Crystal collectors, gather 'round! Today, we're diving into my eBay strategy
for snagging those coveted Swarovski ornaments. Let's use the 2001 Annual
Edition Ornament as our case study.
There are a couple of things that I do before I buy an ornament for my collection.
- Find the average selling price for the item
- Look at recently sold items
- Make a watchlist for items I'm interested in
Finding the Sweet Spot: Price Research
My first stop is averagefinder.com. It's my secret weapon for nailing down a good price range.
Type in your ornament's name – play around with the phrasing, because eBay listings vary.
- 2001 Swarovski Annual Edition Ornament.
- 2001 Swarovski Annual Ornament
- 2001 Annual Swarovski Ornament Article 26794
The search results will default the location to the UK. If you are a US resident, you would want to change it to USA. I leave the CONDITION as New or Used and the SALE TYPE as Both and then click SEARCH. This is so it will re-search for listings based in the US.
Once the Search results populate, you can scroll down to see images from sold listings to verify that your search term returned data for the item you are looking for.
My original search only returned data for 6 matching listings. I removed the word EDITION from the search term and searched again with 2001 Swarovski Annual Ornament. This time I received data for 73 matching listings.
In this screenshot we get some really good data!
- Our data is based off of 73 matching items that were sold on eBay.
- The average selling price for all 73 items was $110.07.
- The lowest price that someone paid was $55.
- Reminder - the $55 item could have been without a box or with visible damage.
- The highest price that someone paid was $155.00.
- The Margin shows the difference between the highest and lowest sale.
- The Postage shows the average cost of postage paid to ship the item.
- The Price distribution plot takes the number of sales and spreads them out so you get a better idea of how many items are selling at each price point.
- The bulk of ornament sales for this item is between $90 - $130.
Using this data, you can make a better decision on what items will be listed way higher than the going rate and which ones are under. It will also help you when making offers or placing max bids.
Checking recently sold on eBay.
If you aren't having luck with
Averagefinder.com you can use filters on eBay to look at recently sold items to get an idea of how much an item has been selling for recently.
The image below takes you through the steps of applying the Sold Items filter on eBay.
- Type the name of the item in the search field and press enter.
- Similar to averagefinder, you may have to try different variants of the item's name.
- Scroll down the filters on the left side until you see one labeled Conditions and click see all.
- In the pop up window, scroll down the options on the left and click on Show only.
- Click the check box next to Sold Items.
- Click the Apply button.
The filtered list starts with the most recently purchased item at the top. In this screenshot we can see the most recent 2001 Annual Ornament
sold on March 7th for
$125.99 and it was purchased at the
list price (Buy It Now). The second ornament,
sold on March 5th, was sold via an
auction (2 bids). That was me! I won that! Cannot want to
unbox it with you all!
Heart Everything: Building a Watchlist
Once you have found a good search term on eBay, and you are seeing the items you want in your search results, it's time to smash those 'heart' buttons.
Clicking the 💙 on an item allows you to build a watchlist of items you are interested in. I will heart items even if they are above a price I'm comfortable paying. This is a very useful tool for many reasons.
- You get an email when a bid is about to end, or an item is about to expire.
- You get discounted offers from the seller.
Expiring Items: Time to Pounce
If you've ever tried to sell something online via Facebook or maybe even on eBay, you know how frustrating it is to have your post go unnoticed for 30 days. For savvy buyers, this 30-day deadline is gold. It signals potential desperation and a willingness to negotiate. When I get that item ending email, meaning the 30 days are almost up, that's when I jump into action.
At this point, a seller may be more likely to accept an offer lower than their listing price. If they have the make an offer button turned on, I will make an offer that I'm comfortable paying. If they don't have the make an offer turned on, I will personally message them and say, "Would you accept $XX.XX for this item?"
An accepted offer is a great feeling, but sometimes your offers get ignored. If this one doesn't workout, that's ok, you'll get it next time!
Bidding: Patience Pays Off
Auctions can be a wild ride, but here's my golden rule: figure out the going
rate, set your max bid, and walk away. Trust me, you'll avoid the
dreaded bidding war and overspending.
For auctions, I like to swoop in at the last minute, especially if there are
few bids and watchers. Why? Because early watchers might already have max bids
locked and loaded, leading to a bidding war. I prefer to jump in when there's
less than 24 hours left and the competition is low.
Higher chance of winning!
* Ends in 8 hours
* Only 3 people watching (1 of them is me)
* Only 1 bid (which is me too)
Lower chance of winning
* Still has over 2 days left
* 15 people have it on their watchlist
* Already 2 bids
Seller Discounts: Keep an Eye Out
Immediately after I 💙 an item on eBay, I frequently receive a 'private offer' email from the seller. This indicates the seller is leveraging eBay's offer feature to engage potential buyers. While these offers can be manually sent, their regularity suggests many are automated, offering discounts ranging from a few percentage points upwards.
Despite the convenience, I rarely act on these initial offers unless they align with my desired price and reflect current market values, informed by recent sales and price comparison tools like
averagefinder.com. However, I diligently save these emails. When a listing nears its 30-day expiration, I use the seller's initial offer, combined with my research, as a basis for a more strategic and likely-to-be-accepted counteroffer."
For the most recent ornament releases, be sure to check out the Swarovski store on Amazon for sale or clearance items!
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