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.

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.

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.

Roll of old wheat pennies

FOUND - OLD ROLL OF WHEATS FOUND IN BANK LOCK BOX!L@@K


ended - Friday, April 18, 2008

Auction grade: D

Starting bid: $4.00

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an old roll of wheat pennies from the 1910's through the 1950's.

The title for this auction is horrible. People who use the default search settings are going to have a very hard time finding this particular auction of old coins. Instead of telling us where you found the coins, you need to instead be talking about the coins themselves. The title only gives you so much room to work with, and you need to fill it with as many relevant key words and phrases as possible.

For this auction, good key words in the title would be "coins", "pennies", "old", "wheat", "roll", "undiscovered" and even "vintage". Stick with words like that first before wasting the remainder of the available space with things like "L@@K".

The extremely large font used in the auction's description needs to be lowered. Using all capital letters is the equivalent to having a person shout at you in person. Using all caps with a font this large is like somebody standing in front of you and using a bullhorn to talk. It's very annoying and gives you the appearance of trying to scam a person. It's also insulting to the buyers.

The actual text in the auction looks pretty good. It's fine how the seller says how he found the coins, and it's also good that he mentioned some of the different decades for the pennies. However, previous customer feedback implies that not every roll of pennies that this guy sells will include coins from the decades that are listed.

"WE TRY TO PROVIDE ROLLS OF QUALITY TO ARE BUYERS."

This sentence says it all.

This stock picture of some of the pennies needs to be replaced with a real picture of the exact roll of pennies for sale in this auction. Buyers are going to be disappointed and will leave negative feedback if their coins don't look exactly like the ones in the picture (condition wise). I've seen it happen many times.

Finally, the last item of concern in this auction is the handling time and the fact that the seller only ships the items one day each week.

"HANDLING TIME WILL BE 4 BUSINESS DAYS. ALL
ORDERS WILL SHIP ON A THUR OF EVERY WEEK"

If you're trying to pass yourself off as a real eBay seller, you really need to find a way to ship your items two or even three days a week. Seeing how the postal service doesn't operate on Sundays, most people are going to have to wait at least an extra four days after the item is shipped before they'll receive it. I hate unnecessary delays in receiving my items as much as the next buyer. Do them a favor and make an effort to put the items in the mail faster.

Overall, this seller needs to make a few title and appearance adjustments if he wants to become a more professional and respected eBay seller.

Novelty Pepsi folding knife

HERE A NEW PEPSI NOVELTY KNIFE


ended - Thursday, April 17, 2008

Auction grade: C-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a small novelty folding knife with the Pepsi logo and slogan "The Choice of a New Generation".

The auction's title needs a lot of attention. Apart from being in all capital letters, this is also not nearly descriptive enough considering the age of this particular knife. A quick internet search for that slogan shows that it was first used by Pepsi back in 1984. Appropriate key words for the title would be "vintage", "classic", "1980s", and even "New Generation".

The seller has the right idea in the auction's description, just poor execution in its layout. I like how the seller described this knife and gave its dimensions, but the one giant sentence needs to be fixed. Adding in a few periods will make this auction a lot easier to read and understand.

"HANDEL" --- handle

The auction's picture isn't bad and you can clearly see the Pepsi logo and slogan on the knife. My only problem is that you can also see the seller's hand and all of the wrinkles to go with it. Next time place the knife on a table or towel and take the picture. Also, you may want to partially extend the blade so we can see it in the picture.

The final note to address in this auction is the extremely high shipping fee that the seller is charging. Those plastic novelty knives are very light weight and don't cost much to ship across the country. Seeing that the seller is based in Illinois and towards the center of the country, it should only cost a dollar or two to send it anywhere in the lower 48 states.

The main problem with this auction is that the seller is trying to force a profit for himself for a cheap item. Ripping off the buyers with extremely high shipping costs is not the way to do that. You'll only discourage them from clicking on the link to even view the item for sale.

When selling a cheap item like this on eBay, don't get discouraged if it doesn't sell for a high price. Most of those old novelty items still aren't worth much today unless you have something that is rare and in demand. Otherwise, expect to make almost nothing for a sale like this. This is still a good item to sell for two main reasons: 1) even a simple sale with no profit can increase your feedback score and possibly lead to more future sales, and 2) if you don't want to sell it individually, this could be offered along with another item or two as part of a package deal or freebie.

Retro Kellogg's snack plates

NEW 2 VINTAGE KELLOGG RICE KRISPIES SNACK PLATES


ended - Friday, April 11, 2008

Auction grade: C+

Starting bid: $8.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a pair of retro-style Kellogg's Rice Krispies snack plates.

Despite being in all capital letters, the auction's title looks pretty good. All of the major key words are there and this auction should show up in quite a few different searches. The seller may want to change "KELLOGG" to "Kelloggs" (more people will search for it this way), and also find a way to sneak in the word "retro".

Technically this isn't a vintage set of plates (as the seller states in the description, they were released back in 2005), but rather vintage-style or retro.

The auction's description is adequate. The seller isn't very elaborate and only uses very simple sentences and sentence fragments, but the important notes are there. By not being elaborate and creative with the wording, the seller is missing out on potential key words and phrases that other people may use when searching for items. It would be helpful to know if the plates are plastic or ceramic.

The picture of the snack plates looks good. We can clearly see the retro design and it appears that the plates are in good condition.

The major problem with this auction is that the seller is being too greedy with the high starting bid and shipping costs. Google's product comparison shows us that online stores are selling the same retro plate (some even have it with bowl and mug combination packages) for similar or cheaper prices.

Remember that unless you have a rare or high in demand item, don't expect to make a fortune selling it on eBay or other online auction sites. Most people are there to bargain hunt, and if they can find the item for a cheaper price elsewhere, then that's where they'll go.

Vintage Walt Disney World candy dish

NEAT WALT DISNEY WORLD CANDY DISH FROM THE EARLY 1970's


ended - Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Auction grade: D

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a vintage candy dish from the Walt Disney World Resort back in the 1970's. Not a whole lot of information was provided by the seller.

For starters, the auction title needs some work. Along with changing the text so that it isn't in all capital letters, the seller needs to add key words such as "vintage", "WDW", "70s", "monorail" and/or "Magic Kingdom".

The main body of text definitely needs more work. As you can see below, the text is nearly identical to the auction title.

"THIS IS A NEAT CANDY DISH FROM THE WALT DISNEY WORLD MAGIC KINGDOM FROM THE EARLY 1970's."

The thing to know about selling Disney merchandise, especially from the movies and theme parks, is that most of the fans are knowledgeable and particular. They know the names of the different characters, theme parks, hotels, lands, and attractions. They also know how to search for them on eBay using a variety of search techniques.

This seller really dropped the ball by not being nearly as descriptive in the auction's description. It isn't necessary to go into detail and history of the resort, but it's fairly easy to list each of the different scenes on the candy dish. Remember, the auction's description is searchable as long as the box is checked (in the advanced search options).

If you don't know the different scenes, there are dozens of WDW websites filled with pictures of the resort area. For example, one of them is The Florida Project. For selling a unique and vintage item like this one, you need to take the time to list it correctly. Otherwise, you're just throwing your money down the drain.

We also need to know the size of the candy dish. What is the diameter? How tall is it?

In addition to fixing the title and description, this auction is also in need of a new, clear picture. The one here is washed out and looks like it was taken back in the 1970's. It's hard to make out some of the scenes on the candy dish. A close-up picture of a scene or two on the dish would also help.

On a final note, the shipping rate is a little bit high. Unless this is a very large or heavy dish (an unknown, as noted above), the $8.95 rate is high.

Overall, this is a poorly constructed auction in need of some desperate work. I'm surprised that a PowerSeller created an auction like this one and expects it to sell. Especially with this being an Orlando-based seller trying to sell Disney merchandise.

USAF Sabre Jet Motor Lodge sign

AIR FORCE SABRE JET MOTOR LODGE SIGN AGED METAL


ended - Sunday, March 9, 2008

Auction grade: B

Starting bid: $22.95

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for bid in this eBay auction is a vintage motor lodge sign featuring the USAF F-86 Sabre. The seller claims that this a current production sign with a 1950's theme to it.


I like this sign and the vintage look to it, but changes need to be made to increase traffic.

First, the title needs some adjusting. It needs to be written with regular sized characters, and certainly not all caps like it is now. Also, a few more keys words need to be added to the title. "USAF" and "military" will definitely help increase the number of viewers.

The other main part of the auction that needs adjusting is the item's description.

First, the seller needs to say directly whether or not this exact sign was made in the 1950's or if it was made today and designed to look like it was from that era. The title says "aged metal", but the description mentions "current production sign." Well, which one is it? Vintage items are popular these days, and some companies are producing modern day replicas of vintage signs, furniture, etc.

Second, the seller could easily have gone into a little detail about the F-86 Sabre. I know from my own independent military aviation studies that the F-86 was the primary fighter used by our forces during the Korean Conflict. It hunted and destroyed Soviet-made and Soviet/Chinese/Korean-piloted MiG-15 fighters in "MiG Alley" on the China-Korean border. Any facts and pieces of information like that are excellent add-ons for the item's description. By mentioning a little bit about the aircraft, USAF, military, and Korean War, all of a sudden you have a bunch of excellent key words. It will also help you look more professional as long as your facts are correct.

Third, the spacing and general format of the description needs to be fixed. A bunch of sentence fragments separated only by periods (no spacing) isn't the way to do it. Dimensions are best being listed separately so they stand out and are easier to read. Facts and observations should be listed first in one paragraph, and opinions and other pieces of information need to go in following paragraphs.

It's interesting to see that the sign has the aircraft spelled "SABER JET". The military spelled the aircraft as either "Sabre" or "Sabrejet" (no space). The seller even spelled it correctly in the title. Did the designer of the sign intentionally misspell the aircraft, or was it an accident?

Prototype Barbie Doll

Rare Prototype Swirl Barbie Bendleg in Box/ Orig. Owner

ended - Friday, February 8, 2008

Auction grade: C-

Starting bid: $95.99

Final sale price: $585.00


Up for sale in this auction is a rare prototype Barbie doll with bendable legs. The seller claims that the legs can be clicked and positioned in three different legs. The seller also goes on to mention how she received the doll out of the box, but she restored the doll to a like-new condition.

I need to point out that the seller is lying to the customers in the title. The title says "Orig. Owner", but in the main body of the text it says that she's the second owner. When you say that you're the original owner, it implies that you were the person who received the item directly from the store or factory. In this case, this seller specifically says that she received the doll from a seller who in turn bought it from a store. Therefore, she is at least the second owner (assuming that the store didn't sell a returned item). Plus, she uses the wrong version of "its".

"I got this Barbie from it's original owner. She came to me out of box. The seller told me she got her as a gift in the American Girl box and that she came that way from the store."


I do like how the main body text is written in that pink and white color combination. Those colors are perfect for selling a feminist item like this one.

The way the main text is written is where I have more problems. Despite being full of sentence fragments, the overall flow of the message just doesn't seem to work that well. I can't quite place my finger on what exactly bothers me (besides the grammar errors), but something is there. I don't know if this is good or bad for an auction like this, but you can definitely tell that a woman wrote the text. Most of the time you want your text and wording to look gender-equal.

A big plus for this seller are all of the pictures of this Barbie doll. Some of them are better than others, but there are plenty of angles of the doll and accompanying box. The pictures allow you to get a true feeling for the item before making a winning bid.


Overall, I don't like this auction. Between the seller lying to the customers in the title to the style of text in the auction itself, this is not that good of an auction. The only reason I didn't go for a lower grade was that the seller A) had a good color combination with the text, and B) used lots of pictures. One of my rules is that you can never have too many pictures, especially when selling a vintage item like this one.

Utah Ute Indian photo

1913 Ute Indian Camp Panorama Photo Native Ame ORIGINAL

ended - Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Auction grade: A

Starting bid: $0.99

Final sale price: $365.00


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a 1913 vintage panorama picture of a group of Utah Ute Indians. The indians appear to be wearing traditional clothing, including weapons such as shields and tomahawks.

Overall, this is a clear and professional looking auction. The title is neatly written and includes many good key words. The main body of text is neatly spaced and easy to read (only one or two spelling and grammar errors). The seller took the extra step and went into the history of the picture, Ute tribe, and location.

With over 800 positive pieces of feedback in the past month, this seller means business.


Overall, this is an excellent auction. From the very good title, to the vast amount of information in the text, to the numerous pictures, this will bring in the buyers. The only reason I didn't give it a perfect score was that I didn't like how all of the text was centered in the main body of the auction. That is unprofessional and looks a little bit sloppy. Left-oriented paragraphs would have been a better option.