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Thread: Ideas to make the most of your listings (from an idea from BLOXBOOKS)

  1. #1

    Lightbulb Ideas to make the most of your listings (from an idea from BLOXBOOKS)

    Quote Originally Posted by BLOXBOOKS View Post
    I think there are a few very experienced sellers who have set up shops here, maybe if anyone who has some helpful hints and advice a dedicated area would be great to pool this knowledge....or even a few threads, Branding would be a great start, how best to maintain that unique look and feel throughout all the listings of a seller, what fonts not to use, what makes the best impact.... I have seen some good advice on this forum and am sure that a complation of tips and advice, and even a few example of how a well created listing page looks would be a great help to many (if like me the aesthetics of a good looking listing can be lost in the mass of multi coloured fonts).
    As I said in the other thread I'm willing to kick this off.

    General Tips
    Put as much (relevant) information about your item in the title as you can - think about the words you would use in search if you were looking for it yourself.

    If you're a Seller+ member use gallery - most people look at the pictures to give more idea of what you are selling, without having to view the auction. (If it looks interesting then they look)

    If possible use your own pictures both in the auction listing & for gallery. - lots of stock photos, or wholesale lifting from a manfrs webpage in a listing make me think scam.

    If you use stock photos make sure you use the correct one(s) - showing one edition/printing of a book when you're selling another may well upset your buyer.

    Be honest about what you're selling. - if it's damaged say so, it won't necessarily put a buyer off, hiding information could lose you future sales.

    Give as much information as possible. - listings with more information get picked up by the search engines & help drive non-eBid members to your auction, so it's in your best interest to do so.

    Put your terms & conditions in every listing - or put them on your About Me Page & a link to them in every listing. We all know that most buyers don't bother to read all the listing, but it's still in your best interest to have them there, in case of any dispute.

    Use your About Me Page - to give more information, if you're new to eBid but have an established record elsewhere, don't be shy about it, maybe show your feebay feedback (there are a couple of sites that have links for this).

    Branding
    Decide on a look (theme) & use it for all your auctions - if possible also use it for your invoices, flyers/packing slips, even emails. (You may not like my listings but you could never mistake them for anyone elses.)

    The way to get most control is to learn HTML - but if you don't have the time or inclination, at least stick to the same general layout,font(s) colours etc. (see bottom of this post for more info)
    (Don't put your terms at the top of one auction & the bottom of another, middle of the next, you need your buyers to know what to expect & feel comfortable using your listings , ideally they should know they're yours without looking at your id.)

    Fancy Fonts only work if the viewer has them on their PC. - If I wrote a listing using a font called grave digger (which I do have on my PC) at least 98% of people would see Times New Roman, so a total waste of time & effort.

    If you have trouble reading it so will your viewers - If you use a background (colour or image) don't use something too overpowering - same for the text make sure it's legible, but not too large.
    NB - This may be a cultural thing but I've noticed that many listings on the dot com side of feebay
    USE LARGE FONTS IN BOLD AND ALL IN CAPITALS
    Personally I hate this, it hurts my eyes, so I don't bother with the auction, unless it's something I really want, & cannot get elsewhere.

    added later
    You can download free WYSIWYG editors from the web - (What You See Is What You Get), so you can design your listings/About Me Page on your own PC much in the way you add posts to the forums, then copy the info & use on eBid. There are a number out there - Google - WYSIWYG editors for a fair selection.

    I have never used any of them, but I would suggest (because I know & use their software) WebPlus 6 from Serif, you can download it free from http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/
    It will give you all the information you need.

    NB. Word & MS frontpage will do the job, but add lots of extra
    code so the end result doesn't always look the way you hoped (especially if you use firefox)

    Hope this helps someone, with any luck others will add to this thread.
    Last edited by Gothicina; 19th May 2008 at 09:43 PM.
    Gothicina.

    MAHATMA GANDHI - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated."

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  2. #2

    Default

    1. Have as many items on display as possible. Most buyers won't bother e-mailing to ask if you have any more stock that's not on display. Plus - no one likes to shop in a store that has only 4 or 5 items on the shelves.

    2. Make sure your shop is in the "Browse E-bid stores" section.

  3. #3
    Forum Diehard BLOXBOOKS's Avatar
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    A Logo is a great way to help people remember your listings and shop, a familiar layout for all your listings can help people who have visited other listings of yours navigate better, most web pages are viewed for less than 30 seconds so presenting information in an easy to view fashion is vital.

    To insert a logo and other feautures you will need some web space, there is lots of choice some free and some paid for, the paid for hostings will offer more features, and should not force you to have their adds on your page plus you will have a Cpanel.
    Like Gothicina says CSS is not always the best option, but there can be some benifits to using.
    If you use an hosting you may want to buy the domain name of your shop if it is available.
    Making a logo, there are many free options on the internet, I started with a 30 day free trial of Real Draw, and don't forget pait shop.There are many ways to make a listing look unique and just a little basic html can make a differance.

  4. #4

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    To get more people to look at your listings, use the forums.

    Use the plug your auctions thread to announce new lines etc.
    http://three.ebid.net/forumdisplay.php?f=126

    The rest of the forums are not for promoting but you can get more people to take a look by adding a link to your auctions &/or shop in your signature.
    Go to user CP (control panel) at the top left of the forum,
    from there you can edit your signature & add the link.
    Then it will show in all your posts.
    Last edited by Gothicina; 25th October 2006 at 07:36 PM.
    Gothicina.

    MAHATMA GANDHI - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated."

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  5. #5

    Smile You can have more than one image for free

    I've read on more than one thread people saying that it costs more to have more than one photo in your listing.

    That is only true IF you use eBid to host the pictures,

    The number of FREE images, for Seller+ members, or Seller members using a Platinum Listing is now Five.

    most people get free webspace with their ISP, you can use that for hosting.
    But,
    If you're new to computers or you want something easier to use there are a number of free photohosts,
    http://photobucket.com/ seems to be the popular one at the moment, but there are others,
    http://www.villagephotos.com/
    http://imageshack.us/
    http://www.photojerk.com/
    to name but a few.
    You upload your picture from your desktop straight onto the photohost's servers (you just browse for the picture from the hosts website & add it) It's not technical at all.
    (Please be aware some photohosts remove your photos after a specific time)

    The photohost will tell you the link you need to use for each photo, copy it, then all you need to do, when you get to the place you want your image to be in your listing, is click on the image icon in eBid's WYSIWYG listing page (it's the little tree under the box that says font family) & paste in the code that the photohost has given you into the line that says image url, click insert & your image should be in your listing exactly where you put it.
    Last edited by Gothicina; 28th April 2010 at 12:49 PM.
    Gothicina.

    MAHATMA GANDHI - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated."

    My Stores
    Gothicina Labels | Gothicina's Web - for eBid Auction Templates & Store Banners.

    My Alter egos
    Kewtonia Books | Kewtonia's Klutter | Kewtonia Magz

    Family
    Leadhillsonline | Honehe
    Tozcentral | NiffNaff
    SynysterChambers | Goldenboys13


    Free eBid Banners | Free YDC Teddies | Charity Listings YDC Teddy Templates

  6. #6
    Forum Diehard BLOXBOOKS's Avatar
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    A Good Gallery Picture can help, crop your picture and try to get rid of distractions in the background. Some items on eBid get picked up and can be found in other place,I just did a search on Froogle checking the price for Stephen King books and noticed a few eBid books there, some with a good clear picture seem to stand out well.

    Keep your postage charge as low as posible, this is a must, on other sites I have seen postage £1.25 to £2.00 more expensive than the identical item here on eBid, sure cost have to be covered so the advantage is with the eBidder who can undercut the compertition.

    Good Pictures, Good description, use the whole of your title to describe your item, if you can't think of anything and have space "BUY NOW" or "BID NOW" can help if a keyword search is done on google and some folk (like me) add these phrases.
    http://uk.ebid.net/stores/BLOXBOOKS

  7. #7
    Forum Diehard DaisyChain's Avatar
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    Ill add some tips methinks

    Check your spelling in your listings especially the title. ifyou type "dolton" instead of "doulton", when a potential buyer types doulton, it does not pick up the "dolton" titles. remember seeing those ebook auctions on fleabay "learn how to get bargains from others mistakes". They basically tell you to type in wrongly spelt items. Done this many a time to buy items to sell

    Photos- A good photo editing package can go a long way. Crop, resize are fine, but i find "sharpening" the image makes detail stand out better and the image looks clearer and more 3D.
    Another tool you could use is hue and saturation, especially on items with bright colours. Whilst these colours are usually ldulled with a photo taken, they can be tweaked to enhance the colour back to what it looks like to te naked eye
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  8. #8

    Lightbulb

    I am trying this out at the moment - as I am selling cards on a Buy It Now feature - I was finding that not many people were viewing my items so - I put them on for 2 day auctions with 10 automatic reposts, so they stay on the first page of the category.

    Hoping it will give me more viewings and get my store noticed.

    Thanks for all the suggestions too - I'll try out some of these!
    Last edited by CrowlasCrafts; 23rd November 2006 at 12:16 AM.

  9. #9

    Thumbs up

    Excellent Thread - It would be great if it could be pinned to the top. I've certainly learnt a few things.
    Thank you Gothicina for starting it.

  10. #10
    Forum Master lofty100e's Avatar
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    I agree with the tip about telling potential customers about feedback from othe auction sites.

    One other important thing is to get some feedback on ebid by buying items. It could be anything, even the packaging materials you will need to send purchases in.

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