What are the eBay selling secrets that so many common men and women use to earn a full time (or much more) income on eBay these days?
It’s obvious that you’ll need to be serious about your business if you want to succeed on eBay, just like in any other business endeavor. As such, there are many things to consider such as a good business proposal, marketing, customer service, etc.
However, for anyone trying to sell something on eBay, there are actually two “secrets” that will make a world of difference.
The eBay sales master knows that…
I remember once hearing a Chinese story about a master doll maker; His most talented apprentice had become a highly skilled doll maker. But, although his dolls were technically as good as those of the masters, something was still missing. Something so obvious anyone could tell the difference, but no one could pinpoint exactly what made master dolls that much more impressive.
Finally, on the master’s deathbed, the apprentice asked the master what his great secret was. Then the master took one of the dolls the apprentice had made, gave it a gentle push in the face so that the mouth and eyes turned up in a friendly smile.
This was the whole secret.
Now, like I said, there’s obviously more to it than this when it comes to selling professionally on eBay. But the two most critical items for any eBay auction are
– The description of the article.
– A good image of the article.
Getting this right sounds simple enough, but as a customer you will still see a lot of misspelled descriptions and unrepresentative images, or no images at all. In most cases, this will cause you as a potential buyer to think twice before placing a bid with this particular eBay merchant.
A description of the item you are selling
The most important part of any eBay listing is the item description. Get this right as a salesperson and you’ve already won half the battle.
It’s easy to understand that the description should “sell” the item for you, but don’t go overboard and write a “shopping channel” style sales pitch. In fact, the most important thing is that the buyer gets the best possible image of the product, without having it in their own hands.
Think about it for a moment, if you’re going to bid a lot of money for something. You definitely want to know what’s worth bidding on in the first place, right?
You want to know exactly what model, year, manufacturer, etc. the item in question is Is it used or new? Perfect condition or slightly damaged? If it’s some kind of clothing, is it definitely your size, etc.?
For whatever you sell, you have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself: “what would I like to know about this product?” Then, be as complete and honest as possible about the quirks of your items in your description. And if someone emails you a follow-up question, respond quickly. If you’re selling a certain type of product on an ongoing basis, it’s naturally also a good idea to keep track of additional questions you receive, to further improve your item descriptions.
A great description will get you the right kind of customers, who will feel comfortable buying from you. Make a really cryptic or completely misleading description and you risk ending up being billed as another eBay scammer.
An image is worth more than a thousand words?
As an eBay professional, you’ll definitely want to brush up on your photography skills. A good image will in no way cover up a bad item description, but it will definitely help tip the scales even more in your favor. Skipping the image is simply not an option in most scenarios. Trust me, the extra effort put into this will pay you back in spades.
It’s no coincidence that most eBay PowerSellers are also highly skilled photographers. Shopping for that sparkly dress or antique vase feels so much better after you’ve seen a photo of the actual product.
The only situation where you might use some type of stock photo is if you are selling some type of new product that will look the same no matter where the customer buys it. Still, if the manufacturer can’t provide you with attractive, detailed photos, you might want to take your own photos anyway.
Good digital cameras are cheap these days, so every eBay businessperson should definitely have one.
If long-term success on eBay is your goal, there are definitely a lot of other things you’ll need to learn. But mastering the item description and photo will definitely be one of the main goals on your journey to eBay selling mastery.
