Winning At eBay Classifieds – How To Write Great Ads

by Joshua Lockhart You probably already know about eBay, but believe it or not, the core site has a secondary site: the eBay Classifieds. The site is quite a bit like Craigslist in functionality and purpose, but it has a much cleaner, fresher design. However, in order for your item to sell, you need to know how to sell it. Fortunately, MakeUseOf has pulled its resources together to develop a fantastic article about writing great ads for the eBay Classifieds. Disclaimer: we can’t guarantee your item sells. After all, this is all about what the consumer wants, and sometimes, the consumer doesn’t want the “five-star weed-eater used two blocks from the set of Star Wars Episode 3.” But we can try and help. Write A Spectacular Title “Cool camera for sale – $150? Oh man. I’m sure this thing is going to sell based on the title alone. Right… This is one of the most generic, vague titles ever, but for some reason, there are people out there who – for whatever reason – believe that it’s enough. Do they not realize that there are different types of cameras out there? Fact: when you go to a camera store, there aren’t hundreds of white boxes on uniform shelves with the word “CAMERA” written on the box. “L@@K CAMERA 4 SALE CHEEP GONNA GO FAST NOW $$$ AMERICA COMMERCE NEW USED HURRY BUY!!!!!1111!!1!” Enough said. When you write out a title for an eBay classified ad, you can drastically improve your listing by specifically writing out the details of the item. Think of it this way: the title is merely a summary of your listing as a whole. How can you condense things into five to eight words? Try this title on for size: “Canon 60D Camera (Body Only) – Used, Good Condition.” Boom. It’s concise, informative, and easy to understand. If the seller knows what he’s looking for, then he’s already likely searching for these terms, too. With that said, you are not only providing a descriptive listing right out the gate, but you are also guessing ahead of time what buyers will likely be entering in the search box. Be Honest About The Item “This item is really nice! Minor scratch here and there – but really nice!” “Item has a slight dent, but it works just fine!” “Paint slightly chipped – runs okay!” Remember back when you were a kid, and you broke something of your parents’ that was very important to them? When it was time to face the music, you probably came up with an excuse that’s slightly like the ones above: “Sorry I broke the china, Dad. But… I was able to piece it back together with some super glue!” Yep. That’s about what these kinds of ads sound like. Actually, that’s exactly what these ads sound like. If there’s a problem, be up front about it. Don’t try to make it sound as if it’s better than it actually is. I once called about a Craigslist ad for a car earlier this year. The guy told me there was a slight dent on side of the vehicle. After checking it out, I discovered that this dent was actually an entirely missing side of the front fender. Oh, and perhaps this was supposed to distract me from the gigantic crack in the windshield. And the fact that the car reeked of smoke. Or maybe that the guy had only owned the car for a couple of days and was trying to get rid of it as quickly as possible. Hm. Anyway, if there’s a flaw, be blunt about it. Don’t try to cover it up, but don’t make it overbearing either. Something like this could work: “Small dent about the size of a baseball on the driver’s side of the car.” Relatively speaking, the dent is small. You also give the potential eBay classifieds buyer an idea of what they can expect by doing this. It’s as easy as that. Make It Easy To Understand When writing out the specs of your item, make things clear to your buyer-base. Furthermore, make the description unique to the item. How long has it been in use? Is there anything wrong with it? Is there anything interesting about this particular model? If you use a stock description written by the original manufacturer, then you aren’t really doing anything for potential buyers. Chances are that they have already read this description somewhere else, so you are only repeating what they already know. In fact, because they read that description, it’s probably the reason they are even wanting to buy your item in the first place. Give your audience something new to look at, and clarify what it is that your selling: “This lawn mower has slightly worn blades (two years’ use), is red with a five-inch long, narrow scratch on the right side, and has new tires. Will come with a full tank of gas.” That’s clear, isn’t it? It’s honest, provides a decent understanding of the item, and explains the condition. Could I have been more detailed? Always, but this will work for our purposes. Conclusion You may have not tried out the eBay Classifieds, but as aforementioned, it’s quite similar to Craigslist. In fact, all of the above tips could directly apply to Craigslist! Give it a try, test them out, and see if they enhance your sales. Have you used any of the above methods for writing a description? What other eBay classified ad tips do you have to offer? Source: www.makeuseof.com