This guide includes written and visual examples for new sellers who wish to maximize their profits when selling their personal collection of BOYDS BEARS on eBay.  The guide will give examples of what collectors look for in the actual item, auction title tips, popular searches, as well as hints on taking appealing photos.

EXAMINE!

Before even thinking of a write-up, look the plush or resin over carefully.  Remember that it is important to state any flaws, despite how minor they are.  This will prevent a disappointed buyer from giving you negative feedback  Grab a notepad, write the item's name at the top of a page, and jot down notes regarding condition or anything you notice about the item.  There are different things collectors look for in plush or resin.

PLUSH:

• Odor
• Frayed Ribbons
• Stains
• Rips or Tears
• Loose or Ripped Stitches
• Height
• Hangtags
• Dust residue
• Style Number if printed on tag
• Displayed?  Not Displayed?  Played with?

RESIN

• Chips or cracks.  (Inspect carefully on all blades of grass and bear fur tips)
• Repairs (Check resin with blacklight.  Glue will glow.)
• Original Box and COA?  (Certificate of Authenticity)
• Edition and Number
• Bottom Quote
• Style Number

A lot of collectors are very picky about the pieces they add to collections.  So be certain to mention the good as well as the bad.  Not only mention the presence of tags and boxes, also add their condition.  Many collectors do not want wrinkled tags, glue marks, or boxes with wear.

NAME UNKNOWN

If you do not know the name of your item, it may be beneficial to see if you can find out.  Here are some ways.

1. TUSH TAGS:  Look at the last year on the tag that is sewn onto the bear's body.  This is the year that your bear came off the assembly line.
   
2. LOOK THROUGH VALUE GUIDES:  If you have a large collection, it is beneficial to invest in a current value guide.  If you find a bear that looks the same, compare height, and make sure the last date you noted on the tush tag falls between the issues and retired date of the item. 
   
   The most complete and up-to-date guide is the Tracker.  The older Checkerbee guides are great if you have an early plush or resin.  They are much thinner, obviously, since the number of produced bears increase from year to year!  These older guides are easy to just flip page by page to look for your item.  The oldest of the guides have plush and resin all in the same book!  Starting in 1999, plush and resin guides were separate.
   
   1998 Guide                                              1999 Plush Guide
      
   
3. REVIEW OTHER AUCTIONS:  Look through open or closed auctions and see if an established Boyds seller has sold an item like yours.
   
4. STYLE NUMBERS:  The older resins do not have the name of the piece on the bottom.  They only have a style number and quote.  You can look up style numbers in the back of collection value guides.
   
5. BOYDS COLLECTION BOARDS ON EBAY:  Ask the folks that know!  Find a Boyds board in the eBay Community pages.  Someone would be delighted to help you.
   

NAME STILL UNKNOWN?

There are times that even the best of the best can't help identify a plush.  (See example bunny above!)  In this case, you will advertise your item as "UNKNOWN" or "MYSTERY."

PHOTOGRAPHING

This is probably the second most important part of your auction.  Don't just point, shoot and download!  There are different methods of improving your photos and will, in-turn, improve your profits! 

1. SET UP A BACKDROP.  A non-busy background is more appealing and will enhance the visibility of your item.  Don't just have a plain "back," but make sure your backdrop comes forward on the "ground" so your entire bear is sitting in the plain color.  Also, some colors are not suited for certain items.  Example, black on black just doesn't work!  Dark bears work best on a light or colored background.  Light colored bears work best on black.  White bears sometimes lose their features on black.  In this event, using an actual color works.  Here are some examples of different color backdrops.
   
           
   
2. ZOOM:  Make sure to get as close-up of a shot as you can.  Don't stand across the room to photograph a bear in the center of the table.  Don't photograph in a display of other bears unless selling in lots.  (This may confuse the buyer into thinking they're getting everything pictured, or the other bears may downgrade the looks of the one actually on sale.)  If you can't get a close picture, use your computer's photo program to crop!  This makes the item appear closer and details are able to be seen.
   
3. USE EXTRA PICTURES:  If the item has something specific about it that you feel you have to mention in the description and it can't be seen in the photograph, SHOW IT!  If the item is signed, which generally increases value, photograph the signature!
   
    
   
   If there is a flaw to an item, photograph a close-up of that flaw (stain, tear, loose stitch, etc).  Don't have the mindset of, "This flaw is not a big deal."  Let the buyer decide for themself if it's a big deal or not!  You can go one step further and in your pc's photo program, draw arrows to the flaw and label it right on the photo.
   
         
   
   How does emphasizing flaws raise profits?  If you don't reveal your flaws and just say, "Near mint," your auction may not end with a winning bidder.  Why?  A buyer doesn't want to have to e-mail for specifics and wait for photos several hours later.  Also, by revealing flaws, you are showing that you are not misrepresenting your product, and that you are trustworthy.  Buyers prefer to know what they're buying than be unexpectedly disappointed with the purchase of a "good condition" bear.
   
   If the item you are selling is a Boyds 1E resin, and is one of the first produced, show a picture of the bottom!  If you're getting rid of all your old 1E's, buyers may just not believe all of them are really 1E's.  Prove it with a photo!
   
   
   
4. DON'T STEAL OTHER SELLER'S PHOTOS OR DESCRIPTIONS.  Buyers want to see the face/expression/condition of the item YOU are selling.  Plus, if you're using another seller's photo without their permission, you are subjecting yourself to a lawsuit.  If you anger the wrong seller, and they want to make a point, they have legal rights to sue you for copyright infringment.  If they report you to eBay, your listing will be ended.  Multiple violations can cause temporary or permanent suspension.
   
   

AUCTION TITLES

Your title is really the most important part of your auction!  Even a kick-butt photo won't get you a sale if buyers don't find the item!  Besides listing the item in the correct category, the auction title needs to contain key search words for maximum exposure!  Just because you listed an item in a very specific category (Dolls and Bears -> Bears -> Boyds -> Retired -> Cats), don't just put the name of the plush cat in the title.  CHESTER L. SNICKLEPUSS.  Here's why:

KEY SEARCH WORDS

Buyers new to eBay may not search by the category method of finding an item.  They may just type words into the search box.  Also, a lot of eBay buyers are new collectors and may not know names of retired plush.  They will simply search for the particular items they are searching for.  For example,

• Boyds Treasure Box
• Boyds Cat
• Baby Boyds
• Boyds Mohair
• Boyds Resin
• Boyds Plush
• Boyds Christmas
• Boyds White Tag
• Boyds Exclusive
  

DON'T ABBREVIATE

So many sellers will put the full name of an item and abbreviate the kind of item: "treas box," "excl," etc.  This decreased your exposure.  Why?  Some collectors may be looking to add to a specific collection.  Maybe they are only looking for exclusive items.  In that case, they would not search for "EXC," they would search for the keyword "Exclusive."

Some abreviations can be added only in the case of having 4 or fewer letters left to use.  A few examples of these may be:

• BS (Bearstone)
• FS (Folkstone)
• DS (Dollstone)
• LE (Limited Edition)
• 1E (First Edition)
• FOB (Friends of Boyds)
• BBC (Boyds Bear Country)
• MWT (Mint with Tags)
• HTF (Hard to Find)
• RET (Retired)
  

If there are 5 or more letters left, try to think of extra adjectives or full words to put in the title that would have more search hits.  You can use colors of the animal, clothing, current value guide (cvg) prices, etc.  :

• Resin
• Plush
• Tags
• White tag
• cvg$204
• Rare
• Old face
• Signed
  

USE MOST NOTEWORTHY ATTRIBUTES:

If something is a first edition, be certain 1E is in the title.  If something is exclusive, make sure to put it in the title along with where it was exclusive.  (QVC, BBC, POG, GCC, etc.)  If it is signed, say so in the title!  Well, you get the idea...

USE ANIMAL SPECIFICS!

Instead of just listing a "Boyds Bear Chester L. Snicklepuss," make certain to include CAT.  As mentioned above under Key Search Words, some collectors are very specific.  They only want to look at cats, pigs, dogs, cows, bears, elephants, etc.  They may not have a certain name in mind, they may just want to see what's available.

Similarly, try to include "bear" in your title even when listing other animals.  There are several buyers that search for "Boyds Bear" to include all things created by Boyds!  Some items may have several different items associated with it.  For example, there may be a plush, resin, pin, votive and ornament by the same name!  This is when you may want to consider putting those particular words in, as well!  (In the case or ornaments, there are people that regularly search by the abbreviated "orn.") 

NOT QUITE ENOUGH SPACE?  DON'T WASTE IT!

Ebay has recently added plural searches to maximize a buyer's matches.  For instance, a seller used to have to list "Boyd/Boyds" to get the people that mistakenly searched for "Boyd's."  (With an apostrophe.)  Since then, most searches will give you the plural and singular forms of the item.  For instance, "bear" will bring up bear and bears.

Keep in mind, there are exceptions to the rule.  For instance, I have recently noticed that searching "wuzzie" will not bring up "wuzzies."  Just check to see if you can drop an "s" by searching current auctions for the word(s) you are using.  Otherwise, most searches will include plurals.

DON'T DON'T REPEAT YOURSELF!

You may do this without realizing it!  Your title is Boyds Bear Mohair Event Exclusive TEDDY B BEAR.  Notice what you've done wrong?  You've used space that was not necessary!  The name of the bear is "Teddy B. Bear."  Therefore, your search word "bear" is already included.  "Boyds Bear" is just repetitve and unnecessary.  Just use "Boyds" and use the extra space for another search word that may benefit you to produce more hits.

DESCRIPTIONS

COLORS/MEASUREMENTS/FLAWS:  There are many things buyers look for in descriptions.  This is where you take your notepad, and write down everything you noticed about the item.  Even though pictures "speak a thousand words," give them a little more!  Your photo may show the color of a bow or the fur, but state it anyway.  Some screens appear differently, and some cameras play funny games with photographs.  Give your best description of what the color really looks like.  For example, sometimes white can appear gray, black can appear silver-tipped (from flash), etc.  If you photo has any discrepancies from the camera and flash, say so!

DATES/NUMBERS/PRICES:  If you know the style numbers, state then!  If you know issue and retire dates, give them!  One of the most valueable pieces of information (especially if you are selling below retail) is the original retail price of the item!  If you know the name of the item, and have a Boyds value guide, it's easy to get this information.  New collectors like to learn as much as they can about the item!

ANY INTERESTING SPECIFICS:  If you are selling a Boyds Bear like Ace Bruin, that was seen in the film Flightplan, say so!  If your bear was signed by Gary in person, tell a little bit about it, or include a picture of him signing that item!  Fun and interesting facts may make your item seem more desireable.

Completing Your Listing

As for shipping, making terms, answering questions, packing, customer service, etc., please see other guides or eBay help.  This guide was written specifically for tips on titles, descriptions, and photographing BOYDS BEARS.  View successful listings to get ideas on what works best.

I hope you have learned valueable tips for starting or improving your Boyds listings!