How To Create eBay Listings That Sell

If you are thinking of selling your things on eBay, then you need to learn how to make a good eBay listing. Selling things on the internet is a great way to make money fast online, but in order to sell, you need to be smart about your technique. That means putting in a bit of effort and making sure you follow these simple guidelines to make sure your eBay listing sells.

Include a high quality image

Think about it, would you buy something online without knowing what it looks like? Taking a high quality image shouldn’t be too difficult these days; you can take a decent image on your smartphone in seconds. Make sure it’s clear, has the right amount of lighting, has a neutral background and represents the item well. You get one free image for your listing, so make it a good one.

If you want to show the product off from more than one angle, then consider making a photomontage that includes multiple images. You can use free apps on your phone and it might just help you to make that sale. Alternatively, you can upload additional images to a photo-sharing site (such as Flickr) and link to that for free. Quality is more important that quantity and three images is usually enough. eBay has best practice guidelines to give you a better idea of what works best for their site.

Do your research

To find out how much you can charge for your listing, you should do bit of research first. You don’t want to end up charging way less than you could have gotten. To find out how much people have previously managed to sell their items for, you should look up the item you are looking to sell and tick the sold listings option.

This shows you how much items ended up being sold for, so you get a good idea of how much people are willing to pay. Not only will this help you to get what you deserve, but it will also stop you from overcharging so you are more likely to get the sell.

Create a good reputation

If you’re just starting out, it may be more difficult to get people to buy any high priced items. You need to create an established account to earn people’s trust. An easy way to do this is to start off by selling low priced items so you are more likely to get buyers. Do what you can to make it a positive experience and encourage feedback. Build up your reputation to make it easier to sell more expensive goods down the line.

Use the right words

If you want people to find your products and buy them, you need to choose your words wisely. You want your item to appear in the most searches, so use the right keywords. Instead of just writing “Playstation 3”, try being more precise with something like “Sony Playstation 3 Super Slim 500 GB Charcoal Black Console with games”.

You want to be descriptive, but try to keep your title concise and choose your keywords carefully. When it comes to the description, you want to make sure it’s well written, clear, informative and to the point. Keep it short and make it easy to read by using bullet points and concise sentences.

I don’t know about you, but that listing hurt my eyes. It’s awkward to read and doesn’t do anything to help the seller. I’d rather they stuck to one colour, one font and used bullet points to make it easier to read. You can use eBay templates, but these are probably only necessary if you’re selling your own branded products or thinking of starting an eBay shop to make real money online.

Be honest

If you want to gain a good reputation, you need to be honest in your listings. Is there a scratch or dent on the item you are selling? If so, be upfront about it. It may mean selling it for a lower value, but hiding any damage will cost you more in the long run. Remember, a good reputation can help to boost your sales in the future.

Pick the best start and end times

The best time for your particular item will somewhat depend on your target audience, but generally daily peak visiting hours are between 8pm and 10pm. The weekly peak visiting time is on a Sunday evening. Your best bet is to schedule your auction to end on Sunday at 9pm to get the largest possible audience and increase your chance of selling.

While these tips are geared towards selling items on eBay, most of them are relevant to any website where you can list things to sell online, such as Craigslist and Gumtree. While eBay isn’t the only online shopping site you can use to make money online from home, it’s still the biggest name in online sales. It’s the perfect place to get started, especially if you’re just looking to get rid of a few old things.