With its extensive range of competitively priced products and loyal buyers, eBay has become known as the place to buy and sell white label products. Whilst many sellers fear the price competitiveness that comes with commodity products, we’ll show you how high prices and sales can be achieved.
Determine how popular White Label products are in the category
Figure 1: White Label Share of Sales on eBay.co.uk
Source: ShelfTrend, Oct 2019
The popularity of white label products varies by category. This can be an indicator of how willing buyers are to purchase white label products.
As we can see in Figure 1, there are some categories where white label products are very popular with buyers, achieving over 30% of sales[1]. Such categories include Baby Hats & Caps, Dog Supplies, and Women’s shoes. Before jumping into white label products, it helps to understand how popular they are with buyers.
Understand the price points that buyers are purchasing at
On eBay, the general perception is that white label products are highly price competitive, and many sellers steer clear of them for fear that competition will drive down prices. This is a somewhat misinformed view.
Whilst price certainly influences sales, higher priced white label products can still be successful. Using the Baby Hats and Caps category to illustrate, the price range for white label, top ranking listings is between £1.49 and £13.99. This is a very wide range!
Did the £1.49 product get all of the sales?
No.
Figure 2: Distribution of listing supply and total weekly sales across price ranges, for top-ranking listings.
Source: ShelfTrend Supply Demand Report, Oct 2019, Baby Hats & Caps category, on eBay.co.uk.
Looking at the line graph in Figure 2, we can see the total weekly sales achieved in each price range. The line graph shows that most of the sales occurred in the £3 - £4 price range. The range with the second highest sales was £5 - £6.
Identify price points with lower competition
Many sellers believe that if someone offers a lower price, they all have to match it and that it then becomes a race to the bottom.
This isn’t necessarily the case, as demonstrated in the Baby Hats & Caps category. The green bars in Figure 2 shows the distribution of top listings across the various price ranges. As we can see, most sellers are not competing at the lowest price range. Instead they are focused on the price points that buyers are willing to spend at. In this example, although it isn’t always the way, the price range with the most listings is also that with the highest sales, the £3 - £4 price range.
Figure 2 also reveals an opportunity for the savvy seller. The second-best selling price range is between £5 - £6 which has significantly less competition.
Find out the product features that matter to buyers
The product feature options within white label products, even within a narrow category, can be vast. Choosing the product with the features that buyers want is critical.
For example, someone who has not done their research might think that sales in the Baby Hats & Caps category is limited to the very popular pink, blue, and white cotton caps. Armed with the right tools, we can see in Figure 3 that the best-selling listing in the £3 - £4 price range is a soft cotton beanie with a large bow at £3.24, and in the £5 - £6 price bracket it is a thicker-knit beanie with oversized fur-style pom-poms priced at £5.99. Although these products are both baby beanies, they are very different to each other in the eyes of the buyer.
Figure 3: Best-selling listings (dots) by price range
Source: ShelfTrend Supply Demand Report, Oct 2019, Baby Hats & Caps category, on eBay.co.uk.
Source your products wisely
ShelfTrend is amazing at many things, notably competitor and market intelligence, but we don’t claim to be sourcing experts. Instead visit expos such as the White Label Expo which is held in London, Los Vegas and Frankfurt and is FREE! At this expo you can:
Meet hundreds of White Label suppliers face to face – bring your questions!
Listen to experts speak on all things related to selling white label products, from negotiation to marketing, to fulfilment, and more.
Join Masterclasses to learn from fellow white label sellers.
Stay on top of your game
Finding a good product is just the start. Monitor the market, using tools like ShelfTrend, and leverage the opportunities provided by eBay to kick-start your sales, such as Promoted Listings to get higher visibility, incentivising buyers with offers through Promotions Manager, and ensuring you provide thorough item specifics so that eBay better understands your product.
Whilst white label products are highly competitive on eBay, Sellers can find profitable niches using research to understand the:
Popularity of white label products within their considered categories
Price points that buyers are willing to purchase at
Level of competition within each price range
Product features that drive sales at those higher prices
Competitive market, monitoring for threats, trends and opportunities.
This analysis was performed using ShelfTrend, an eBay market and competitor intelligence tool used by over 30,000 customers. Sign up for our FREE plan, and upgrade for more data-driven insights.
Learn more about the White Label Expo and register for your FREE tickets.
[1] Based on 30 day sales of the top 100 listings, ShelfTrend, Oct 2019.