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        Do not miss the chance to try selling on the marketplace with 142 million buyers     

Business created in a student apartment

Aivaras first tried selling on eBay in 2015. Once, after lectures at the university, he and his friends discussed plans for the future, and one of them said that he knows people who make a living trading on this site. "I studied and worked as a business analyst in a small IT company, but I felt that it was not mine, I wanted something else. Before that, I had not even thought about working on eBay. Later, I learned the details from a friend, looked for what I could to read on this topic and what courses to take, and began to try - I registered on the site and posted the first goods for sale. For some time, this became a hobby that I did in my free evenings, "says Milasaukas.

Aivaras is fond of sports, so he decided to sell sporting goods of well-known brands on the platform, which he was sure of being in demand. He ordered a batch home, posted them on eBay and sent them by Lithuanian post. "The days when I managed to sell more goods than usual, I felt great! I liked this feeling in the morning when you look at your phone right after waking up and see how much money you made while sleeping. I really like that the stores on eBay are open 24/7, although, of course, there is a lot of preparatory work to be done first. From the very beginning of the sale, I was excited and positive impressions,” recalls Milasaukas.

The sales of the novice seller on eBay were successful, and he gradually increased his momentum, trying to export new categories of goods. “I was a student, I didn’t have a garage or any kind of free space, so the warehouse of goods was located in the same room where I slept. However, I soon learned that I could buy goods abroad and store them there. For example, part I order products in China, then ship them to the US, where they are stored in a warehouse until they are sold, and then a third party, a logistics company, sends the order to the customer,” explains Aivaras. This made it possible to significantly increase sales volumes. The lack of a warehouse and the need to ship goods also allowed Milasaukas to fulfill his desire to live as a digital nomad, traveling the world with one backpack and earning income from working in an online environment.

Experience helps others

Aivaras continued to study the online sales industry, experimenting with exporting different categories of goods and gaining new experience. Two years after registering on the marketplace, he founded his own company, and a few years later he decided to use the acquired knowledge and skills not only to develop his business, but also to help others enter eBay. This is how the first, and according to Aivaras, the only agency in Lithuania at the moment, which manages eBay seller accounts, appeared. “My agency can help companies that, for example, already sell in offline stores or some other channels and want to significantly expand the sales market,” he notes. Milasaukas says that he is usually approached by small and medium-sized businesses that have been selling goods for a long time and want to start online sales,

Milasaukas' expertise in selling on eBay continued to expand as he helped other businesses that worked with new product categories or with different audiences, which meant new challenges. "Markets can be very different, each of them has different brands that are trusted by buyers. For example, our agency has a client that sells high quality products from German brands, it has well-developed logistics and is able to offer low prices in Germany. We thought that these products will also be successful in the USA, where they also have everything to create a good logistics network and establish competitive prices.We tried to enter this market, but nothing happened: the Americans simply did not know these brands.Therefore, I always emphasize that an essential component effective sales is preparation,

In addition, the agency has gained experience in the B2B (business to business) segment, that is, in the sale of goods for companies, which also has its own specifics. These customers are usually very knowledgeable about the product they are looking for and know what the price should be, so the main way to compete in this sector is through faster delivery and a lower price. "The situation is different with consumer goods - a detailed description and attractive photos play a huge role here. They allow you to attract the attention of a potential buyer and convince him that he needs this product. Sellers in this niche need to find a way to stand out from similar offers of competitors" , says Aivaras.

eBay is a global leader in auto parts

An important part of logistics planning is to study how prices change when shipping bulky and heavy goods. Ground transport is usually the more economical option for delivering such orders within Europe, but if the item needs to be shipped to another continent, shipping costs will be higher due to the use of air transport.

One product category where such moments play a big role is automotive parts and accessories. "If you need a spare part for a motorcycle, car or truck, it is very likely that it is on eBay. Most of the goods sold by sellers from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia fall into this category. it's the product they want, so the most important thing is not a detailed description, but a unique part number.Most parts are searched for by number, as well as the make and model of the machine.If you have provided this information for your products, then half the work is already done.Speaking of former in details, it is important for users to make sure of their quality - good photos will help here, "says Aivaras.
Now Aivaras and his agency’s clients in total sell goods in more than 20 categories on the marketplace – from the above-mentioned sports items and garden products to auto parts and toys.

Three common mistakes

Aivaras' company continues to work - he is sure that you can have up-to-date expertise and provide quality advice to others only if you continue to sell goods on your own. Despite the fact that the company employs several employees, Milasaukas prefers to be involved in the routine, personally communicate with customers and resolve complex issues. "Just an hour before our interview, I spoke to a customer who had placed a large order worth several thousand euros a few weeks ago and had just canceled it. This is one of those cases where I would like to look into the situation in person. with clients, but for the most part I delegate everyday micro-management to others," Aivaras describes his workdays.

Milasaukas gives eBay sellers some advice, noting that courtesy and honesty always work well in online sales. "eBay or any other marketplace is just an intermediary between you and the buyer. If you have empathy and try to understand the desires of the client, you will not lose," he says. According to the entrepreneur’s observations, people are tired of automatic and impersonal messages: “Customers appreciate personalized service, they see when you really try to understand and solve the problem. Complex questions and difficult situations should be given special attention, and automated answers should be left for standard clarifications and difficulties. Initially, I tried to respond to all buyers personally, but this is not the best idea - not every question requires close attention.Then I installed automated responses, but at some point I felt that I use them too often. We need to find a middle ground."

Seller identifies three main mistakes in working on the marketplace, which he himself made at one time and recommends that others avoid. The first is the underestimation of the scale of eBay. Aivaras explains: “It’s hard to realize that 142 million buyers from 190 countries and territories are available on the site. From my observation, there are still sellers who don’t even realize that eBay in some cases is able to bring them more buyers than other distribution channels. I myself sold goods to countries that I didn’t even know existed.The second common mistake is lack of patience.You need to understand that there are 17 million sellers on the site, most of which already have good reviews, ratings, sales history, built logistics and all everything else, and for a novice seller, it will take time to achieve all this.In the beginning of work on eBay, it was also difficult for me, lacked patience, but I decided not to give up and not look for some workarounds. I worked hard and it paid off. Finally, the third mistake is poorly prepared shopping ads. It's important for sellers to add detailed descriptions, accurate product titles and high-quality photos, and set competitive prices."

The Baltics have huge potential

A few years ago, Milasaukas decided to share his experiences on eBay and his mistakes on a YouTube blog. Most of his videos are in his native Lithuanian, and only a few of them feature him speaking English for an international audience. “When I started working on eBay, there was little information about the marketplace in Lithuania. I tried to give advice to everyone I could, in any way I could,” says the entrepreneur. Perhaps it was these videos, as well as great experience and interaction with various sellers, that influenced Aivaras to become the official eBay ambassador in the Baltics. As the entrepreneur himself notes, he immediately realized that this is exactly what he subconsciously wanted to try.

Thanks to the new position, he learned a lot, including discovering two large Lithuanian companies for which eBay is the main or only sales channel. One of these companies sells clothing and accessories, the other sells auto parts. According to Milasaukas, the auto parts dealer was the first seller to offer more than a million items for sale. Having achieved growth on the marketplace, he began selling through other channels. Another company that operates in the fashion industry and sells exclusively on eBay has grown from a handful of employees to 100 in just a few years.

eBay considers the Baltics one of the most promising developing regions and invests in its development. The aforementioned category of auto parts and accessories has great potential. Many sellers in the Baltic States are successfully exporting spare parts, and the marketplace encourages other local businesses from the auto industry to join the platform. Especially for them, there is now a free support program that will help them take their first steps on the site. The program provides entrepreneurs with one-on-one advice throughout the year, including assistance with creating a sales plan. Members of the program will also be able to sell a greater number of products than is usually available to newcomers. In addition - importantly for auto parts sellers - eBay offers automated product description generation.