10 Things You MUST Do When Selling Your Items on Ebay

So you have found a fabulous wholesale supplier or dropshipper. You have bought from them and now have a bunch of products to sell. You are excited and decided to do your selling on auction sites such as ebay. Don’t be in such a hurry to do so though! You have to carefully plan your listing before executing it. Millions of listings on ebay goes unsold every day. You don’t want your listing to be part of that statistic right? When you carefully plan your listing you increase your chances of selling your item. Besides, a poorly planned listing will be overlooked and won’t attract that many buyers.

Checklist: The 10 Things You Should (and MUST) Do Before Listing Your Item on Ebay

1. Check your selling price

How much profit would you like to make by selling your item on ebay? Have you checked the prices that other sellers are selling to make sure that your selling price is not too low or too high? Spend a few minutes searching on ebay for completed listings. You can do this by clicking on the Advanced Search link on ebay’s main page.

Check the box where it says completed listings and change the results page default number to 200. You can even narrow down your search by specifying the price range of the item that you are looking for. Once you have done that you can easily browse through hundreds and thousands of listings. You will be able to see the prices that others are selling. Remember you don’t want to undercut other sellers with your low price (and suffer marginal profits). And you don’t want to overprice as well (unless you are offering an added value service).

2. Write an accurate and detailed description of your products

How many times have you came across a listing that only has a picture in it? A picture may be worth a thousand words but without a description your customer will be left to wonder about what it is that you are really offering. So how do you write a good description for your ebay listings? Depending on the item that you are selling, the following are some ideas on what you can include in your description:

• Style (eg: long gown, short dress, etc)
• Features (eg: durable, fashionable, sexy, etc)
• Fabrics or material (eg: lace, silk, chiffon, etc)
• Size or dimension (eg: one size, small, large, etc)
• Quantity (are you selling 1pc, 2pc, 50pcs, etc)
• Condition (eg: brand new, used, vintage, etc)
• Brand (if applicable)
• Retail price (only if its retailing at a much higher price than what you are selling)

A good description should have all of the important details pertaining to your product. Your potential customers should not have to message you just to get the most basic information of your product. In fact, most wouldn’t. Chances are what you are selling is being sold by another seller. The product may not be the same but it can be similar enough for your customer to choose one from the other. Who do you think your customer will choose from: the seller who provides detailed description of their products or the one who has almost none?

I have listed some good and bad descriptions which I have taken from ebay for you to analyze below. Notice the good descriptions have listed more features and added values for buyers to consider. Examples of this include: waterproof, resist most stains and odors, durable, comfortable, vibrant colors, made of 100% cotton, soft, etc.

Good descriptions

• Up for a special BIN are 3 NEW Bumkins Waterproof super bibs for  boys.  These are the bibs of all bibs.  They are waterproof, resist most stains and odors, are durable yet comfortable.  They have an adjustable fit with catch-all pocket, are MACHINE-WASHABLE, hang dry and the colors stay bright.  They have an easy velcro neck closure.  The prints are great. There is one Dr. Suess blue cat in the hat, 1 red fat farm, & 1 blue fizz. These are also Vinyl free-Phthalate & PVC FREE and MADE IN THE USA. They cover the shoulder a little bit.

• This auction is for 18 months onesie, bib and bootie set made by REEBOK. This Pink onesie has snaps down the front and in the diaper area and screened logos on the bib and onesie. It is made of 60% Cotton and 40% Polyester. The design really makes this a great looking item and a must have for any Football fan!!!

• This adorable baby bib was created thinking about the modern moms. On one side has a contemporary designer’s fabric with vibrant colors and made of 100% cotton ideal for the delicate skin of your little one. It’s backed with a soft flannel perfect to cuddle your baby and topstitched for durability. Be assured that this will a lovely gift for that new mom! Comes from a smoke-free, pet-free environment.

Not so good descriptions

• Awesome onesie, bib, and booties. New with tags.
• IS IS A 2 PC OUTFIT  IT LOOKS AS IF IT IS A SEPERATE TOP AND BOTTOMS BUT THEY ARE CONNECTED IN THE MIDDLE FOR A TWO PEICE LOOK   AND HAS A MATCHING BIB
• Cool LIFE IS GOOD baby bib. Perfect for Baby’s First Christmas!

3. Write enticing and attention grabbing headlines

There are many listings on ebay. A lot of the sellers are selling the same products, using the same description and have similar titles. Even if you have a lot of products to sell, it can get pretty boring for buyers to see this. So how do you stand out from the rest? Grab the attention of your customers by writing enticing headlines! The headline should be in bigger fonts and is the first thing that your customer sees when he reaches your listing. Attract your buyers by using words like New, Awesome, Fashionable and Stunning. You can also use phrases that will catch your customers attention such as:

• This Stunning Lingerie Will Make Your Partners Jaw Drop
• New Baby Bib that is oh sooo Soft and yet Durable PLUS it Resists Most Stains and Odors. Just perfect!
• You will look stylish and elegant in this brand new jacket!

4. Check your keywords in title

Ebay has a character limit of 55. If you want to sell on ebay use up all of the 55 characters! Brainstorm keywords that your customers may look out for when searching for your product. If you are out of ideas you can check out what keywords other sellers selling products similar to yours are using. Don’t copy their titles. Create your own by using similar keywords.

5. Show attractive and clear pics

Blurry pics and unclear view of your product are sure to turn away your customers. Have you checked how good your pictures are? Online buyers don’t have the same opportunity as buyers purchasing from outside shops. They can’t touch the material or see every aspect of the merchandise being sold. Auction sellers should understand this and offer high resolution pics that shows in clear detail the item being sold.

If possible, offer pictures of your products taken in different angles (eg: back, front, side, top, etc). The seller sale-gorgeous for example displays pictures of all her bibs and baby products including the boxes!

6. Offer a returns policy

How can you assure your customer about your product? Many customers are in doubt when first time buying from a seller. They want to be reassured that if anything goes wrong with the transaction they can get their money back. Hence, you should use ebay’s return policy to remove any doubts that a buyer may have when buying from you. Display your returns policy prominently on your listing so your buyers are guaranteed to see it.

7. Include a guarantee in your listing

The word guaranteed is one of the top 10 marketing words that you should use in your listing. Some common ones that you may have came across:

• 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
• Your Satisfaction is Our Guarantee
• 100% Guaranteed
• Your Guarantee is Assured

These guarantee words are old and overused. Why not make your listing stand out by offering a new and one of a kind marketing word that will guarantee your success:

• Guaranteed to Love
• Guaranteed to Please You
• You Will Like It Guaranteed!

8. Spice up your listing with good design

Make it fun for your customers to shop with you. You don’t need to buy fancy templates for your listings. If you can get your hands on some nice free templates then that’s good! However, I recommend you to create your own basic template as its easy and you don’t have to worry about having the same design as another seller.

Furthermore, many of the basic templates available use pictures as background images and this may slow down your page from loading. It is better for you to create a simple and yet elegant design using only borders. Without getting into lengthy detail here I will simply give you a few tips on how you can spice up your design by creating your own template:

• Create a border for your template using a color of your choice (eg: <table style=”border: 1px solid rgb(238, 58, 140); margin-left: 2px;” valign=”top” width=”712″>)

• Use a different color and font size for headings (eg: <h1 style=”border-bottom: 2px solid rgb(238, 58, 140); font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;”>

• Surround your pics with a black border to make it look more professional (eg: <img src=”http://www.whateveryourlinkis/pics/ebay/babybib1.jpg” style=”border: 1px solid black;” border=”0″></a>

9. Check your fonts

In what font type are you writing? Make sure it is readable. I prefer to use Arial or Verdana for my listings. However, the type of fonts you will be using may depend on the product that you are selling. For example if you are selling toys you may want to cheer up your listing by using Comic Sans font type.

Make sure you are writing in small caps. Don’t be like this poor guy who wrote in ALL CAPS WHICH IS VERY HARD TO READ AND MAKES YOUR CUSTOMER THINKS THAT YOU ARE SHOUTING.

10. Write an FAQ about your store

You don’t have to wait for your customer to message you and ask a question before you write an FAQ page. You can create a simple one by writing about your terms and policies such as shipping, how you package your items, how fast items will arrive and in what condition will you accept returns.

Conclusion

Planning makes things possible. It can drive you through ignorance barriers and force you to come to terms with what you don’t know. -Richmond J. Hoch, CEO, Sigma Research

Selling on auction sites can be exciting but without careful planning you may be facing with a big problem: lots of products to sell but no buyers. If you want to sell on ebay, please follow the checklist written in this article so you can drammatically improve the chances of your product being sold. If you have tried any of the steps above why not share with us your comment below?

No Responses to “10 Things You MUST Do When Selling Your Items on Ebay”

1. Chris Moran Says:
   December 28th, 2008 at 3:41 am

   Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.

   Chris Moran

2. Internet Marketing Blog Says:
   December 28th, 2008 at 11:31 am

   [...] Hunt4Wholesale » Blog Archive » 10 Things You MUST Do When Selling … [...]

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