As a business owner of many years, operating a web design businesses, I see online auction sellers/retailers making so many mistakes on how they market their products and themselves....

I want to say how I feel with auction sellers and their attitude of how they sell online. Just because the majority of sellers use pre-made auction templates, scrolling Marquees and lots of fancy add-ons (They wont't help sell a $100.00 Item)! Fact is templates with tiled distracting backgrounds and with shocking colours, does not mean that it is the correct way to do it! To be very honest and up front, the potential buyer (s) "YOURS MAYBE" will not read your whole listing. He or She did not pick your listing to see how artistic you are. They are looking for a item (s), maybe a good or great deal, but not a jased up listing. They are not buying your Auction Template or Designs, they want your ITEM (s).

Too much HTML is TOO MUCH. There are still plenty of people out there who either don't have access to high speed connections or because of cost, choose not to use them. Try to make your page user friendly to all your potential buyers. Also, it can be tremendously distracting. You want people to notice your item, not all the "bells and whistles" on the page. It's okay to have a "pretty" page using templates and HTML but I've seen lots and lots of pages that needed to be much less busy.

We are happy to share in detail on how using many of our layouts, can help you improve the way you sell online and market yourself and your business. We compose custom pages, many one of a kind and not just templates! We also compose absolute full page backgrounds. We can help you maybe sell better!

Have ideas? Need help with a new design (s)? We can maybe help make your online business grow! Contact us.................

A few points to consider when listing and hopeing to sell your item.

Shipping: List your shipping and handling charges up front. Many buyers that are reading listings, "Yours Maybe", and see "unspecified" in the column where shipping is normally listed or can be calculated might just bypass what you have listed and may not even click on the ad to see if perhaps it's listed somewhere in there. (Many potential buyers do want to know the shipping cost before they read your description)! See More On Shipping and Handeling Below!

Description: Be honest and describe your item (s) in detail. It's amazing how many times potential buyers clicked on an ad only to find just one or two sentences about the item. It's less work for you the seller and the buyer if they don't have to email you over and over. That can get old fast, especially if the item is ending soon. (POOF, maybe you just lost a sale)! When you're listing an item (s) think: "What would I want to know if I was buying this item (s)?". Your buyers can't pick it up and look at it or read the label and oftentimes unless you've included something in the photo that shows scale, they can't know the true size. Please keep that in mind when doing the description you are selling on eBay and not a Flea Market or WalMart! (The buyer has to depend on you)!

Photo (s):. A good photo is GOLD ~ MONEY ~ A SALE.  Your photos are the key to your item (s). They open a door for your buyer to actually see what you are selling. The more photos you show, the better your chances of selling your item. eBay knows this as well, that's why you can use there service and post more. (That is where the custom pre-made auction template pay off. You can buy just one pre-made and use it over and over again. You can also add as many photos as you like for FREE! List a lot? In a short time you will return your investment on just one pre-made template.

Feedback: I'm sure your not the only seller or buyer who expects to receive reciprocal feedback within no more than 2 days. If you sell a lot of items then there are ways to make it so that automatic positive feedback is left after positive feedback has been left for you. Also, you are heading off emails from buyers asking "where's my feedback?" and thats less work for you.

You should always leave feedback in a timely manner. A honest eBay buyer don't mind if you wait until they leave you feedback first. They value there buyer feedback just as much as you value yours as a seller. I NEVER buy twice from someone who failed to leave me feedback or who took days to get around to it. I also check the seller's "feedback left" and if they are lazy about it then I'm probably not going to buy. (It's a good idea to state your terms as how you post your feedback) Keep in mind, once it's posted by you or the buyer it can't be un done.

Feedback follow up: So you ran out of space to say what you had to say, do a few follow ups. You can reply to your feedback received as well as the feedback you left. (This works both ways)!

More on shipping and facts:

If you only ship once or twice a week then state that clearly in the auction and your buyer will understand why they didn't get there item in the time frame they expected. Hopefully they know at times that it's not the sellers fault how long the post office takes to deliver but when they check the postal stamp and see that it wasn't mailed for 3 to 7 days or more and nothing was stated in the auction that the seller only gets to the post office once or twice a week then that's when it's a problem. More than likely they are not going to buy from you again, even if it is not their normal practice. Most buyers are not going to look at your sales and see that you've had a good week in sales and are getting to it as quickly as possible. All they are going to notice is THEIR sale. (You just opened the door as well for a NEGATIVE FEEDBACK POSTING ON YOU)!

If your buyer paid for priority mail then mail there item within two days. If your buyer paid priority then they are expecting to receive the item in no more than 4 or 6 days after the payed you.

Communication: Communication is key. Your buyer may like to know upfront what you expect of them as a buyer and what they can expect from you as a seller. They might just appreciate an email letting them know there item was shipped. This also will help you should the post office be slow in delivering.

You should answer messages about your auctions in a timely manner. You want to sell and obviously they are interested or they wouldn't have bothered to message you. Try to answer those as quickly as possible. We all lead busy lives and sometimes it's hard to get to everything, but as a buyer, if you haven't returned there message within 12-24 hours or so then chances are that they have moved on and you just lost a sale

We hope this may have helped a few and keep your listings happy!.