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How to write an eBay auction listing
Plenty of eBay experts will tell you that you need to write an "energizing" and "motivating" description that will
compel bidders to buy your item. We disagree. Writing "fluff" into your auction description places you in the category of the used car salesman. We'd much rather be perceived as professional than a seller
who can write a flowery sales pitch. Write a factual listing with a thorough description of your item’s condition and maintain a good service record and you'll build confidence in your buyers that will result in
lots of bids.
When describing your item, think like a potential buyer. Try to anticipate the questions that a buyer might ask about the item you are selling and build the answers into your listing.
We use a word processing application
such as Microsoft Word to write our draft auction listings. Word processors make it easy to type and edit text. Spell checkers that are included with all word processing packages are also handy to ensure that there are no spelling mistakes in your listing. When you're satisfied with what you have written, it is then just a matter of copying and pasting the text into the eBay auction entry page. We also save and archive all of our Microsoft Word auction listing document files. These documents can be used as boilerplate for creating listings for selling similar items in the future. We have reused listings many times on eBay.
A positive tone
- Overall, the tone of your auction listing should be a positive one and not negative. We've noticed that many sellers, even experienced eBay sellers, just don't understand the basics of selling in the marketplace. In their eBay auctions they place a list of demands and the buyer must either comply, or not bid. The buyer gets the feeling that the seller believes that they are doing the world a favor by listing their item. This is an extremely poor eBay selling strategy and very unprofessional. The seller should be providing bidders with plenty of reasons that they SHOULD bid and NOT why they SHOULDN'T. Although these "negative" sellers may not know it, they've driven away lots of bidders by listing such demands. Your goal is to attract as many bidders as possible, not drive them away. More bidders result in higher eBay selling prices.
DO NOT PLACE NEGATIVE STATEMENTS OR DEMANDS IN YOUR AUCTION LISTINGS!
Describing defects
- Unless your book or item is absolutely in "mint" condition, ensure that you completely describe all defects. Even if the flaw is almost unrecognizable, it is best to list it in the description. Close-up photographs of flaws help too. Most collectors are very sensitive about the condition of the items that they collect so accurate descriptions are a must when describing collectibles.
Listing at least one flaw, no matter how minor, is a confidence builder for buyers. It's one way of saying "I have nothing to hide". Unless the item is new or “mint”, If no flaws are listed, some
buyers tend to think that something is being intentionally left out. We've seen lots of sellers on eBay provide a scanty description for an item with obvious wear and then include a statement like "please write
us with any questions" expecting the buyer to ask specific questions about the item's condition. This practice does not give the buyer any confidence in the item description, will turn away many bidders, and
eventually will garner negative feedback. An e-mail exchange takes time, time that the buyer may not want to invest in your auction.
"Exceed the customer's expectations" - If in doubt about whether
to list a defect, list it. That's our policy when we sell. Plenty of our customers over the years have given us eBay feedback with comments like "Better than described". These are the types of feedback
comments that give buyers confidence and will ultimately help your auctions command a premium and drive your sales prices higher.
Some experts say that you should not go into detail about the flaws of your
item and that doing so gives buyers a reason not to buy your item. They are apparently not long-term eBay sellers. Remember, your buyers can not examine your items in person. Selling on eBay is different than
selling from a brick and mortar shop where buyers can examine your goods and see flaws for themselves. You have a obligation as a eBay seller to describe ALL flaws fully. Failure to do so will inevitably lead to
negative feedback.
Use plenty of keywords
- Keywords are crucially important to attracting eBay auction bidders. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 defines "keyword" as: "1. A word that serves as a key to a code or cipher. 2. A significant or descriptive word. 3. A word used as a reference point for finding other words or information." In the context of eBay auctions, "keywords" are words relevant or related to the subject or category of the eBay auction that are likely to be used in searches by eBay sellers.
Many eBay buyers use keywords to search for specific items. Your goal as a seller is to have your auctions show up in as many keyword search results as possible. You want to "help" as many buyers
as possible find YOUR auctions. The more often that your auction shows up in eBay searches, the more potential bidders you will attract. With respect to keyword searches, you want to accomplish two things with your
listings: First and foremost, you want buyers who are searching for the item you are selling, to find your particular auction listing. To do this the item must be described thoroughly. Second, and this is just icing
on the cake, you want to attract as many "buyers of opportunity" as possible. Buyers who weren't necessarily searching for the particular item that you're selling, but just happened to see it in a search
for related items.
The way that you ensure that your auctions appear in lots of search results, is to include a thorough and detailed description of your item or book and also use plenty of relevant and
related verbiage and keywords.
eBay prohibits the use of keyword lists; i.e. a list of words separated by commas that are related to the subject of the listing and meant to draw in hits during searches. They
call it "keyword spamming". They do allow keywords that are incorporated into the text of an eBay listing. The challenge for the
seller is to create a sizeable keyword list and incorporate those words in a listing that is not too awkward in its grammar or syntax. In the case of books, a great source of quality information rich in
pertinent keywords is the book description located on the book dust jacket inner flaps or on the back of the book.
Let's look at an example: Let's say that you want to sell an older Orvis Battenkill
bamboo fly rod on eBay. Successful sellers devote time to predicting which words (and related words) will be used by buyers when searching for their auction items. Often, as part of our research for our auction
listings, we will create a list of synonyms and related words (sometimes using a thesaurus). We then take that list of words and attempt to imbed as many as possible in our auction listing description. Here is a
list of words and synonyms that might be compiled for our Orvis Battenkill Fly Rod example:
Orvis
Battenkill
bamboo
fishing
fly
rod
rods
flyrod
flyrods
pole
fisherman
trout
stream
vintage
old
collectible
collectibles
And here is an example of an auction listing that incorporates the above words:
Title: "Orvis Battenkill 7 Foot Bamboo Fly Rod 1960"
"Vintage Orvis Battenkill 7 foot bamboo flyrod. The Cadillac of Orvis bamboo rods, this very collectible 1960s era 6 weight small stream
pole is in "almost new" condition and looks to have only been fished one season. There is a small blemish in the finish close to the lower line guide. A great Christmas gift for that discriminating
trout fisherman. This fly rod comes with its original aluminum rod case.
Please see our other auctions for other fishing collectibles."
In our example we have provided words that are
likely to be used by a buyer searching for a bamboo fly rod. By providing enough relevant words, you maximize the chance that buyers will find your auction in their searches. If we had done a poor job of listing
this fly rod and used only the first sentence to describe it: "Orvis Battenkill 7 foot bamboo flyrod", buyers searching for "collectible orvis fly rods" or "orvis trout flyrod" would
never have found the auction. Also, because we have incorporated related, but still very relevant words in this listing our auction would also show up on searches for "fly line", "trout fishing
fly", "aluminum rod case", and a host of terms for other fishing related items. Buyers who weren't necessarily searching for an Orvis Battenkill fly rod would be presented with our auction listing.
Notice that we've included the plural form of the word “rod” where appropriate. This is important. When searching, some buyers use the singular form (such as "Orvis rod"), while others might search
using a plural form (such as "Orvis rods"). Also, note that we included the words "flyrod" and "fly rod". If entered as a search term on eBay, they would return different sets of
results so it is very important to spend some time thinking about the typical words and phrases that might be used to describe your item.
Use of the term “Rare”
- The word "rare" is frequently overused on eBay and has become meaningless because of it. We see lots of auctions on eBay that use the word "rare" in the title or in the description as if the word should somehow carry with it some importance. Rare does not necessarily mean valuable. Lots of items described as "rare" on eBay never receive a bid. They may indeed be exceedingly uncommon items, but no one wants them. Collectors of truly rare and valuable items know that the item they collect is rare so you don't need to tell them. Few buyers ever use the word "rare" in their searches. So don't place the word "rare" in your title and sparingly (if ever) in your listing, you're just wasting space.
Use of the terms “old”, “vintage”, and “collectible”
- Unlike the word “rare”, these words have some value to the eBay seller. If you are selling older collectibles, make sure you place these words in your listing. The descriptive words "old", "vintage", and "collectible" are one way of distinguishing between an item that has been recently manufactured, and one that is older and more desirable to collectors. Let's go back to the fly rod example. Let's assume that you collect older fly rods. If you were to type in a search for "Orvis bamboo fly rod" on eBay, the search results would return fly rods that are both new and vintage. That's because Orvis has been building bamboo fly rods for decades and still builds them today. Lots of collectors shopping the eBay market place use the words "vintage", "old" and "collectible" in their searches, so if you're selling something that fits those categories, make sure you've included them in your listing.
Ensure that your listing is professional - Spend some time on grammar, syntax and spelling.
e-Bay book auction descriptions
- A well crafted auction description by itself can instill confidence in your buyers. Remember, you are striving to establish credibility. Simply listing a title and an author will normally not be enough to satisfy discriminating buyers. In the book selling community, there are a set of commonly used book description protocols, but these may not be easily understood by less experienced eBay buyers. We have assembled our own list of easily understood “points” that should be understood by both novice and experts alike and should provide a level of detail adequate to accurately describe most books. Although less valuable books may not require all of these points to be addressed, the e-Bay seller should strive to address as many of these points as possible for more valuable books. The more detail that you provide about the condition of your book, especially the defects, the less likely that your customers will suspect that something is being hidden. You have our permission to use the below descriptive points verbatim in your eBay auction listings.
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