A bewildering phenomina has inspired me to offer this advice to those who short change on an item's description or fill thier pages with useless personal or background info that doesn't relate to the item- Stop it! your discouraging bidders, leaving out valuable selling points, and forcing potential bidders to ask questions that you could have easily presenting in your listing!
This practice is just as prevalent with the experianced seller as well as the novice, so these tips come from my buying fustrations and having to waste my time with the ask a seller a question link.
1) ALWAYS give an item(s) size, shape, style, color(s),dimentions, length, width, ect... and use inches/feet if your an american lister- we don't use the metric system here and alot of people have trouble converting measurements that are metric- some examples- clothes, jewelry, shoes- even if its not marked, try it on and give it your best guess!
2) A picture is not worth a thousand words on Ebay! Don't assume your picture will tell the story, even better pictures can distort color and relative size dimentions- hats off to the listers who put objects to show scale sizes (commonly US coins)- always for your best intrests still mention colors, unshown defects, makers marks and brand names, again shape and size- and anything else that helps identify and authenticate the item your selleing!
3) Like I've said don't make a potentail buyer have to ask any questions from you- you can have a brief,consise listing and still cover all the basics- I personally don't like to waste my time asking a question and then waiting for a response- others don't too!- make sure your details are stated- what payment types you take,shipping costs (or calculator- its free!) reasonable seller's terms, refund policy(if any) and if you allow local pick-ups of your items- we all like to save on shipping! The more detail, the less the hassle or misunderstadings- pre fill out those inserts on your Ebay description area, you will not only save time on future listings, but you'll always have those details posted on all your auctions.
4) Just the facts Mam! Honestly most people don't care about previous owners, location/place obtained, possible age, just recently returned from..., my mother collected, a huge estate, ect,ect..., need I go on? If I want your item I want to know about it and not muck else- stick to the item and add as much detail/description as possible, one very successfull Native American jewelry/artifact seller I know constantly gets above average prices on her auctions- every time! Why? because she sticks with the details and leaves out the B.S.! return buyers praise her simple but factual listings and policies and know what to expect in the future with her!
5) A little embellishment in the title or description can help- dig out that thesarus and use some fancy adjectives to describe the merits of your item- but be carefull! there's a big difference between sprucing up a listing and attributing certian styles, periods, famous artists/designers and blatant brand fraud- there are a myriad of cheap, imitation/fake items out there (can you say MADE IN CHINA) for almost anything that sells for over $ 25.00 you people know who you are- Tiffany, David Yurman, WATCHES, certian Handbag brands, and hate to rain on you Sports Memorabilia sellers but the latest FBI counterfeiting report states that at least 50% OF ALL SPORTS AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES are fake! (heck they even had a cable special on it) be carefull when making an authenticity claim with newer, high end items unless your a factory authorized reseller with a certificate on file, and yes buyers, reciepts can be easily faked as well!
6) And finally, If your selling an item and your unfamiliar with it (I've had some myself) try Googling it for info, or looking at other listings (if possible) like what you've got for info- and as a last resort just say in your listing you don't know and ask your fellow Ebayers for help- (some of you do this already!) you'd be suprised to find that there's always some one out there who knows! and thanks to those out there who have selflessly given me info on my items and helped my final $ amounts!
I hope this simple guide is helpful to one person out there- wether its the new, little guy or the powerseller- if so pass it on and help me cut the clutter from listings- now if we could just do something about people who list in the wrong catagories....
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