Refurbished refigerator

Sub-Zero 48" Refrigerator, Refurbished


ended - Monday, February 11, 2008

Auction grade: D+

Starting bid: $200.00

Final sale price: $200.00


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a recently refurbished refrigerator. Specifically, the seller states that this is 48" stainless steel Sub-Zero model fridge. The seller claims that the fridge was in the house when they moved there, but it needed quite a bit of work. Apparently the compressor is still having problems, so the seller is giving up and trying to sell the fridge.

First of all, the title needs to be changed. Important key words such as "stainless steel" and "fridge" need to be included, and I would take out "refurbished". Knowing the seller's situation about trying to get the fridge to work properly but ultimately failing, I would also completely remove the subtitle text under the auction's title. The problem here is that he's giving people reason's not to buy the fridge even before they click on the link.

It's important to point out that you don't want to outright lie to customers initially. You do need to point out important flaws or problems with your items, but don't tell them about it on the main search results page. If you're going to spend the money to list an item on eBay, you're going to want as many people to see your item as possible. Let them decide if they want to purchase the item after they've read everything and have seen the pictures.

The main body of text needs to be completely rewritten. Despite being full of grammar problems, the seller just kind of rants and blabbers about the fridge. All of the improvements that he made need to be pointed out in bullet points. The back story isn't needed, but it is good that he mentioned the repair man's analysis of the problem.


Overall, I'll be surprised if the seller is able to sell the fridge with this eBay advertisement. Despite an non-search friendly and uninviting title & subtitle, there's still the issue of this being a local pickup only (Oklahoma City, OK in this case). A major problem is that the fridge is going to be needing repair work by the next owners. In this case, if the seller hasn't done so, the fridge may be better off being listed on Craigslist.org. It's free to post advertisements like this for people in the local area.