Neat "Receipt" Scanner

Neat Reciept Scanner


ended - Friday, September 19, 2008

Auction grade: D

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $53.00


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a "like new" hand held scanner used for scanning small pieces of paper such as receipts and business cards. The item's picture shows quite a few accessories, so since it isn't mentioned, it's believed that this is complete and not missing any parts.

In the auction's title, the seller makes the biggest mistake in the entire auction. And just what is that horrible mistake? The misspelling of "receipt"!!!

Why do I make such a big deal about spelling errors, especially in the title?

I make a big deal because poor grammar and spelling is one of the biggest problems that I constantly see at eBay and across websites of all content. It's easier than ever to construct simple sentences and through the use of word processors and sites like Dictionary.com, spelling mistakes should be a thing of the past.

Does it really matter?

Yes it does if you, the seller, want to make money!

Spelling errors are the buyers best friends. When seller cannot spell the item correctly, the auction is not going to show up in that many searches. As a result there is much less traffic to the auction. Less traffic means fewer bids and a substantially lower final selling price assuming that it sells at all.

This auction in particular already has three bids and is up to $22.49 in the bidding process. With a few days left and no reserve price, obviously this is going to sell. For comparison, I saw this same exact item for sale with a similar amount of time left for its auction, and that bidding price was already up to $75. Then again, that other auction had a slightly better title with everything spelled correctly!

The smart sellers know about this mistake and will use it to their advantage. And how does the smart seller use this technique? By using the correct version and all other common misspellings of the word(s).

For most common items and famous names & titles, you can assume that most buyers know how to spell it correctly. That's a safe bet. You can also assume that no matter what, some people will never learn the correct way and will continue to spell it however they see fit. Some people go against grammar rules (such as the famous "i before e except after c" as in this auction), and others will try to spell items phonetically, assuming that they can even say it properly.

The strategy is fairly simple to cash in on those buyers. No matter what, you'll want to have the correct spelling of the item once in the title and again in the description. This will ensure that your auction will eventually show up in the search engine (increasing the auction's search engine ranking is a different strategy).

If you still have room in the title after using good key words, the most common misspelling of the item should be added. After that, use a creative way to add the other misspellings to the main body of text in the auction's description. Taking the few extra moments to use this strategy will help your auction get exposed to the maximum number of buyers possible.

Getting back to this auction, the title could also use more key words and search terms. If this item has one, the model number should go into the title. "Accounting," "personal," and even "finance" could be good search terms. There's a lot of valuable real estate in this title, and it's a shame to let it go to waste like that.

Remember, the default search engine setting has eBay only looking in the auction's title! You have to go into the advanced settings to have it also search in the description!

The auction's description isn't bad. I don't like the grammar or wording, but seeing the selling prices of other personal, hand held scanners, this one should sell for a high price fairly easily. The seller could improve his credibility and professionalism by spelling the item's title and other official information exactly as it is printed in the user manual. Again, if there is a model number, it also needs to go in this section.

Remember - You don't want the buyer to have any doubt as to what it is exactly that they're viewing in the auction. If they're not sure, chances are very good that they'll go look at another auction. Even if they send you a question they're still going to look around while waiting for your response. You did the work to get them to your auction, so why give them the chance to look elsewhere for basic information that should be clearly labeled?

The PayPal only paying option really isn't that big of a deal anymore since eBay is really pushing buyers and sellers to use it.

Finally, the picture could look a little bit better. It looks pretty informal with all of the pieces spread out on the bedspread like that. The spread makes for a great backdrop for items, though this could use a little adjusting with the overall layout.


Overall, I gave this auction a low score because of the seller's sloppy approach to selling this scanner. Misspelling the item in the title is a big deal, and as pointed out above, it's already costing this person money. The auction's description needs to be rewritten with more of an emphasis on the item for sale and its details. The picture could also be retaken, but that's more of a minor issue.

Miniature LONDON TOWER BRIDGE - Pencil Sharpener -Neat!

Miniature LONDON TOWER BRIDGE - Pencil Sharpener -Neat!


Auction ended - Thursday, September 4, 2008

Auction grade: B+

Starting bid: $2.50

Final selling price: $3.25


Up for sale in this eBay auction is brand new desktop pencil sharpener modeled after London's famous Tower Bridge. This is part of the "Landmark Series," and the seller claims this comes with the original box.

Overall, this is a fairly well organized auction on eBay. The title focuses on several good search engine words and phrases, and that should definitely help bring in curious customers. The picture clearly shows the item for sale, and the seller even gave us the item's basic dimensions. It would have helped a little bit if the seller could have provided a little extra information about the "Landmark Series," such as other items in the collection or if there's a website with more information.

I'd be very surprised if this pencil sharpener sold for that much higher than the current bid of $2.50. Let's face it, unless this is an antique, made out of solid gold, or encrusted in precious jewels, these types of items usually have low selling prices. Does that mean that you shouldn't try to sell one yourself? Certainly not.

There are at least three good reasons for selling small, cheap items:
1) Each small sale will help increase your feedback rating and scores, even if you make a very small profit.
2) This is a great way to gain personal experience and try out different selling techniques. The fees are very low for selling cheap items, so there's little risk in trying a different way of constructing your auction.
3) Small items can be grouped together with other miscellaneous or, ideally, other similar items. Selling items in lots is a much better way of moving cheap merchandise and has a higher chance of earning a larger profit. It can even work out cheaper doing one auction instead of multiple auctions and paying all of the fees associated with them.

German / Soviet POW story

WWII booklet/book! PRISONER OF WAR! STORY! NEAT!


Auction ended: Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a book about being a Soviet prisoner-of-war during World War 2. There's just one minor catch with this book - it's written entirely in German.

For starters, this auction's title is very childish and does very little to sell the product or even capture your imagination. "STORY!" and "NEAT!" is just plain dumb when talking about a person's ordeals through one of the world's largest and costliest conflicts. This technique is also insulting to those people who have an actual interest in this subject. "German", "Soviet", and "Russia" would have been much better words in the title.

The auction's description is also horrible. At no point does this seller even try to describe this book or make an attempt at selling it. According to this seller, this is "a REALLY NEAT WWII BOOK" about "A STORY ABOUT A PRISONER OF WAR!" that is "INTERESTING READING!!!" and "READY FOR YOUR COLLECTION!!!" (in there twice, so it must really be important).

This is complete crap when it comes to marketing the product. You can easily tell that this seller has not done any product research and, apart from looking at the barb wire on the cover, knows nothing about this book or the author. When it comes to selling a non-fiction book, it definitely helps to have at least a little bit of background information about the person who went through the experience and wrote the story.

Apart from the horrible title and description, the seller did a good job with the pictures and low starting bid.

So can this auction be salvaged and turned into a winner? I honestly don't know.

The main problem with this auction and item for sale deals with the book itself. This is a book written in German (no English translation as far as I know). That problem alone is going to vastly limit the target audience here in the U.S. There are many people interested in P.O.W. stories, but the language barrier is something very hard to overcome. This seller would probably be best off marketing this book to high school and college foreign language departments, though it's probably too advanced or difficult for most of those students.

If I were to pursue this auction, I would just include it in a lot of other German or World War 2 books and other small items. It's easy to find basic information about the seller and talk about that in the auction's description, but that alone won't make the sale. If you're not knowledgeable about this author or subject, it's not worth it to take the extra time to educate yourself. You could be marketing other items instead.

plush Oscar Mayer Wienermobile toy

OSCAR MAYER WIENER MOBIL PLUSH NEAT COME AND SEE


Auction ended - Friday, July 11, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a "gently used" plush Oscar Mayer "Weinermobile" toy.

For starters, the auction's title could definitely use some improving to help appear in more eBay searches. "WIENER MOBIL" is best off being one word and spelled correctly as "Wienermobile". There aren't that many items for sale related to this unique car, but it's still necessary to at least spell it correctly.

This seller is also unnecessarily wasting space by doing something like "COME AND SEE" in the title. Considering that this is a rather unique item for sale, a generic eye-catching phrase like that isn't really that useful. Now if this seller was selling something more generic such as clothes or a decoration, then a phrase like that could be more beneficial. In this case the seller could add more search engine relevant terms such as "toy", "car", "unique" or even "hot dog".

The auction's description is almost non-existent. The only new information that's not in the title is that this is a small toy and in great condition. Otherwise, what is written there is in one giant run-on sentence.

The description is the perfect spot to spend a few minutes and tell us potential buyers a little bit about this one-of-a-kind vehicle that has captured the imagination of many people throughout the last seventy years. A little bit of research can go a long way. Remember that you're not only educating the buyers and adding value to this item, but you're also adding more search engine key words and terms.

The description is also the place to use alternate spellings of this famous car. Not everybody searching for an item like this one knows how to spell it correctly, so in the description you might casually reference other spellings such as "Weinermobile" or "Wiener Mobile".

This seller's picture taking skills could use some enhancing. The carpeting is a good background, but the first picture is blurry and both pictures need to be zoomed. Too much of the background is showing in the pictures.

The last area of correction deals with all of the text relating to shipping, payment, terms of sale, and about the seller. To cut right to the point, the seller needs to learn to organize her thoughts and write clear sentences. The seller spends way too much time and energy trying to explain all the ways she can be helpful with shipping, but it gets confusing after a while. Rethink your thoughts and write a few sentences as clearly as possible. You can even use bullet points if necessary.

The last thing you want is for the potential buyer to reach this point of your auction and suddenly become sad or confused. This is when you want the buyer to be happy, pumped up, and ready to place a bid. If they see something that makes them think twice about committing to the sale, they're probably going to leave your auction. You did all that work to get them there, don't let them leave after making it all the way to the bottom of the auction!

"At this point in time I will only except PayPal, Money Orders and Cashiers Checks. I DO NOT except personal checks, so please don't ask!"

On a final note, it's "accept", not "except"!

D.R.G.M. tin railroad watch tower

Antique Bing Tin Tinplate Railroad Watch Tower


Auction ended - Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Auction grade: C

Starting bid: $69.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an antique tin railroad watch tower.

The title for this auction looks pretty good. The seller seems to have hit most of the major key words and search terms based on the item's description. However, some really good key words are missing, but that will be addressed in just a bit.

The item's description is also pretty good. The seller seemed to do a reasonable job telling us some details about the item for sale. The description isn't exciting and doesn't really create that "must have" feeling, but basic details about the watch tower are there.

I would like to know how the seller can back up this claim: "Very unique hard to find piece." A statement like that implies that the seller did research into the product, but if that was true, then the seller would have mentioned more information about the history and approximate age of this vintage item. The seller would have also discovered more key words for the title.

So far the auction looks pretty good. However, this is the part where the auction takes a turn for the worse and the seller drops the ball on doing some research.

Basic Internet research shows that "D.R.G.M." stands for "Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster", known in English as "German Reich Registered Design". This abbreviation was used on items manufactured in Germany between 1890 and 1945. The seller would have to do a bit more digging to find exact information about this particular item, but knowing the year range is a good start.

The other problem with this auction deals with the pictures. It's good that the seller took multiple pictures of this item. But if the pictures are blurry, from bad angles, and obscured by reflections from the flash, does it do any good to even use pictures? No, it will only waste your own time and money. The best approach is to invest in a small tripod and learn to take longer exposure pictures that don't use the flash. Natural daylight will provide an ample amount of light, and using a tripod will greatly help keep your camera steady and the pictures in focus. This seller may also want to make a designated picture taking area complete with a neutral backdrop. In addition to looking bad and unprofessional, having other items not for sale in the background will confuse some of the potential buyers.

Overall, this isn't that bad of an auction. Additional work on the seller's part will help increase the value of this railroad watch tower and bring in buyers searching for different terms. The extra bit of research is definitely worth it for items with high starting bid prices like this one.

Toy WW2 era cannon

VINTAGE WW 11 ERA SMALL WOOD CANNON 8-1/2 IN LONG NR


Auction ended - Thursday, July 3, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $1.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a wooden toy cannon. The seller claims that this toy is from the 1940's though nothing in the statement backs up this claim.

For starters, if you want to market something as being from the Second World War era, do not type it as "WW11". That is flat out wrong! "WW2" is fine along with "WWII", but do not substitute the I's with 1's. In addition to severely limiting yourself in the search engine, this is also insulting to the veterans who served in the war. If you're going to use that time period to help market your item, you could at least learn how to use a proper acronym.

In addition to correcting "WW 11", "IN LONG NR" could also safely be removed and substituted for words such as "toy" and "collectible". Don't waste space in the title when there are still search engine relevant terms not being used.

The auction's title has two main goals:
1) Get the auction into as many different searches as possible to maximize its visibility.
2) Be attractive enough to capture a buyer's curiosity enough for them to click on the link.

The auction's description is a complete pile of unorganized mess. The first sentence briefly tells us about the item for sale, though there really isn't any new information. It's just a repeat of what is already mentioned in the title. The only new thing is that we now know this is from an estate sale.

The rest of the description is the seller rambling on how he goes to auctions and estate sales for the purpose of reselling items. By doing so for apparently over thirty years he's accumulated a bunch of stuff, so now he's selling a bunch of it to make some room at his place.

Psychologically, this seller would have been better off not telling us his life story about buying items for dirt cheap and then reselling them to other people. By doing so the seller presents himself as one of those "shady salesmen" who just want to make a quick buck and move on to the next person. People are less inclined to buy from someone they see as a "middle man" versus a collector or a "regular" person selling some items from around the house.

In truth, there's nothing wrong with purchasing items for the sole purpose of reselling it. That's how many of the small retail stores operate throughout the country. Most people don't see any problems with this practice, and many of them support it without even realizing it.

Let's take a look at this seller's auction and how it shows off the "bad side" of reselling.
A) This seller types in all capital letters and cannot form complete sentences. This person also has problems using correct acronyms.
B) The picture sucks and the cannon looks like crap. It's really showing its age and needs to be refurbished.
C) This seller brags about buying items for wholesale, in auctions, and at estate sales.
D) This is a PowerSeller and many of his other auctions have this similar shoddy format.

So in other words, this person presents himself as only being out there to make a quick buck, likes to brag about how he can find deals, cannot type, and clearly doesn't take the time to take decent pictures or put together an even semi-professional auction. As a buyer, does that make you feel good about giving your hard-earned money to this person?

The best approach is for this seller to stop talking about the estate sales and other sources of cheap items. If that's your only way of acquiring items, then don't mention it at all. Focus instead on the actual item for sale first, and then our own policies after that.

Small collection of vintage video games

Vintage Coleco Adam&Atari


Auction ended - Thursday, June 26, 2008

Auction grade: C-

Starting bid: $10.00

Final selling price: $57.78


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a small collection of vintage video games as well as catalogs, newsletters, and programming and hacking guides. These games and guides are for old Coleco, Adam and Atari gaming systems.

For starters, this auction's title really needs additional key words such as "games", "video games", "guide", "book", "newsletter", "collection", and even "lot". Any combination of those additional words should help bring in more potential buyers.

The actual item description for this auction needs to be rewritten with a bullet point format. It's good that the seller listed all of the games and literature in this auction (everything listed counts as additional search engine material). The big problem is that the text needs to be spaced out better to make it easier to read. In this case, a set of bullet points for each gaming system would be perfect.

Just to play it safe, the seller is better off mentioning that this auction does not come with any of the actual gaming consoles. Some people will mistaking believe that they're supposed to be included, and it'll just end up costing time and money in the long run. When selling items like this, you're best off being clear about everything up front.

The picture for this auction is nice and clear. I like how all of the game cartridges are laid out up front with all of the newsletters and books in the background. It's a very professional layout.

Apart from the title and description, the only other part of the auction that bothers me is that shipping cost. $14 seems way too high for a bunch of lightweight cartridges and some newsletters. The high shipping cost will deter some buyers from placing a bid, and it will limit the final selling price.

Set of "Dragon Marine" accessories

Dragon Marine 1/6 lot #3


ended - Friday, June 13, 2008

Auction grade: F

Starting bid: $7.99

Final selling price: $7.99


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a small collection of apparent military gear or something similar to that. The seller calls this "Dragon Marine" lot #3.


The biggest problem with this auction is that the seller is not descriptive at all and doesn't even explain anything about "Dragon Marine". Was this a real military unit? Is this something from a past war such as World War 2? Is this a fictional / fantasy military such as GI Joe? What is "Dragon Marine"?

Depending on what this is will depend on the key words that need to be added to the auction's title. Right now, basic words such as "military", "weapons", and even "collectible" can go into the title, but more is still needed to attract even more potential buyers.

The auction's description is horrible. It's like this seller isn't even trying to sell this lot.

"you get all in picture....alot of neat stuff for diarama etc questions?"

Apart from misspelling "a lot" and "diorama", the seller completely failed in describing the item for sale and creating that "must have" desire that makes people want to place a bid. The seller makes the buyers figure out what's for sale and if they want to pursue it or not. It's hard to find an example of a lazier approach to selling on eBay.

So what can the seller do to improve the chances of this even selling on eBay?

The simplest approach is to describe "Dragon Marine" in the auction's description. If this was a real military unit, let us know a little bit about it. Copy some information from a website if needed. Remember that information in the auction's description is still searchable in the eBay search engine, but only if the user selects the "search title and description" box on the search results and advanced search pages. The search box on eBay's main page only searches through auction titles.

The auction's picture is clear, but the seller still needs to make a listing of the different pieces of military gear included in this lot. If the seller can look up basic information about "Dragon Marine", then the seller should also be able to research the weapons and other military gear for sale.

Remember, the less information that you include will lead to the fewer number of potential buyers that will find your auction. If the auction does sell, then it'll most likely be for the least amount of money you're willing to accept. The goal of any auction should be to attract the maximum number of buyers and increase the final selling price as high as possible.

1) Do your homework. Research the product and tell us about it in the description.

2) Let the buyers know exactly what is for sale.

3) Use as many relevant key words in the auction's title.

4) Keep the starting bid and shipping costs as low as possible to attract bidding.

Old valve seating tool

Valve Seating Tool


ended - Friday, June 6, 2008

Auction grade: D

Starting bid: $5.00

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an old valve seating tool for use in engines. Nothing more is stated in the auction.

The main problem with this auction is the distinct lack of information and text in the title and description. Seeing how the auction's title is repeated in the description, this auction has a grand total of only six unique words. Unless this is an old tool that still works in today's engines and is in demand, this seller is going to have a very hard time having potential buyers find this auction.

The auction's title is in desperate need of a few more key words. In this case, words such as "engine", "old", "vintage", and even "mechanic" would work well to help this auction appear in more search engine listings.

This is all that the seller stated in the auction's description:

"Real Neat Old Valve Seating Tool"

Looking at the different combinations of words in the text that most people would use to search for an item like this, I can use most of my fingers to count out the different combinations. Considering this is eBay with many similar items for sale, that's a very low number of search terms to draw in the buyers.

The target consumers for an item like this is going to be limited. It's already established that those looking specifically for a valve seating tool will find this auction, but what about those mechanics and collectors who would like something like this but search for it with different terms? What if they're just looking for older or just engine tools in general?

This is where adding a little bit of extra text in the description is key. By typing out basic information about this tool such as the type of engines it can be used with (diesel, gasoline, etc.), if it was made to be used with any car manufacturer in particular, or even the different types of valves (intake, exhaust, etc.) it can be used with will definitely increase the chances of other buyers finding this auction.

Sure, some of that stuff may seem like common knowledge for most people, but remember that even basic information like that is filled with relevant key words and search terms. Don't underestimate the potential of typing out even the most basic information about items like this one. You never know how the potential buyers are going to search for a tool like this, so you're best off trying to cover as many angles as possible but without taking a long time to make the auction. Time is money, so if this is believed to be a cheap item, don't spend all day thinking of different search terms.

If you're going to take the time, cost, and effort to make an auction, you may as well try to draw in as many bidders as possible. If it involves spending an extra ten to fifteen minutes doing some basic research and then typing a description, then do it. You're just wasting time and your own money if you're not going to try to draw in the extra buyers.

Despite the title and description, the rest of the auction looks pretty good. You can clearly see the engine tool in the picture, and the shipping cost and starting bids are fairly reasonable. I don't know if other people are experiencing this same problem, but this is a very tall auction template filled with a lot of empty space in the middle of it. I had to do quite a bit of scrolling before reaching the bottom of the page.

It's surprising that a PowerSeller is able to make sales with other auctions as basic as this one. Many of this seller's other auctions have very simple titles and descriptions, but quite a few of the pictures are really poor. This seller obviously has many good items to sell, but if he put in a little more effort with the text and pictures, imagine how much more money he could be making.

My last suggestion to this seller is to set up an official picture taking area. Take a light brown or blue cloth and create a neutral setting for each item for sale. Taking some pictures on the deck, others on the kitchen counter, and even others out in the garage is unprofessional. Unless an item is very large or heavy, try to take all of the pictures in one official area and keep things consistent.

1978 Kiss trading cards

1978 KISS ROCK BAND UNOPENED PACK


ended - Saturday, May 31, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $5.00

Final selling price: $5.50


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a set of unopened Kiss bubble gum trading cards from 1978.

Aside from not typing in all capital letters, the seller needs to find a way to add "trading cards" into the title. If there's enough room "bubble gum cards" would also work. No matter what, you always need to mention the actual item for sale in the title.

The actual description for this item is a lot worse than the title. One of my rules is to never mention yourself or your company before talking about the item for sale. It's fine to add it in the description to help the potential buyers decide to buy from you, but you never want to talk about yourself first. The buyer clicked on the item to learn more about it, not you!

So why does this description suck and need to be rewritten? Here are some items needing immediate adjusting:

1) Everything it typed in all capital letters (big no-no in the online world).

2) There's absolutely no spacing between sentences, making it hard to read what this person is trying to say.

3) The actual item information is very limited and the fourth and fifth sentences in that giant mess of text.


Here's all that the seller could say about this item for sale: "JUST PURCHASED A UNOPENED 1978 KISS ROCK BAND PACK.NEAT ITEM."

That's it. All of the other text deals with the seller taking about his company, shipping and payment information, and other items for sale. There's no information about this package of playing cards or even any basic information about Kiss.

The problem with being this basic and non-descriptive is that unless you're already a huge fan of the rock band, there's absolutely no desirability in this auction. Nothing in the text or picture wants to make you place a bid. It's a workout reading through the unorganized (and at times grammatically incorrect) text and it leaves you more depressed than anxious to buy the item for sale.

I know that this is a PowerSeller who apparently does quite a bit of business each month here on eBay. Almost all of this person's other auctions are listed in the same format, so obviously this person isn't going to be changing their ways anytime soon. After all, why go through the trouble of changing when you're already pulling in good business? The answer is in the form of a pair of questions: How much more money could you be making if customers weren't turned away by the fact that the auction is very basic and hard to read? Is it worth it taking the extra couple of minutes to present a much better looking auction that creates desirability and makes even more people want to buy from you?

If this were my auction, in the description I would first mention everything that I could about the actual trading cards in the first paragraph. After that would be a small paragraph either talking about the rock band or card collecting in general. If I had the extra time I would probably talk about both subjects and how the cards are an investment and appreciate in value. Finally, after creating that high level of desirability I would talk about my auction company. In this case, bullet points showing off the high levels of business and customer satisfaction rating would be excellent.

Remember, sell the product first and then yourself second. Most people don't shop by looking at eBay user names but by the title and picture of the items for sale. People are there to save money and acquire rare and hard-to-find items.

Had it not been for the clear picture of the unopened trading cards, I would have given this auction a failing score. Between the title not mentioning the actual item for sale and the horrible text in the description, this auction has a lot of areas for improvement.

Antique brooch jewelry

ANTIQUE BROOCH VERY DIFFERENT


ended - Thursday, May 29, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is some kind of antique piece of jewelry. Virtually nothing is known about this brooch as the seller didn't provide us with any useful information.

The auction's title is a start for the seller's lack of words or a description for this pin. Words like "jewelry", "pin", or even "fancy" have been omitted from the title. Instead, the seller chose a very simple title with only two main key words.

Here's all that the seller wrote for the description:

"ANTIQUE BROOCH VERY OLD AND IS VERY DIFFERENT THEN I HAVE EVER SEEN, REALLY NEAT BROOCH"

In addition to writing in all capital letters with a larger than average font and therefore insulting our (the buyers) intelligence, the seller failed to mention anything specific about this item for sale nor create any desirability for this piece of jewelry. The actual picture of this brooch also isn't that great as it's very hard to make out any details.

So with virtually no good information in the description and a bad picture of the item for sale, what could the seller have done to make this into an auction with a much greater chance of selling for a decent price?

First, the seller needs to learn how to take better pictures. When it comes to selling items online, it's critical to have at least one good picture that clearly shows off the details and/or any special features of the item for sale.

Second, the seller needs to learn how to do online research to find out basic information about the item for sale. This isn't rocket science and with only a few minutes of work it's fairly easy to find out even the most basic details about virtually anything. Doing so will help you think of different terms and key words to use in the title and auction's description. This may also help you think of a selling technique to help market the item, which brings us to our next point.

Third, this seller needs to create desirability for this antique piece of jewelry. Whether it means talking about how nice and stylish it'll look on a shirt or as pair of a decoration in your hair, you need to give the potential buyers reasons on why they should buy this product from you. Remember that eBay doesn't do any selling by itself. You're the one responsible for marketing and selling your items!

Fourth, and last, if you're unable to find out any specific information about an item for sale, make an educated guess. Let the buyers know that you're guessing, but tell them what you honestly think about the item for sale. NOTE - Be careful when using this technique and make sure you do research first. You can really make the buyers insulted if you're guessing is way off.

To me, it looks like the main decoration on this brooch is one of those thin and decorative, hand held Chinese fans. That kind of information would be good in the description and title.

It's a little surprising seeing a PowerSeller with this poor of an auction. Then again, many of the seller's previous auctions involve this poor layout and selling style. At least one auction earned the seller a piece of negative feedback because the seller wasn't clear in the auction. The title said one thing while the description said something else. To top it off, the seller's response to the negative feedback criticized the buyer for not paying attention in the auction.

The lesson to sellers is this: Pay attention to what you're doing!

Tour service brochure for Chicago's 1933 World's Fair

THE GRAY LINE, A Century Of Progress,World's Fair


ended - Thursday, May 22, 2008

Auction grade: C-

Starting bid: $1.00

Final selling price: $3.25


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a bus tour guide for when Chicago hosted the "A Century of Progress" themed World's Fair.

This auction's title can easily be rewritten to include more key words and avoid having a subtitle. For low cost auctions like this one, it's actually not worth it to have the subtitle because that directly cuts right into your profit (assuming the auction even sells). Save the subtitles for higher priced auctions.

"Chicago", "World's Fair", "Gray Line", "bus tour", "vintage", and even "antique" should all be able to fit into a new title, along with possibly adding the years of the fair itself.

The auction's description leaves a lot of room for improvement.

"This is a very good Print in very good condition for The Grey Line bus tour's of The World;s Fair Chicago."

- "very good" - redundant when used twice in a row like that

- "Print" - "print"

- "Grey Line" - "Gray Line" (just like how it's printed on the brochure)

- "bus tour's" - should be "bus tours"

- "World;s" - "World's"

- "The World;s Fair Chicago" - could be rewritten such as "Chicago's 1933 World's Fair"


Apart from that poorly constructed sentence above, there isn't any other information about this item or Chicago's 1933-34 World's Fair. This is a golden opportunity to add a little bit of extra information to A) add in a few extra key words, and B) educate and get the customer more interested in the fair and this item from that period in time.

The auction's pictures also need to be improved. I like how the seller made an official backdrop for the pictures. That part looks very nice and shows that the seller is trying to be professional. The unprofessional parts are how the seller shot in a widescreen resolution (16:9 or 16:10 instead of the usual 4:3 that most people use) for a tall and narrow item. It's fine to shoot pictures that way for wide items, but not for something like this. The seller also should have rotated the camera onto its side to take vertical pictures of the brochure.

Personally, I also believe that the seller is displaying too many pictures of this brochure. Old flyers and brochures typically have low final selling prices, so every extra item added to this auction (subtitle, extra pictures, etc.) just lowers your final profit. In this case I would just use the two main fold-out pictures that show the brochure in general. It shows the buyers enough information without them being able to read everything in the brochure and not placing a bid.

Overall, this auction can be trimmed down and improved to slightly increase the chances of having it being sold on eBay. I used the term "slightly" because sold individually, most old and vintage brochures like this one typically sell for very low prices, if they sell at all. This has a reasonable starting bid and a very low shipping price, but there still isn't much of a market for items like this to be sold by themselves. If this was my auction and I had other old brochures similar to this, I would just group them together and sell them as a lot (after I scan them and keep a copy of it for myself, first ;) ).

On a side note:

"I am liquidating a estate and have allot of very neat things"

- "a estate" - "an estate"

- "allot" - "a lot"

used Red Wings away Federov jersey

DETROIT RED WING JERSEY, VINTAGE FEDEROV # 91


ended - Sunday, May 18, 2008

Auction grade: C+

Starting bid: $14.95

Final selling price: $44.75


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a used road hockey jersey for Federov (# 91) of the Detroit Red Wings.

The title' for this auction doesn't look that bad. Apart from not having it in all capital letters, I would also add "road" and/or "away" in front of the word "jersey", and if there's still room available in the title, "hockey" is always a good word, too.

The auction's description needs to be rewritten so that it's easier to read and follow what the person is saying. The red lettering wouldn't have been my first choice for the color of the text, but I appreciate the seller using it for the spirit of the hockey team.

"I HAVE 2 OF THESE AND DECIDED TO SELL ONE."

I would have left out that piece of information. The seller already mentioned that this is in good condition. Not excellent, but just good. Now that we know that the seller is holding back one of these jerseys for himself, we also know that he's holding back the better of the two jerseys. Psychologically, as a buyer, I don't like the feeling of placing a bid on a used and most likely inferior item.

"WE HAVE A GREAT HOCKEY TEAM, BUT NOT MANY JOBS HERE. I WILL BE SELLING OTHER ITEMS ALSO."

Again, the seller is being too wordy about non-auction related material. This is the seller trying to use sympathy to sell this jersey. We all have our own problems and it's no secret that Detroit's economy has been going down the drain for the past many years. That's what happens when incredibly corrupt people are elected into the local and state public offices and nobody stands up to stop them from their evil ways. Detroit has been going downhill and seeing increasing crime and corruption ever since the 1960s. Again, this isn't exactly a new trend for the once great American city. I'm originally from that city and most of my relatives still live in the Detroit-metro area.

Getting back to the auction, this seller needs to stay on topic and focus on selling the jersey. It wouldn't hurt if the seller mentioned anything specifically wrong with the jersey (any dirt, tears, fading, etc.) and why it's only in "good" condition. The seller could have also listed a brief biography and some of Federov's stats from when he was with the Red Wings.

Even when selling on eBay, it's still necessary to get the buyer all pumped-up and eager to place a bid. I don't have that feeling when looking at this auction. The pictures are pretty good and it's nice seeing a classic Red Wing's jersey available for sale, but with the seller's bland attitude and text style there's no sense of urgency anywhere.

Overall, this isn't that bad of an auction and the price looks pretty good. With a few minor updates to the title and a general rewriting of the main body of text this should bring in some serious buyers.

vintage trinket / jewelry box

vintage painted box


ended - Thursday, May 15, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $1.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is some sort of vintage painted box. That's all that I can really say about it myself as the seller provided very little information about the actual item for sale.

The auction's title is virtually useless when it comes to search engine optimization. With the lack of key words and phrases, it's going to be blind luck that most people interested in this sort of item will actually find it from this seller. What good is taking the time, effort and money to create an auction if very little people are going to find it?

The auction's description is also very short and mysterious, providing the buyers with very little information about the item for sale. It's never a good sign when the seller types more information about their policies and other auctions than about the actual item for sale.

"6 1/2x31/2x2 inch box, Please look at my other auctions as I always have lots of neat stuff, I DO NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL"

For starters, the seller needs to space out the dimensions and make it easier to read. The version written above is garbled and cramped together, looking very sloppy and unprofessional.

We, the buyers, have no idea anything else dealing with this box. There's no indication of its age or origins, the material it's made out of, or even its overall condition. Nothing at all!

In the "Item Specifics" section, it's mentioned that this is a "trinket box". To me, that's an excellent key word that needs to be worked into the title and description. "Jewelry box" should also be used the same way in this auction.

Despite taking the time to take pretty good pictures of this painted box, the seller isn't even trying to sell it to potential buyers. The auction's description is a prime spot to write a small blurb about different ways the potential buyers can use and/or display this vintage box in their home. Don't just rely on pictures and a shoddy title & description to do that work for you. Take the time to at least try to make the advertisement more professional and enticing to potential buyers.

Looking at this seller's other items for sale, there's a definite pattern on the seller's lack of wording in both the title and description. True, this person has sold quite a bit of merchandise on eBay over the past year, but think of how much more could have been sold and for higher final selling prices. Obviously there's a demand for these older goods, but through proper internet marketing there is a great potential for even more sales.

One final note is that the seller is only turning away potential buyers by not accepting PayPal. That company may have some unfair policies and high fees at times, but you'll still come out ahead of the deal by offering customers as many ways of making payments as possible. This is especially true for those in today's fast paced world who would rather make an online payment and have their item shipped out that much faster.

Alpengeist roller coaster poster

Alpengeist Roller Coaster Busch Gardens Poster 1997 NR!


ended - Friday, May 9, 2008

Auction grade: B+

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $5.50


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an attraction poster for the Busch Gardens Williamsburg (now called Busch Gardens Europe) inverted roller coaster --- Alpengeist.

The title for this auction looks pretty good. Between using the ride's name, what it is, and the theme park's name, the title should help bring in quite a few different searches. The only change I would have made would be to take out "1997 NR!" and add "Europe" right behind "Busch Gardens". Unfortunately, "Williamsburg" won't fit, but the park's current name should squeeze in there just fine.

The auction's description looks decent, too. I like how the seller mentioned the poster's overall dimensions and that there are a couple of wrinkles. It's also good how the seller noted that the frame is not included in the auction. It would have been nice if the seller could have gone into a little bit of detail about the ride itself and the theme park. Free tools such as Google and Wikipedia make doing basic research like that simple and easy, and the extra key words and phrases in the auction's description will help in the search engine results, too.

My only major complaint with this auction deals with the picture. A large reflection (most likely the camera's flash) is obscuring the top of the poster, and the poor angle makes it hard to read the text and make out some of the details. Always be careful when taking pictures of items behind glass and plastic as it's very easy to catch reflections and flashes in the pictures. In this case, the seller would have been better holding the camera steady and using a longer exposure or higher ISO shot instead of using the flash.

Overall, this is a pretty good auction. The attractive starting bid is sure to draw in bidders of amusement parks and roller coasters alike.