Writing eBay Auction Descriptions that Sell!
Some descriptions on eBay will not motivate anyone to look twice while other auction descriptions simply sizzle!
Writing is an art and writing to sell is something you are going to master with practice – don’t think otherwise for one moment!
Following these simple rules will keep you on the road to attracting your buyers and getting them to bid on your auctions:
Forget the Cliches
Don’t use cliches with your auction headlines such as, “Rare antique”, “Still in box” or “Unwanted gift” – this type of auction description is telling the buyer your item is something you don’t want so why on earth should your prospective buyers?
Focus on ‘the getting the name of the item’ into your eBay title because this is what is being searched when a buyer is looking for goods, for example, if you are selling a Blues Brothers DVD then your title should say, “Brand New Blues Brothers DVD” as this will then return in the search results.
Think Benefits not Features!
Always look at what an item does and what that means to a prospective buyer.
Telling someone you have an “Ultra Quiet AC Unit” means nothing in itself but saying something like, “Never hear the sound of the air con over your television” is outlining the benefit of being quiet.
Think what a buyer is looking for, and usually you can focus on cost being very low or saving time or saving money as great benefits to buyers no matter what the product you are selling,.
Be Very Specific
You do not have to be very long to get your information over to the prospective buyer – be very short and to the point and extremely specific.
Forget telling the world why you are selling the item to raise some cash because you lost your job or your great aunt Petunia has ‘kicked the bucket’ so to speak – focus purely on the product itself, for instance:
Your Auctions Title could be: Dell Lattitude P400 Windows Vista PE 14′ TFT screen LN
Followed by the description on top of your auction details: Dell Lattitude P400, complete with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition and 14′ TFT screen with keyboard and mouse. 6 months old. Fully working order with Norton Home Security and Quicken 2009 plus 6 months manufacturers warranty left.
Further Information: Paint a brief picture of what the buyer can expect. Use bullets to break up the monotony of a paragraph. For instance, if you still have warranty left on the product, offer to send the corresponding papers along with the product. Stay away from ambiguous descriptions like ‘works beautifully’ better write about specific details like ‘this PC has a 400 mhz processor with a 6 gig hard drive’.
Use Pictures
Use pictures wherever you can as they are fantastic at demonstrating what you have instantly to the prospect. It’s true a picture paints a thousand words.
Include Shipping and Payment Information
Be clear where you are prepared to ship the product to and what your terms are for doing so. Also make it absolutely clear what payment terms and methods you prefer to accept payment. Most buyers are familiar with PayPal. But eBay also works accepts ProPay, MoneyBrokers and Paymate.
I outline clearly the methods of payment I accept whether it is Paypal, or any of the other electronic payment options. EBay only allows the seller to accept money-orders or a cashiers check for certain auctions – e.g, eBay Motors. Equally, you should outline your returns policy which gives confidence you are a reputable trader to be trusted. To gain good feedback and build a great reputation, you should consider to allow a buyer to return an item for x-amount of days.
Come Twit With Me!
Crisp clear post Svenja – benefits rather than features, and value the prospects time-window so eyeballs stay focussed
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John
Hi Svenja, great info, who was it who said ’said the sizzle, not the steak’? It will be interesting to see whether ebay manage to get everyone to offer free postage. I can’t see how it will work when you are shipping all over the world.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Good advice Svenja, I shall be refering to your blog when I start selling on eBay. Thanks for the info.
John
Hi Mandy,
EBay and its policy changes are challenging (to say the least). You really have to keep an open mind and an up-beat/positive view on all of this. At then end of the day, eBay receives still a huge amount of traffic – traffic that has been pre-qualified so to speak. People that come to eBay are looking for something to buy and are ready to do so!
There are a few approaches that attempt to create a more world-wide marketplace approach; however, how free postage can play into this successfully will have to bee seen. When you ship Internationally, you are only talking about ONE challenging aspect in making the sale go through successfully. I will talk about that more in detail later.
Many Thanks for a great comment!
Svenja
Hi John,
I am so thrilled to hear that you are enjoying my posts, and I am humbled to hear that you are planning to refer back to my blog at a later point!
With gratitude,
Svenja
P.S. Please let me know if you are interested in a particular subject to be covered
Hi John,
It’s so nice to hear from you again. Our comments are as inventive as your very own blog. Just rushed over there to see if you had released a new one
You blog is so very colorful!
Many Thanks,
Svenja
Hi Svenja,
Having worked retail for a quite a number of years, I can attest to the fact that the “eye buys.”
Your post was excellent…filled with valuable information on how to list on ebay.
Always on target…
Thanks Svenja,
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Thank you for the great feedback – it’s nice to know that the info speaks to the reader! Personally, I have not spent many years in retail, but I know on eBay the ‘eye most definitely buys’. In the past I have run test auctions to see which ones draw more bids and interest. The ones that were appealing to the visual eye (and this includes how words were being used as well) came always out ahead. But more about auctions and the look of it later. Stay tuned
Many Thanks,
Svenja
Thanks for your comments Svenja, I’m blushing a bit! I’ve just written a post on eBay, with a link to your blog….Do you know if I could have a ‘one-time-offer’ page in-between an eBay buy button and Paypal? Look forward to hearing from you again.
John
Hi Svenja,
Your posts are always straight to the point, great information and clear tips that everyone can follow easily.
Interesting question john McNally, I’m curios to know as well.
BR, Mostafa
Hi John,
First of all, thank you so very much for linking back to my blog! I feel deeply honored and are humbled by your placed trust!
Then there is your fabulous question. Actually, I think this would be a great tool for eBay to use! Just when you are about to pay, you offer related products … someone buys an iPod and voila, here they can buy a brand new protective case for it too. But not so! Yet it could be a great additional marketing tool for a seller who just sold the iPod AND has also related products sitting in his/her store. It’s a fabulous idea for big sellers! You could send it to eBay as a suggestion
As far as electronically delivered products are concerned, EBay has VERY strict regulations! Last year they prohibited electronically delivered items to be sold via the auction site because sellers used eBay to drive traffic outside of its doors. So now all eBooks etc. have to be burned on a CD/DVD and physically shipped to the buyer. Some sellers are sneaky and do both, but I wouldn’t mess with eBay when it comes to this point. They will shut you down without blinking an eye and I know first hand sellers that experienced this very painful event.
There IS however a way to implement your idea! You can use Classified Ads and there are a variety of techniques available to use CA to generate traffic, make sales and up-sell other products. I actually covered this part at great length in my book – The Powerseller Freeway.
In short, NO you cannot add a page between eBay and PayPal (unless I am sleeping through some fabulous marketing options) and YES, you can do a similar approach within the classified ad section. I will discuss more about how to do it here soon. So keep tuned
Many Thanks for such a great question!
Svenja
Hi Mostafa,
I am glad to hear you find the info clear and precise! Please see my comment to John for more info regarding his eBay related question.
Many Thanks,
Svenja
Hi again Svenja
Really enjoying your blog, your writing is so clear and informative.
Talk soon
Ann
Oh Hi Ann,
It’s nice to have you stop by! I am glad you are enjoying my posts. Hope to be in touch again soon.
Many Thanks,
Svenja
Hi Svenja,
Wow, such great information you are providing! Is The Powerseller Freeway available, or is that the product you are working on? Would love to review it if you would like! I’ve been gone over 2 months and am so excited to see the things that are transpiring. Keep the great posts coming!
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
I am honored to hear that you find my posts informative and helpful
The Powerseller Freeway is coming of the hot press as we speak. I am working on a couple of highly informative interviews with an Ebay University Certified Instructor and another Powerseller so I am ALMOST done (what … 4 weeks behind schedule …)
Looking forward to be in touch again soon!
Many Thanks,
Svenja