Section 130. Write the Title and Description

130. Write the Title and Description

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

129 Start the Sell Form and Choose a Category

SEE ALSO

131 Format Your Description with eBay's HTML Editor

More than anything, what sells your item is its title and description. The title draws attention to your auction, and after people are on the auction page, the description you've written for the item should be so appealing that they end up bidding.

130. Write the Title and Description

That's the theory, anyway. In this section, you learn how to fill in the title and descriptionand get tips on how to write titles and descriptions that sell.

1.	Write the Title If you haven't started to fill out the Sell Your Item form yet, back up to 129 Start the Sell Form and Choose a Category to learn how to begin the process of creating an auction listing. In the Item Title text box of the Sell Your Item form, type the title for the item you want to sell; this is what people see when they browse through categories or do a search, so choose the title with care. You have a limit of 45 characters , so make every word count.
2.	Make Sure the Title Is Eye Catching Selecting a title can be the single most important thing you'll do to ensure that your item sells. Literally millions of items are for sale on eBay, and if your auction doesn't have a title that's both clear and catches people's attention, you won't sell your itemor, if you do, it'll be for less money than it otherwise would have sold. If your title doesn't catch the eyes of people browsing or searching the site and doesn't include specific, accurate information about what you're selling, you won't hook the buyers . So, be sure to write an eye-catching title. For details, go to 156 About Writing Effective Ad Copy . TIP The words in titles are used when people search through eBay looking for an item to buy. So the title should include as many descriptive keywords as possible. That way, your auction will be found by the most people. Above all, make sure you're including adjectives that describe exactly what you're selling. Are you selling a real elephant or an elephant statue?
3.	Write the Description In the Item Description text box, type your description. This is the hardest part for most people. You must be as descriptive as possible, so bidders have as complete an understanding of what's for sale as possible. But you also have to do a bit of selling here to give bidders a reason to want to buy, and you don't want to mislead in any way. Be as complete as you can when describing the itemthis is an instance when more is better. Because bidders can't physically examine the goods you're selling, they're going to spend a lot of time reading your words. Take care to use words that describe the physical condition of what you're selling, such as poor, fair, good, new , and so on. (Again, be absolutely accurate here and don't try to shade the truth in your favor; otherwise, you'll have some very unhappy buyers and will get a bad reputation as well.) TIP eBay lets you use HTML in your description. HTML is the language of the Web and lets you use different fonts and colors and add backgrounds, pictures, graphics, and more. Auctions that use HTML are much more eye catching and appealing than plain-text auctions. But if you go crazy adding too many fonts, pictures, and colors, you'll turn off potential bidders. For more information about how to use HTML to create an auction, turn to 157 Jazz Up Text and Headlines with HTML and 158 Colorize and Change Fonts and Add Effects with HTML . Also, 131 Format Your Description with eBay's HTML Editor shows how you can use HTML without knowing how to code.
4.	Make Sure the Description Sells Your Item Your auction page is your online storefront. In the same way that a store must be appealing and its goods put nicely on display, your description must be laid out nicely and clearly and should be enticing enough that people want to buy what you're selling. Follow this advice, and you'll go a long way toward writing the best descriptions to help sell your items at auctions: Be comprehensive in your description The more details you provide, the more likely someone is to bid on what you have up for sale. Make sure to list all the item's features, especially anything that makes it unique. You're not limited in how much space you use for your description, so feel free to use the space. Be enthusiastic in your description If you're not excited about the item you have for sale, how do you think the bidder will feel? You want to impart a sense of enthusiasm and energy in the description you write. Accurately portray the condition of the item you're selling Don't try to hide the fact that your item has flaws or defects, or that it has been used. The buyer will find out the truth and, if you've been inaccurate in your portrayal of the item, might ask for her money back. In any event, you're more likely than not to get negative feedback, which will hurt your eBay reputation. On the other hand, don't dwell solely on the item's defectsyou mainly want to point out what's good about it. Stress the benefits of the item you're selling, not just its features Let's say you're selling a Palm digital organizer. If you were going to stress only its features, you might write Comes with 15MB RAM . That's not much of a sell. If, instead, you write It will store your entire yearly schedule, address book, all your to-do lists, your expense accounts, and more in its 15MB of RAM , you're stressing its specific benefits. You're more likely to get bidders when you can sell them on the benefits of the item you have for sale. Start off your description with a bang If you don't grab potential bidders in your first sentence , you're going to lose them. That's the time to stress the benefits of what you have for sale, its uniqueness, its special features, and anything else you can think of that will make people want to buy it. End your description with a summarizing sales pitch The last words of a listing can be the primary thing people remember after reading your listing, and it's probably the last thing they'll read before making a bid. Because of that, you want to ensure that the end of your description sums up the item and stresses all its benefits with enthusiasm. Anticipate questions that potential buyers might have about the item Stand back for a moment and imagine yourself as a buyer of what you have for sale. What questions do you think a buyer would ask about it? What more might she want to know? Now include the answers to those questions in your description. Include brand names , manufacturer, years of manufacture, and other similar information Some collectors collect everything imaginable. You might not realize it, but collectors might specialize in the precise brand or manufacturer of what you have for sale. It's important to include these details in your descriptions.
5.	Preview Your Description Before moving on to the next step, preview your description by clicking the Preview your description link. When you're satisfied with what you've written, click the Continue button at the bottom of the screen.

TIP

Click the Back button at the bottom of the Sell Your Item form page (not your browser's Back button) to back up through the pages of the Sell Your Item form if you decide to make changes to earlier selections you've made. Click the Continue button to advance through the pages of the form.