Write the Right Description

If the listing title is the headline of your ad, the listing description is your ad's body copy. Which means it's time to put on your copywriter's hat and get down to the nitty-gritty details.

Take All the Space You Need

What makes for good copy? First, you have all the space you need, so say as much as you need to say. Unlike with the title description, you don't have to scrimp on words or leave anything out. If you can describe your item adequately in a sentence, great; if it takes three paragraphs, that's okay, too.

When you're writing the description for your ad, be sure to mention anything and everything that a potential bidder might need to know. Note any defects or imperfections of the item. Include your desired payment terms and your preferred shipping methods. If the object is graded or evaluated in any way, include that assessment in your description. In other words, include everything you can think of that will eliminate any surprises for the buyer.

First Things First

You should probably put the most important and motivating information in your initial paragraph because a lot of folks won't read any farther than that. Think of your first paragraph like a lead paragraph in a newspaper story: Grab 'em with something catchy, give them the gist of the story, and lead them into reading the next paragraph and the one after that.

The Bare Necessities

There are certain key data points that users expect to see in your item description. Here's the bare minimum you should include:

• Name (or title)

• Condition

• Age

• Original use (what you used it for)

• Value (if you know it)

• Important measurements, contents, colors, materials, and so on

• Any included accessories (including the original instruction manual, if you have it)

• Any known defects or damage

If you don't know any of this stuff, that's okayas long as you admit it. If you're not that familiar with the type of merchandise you're selling, just say so. Better to plead ignorance up-front than to have a more savvy buyer cause problems for you after the sale.

Describe ItAccurately

Because other users will be bidding on your item sight unseen, you have to make the process as easy as possible for potential bidders. That means describing the item as accurately as possible, and in as much detail as possible. If the item has a scratch or blemish, note it. If the paint is peeling, note it. If it includes a few non-original parts, note it. Bidders don't have the item to hold in their hands and examine in person, so you have to be their eyes and ears.

That's right; you need to describe the item in painful detail, and be completely honest about what you're selling. If you're not honest in your description, it will come back to haunt youin the form of an unhappy and complaining buyer.

Stress Benefits, Not Features

Although you need to be descriptive (and in some collectibles categories, you need to be obsessively so), it doesn't hurt to employ a little marketing savvy and salesmanship. Yes, you should talk about the features of your item, but it's even better if you can talk about your product's benefits to the potential buyer.

Let's say you're selling a used cordless phone, and the phone has a 50-number memory. Saying "50-number memory" is stating a feature; saying instead that the phone "lets you recall your 50 most-called phone numbers at the press of a button" is describing a benefit. Remember, a feature is something your item has; a benefit is something your item does for the user.

Break It Up

You should include as much descriptive copy as you need in your listing, but you should also make sure that every sentence sells your item.

And if your listing starts to get a little long, you should break it into more readable chunks. Use separate paragraphs to present different types of information, or just to break one long paragraph into several shorter, more readable ones. You can even use eBay's formatting options to use different type sizes and colors for different portions of your listing description.

Caution

Don't forget to spell-check and proofread your listing. Bad grammar and misspellings can cause potential bidders to doubt your veracity and even to totally disregard your auction.

Don't Forget the Fine Print

Breaking up your description enables you to put a lot more info into your description. When it comes to informing potential buyers, it's impossible to be too complete. (And if you don't define a detail, the buyer willin his or her mind.) Don't assume that buyers know anything; take the time to spell out all the details about payment and shipping and the like.

Here is some of the "fine print" you might want to include at the bottom of your item description:

• Bidding restrictions, such as "No bidders with negative feedback," "Bidders with positive feedback of at least 10 only," or "U.S. buyers only."

• Payment restrictions, such as "U.S. funds only," "No personal checks," or "Personal checks take two weeks to clear."

• Shipping/handling charges (if you know them) and restrictions, such as "Buyer pays shipping/handling" or "Shipping via USPS Priority Mail only."

• The grade of your item, if your item has been graded (discussed later in this chapter). Note that this information can also be included in the main body of the item description, as well as in the fine print section.

• Information about your other auctions.

Include Alternate Wording

The very last things you can put into your listing, at the bottom, are some extra words. Remember, not every person uses the same words to describe things. If you're selling a plastic model kit, for example, some users will search for model, others for kit, still others for statue or figure or styrene. Although you can't put all these variations into the item title, you can throw them in somewhere in the descriptionor, if all else fails, at the bottom of the item description. (Remember, they'll be picked up by eBay's search engine if they're anywhere in the description area.)

While you're at it, throw in any alternative spellings you can think of. For example, you might know that the correct spelling of Spider-Man includes the hyphen in the middle, but less-informed users might search for the unhyphenated Spiderman. Whichever variation you use in your title, throw the other one in at the bottom of the description.