Nine Steps to Writing Better Ebay Listings | Make Money on eBay

Nine Steps to Writing Better Ebay Listings

1. Listing things in the Wrong Categories. I know this sounds silly and pretty basic...but it happens all the time. Candlesticks in Porcelain section, Chairs under Accessories..Circa 1800 paintings under modern prints.
2. Poor Attention to Photos . Not enough pictures, badly taken, too small and/or too far away, files that are too big and load much too slowly and out of focus. Hmm is that a vase or a footstool?
3. Bad Descriptions, don’t try to be slick, if you don’t know something just say so. If you do know, don't play dumb. If its broken and been repaired..SAY SO!!! Unless you like getting Negs.
4. Using Bad Templates and Backgrounds. Setting up elaborate backgrounds, templates and backgrounds for your listings is stupid and a distraction, Keep it Very, Very Simple.
5. Shipping Limitations i.e. Not being willing to ship internationally. The world is a big place!!!
6. Not accepting Pay Pal. {It can be a pain at times, but if you plan to sell internationally you really have to}
7. Short Duration Auctions....a waste of time, 7 days are ok, 10 days are even better.,.
8. Auctions Which End at the Wrong Time. Avoid having auction that end on Friday and Saturday nights or during the day during the week. Start them on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, starting between 7PM and 9PM Eastern Time
9. High Reserves and or Minimums Nothing kills interest in your stuff faster than high starting bids and reserves.

So what to do? Here are Nine Steps to Writing Better Ebay Listings

1. Make sure you list in the right category or categories! Sometimes more than one is a great thing! If you cannot figure what category you should use..finding it is easy! Just go to Ebay and search for similar items and see where the bulk of them or items like yours are listed. Pay attention to where the ones getting the most attention are listed and MAKE VERY sure to check Completed Listings!!!!
2. Photos are often more important than descriptions. People believe their eyes, more than your words: When taking photos think like a buyer..What would you like to see?. You probably want lots of pictures, well sized, well lit and well focused and they load quickly onto your computer.
   Buy a good camera with flexible features including a Macro Capability for taking close ups, manual white balance ability. Mega Pixels are NOT as important as FEATURES!!!!
   Buy some decent photo lights, always use at least two, three are better and a Tripod! I personally like Alzo Digital great stuff, good quality and nice Ebay sellers!!
   Use a simple background like a big piece of off white or light grey paper, better yet go hog wild and buy a roll of photo paper that suits your needs. Don’t EVER use bed sheets, they always end up looking like dirty laundry and I for one don’t want to look at your laundry or what looks like your laundry.
   Use a decent photo editor and make sure your pictures are not File size heavy..keep them under 120KB as an absolute MAX and 800 by 800 !! under 60 KB is faster and at around 500 by 700 pixels is {for me} an ideal size.
   Oh…please take an hour or two and read the Cameras Owners Manual!!! Cannon, Nikon, Olympus et al spend a fortune engineering these things and writing the manuals…and you probably spent a few hundred bucks or more on it. Given the amount of time you’ll spend with the camera, why not read the Instructions? You will save yourself a lot of time and get pictures you’ll be really happy with!!!
   If you cannot find the Manual, go Online and Google the Camera Model name and Number with the plus sign thingy and the word Manual..you will likely get a nice PDF file of the manual courtesy of the Camera maker…{they know people toss the manuals and eventually need to get another one} So print it out and start reading.
3. Write Simple, Brief, Accurate and Honest Descriptions. “Just the facts ma’am”. Who made it, when was it made, has it been fixed?, does it need to be fixed?..Tell what you know and remind the viewer to look at the photos to see what you’re talking about…give the dimensions. But DON’t prattle on with stuff like…'its the greatest example known!', 'its rarity is un-measurable!' , 'its museum quality!!' . Just list it fairly and honestly..!! If you can, tell people where it came from..i.e. Live auction, Yard Sale, Parents House and so forth.
4. Use Very Simple Templates and Backgrounds. Keep it all simple, no flowery backdrops, exploding fireworks, confusing things moving around in the background. I know lots of people offer to sell these things to dress up your listings..but honestly they are a distraction and slow down the speed at which images load. If you want to express your decorative inner self redo that spare bedroom you’ve been thinking about for the last 5 years, don’t clog your listing with bad taste templates.
5. Shipping Make sure you offer to ship everywhere. With the USPS Click-N-Ship you can with 95% of the stuff you sell. Just shipping in the US, cuts off a huge number of good customers, 30% of my business is international most of the time.
6. Accept Pay Pal Sure Pay Pal can be a pain at times, but if you’re doing business internationally you really don’t have much choice and most buyers in the US DO prefer it. There are other Pay systems, so far none have broad enough acceptance to be worth considering.
7. Duration of Auction 7 Days Minimum, 10 Days are better!! {in my opinion}
8. When Should They Start? Try to start your auctions so that they don’t end on Friday or Saturday nights in the US. I prefer ending mine on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights and I run 10 day listings always..
9. No Reserves and Start Low! I always laugh when I see a listing that says “Low Starting Bid” but the item has a reserve or “No reserve Auction” but the minimum opening bid is $500 {and it’s probably worth $400}..don’t treat your potential buyers like they are morons. Everything I sell pretty much starts at $5.00 and never a reserve. Sure you’re going take a few hits, expect it. Also expect to build a following on your listings because you will.
10.  IMPORTANT YOUR TITLE! When writing the Title Description be VERY careful not to waste the first four words. They have more weight in eBay searches than any other text.  Here are a few examples of the wrong way and right way. Country, Age, Type, Period in any combination whenever possible.

• WRONG : "Really Fantastic Porcelain Enamel Vase Made During The Ming Dynasty"
• RIGHT: "Chinese Ming Dynasty Vase With Wucai Enamels, Wanli Period"

or

• Wrong: Rare and Very Unusual Bronze Antique Incense Burner From China 18th C.
• Right: 18th C. Chinese Qing Bronze Incense Burner Qianlong Period