ‘thanks people’ and shows the result of the auction.
9. Develop a solid Youtube channel with some types of video content that is helpful to buyers, and build your subscriber list there. Send them messages or make advertisement type videos and publish them prior to your auctions ending.
10. Consider paying for a premium or higher visibility listing in Ebay. Consider this a marketing investment – a way to get in front of new customers.
Bonus suggestion: Twitter? We don’t, but you can.