Your Auction Listings

The best way to learn about the best way to list your auctions is by analyzing auction listings for items that are the same or similar to what you are selling. Try searching eBay for completed auctions of exactly the same item you are selling, sort the list by price (descending), and study the listings for the items that sold for the highest price. Observe the similarities between the words in the auction title, similarities in the auction descriptions, what categories the auctions were listed in, how pictures were used, whether or not there were gallery pictures, the shipping costs, and what day of the week and times the auctions were listed and closed. Analyzing this information will give you the best information on how to get the highest price for your item.

When listing an item, you should try to put yourself in the mind of your customer. Think about what search terms your customer would use when looking for your product. Those terms should be used in your auction title and description.

Auctions for items such as collectibles, clothing, and jewelry should always include pictures. Again, observe completed actions for similar items to see how pictures were used in the most successful auctions. Items such as office supplies or paperback novels do not necessarily need an accompanying picture, though it certainly wouldn't hurt.

Ensure you are charging an appropriate amount for shipping. You will lose money by undercharging, and you will lose bidders by overcharging. For expensive items, you should require insurance, and include that cost in your shipping price. Marking your shipping up by a dollar or a dollar fifty will help defray the cost of your shipping supplies and auction fees.

Pricing your items can be tricky. You don't want an item to sell for less than you paid for it, but by starting the bid too high the item may end up actually selling for less than if you had started the bidding lower. If you are selling an item that has resulted in a sale in nearly all of the completed auctions for that item, then you are safe in starting the bidding low. Demand is high, so you item is very likely to sell. Starting the bidding low will draw more bidders. More people bidding against each other on your auction will ultimately drive the price higher. If you want to make a quick sale, you can often use the Buy It Now feature, and price Buy It Now at a couple of dollars less than the average completed auction price of like items.

Don't buy features such as bold, highlight, or border. The extra cost of these items is generally more than the feature will increase the selling price of your item. After you are more experience, you may want to try featured auctions, but it is expensive so use it with caution.

After you gain some experience you will also want to try using html in your auctions, the free listing software Turbo Lister, or a third party auction manager.