If you had to choose between two identical items, would you choose the one with a brief, bare-bones description, or would you choose the item whose seller told a story that caught your attention and made you want to learn more?

It's easy, when you're preparing your listing, to take an extra minute to write a description that grabs the attention of potential buyers. You can give a detailed physical description of whatever you're selling, including any markings, year of copyright, or other details, but that little bit of extra information may make the difference in "bid or no bid."

History is the key to an interesting description. If you know anything about your item, who it belonged to, where it originated, etc., this is the time to add it. In one of my recent sales of a piece of vintage Native American jewelry, I wrote a very long, detailed account of who the piece had belonged to, who made it, and listed everything on it. Since it was a treasure/fetish necklace with hundreds of separate pieces, this took a little time, but it was worth it. One bidder sent a message commenting on the "great description,"and that was proof to me that the extra time was very well worth it. In the listing, I told potential buyers that the piece had been a gift from a well-known artist to a woman prominent in the local Native American community, and it was made up of antique trade beads, coins, an old brass thimble, teeth, claws and bones from several sources, bells, shells, and gemstones. Some of the trade beads were given to the artist's grandfather by the Indian outlaw, Billy Bowlegs, and many of the other items were from the dance regalia of friends of the original owner. As a result of the interesting history of the piece, it did very well at auction and the buyer now owns a piece of southeastern Indian history.

If you know anything interesting about the item you're selling, tell the buyer. If you have any personal thoughts or opinions about the item, tell that also.  Which of the following do you find most interesting?

"Old planter, slight crazing in the inside glaze."

or

"Old planter, used by my late mother in her first grade classroom during the 1950s and 1960s. It sat on one of the tables where her students worked and played, and it survived years of enjoyment by them with only a bit of crazing on the interior glaze, probably caused by overzealous watering of the many plants that grew in it over the years."

Give a little thought to your listings, and whenever possible, let them tell a story that goes further than a brief description. Add some history, and your bids are guaranteed to multiply!