new coustic crossover

new coustic crossover

ended - Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Auction grade: C-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final selling price: $12.50


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a previously installed device for car stereos. The seller claims that it wasn't used and there are some light scratches on the case.

For starters, the title definitely needs to have more key words added. "Car stereo", "electronic", "audio", and "XM6" are all very good terms to use, and any combination of them will definitely help this advertisement show up in more searches.

The main body of text could use some freshening up. I like the way that the seller tells us a little bit about the item and why it's up for sale. Seeing how the seller is selling something that an enthusiast is most likely going to purchase, it would have been better if technical stats about the crossover were listed. Technical details like that are usually found in the owner's manual and on the manufacturer's website. You can also find them listed on most electronic websites selling the product.

The reasoning for listing details like that is you don't want the customers to have to look elsewhere to find out more information about the product. If they look elsewhere, A) they may find the same exact product for a lower price, or B) they may find an updated or different version that they want to purchase instead. Either way you've lost the sale. It's hard enough getting somebody to click on your auction without having them lose interest because they want to know more.

It turns out another person is offering a brand new version of this same exact crossover for a Buy It Now price of $39.00. That seller happened to list the technical details of this piece of stereo equipment.

A big problem with this item is that the seller is trying to pass it off as a brand new item. The seller admitted to having it installed in his car, and he mentioned that there are some light scratches on its case. It's hard to believe that the unit has not been used.

It also doesn't help that this particular model of crossovers wasn't rated very favorable by the different online communities. In fact, it's even hard to find for sale from online merchants. This implies that there isn't much demand for this Xm6 Coustic Crossover. That'll definitely have a negative impact on the final selling price.

Overall, the most important thing to do is fix the title and make it more search engine friendly. The extra statistics and information in the main body would definitely help sell this item, but I don't believe it'll be the deal maker or breaker. Online merchants want around $50 for a brand new version of this crossover, so this previously installed (and possibly used) one won't fetch very high of a final selling price. On a positive note, the pictures do look pretty good. It was a good idea to post two of them with different views of the item.

Kellog's Nurti-Grain tankard / coffee cup

Kellogg Nutri Grain Tankard, 1980, Employee Freeby


ends - Saturday, February 16, 2008

Auction grade: C+

Staring bid: $7.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is a special tankard / coffee cup that was given to Kellogg's workers back in the 1980's. The seller claims that this one is in new condition, and he has the box and paperwork to go along with it. The cup looks pretty solid and would be a nice collector's item for people who used to work in the company, or those that were fans of the cereal or breakfast bars.

The auction title needs a little work. First, the word "freeby" is misspelled (it's actually "freebie", though the other version looks correct if spoken with a Texas twang). Second, when running an auction like this, I wouldn't necessarily mention that this was given to the employees for free in the title. That information is fine in the main body, but I personally wouldn't use it up there. Words like "coffee cup" and "vintage" would produce more search results.

Technically, the name should also be spelled "Nutri-Grain", thought I would also use "NurtiGrain" and bet that many people don't know that it's actually hyphenated. I would also add "1980s" or "early 1980s" in the title. I checked online, and it looks like the actual cereal went into production in 1982 and lasted into the 1990's. I don't know how long the healthy breakfast bars have been in production.

The text in the main body of the auction could use a little bit extra work. Despite a few grammar errors, the seller could have gone into a little bit more detail about the cup. Is it heavy? Is the entire cup made of metal? Does the top part easily detach?

For somebody who nicely listed the manufacturer of the cup and said "I try to describe the best I can", I would have expected a little more detail about the cup than just the height.

I like the picture of the cup. The cup is neatly displayed in front of the manufacturer's information and generic box. You can easily see the nice looking logo on the front of the cup. I also like how the seller tells you which days he ships the products. Seeing that information, you have a good feeling that the seller isn't going to sit around a wait a week before putting things in the mail. With him only accepting PayPal, you should expect your item(s) to be put in the mail within a day or two at the most.

A big negative is that the seller does not list the shipping cost. It's not free (he mentions doing combined shipping for items), but nowhere on the advertisement does it say how much to expect for the cost. Some sellers use shipping calculators while others just use a flat rate.

Overall, this is a decent auction. The title and main body of text definitely need some work, but overall it's a pretty good auction. Not listing the shipping cost was a big deduction in the overall grade of this auction.

Absolut playing cards

ABSOLUT-CARD-DECKS


ended - Friday, February 15, 2008

Auction grade: D

Starting bid: $9.99

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction are two sealed sets of playing cards by Absolut.

The main problem with this auction is that there just isn't that much text at all. Between the title and main body of text, there are a total of just twenty words. That's it.

The title needs to be taken off all caps, and definitely more key words need to be added. I would mention words and phrases like "playing cards", "new", "rare", "vodka", and "sealed". It isn't much, but it will allow more people to see the auction in the search results.

Again, for the main body of text, it needs to not be in all capital letters.

"ABSOLUT CARDS TWO DECKS NEVER OPENED, HAVE FUN PLAYING, GREAT FIND. ADD TO YOUR OTHER COOL STUFF!!"

I know that there aren't that many ways to describe brand new playing cards, but the seller could have at least done a better job at typing this text.

The picture looks pretty good. It was a nice touch adding the small Absolut umbrella in the shot. But seeing it there makes me wonder, does the umbrella go with the playing cards, or is it just there to make everything look neat? Buyers shouldn't have to ask themselves questions like that just by looking at a picture.

Another problem with this advertisement is that there isn't any shipping information anywhere in the ad. Nowhere does it say how much you'll have to pay to send the playing cards to your home or business.

Overall, this auction needs a lot more relevant words if the seller expects it to sell. Key words are critical to end up in more search results pages. Seeing this auction, I think the seller is greedy with that $9.99 starting bid. If the cards are worth that much (plus the mystery shipping costs), then we need to know what makes them so special. Is this the only pack of them in the world? Were they made by hand with top quality material?

Andrew Miller signed baseball card

SUPER RARE 07 TOPPS FINEST ANDREW MILLER X-FACTOR #151


ended - Thursday, February 14, 2008

Auction grade: F

Starting bid: $220.00

Final selling price: $0 - no bids


Available here in this eBay auction is a 2007 signed baseball rookie card by Detroit Tiger's Andrew Miller. As to whether this is a rare card or not, I honestly don't know. I haven't looked at baseball cards for about twenty years. This criticism will be on the actual auction itself.

This auction is horrible.

First, the entire title (and subtitle) should never be in all caps like this one is here. Words like "signed", "baseball", and "rookie" should be used in the title for an item like this. Also, the seller misspells "awsome" and "peroid" in the subtitle.

The main body of text flat-out insults the buyers. There's a theory that the louder a salesman yells at you, the dumber he thinks you are. Notice how many low-end car and electronic TV commercials are that way. They actually believe you are dumb and they have to yell to get your attention. That's exactly what's happening here with this auction.

The entire text is in all caps and uses an unnecessarily large font. This is also one giant run-on-to-the-extreme sentence that's hard to read. Chat text is also used at one point (another big no-no). It's obvious the person didn't even bother checking their work when you see phrases like "BUY IN NOW", "CHECK OUT MY OTHER FOR OTHER RARE", and "GOODLUCK BIDDING".

This person is also misleading the customers by having two different cards in the blurry pictures, but only one of them is actually for sale in this auction. The other card is for sale in a different auction. Unless it's free or part of the auction, only have the actual item(s) for sale in the picture(s)!

These pictures need work. They are blurry and it's very hard to look closely without it hurting the eyes. Use of a small tripod or a flash will help reduce blurriness in pictures. It also helps to use a well lit area.

This auction needs an extreme amount of work for it to make it to an "acceptable" level. The only reason I didn't give it an "F-" was that the seller had the right idea by taking front and back pictures of the baseball cards. The execution sucked, but the right idea was there.

It's obvious that the seller doesn't know how to spell certain words and doesn't care about making a neat and easy to read auction. I took a look and saw similar problems in the seller's other auctions. The seller could be making a lot more money by actually taking the time to improve their auctions and not appearing to be a total idiot.

Why should I give my hard earned money to somebody who doesn't care and insults my intelligence?

I do take satisfaction knowing that the seller spent extra money by A) having a gallery image, B) having a subtitle, C) having a gift icon, and D) having a high starting bid. It's not a whole lot of money, but all of those auctions do add up over time.

"Bull" bobble head

Vintage "BULL" Nodder - Fuzzy


ended - Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Auction grade: D

Starting bid: $7.90

Final sale price: $0 - no bids


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an interesting little figurine for a desk, mantle, or other type of display area. This is a head-bobbing bull that is kneeling down. The seller claims that this is a vintage item, but doesn't go into any detail.

First of all, the title definitely needs more key words if the seller expects people to find this item. For this item, I would definitely have found a way to include "bobble head" into the title. That's the more common and popular term used when describing this type of an item.

Up next, the text definitely needs more work. Apart from going back and checking the spelling and grammar, the seller needs to be more elaborate on why this is a vintage item. Has it actually been discontinued by the manufacturers and cannot be found in stores, or was is just covered in dust and looked sorta old by the seller? When was it made? Just by throwing the word "vintage" out there usually doesn't convince the buyers enough to make that purchase. Considering the high cost of the starting bid, the seller needs to explain why it's vintage and worthy of the buyer's money.

The actual picture of the bull isn't bad. If the seller believes that the sticker that says "RF Made in Hong Kong" is important enough to mention in the body of the text, then they probably should have included a picture of it in the auction. Unless it's something really special from that region, you usually don't want to advertise if something was made overseas in places like China or Hong Kong.

The last problem with the auction deals with the high costs. If a person were to place a bid and win, they're already paying at least $13.90 (starting bid + shipping). Considering this is eBay and lots of similar items can be purchased for much less than that, this is an expensive item with very little detail.

Overall, this auction needs extra work. The starting bid and shipping costs are way too high (unless for a fact it is vintage and worth much more than that), and the title and main body of text needs some extra work. The main picture does look good, and in this case a second picture is optional. It's no surprise at all that there aren't any bids since this item was listed back on Wednesday, February 6, 2008.

Looney Tunes shirts

NEW Looney Tunes T-Shirts


ended - Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Auction grade: D-

Starting bid: $3.99

Final sale price: $26.55


Up for sale in this auction is a small collection of six t-shirts with various cartoon characters. The seller claims that in addition to being brand new, they are also exclusive and cannot be purchased in stores.

Supposedly some (or all) of the shirts still have their tags attached. It stands to reason that A) they may have initially been given away as promotional items, or B) they were discontinued and most likely sold for very low prices at bargain stores. If they do have tags attached, then my guess is that option B is closer to being correct.

Let's start at the top of the auction and see why it received such a low score.

The title definitely needs more work. It's way too vague and doesn't have nearly enough key words to draw in the bidders. In this case I would mention something like "LOT of 6" or "x6" to give the people a general idea of how many shirts are up for auction. I would also throw out a few character names or even some of the shirt sizes.

In the main body of text, it's good that the seller mentioned that the shirts are from a pet- and smoke-free home. Lots of people have allergies to one thing or another (myself included), and articles of clothing can potentially contain a lot of the allergic particles and cause a nasty reaction.

It's also good the the seller made a listing of the different shirts and their sizes. The seller does not mention whether or not these shirts are in children or adult sizes. It's safe to assume that they're for children, but back in the early 1990's, Warner Brothers did a big push with adult clothing featuring some of their more famous characters. Even if it's something that appears to be obvious (like here), you still need to mention whether or not it's a child or adult size (can also be mentioned in the title).

A big problem with this auction is that the picture sucks. You can clearly see one of the shirts, but that's it. The others are either wrinkled or covered by other shirts. Three of the listed shirts are hard to tell apart in the picture. An above shot looking straight down at the shirts would have been a much better picture.

Here's another problem:
"1 shirt. XXL. Has a print of Joe Cool. This shirt has three minor spots that you can barely see. I don't think these spots are permanent and they can be easily washed out."

First, this Joe Cool character is also known as Snoopy. One of those names will have a lot more searches than the other. It scares me that somebody advertising cartoon character t-shirts couldn't recognize this one.

Second, when mentioning flaws in an item, you need to take a good picture of those flaws if you expect to sell it online. People are very hesitant in buying anything damaged, especially when they have to take somebody else's word for it.

Third, the seller downplays the damage. Permanent is a strong word to throw out when talking about something that is damaged. If you honestly don't think that the damage is that bad, don't ever use that word. Just mention that a quick run through the washer will take care of the spots.

By not having a picture and trying to downplay the damage, that tells me that, in-fact, the opposite is true. This has the impression that the spots may come out if you use some serious scrubbing or a really powerful detergent. In other words, this is the seller saying "I warned you" when you write back and complain that the spots won't come out of the shirt.


Overall, this advertisement needs to be completely modified if the seller wants to try to sell these shirts online. Between a new title, more elaborate text, and better pictures, this one needs help. The only reasons I didn't give it a failing score was that the seller had the right ideas with listing the shirt designs & sizes, and by having a group picture with the shirts. The ideas were half-heartedly executed along with everything else.

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.

Jeff Gordon car panel

Jeff Gordon #24 Car Side NASCAR Bristol Sharpie 500


ended - Sunday, February 10, 2008

Auction grade: A-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final sale price: $440.00 (reserve not met)


Up for sale in this eBay auction is an actual piece of Jeff Gordon's car from the 2003 NASCAR Sharpie 500 race in Bristol, TN. The racing damage and tire marks show you how intense racing can get at that crowd favorite short track.

The seller states that there is no certificate of authenticity to accompany this item. Fortunately, most fans will instantly recognize that this is a real part of his stock car.

Overall, this is a pretty good auction. I would have used the term "car panel" instead of "car side", but otherwise the title looks pretty good. The main body text isn't bad. I would have rearranged some thing and broken it up into a few paragraphs, but the right words, descriptions, and dimensions are listed there. The customer has enough important information about the item for sale.

The pictures look very good. Having many of them like the seller has is always a good idea for these rare and/or high priced items.

Poker chips

87 Antique Clay Poker Chips Engraved Eagle

ended - Sunday, February 10, 2008

Auction grade: B

Starting bid: $24.99

Final sale price: $86.89


Up for sale in this auction is a collection of eighty-seven poker chips. These chips have an older design and feel to them. The seller doesn't mention exactly how old they are, but by looking at the pictures it certainly looks like they've been around for a while.

Apart from some grammar problems, this isn't that bad of an auction. The seller has a few good pictures of the poker chips, and really, there isn't a whole lot you can say about them. It would have helped if the seller still had solid information such as the original box to prove their age.

The seller also mentioned that the chips could use a little cleaning. Obviously, if the seller did that part the chips would look a little bit better in the pictures and they would fetch a high final sale price. In other words, by not cleaning the merchandise the seller is throwing away money (a sales term known as "leaving money on the table").

A more enhanced title, fewer grammar errors, official documentation, and cleaner poker chips would have resulted in a higher auction grade.

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.

Haunted bracelet - WEALTHY LIFE

HAUNTED~TIBET Multi Gem Bangle Bracelet~WEALTHY LIFE~

ended - Friday, February 8, 2008

Auction grade: A-

Starting bid: $0.99

Final sale price: $22.50


This is a rather interesting eBay auction. This seller specializes in working in the Wicca religion and is selling a special bracelet that will bring the wearer good fortune in wealth. A lot of people are skeptical as to whether or not those voodoo rings and bracelets really work (I'm one of them myself), but the seller does show a page full of customer testimonials.

Overall, this is a pretty interesting auction layout. The title isn't bad (I would have chosen a few different key words myself), and certain key words stand out by being in all caps. This helps catch the user's attention while they scan down the auction listings.

Personally, I like the text that the seller is using in the main body of the auction. That ancient style of font fits in perfectly with the item being sold. It helps make the customer believe that the bracelet works and the seller is an honest person.

The shipping fees are a little bit high considering how little the actual jewelry weighs.


Overall, this is a very amusing and effective auction. The style of text is excellent and I like how the seller included back information about their own spiritual history. That's a power way to help sell your items, especially for something like this. The reason I took off some points was that the seller included a little too many customer testimonials. That was overkill and will turn away some customers. The seller is trying too hard to prove that it works, and that'll just make more people skeptical.


Do you believe in magic?

Crocs children shoes

CROCS kids shoes girls CAYMAN pink fuchsia size 12 13

ended - Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Auction grade: B+

Starting bid: $0.99

Final sale price: $18.76


Up for sale here is a pair of Crocs shoes for children. Specifically, this is a girl's size 12 and 13 in the Cayman pink style and color. The seller is claiming that this is a brand new set of shoes.

Overall, this is a very simple auction without a whole lot of text or other random information. The title looks very good and I like the way that certain key words are in all caps. Very popular words are used and it'll help this auction get listed in a wide variety of different types of searches that people will do.

The actual auction text is simple too. The pink text color matches the shoes and clearly tells the customer all of the necessary details. Do take note that there are grammar problems throughout the main body of text.

Personally, I don't see the hype behind this style of footwear. I've seen lots of people wearing those shoes in the theme parks in central Florida, and to me they just seem to be too cheesy looking and uncomfortable for lots of walking and long hours on your feet. If you're planning on selling shoes like that, you may be best off waiting until the warmer weather in April or May before cashing in on a quick sale.


Overall, this is a very simple auction. Perhaps it's a little bit too simple. It would have been better if the seller would have used a real picture instead of a stock image. The auction text could have also used some improvement. The title is excellent and a big part of the relatively high score.

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.

Chinese drapes

vintage art chinese nouveau curtains drapes dragons

ended Monday, February 4, 2008

Auction grade: B

Starting bid: $9.99

Final sale price: $187.50


This seller is auctioning a set of drapes that have hung in their home for many years. These drapes have a Chinese theme going with several dragons.

The auction title has the right idea. A word or two could have proper capitalization, but the right key words are listed. This listing should easily show up in a variety of different searches.

The actual listing could use a little more work. There are numerous grammar errors throughout the listing. The main body of text should also be broken up and made a little easier to read and understand. Bullet points would be excellent when listing dimensions and key features.

This seller gets bonus points for the low shipping costs. By not ripping off sellers with those expensive "handling" fees, this seller is going to earn the right for more customers to do repeat business in the near future. 314 positive pieces of feedback (none of them neutral or negative) is an excellent sign that this is an honest seller.


Overall, this auction is pretty good. It's neither outstanding nor poor, but the right ideas are there. The main body of text needs the most work, as there are grammar and spacing issues throughout the text. A big plus is that the seller listed the dimensions, and the pictures are pretty good too.

Canon PowerShot A720 Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot A720 IS 8.0 MP Digital Camera New

ended - Sunday, February 3, 2008

Auction grade: A+

Starting bid: $0.95

Final sale price: $185.05


In this digital camera auction, the seller is offering a brand new Canon PowerShot A720 IS 8.0 MegaPixel digital camera.

This guy is a PowerSeller, and the advertisement for this camera is sharp and professional. All of the text is easy to read, and highlights of the camera are clearly pointed out in bullet points. With over 4,300 positive feedback notes within the past 12 months, this is a seller who knows how to do things correctly.

The only part of this auction that bothers me is the stock photo. Personally, I want customers to see a real image of the actual item that they're about to purchase. Stock photos only lead to people questioning the legitimacy of the item. I know that it's common for dealers to sell items on eBay, and most of them use the same stock photos too. If you are a real person selling a real item, try not to use a stock photo.