Lesson 7

How Can I Quickly Make More Money With What I Already Have?

Part 3: The Listings Window

This mini-series has covered some awesome techniques you can use to increase your profits on any product. Now, we’re going to take it one step further and look at how you can find the answers to your own unique questions.

Today, I’m going to reveal to you the window that allows you to truly customize your research. You’re different, and no one else has the same background or experiences you have. You have a unique business with unique offerings and unique goals, so why should we assume that you have all the same research questions as any other eBay business? Well, you’re exactly right. And the Listings Window is going to allow you to find the answers to your unique research questions!

Introducing the Listings Window

We’ve actually already looked at the Listings Window. When we filtered our report for accuracy we used this window to find those listings we didn’t want included in our results, remember? But now, I’m going to show you how to use this report to find answers. Go ahead and open up your Filtered Earbuds report, and we’ll get started!

Now, before we begin, I want you to scroll to the right within this window and see just how much information is here at your fingertips. That’s crazy, huh? It really shows you how much power HammerTap gives you.

Quite honestly, the first time I ever looked at this window I was slightly overwhelmed. I thought it was awesome there was so much information, but how it the world what I supposed to actually make it useful?! Well, when you come into this window, you want to have a question. If you have a question, you can easily read the data to find your answers.

So, what question do we want answered for our Skullcandy earbuds? Well, let’s imagine that I’ve decided I’m going to go with an auction-style listing. We’ve already discovered that I’ll get the highest price if I end my listing on Sunday, but what time on Sunday will get me the highest price? (When we looked at the Findings chart and the Summary Window we examined ending times, but now we’re looking for the time that is best specifically for Sunday.)

Sorting the Data

As we set off on our quest for answers, let’s first review how to sort the data. We talked about this briefly in a previous lesson, but I want to review it real quickly here too, just to make sure we’re on the same page.

Pick a column, any column, and click on its header. By clicking on the column heading, the data is sorted in ascending or descending order. (Notice the way the little arrow is pointing—that tells you which way the data is sorted.)

You can sort the data in this window by any column heading and also drag and drop columns into any order, making it a snap to compare columns to each other.

And while you may think that’s cool… just wait, it gets better.

To find out which time on Sunday will be best to end our auction, we want to compare the End Day, End Time, and Total Sales columns. Instead of just plopping them next to each other, we’re going to make the data even easier to look at.

1. Scroll over, and left-click and drag the End Day column heading into the grey area labeled “Drag a column header here to group by that column� and drop the column.
2. Your screen will change, having only the ending days listed on the left.
3. Left-click and drag the End Time column and drop it next to End Day above.
4. Scroll back to the right, left-click and drag the Total Sales column and drop it next to the End Time column above. You’ve now sorted the data by all three of these variables.
5. Click on the plus box next to the End Day you’re interested in looking at (I’m looking at Sunday because that’s the day that will get me the highest price), and the list will expand to display the ending times for all of the listings that ended on that day.
6. Next, go through and click the plus signs to expand each of the ending times and reveal the total sales that closed at that time.

Here’s what my Listings Window looks like after all those steps (your window won’t have the colored outlines… I added those):

After you expand each of the times to reveal the total sales, look for a time of day with a number of listings that sold at higher than average prices. (Remember that our overall ASP is $12.13.) Trying to find a specific hour of the day is usually tricky and unreliable, so instead, focus on find a more general time of day that will return a higher price.

Look through your report or the picture of mine and see if you can spot some above-average total sales. If you’re looking at my window, you’ll notice that the second listing down has a price that seems a little high ($29.40, outlined in red). If you see prices you’re not sure about, go ahead and click the plus sign to expand it out and look at the individual listing(s). Next, check the Quantity Available column (also in red). You’ll see that in this case, the total sale was indeed $29.40, but two sets of earbuds sold, each selling for $14.70.

I went through and checked all of the times on Sunday and found the highest concentration of above-average prices within the times I bracketed in the above graphic. I’ve underlined in blue the listings that sold for higher than average. From these sales, we can conclude that listing between 9 p.m. and midnight will get us the highest price for our earbuds.

It’s crucial that you remember all times you see within HammerTap are Pacific Time. Because eBay is based in California, all their times are recorded in Pacific Time regardless of where the seller or buyer is located. Make sure you do the math if you live anywhere other than the Pacific Time Zone!

Once you’re finished looking at your sorted data, you can return to the normal Listings Window view by dragging the column headings up until you see the black X appear. Then just let go of the header and it will disappear. Do this with each of the column headers and you’ll be back to your normal Listing Window, ready to find answer to more of you questions.

Other questions you might ask include:

• What start price got the most bids?
• What start price ended with the highest prices?
• Which listing duration got the highest bids?

Really, it just depends on the extent of your creativity. You can sort the data to answer dozens of questions, so what do you need to know?

Assignment #7: Answer your own questions!

You’ve now learned all the techniques for quickly optimizing your listings! Way to go! Now, I want you to pull it all together for one of your own products. Run a new Product Search (check for accuracy!), and check the Findings Window (both the chart and the question reports), the Summary Window, and the Listings Window for ways you can optimize your listings to maximize your profits! You might find some surprising new ways to pull in those high-paying buyers.

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve not only finished this session, but you’ve also finished our mini-series! Now, we’re going to move on to ways you can increase traffic to those newly optimized listings! Stay tuned for Lesson 8, and don’t forget to send your questions to our support team!

Look for Lesson 8 in your inbox in a day or two. Or, if you can't wait, move forward to Lesson 8 right now.

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