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Preparing and Writing an Effective Listing

Once a buyer reaches your listing, it is important to keep them there.  You want to do everything possible not to have your potential buyer hit the back key and leave. These are a few tips for preparing and writing a basic listing.  Please note that these are only my personal suggestions and tips and not every point may fit your situation or business practice. Listing Title - make full use of the 55 characters available and be sure your listing title is keyword rich, use descriptive keywords, words that you think buyers might enter when they search for this item.  Buyers do not search for terms such as "Wow", "Look Here" or "Great Deal". Description Content - prepare a clear and concise listing description.  Potential buyers appreciate a well-written description and this will also reduce the need to ask questions, saving time for both you and the buyer.  Some items, such as collectibles, will require far more detailed information, but in general, keep to the point; you don’t want to lose your buyers interest.  Adding humour or a personal background story is ok, but only if appropriate and keep it brief. Description of Item - the following are a few basic examples of what you should include in the item description (and will not apply to every situation): Picture - include at least one good quality and properly sized image, certain items may require far more.  A picture is always worth a thousand words.  When preparing your image(s), please be mindful of those on dial up. Product Material - state what the item is made of Size and Weight - include size, dimensions and weight, this will ensure the item will meet your buyers needs and will also allow them to roughly verify your shipping costs if they are in doubt. Colour - state the colour, your picture may show a different colour on some browsers Condition and Packaging - state if it is new in the box, new, like new, excellent, gently used, good, fair, etc.  If you have the original packaging, be sure to state this. Flaws - identify any flaws, honesty is the best policy and will reduce the risk of an unhappy buyer.  Look for cracks, chips, marks, tears, discolouration, holes. Include a picture of the flaw in the listing. Written Material - if you are including manufacturer instructions, or user manuals, etc, be sure to include this in the listing Shipping Charges - provide the shipping cost (whenever possible) and the method of shipment.  When cost is not always possible to calculate in advance (i.e. varying locations and prices) advise buyer to contact you (eBay provides US sellers with a shipping calculator for their listings, this feature is not available to Canadian sellers).  If you offer combined shipping rates (highly recommended), be sure to state this in the listing. Handing Charges - actual packaging materials costs may be charged (commonly referred to as Shipping & Handling charges) and this is your choice.  Handling charges could include any additional costs to get a parcel in the mail; padded or specialty envelopes, boxes or tubes, bubble wrap or peanuts, brown kraft wrapping paper, shipping or packing tape, shipping labels, etc. and may also include the cost of gasoline for those who have to drive to their post office.  These are all legitimate expenses to include for handling.  What you cannot include is any payment surcharges, i.e. PayPal or credit card fees, and eBay fees have nothing to do with the handling or mailing of your parcel. Return Policy - include a return policy, this instills buyer confidence and may increase your sales potential, if you trust the quality of your items, so will the buyer. Payment Terms - be clear about the payment options you accept and what your terms are.  Offer options and terms that are convenient to both your situation as well as the majority of who your potential buyers may be.  Fewer payment options offered will reduce the number of potential buyers.  Avoid impossible terms such as must send payment by money order in 2 days.  Not everyone can get to a bank of post office right away. Avoid Negativity - your listing should maintain a positive tone, focus on providing your potential buyers with plenty of reasons why they should buy from you and not why they shouldn’t.  Including negative comments is the quickest way to make your buyer hit the back button.  Some examples are: "please do not bid unless you intend to pay", although this may be directed at your past non paying bidders, that has nothing to do with your current potential buyer, the majority of buyers do understand and do pay after they bid "if you don’t pay in three days, I will immediately file an Unpaid Item Dispute and give you negative feedback", filing an Unpaid Item Dispute is standard practice for non-paying buyers, it’s not really necessary to state this. Insurance - you should not include statements such as "if buyer doesn’t take insurance, the seller assumes no risk or liability" or "seller is not responsible for items once they have been mailed".  This is a common misunderstanding of the purpose and need for insurance.  Sellers take insurance to protect themselves, not the buyer.  If a buyer does not receive the item, whether or not insurance was available or purchased, they will file an Item Not Received and payment charge back (where applicable) and the dispute decision will be in their favour.  A seller will recoup their loss by filing a claim with their courier. Taxes - if you are registered to collect taxes, specify the tax status in the listing (GST/HST/PST or State taxes additional or included) Quick Tip - not sure where to start?  Search for items similar to yours on eBay to get additional information and ideas for your listing descriptions, look at several listings from other sellers and at the same time you can compare your item and prices to theirs. You are looking for ideas, not to copy a competitors listing word for word. Accuracy - take care with your spelling, grammar and capitalization, be accurate and maintain consistency.  Check both your listing description and title.  A little attention to detail reflects positively on your attitude as a seller. Format - use an easy to read format.  Too many different font face types, varying sizes and too many colours make a listing very difficult to read.  Also refrain from all centered text and all caps.  And watch your image set up (total width across the page) that it doesn't stretch the screen.  Any of these may cause the buyer to hit the back button or miss something important. Consistency - keep a consistent look throughout your listings, they should have a similar feel and look.  Learn more about branding. Keep it Simple - do try to refrain from using what I call the "foo-foo's" in your listing; animated images, images or text that flash, scrolling text, cursor effects, page transition coding, etc.  These may slow down the page loading (dial up users will usually hit the back button), but features like this are again going to make it difficult to read a listing. I hope these tips help you write an effective listing.

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