Here are a few simple but important things to remember when you are writing your auction and store listings for selling on ebay!!!

#1 Title - Your title is so important to draw potential customers to your listing! The information you put in your title should  pertain to your item, don't waste space on things like: CUTE or WOW. You need info such as model #, size, color, new/used, line name, brand name etc... You should also include keywords. If you are not sure which keywords to use, search sold listings for your item and see which ones sold the best. What are the common words they used to draw customers to their listing?

#2 Description - Write a total and complete description of your item. Include any and all information that you can think of. Be totally honest with your description. If you are selling a book and there are some pages written on or torn put that info in the description. Make your item appealing, talk about the benfits, but always include the things that are wrong with the item! Leave the description on a good note (something positive about the item). My last thing about the description, someone once told me this: Write your listing like there are no pictures (in other words, write your description in such detail that they can imagine the item without ever looking at a picture). That is great advice!!!

#3 Pictures - Get a good digital camera and take LOTS of pictures!!! I personally have the ebay picture manager service (there is a small monthly fee). I get the 1st picture free like everyone does but then I can copy and paste into my description as many pictures as I want to at NO extra cost (if you don't have the picture manager or something like it, you are only allowed 12 pictures at the cost of 15 cents each after the free one). A few tips about picture taking would be:

* always use outdoor light or extra lamps for as much light as possible

* use dark poster board for light colored items and white poster board for darker items

* always crop your pictures (other items or people in the picture are distracting)

* take lots of pictures of each item you are listing

Another piece of advice given to me: Put your pictures in like there was no description. In other words, Let your pictures speak for themselves. Have enough pictures that if there was no description the pictures would tell the potential customer everything they needed to know about that item.

# 4 Payment - You need to have a payment section at the bottom of your listing. These specifics should be included to avoid problems or a bunch of emails to answer because people want to know this info before they bid/purchase.

* What forms of payment you accept. The most common are: Paypal (this is the most popular form of payment on ebay), money orders & checks. If you are going to accept checks and/or money orders, will there be a hold to clear your bank? Also state the fee if their payment is returned for any reason. If you ship international, I strongly suggest you only accept paypal as payment from those buyers! There are several reasons, but here are a couple:  The banks often charge high fees to cash checks and money orders from outside the USA and it could take weeks to get a payment in the mail coming from outside the US. Another thing to watch for: BEWARE, if a potential buyer wants to purchase from you but says you must send it out the same day they buy it (they often say they will even pay extra if you will send it the same day). This is a possible scam! They may very well have stolen someone elses credit card info and are using it to purchase items. I always put in my listings that outside the USA could take as long as 7 days to send out. Protect yourself!!!

* When payment is expected and will you wait for payment so the customer can combine shipping on multiple purchases. If you do combine shipping, how long do they have (EX.: combined shipping on auctions ending within xxx amount of days of each other).

* Do you require insurance or is it optional. If required is it already included in the shipping fee or is that an extra fee.

* Tell the customers how often you mail your items out. Tip: When you do send their package it's good customer service to send them an email stating that their order has been sent.

* Will you allow returns? If you do allow them, under what circumstances and is there a restock fee. Will you refund shipping charges too or cost of item only. If you do not allow returns, state that too (if it is in the auction you will avoid a lot of problems after the listing ends).

Here are a few extra tips to help you save money when listing on ebay!!!

~~Watch your starting bid or sell it now price. Ebay charges different amounts depending on your price you charge or start with. If you start an auction at 99 cents instead of 1.00 you will save 15 cents on your listing fee. If you start at 9.99 instead of 10.00 you will save 25 cents on your listing fee. Those may not seem like large amounts but they will add up quick!! I probably save over 100.00 a month by watching my starting/BIN fees. If you want to look at all the price breaks, you can check the ebay seller fees page.

~~Consider opening an ebay store. It is free for the first 30 days then there is a fee after that. To list in the store is just a few cents for a 30 day listing (unless you add upgrades). Ebay charges a higher final value fee on the store listings but you still come out better as long as you keep quite a few items in your store. You will still need to do some auctions or BIN's to draw customers to your store.

~~Allow customers to combine shipping on items as long as they pay all at 1 time and that will save you on paypal fees (Paypal charges 30 cents for each payment received + a percent so you would save 30 cents for the extra payment received).

I hope this guide has been useful in helping you start writing your ebay listings and to save you a little money when you list them! If  this guide was helpful please click Yes below, thank you hope you have a GREAT day/evening :-)

Ebay user ID: arlene07