Making the Most of Imperfections in Your eBay Listing Description: A Study in Marketing Genius
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I’d never heard of the Holga camera until my wife, the photographer, decided that we needed to add one to her collection. I wasn’t very impressed when it arrived. Frankly, it’s a cheap plastic Chinese thing that most kids wouldn’t even be caught in public with. The only thing is… it has developed a cult following among shutterbugs.
The description on the side of the box it came in is a case study in marketing genius. It celebrates the camera’s flaws and poor workmanship in such a way that makes hipster photographers drool. Read more
How to Market Your eBay Listings on Twitter
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Twitter is all the rage these days and many sellers are successfully using the social media tool to market their eBay listings. In fact, eBay sellers were promoting their listings at a rate exceeding 1200 “tweets” an hour yesterday. It follows that the rest of us eBay sellers might want to join in, but, as with most things, to do it effectively, it’s not as simple as it looks.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service, enabling its users to send and read other users’ messages called “tweets.” Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the user’s profile page. Users may subscribe to other users’ tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers. Read more
The eBay Trading Assistant Program – Sell on Consignment or Not?
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What is an eBay Trading Assistant?
eBay Trading Assistants are online merchants who sell on consignment for people who either:
- Don’t want to deal with the hassle and time required to sell on eBay,
- Don’t have the computer skills or confidence to sell online,
- Don’t have the time required to sell on eBay,
- Know that an eBay Trading Assistant can fetch a better price (even after commissions) for their item due to experience on eBay, expertise in a particular niche, increased exposure in the search results due to Top Rated Seller status, and credibility as a seller.
The eBay Trading Assistant charges a fee (percentage of final sale price, flat rate, or some combination) to list the item (including taking the photograph and writing the description) and handle all the interaction with the buyer including answering questions, collecting payment, shipping the item, handling returns, and leaving feedback.
Why Sell on Consignment?
For many sellers the idea of becoming an eBay Trading Assistant is appealing for many reasons. Three of the biggest issues facing eBay sellers are 1) developing sources of inventory, 2) coming up with the capital required to invest in inventory, and 3) managing the risk associated purchasing inventory that may or may not sell. Selling on consignment alleviates these issues but presents several others for the seller. Read more
Without the ability to physically touch and examine the particular item you are selling on eBay, buyers are depending on your listing’s description to 1) convince them you are actually selling exactly what they need or want; 2) ascertain the item’s exact condition; and 3) feel confident that they are working with a seller worthy of their trust.
An accurate and detailed description serves to reduce uncertainty and risk on the buyers part. Reduced risk means higher conversions (sales) and buyers who are willing to spend more.
Here are some tips to consider when developing your eBay listing description.
- Write your description as if there were no accompanying pictures and include pictures as if there was no accompanying description.
- Summarize your description up front in a bulletized list. Include the pertinent facts in which the buyer most interested in a manner that is easy to read and easy to find. Include (as appropriate) what you are selling, model, condition, shipping charges and method, and any other vital information. Include more detailed information after the bulletized summary.
- Cover all the bases in your detailed description:
Here are some questions to consider when writing your item description:
* What is the item?
* What material is it made of?
* When was it made?
* What company/artist/designer/author made it?
* What condition is it in?
* Is the item new, used, or still under warranty? Be sure to mention any flaws or repairs.
* What are its dimensions?
* What country/location is it from?
* Does it have any notable features or markings?
* Does it have a special background or history?
* What is your method of payment? Be clear about payment methods you accept, and be as specific as you can about your shipping costs. - Recall my earlier post that eBay motor’s listings that included 13 or more pictures sold for an average of 6% more than listings that included 12 or less images. In fact, each additional picture increased the average selling price by 1.6%!
- Review our Top Ten Photo Mistakes to Avoid article to ensure that the extra images are working for you – not against you.
- If there’s an interesting back story behind your item, include it after the detailed description. Believe it or not, people will pay extra for a good story. Some topics to consider:
- What you especially like about the item.
- Who you think it would appeal to and why
- An interesting story about the item (for example, how you acquired it).
- How the item might be used.
- Highlight the value and savings for buyers.
- Include keywords in your description that your buyers might use in a search box. If the buyer searches using both titles and description, your listing has a better chance of being included in the search results.
- Include common misspellings of keywords your potential bidders might use in a search box. Same rationale applies here as above. Of course you don’t want to appear incompetent or unprofessional by actually using them in the text of the description – so just include a list at the end of the listing under the title “keywords.”
- Go easy on the terms and conditions. When the number of words you use in the listing terms outnumbers the number of words you use to describe the item being sold, you can expect that a number of potential buyers are going to be quick on the back button.
- Identify the criteria by which you have judged or graded the product’s condition. When I sold comic books on eBay, I would state the item’s condition (e.g. “Very Fine”) and quote (word for word) the grading criteria for a “very fine” condition comic from the current comic book price guide. Potential buyers want to be reassured that your definition of “like new” is the same as there’s. eBay buyers don’t like surprises.