How to write an Ebay description

[boundstaffpress]

I've sold a couple of cars on e-bay, and have spent some time compiling what I think are pointers for making better money. I'd love to hear what you all have learned buying and selling. Here's what I have

1. Be very honest about everything. Highlight the positive aspects of your ride, but mention the negative points.

2. Lots of pictures on a seperate server (photobucket) so you don't have to pay e-bay for nothing, and you can add pics at bidders request.

3. Start low for pricing. People are eager to get in on a deal. If you think your truck is worth $1000 and you start the bidding there, people will shy away from your auction because they think you are too proud of your stuff.

4. If possible, don't include a reserve. Again, people are less willing to bid on cars that have not met the reserve. If you have something worth the money people will bid it up.

5. Learn to make paragraphs in HTML. Nothing is worse than reading a post with no breaks for idea change. <P> for those of you who didn't already know.

6. Learn something about the model and year of vehicle you are selling. Include some information about numbers made, rare options, and such. If you claim something is rare, give a number, or a resource to back it up.



Agree/disagree I just want to learn what you know.

[Joe67]

Good tips!

Also add as much information as you can. Each different word increases the chances someones search will hit your listing.

Also, spend some time searching through the COMPLETED listings for items like yours. Get an idea how the sellers who got the most bids worded their listings.

Ebay rules

[HeavyD]

7. Avoid using cheesy fly by night used car salesman lingo. A positive desription of the vehicle can be done without resorting to lines such as: "gets more looks than Pam Anderson naked at a chicken buffet" or "this hot little number will make you feel like you are running with the big dogs..woof woof!" . This stuff makes a person seem like they are shopping at Euben Hadd's auto sales, not looking at a vehicle owned by a true enthusiast. Just my 2 cents.

[c10crazy]

I like number 3. I have seen 67-72 trucks on ebay starting at $38,000 and of course nobody bid. You have to get the bidding "process" started by starting low. Good points!

[c10crazy]

Originally Posted by HeavyD

7. Avoid using cheesy fly by night used car salesman lingo. A positive desription of the vehicle can be done without resorting to lines such as: "gets more looks than Pam Anderson naked at a chicken buffet" or "this hot little number will make you feel like you are running with the big dogs..woof woof!" . This stuff makes a person seem like they are shopping at Euben Hadd's auto sales, not looking at a vehicle owned by a true enthusiast. Just my 2 cents.

Don't forget Real Cream Puff!

[Putter]

Originally Posted by boundstaffpress

6. Learn something about the model and year of vehicle you are selling. Include some information about numbers made, rare options, and such. If you claim something is rare, give a number, or a resource to back it up.

• You mean the way several listings have been for the EXTREMELY RARE 3-DOOR SUBURBAN with rear air??
• Or how the truck came with a factory installed overhead console with tape player and speakers built in?
• Or the rust-free, all-original '71 small window C10?

[Pop's72]

I like it when features of the vehicle are broken down by bullet points, like Putter's post above. Nothing is worse then going to read a description and it's a page long paragraph.

[Joe67]

Originally Posted by Pop's72

I like it when features of the vehicle are broken down by bullet points, like Putter's post above. Nothing is worse then going to read a description and it's a page long paragraph.

Correct. I HATE those one page paragraphs

[GruntyPants]

I've had good luck with breaking the vehicle down to 'Good' 'Bad' and 'Ugly' Make bullet points inside of each of these descriptors. I feel that people appreciate that you've looked at each aspect of the vehicle and can be honest about it. Especially with trucks like ours, there are just going to be things that aren't great. Beyond that though, make sure you get tons of pictures. Other hosting sites are great, and if you have a buddy with a web server, all the better. Any history you can include with the vehicle is a plus. As you know most purchases of vehicles like ours are made with the heart instead of the head. Also I've gotten good results by making it a 7 day auction, and reserve the right to end it early, since you've got it for sale locally too.
Its best if you can compose a nice HTML page with inline pictures and host that on a separate web server. this way you can point out good, bad, ugly and have a picture right at the description. This helps you in two ways, getting more pictures without paying eBay, and getting all the information to the prospective buyer without them having to do a lot of scrolling around to look at the pictures while reading the descriptions.

My .02

[Zumo]

I this goes for all eBay ads.

[JustLiveIt]

I'm looking for a truck and one place I look is ebay.

I think the more good quality pictures you have the better. Don't just dig up some photo you have had for 3 years of your truck in the driveway. Interior, engine, underbody, etc. shots are a must.

Remember you are asking someone to commit to spend thousands of dollars without seeing the vehicle in person (sometimes you get lucky and one is actually near by). Include an email address that you check promptly and after first contact by email offer your phone number. If you don't make a buyer feel comfortable you are restricting yourself only to local buyers who will come look at the vehicle. It would get expensive to fly or drive to look at every vehicle. So pictures and contact information are essential.

Just my thoughts!

[_Dick_]

question say you have a value of 5000, no reserve but selling it locally as well you bids only reach 3200 do you stop the auction say you sold it at home or what i don't understand what protection i have

[Woody]

#7 ie.. 'more looks than Pamila Anderson at a chicken buffett'

That's a good one, Pamila asked KY Gov. Fletcher to remove a bust of Col. Sanders (KFC) that is in Louisville, because it was offensive! He told her "NO"

[truckdude239]

i think a mod should move this to the faq

[GruntyPants]

_Dick, If you let the auction go to completion, you are bound by the rules of eBay to sell it to the highest bidder. Some people get lawers involved if they think they've been wronged on eBay, so you have to be careful with ending an auction early.

[see ten]

It helps if you know what you are selling and can convey this to others. I don't care how nice your ride is, if you sound like an illitierate hick while attemping to describe it, you have a problem. If you have problems with your communication skills, ask someone for help. If you are content with bad grammer and feel that the world should tolerate it, at least take the time to run a spell check. Being able to speak confidently and correctly will instill confidence in the people reading the description. I have only sold two cars on ebay. Both of them brought way more than we expected. I had a man drive down from Canada (to Georgia) with a tow dolly for a Karman Ghia. I also had a guy come down from Wisconson for a Grand National. I highlighted the vehicles good points. I also made them aware of what they needed. If you can make the buyer comfortable with dealing with YOU the car is not going to be a problem. (If I misspelled anything in this post or used any bad grammer I apologize.)

[boundstaffpress]

The cars I have sold have brought more than I expected also. I think there is a lot of psychology to wording a description, setting a starting price, etc. I watched Nova wagons for 6 mo before I listed mine. Very similar experience selling my Chevelle. Both cars had some nice options, but neither were show cars.

I think spending time becoming familiar with how cars sell and how cars sell well made a difference. I did a lot of looking at the completed listings.

[boundstaffpress]

Almost forgot.

THE HARDEST TYPEFACE TO READ IS ALL CAPS.

Please use upper and lower case when writing a description.

[boundstaffpress]

btt

[Flat 67]

Figure out the time of day your auction will end. Make it end when most people in the entire country will be home. Nothing worse than coming home from work or waking up in the morning to find out if you lost an auction and you weren't around to do anything about it.......bummer.

[onetoncrewcab]

Originally Posted by Flat 67

Figure out the time of day your auction will end. Make it end when most people in the entire country will be home. Nothing worse than coming home from work or waking up in the morning to find out if you lost an auction and you weren't around to do anything about it.......bummer.

I could go one better. Make it end when YOU (the seller) will be around to answer questions. I get a lot of questions the last day of the sale. A lot of time I get questions on an item up the the last hour or so. When I look for something to buy on ebay, I always check the sales ending first and if there isn't anything available in my price range, I then check all the By It Now auctions.
I've seen sales with postings that said something to the effect of "I'll be out of town the week the sale ends, but I will get everything shipped when I get back." Maybe they are answering emails and maybe they aren't. I don't know, but when I see that, I go look elsewhere.
I usually post my sales on Monday or Tuesday nights around 7-10 pm central time. That is 9-12 on the east coast and 5-8 on the west coast. I always post as a 7 day sale.
I use Microsoft Word to write up the sale. There is a HTML converter in there that converts the text over to HTML (duh.) LOL. But I've only had luck with the one in Word 97. I upgraded awhile back to Word 2002 and the HTML would not post correctly in the ad for some reason, so I went back to 97.
I set up frames (I think that is what it is called) in my ad and color coded them. Here is one of my recent closed sales to give an idea how I set them up:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=8752873006

edit: One thing you will notice. I have shipping on this ad by USPS Priority for the 48 states only. I actually will ship to the 50 states by Priority for the same price. I just keep forgetting to change the ad when I cut and paste. I usually ship by UPS and on those they are 48 states only.

Hope this helps.
Mike