A picture is worth a thousand words, but a well-written title and item description are crucial to a lucrative eBay auction. As both buyers and sellers of vintage clothing on eBay, we've seen lots of listings and learned quite a bit from others' mistakes.

Some listings turn us off because of what is or isn't said in them. Certainly we can ask the seller for more information, but you know how it is; it's easier to simply find another listing that provides enough detail to make us want to bid. Other listings are all but impossible to find because of poor keywords and end up selling for the minimum bid or not at all. Do get as many bidders as possible and don't let your auctions get passed over--take a look at these tips!

DON'T use words with unpleasant connotations. We're sure many sellers don't even realize it, but when they describe the chest measurement of a garment as so many inches "armpit to armpit," we can't help being reminded of stinky body odor and general squalor. Think about it...when people refer to a place as "the armpit of the nation," it is the opposite of a compliment. So you do NOT want potential buyers thinking along those lines, even subconsciously! We prefer a deodorized term such as "underarm," or the neutral "armhole" or "under the sleeves."

DO use a spellchecker and/or dictionary. This is especially important for the title. People won't necessarily search on misspellings of an item name, so if you want to attract bidders, make sure you have the correct spelling. If you don't, some bargain-hunter might very well get your fab '70s gaucho pants for $0.99 by searching on "guacho." Also consider that bidders willing to bid top dollar for an item will think twice when they see lots of misspellings in a listing because it looks like the seller doesn't know what they're doing.

DO include common misspellings and alternate spellings. Not to contradict what we just said about searches, there are sometimes common misspellings of items that eBay's search engine spellchecker won't catch, so include them in your title or subtitle because chances are that a few serious bidders WILL be searching on those misspellings, such as "Burberry" instead of "Burberrys."

DON'T bother with unneccessary keywords in a title. For example, "Authentic Gucci" doesn't impress anyone more than "Gucci." You should certainly explain in the description why you know it's a real Gucci, but in the title simply say "Gucci" and use the extra space to add keywords that people will actually search on, such as "Vintage," '60s," "Sixties," "party shoes," "gold leather," "size 10," "Large," etc. You only have so much room to cram in those keywords; make sure they're all working for you.

DO make an effort to date your vintage items. It's frustrating for vintage buyers to slog through listings that vaguely state an item is "vintage" without backing up that claim, especially when the photos show items that look suspiciously "vintage-inspired" rather than vintage. If you can't name a decade or era for your item, explain in detail why you feel justified in calling it vintage and let buyers judge whether it's worth the risk of bidding on it. Is it because it came from your grandmother's attic? Grandma could have bought it 5 years ago, so please give buyers more information. It's also extremely helpful to describe the label(s)--labels have changed over the years and are good indicators of age for collectors.

DO include thorough measurements. So often we see listings that mention size and leave it at that. How frustrating, since size varies from era to era, from country to country and from manufacturer to manufacturer. It is true that men's sizes have remained fairly constant over the years, but in this world of S/M/L/XL, many American men don't know whether they're a 42 Regular or a 46 Regular, so your description of that sharp 42R three-button suit will just go over their heads unless you provide measurements. If you allow international bidders, you might miss out on a high bid from a British Mod if you fail to give those suit measurements. Thorough measurements are also extremely important for shoes because they're the trickiest thing to fit--you can alter a suit but a shoe can only be stretched so far. Be sure to include the width across the ball of the foot.

Thanks for reading our guide and happy selling! Don't forget to let us know if this guide was helpful--see below.

--Kathleen at World of Style Vintage