List Your eBay Item Correctly For Best Results
http://www.webmarktools.net/articles/2299/1/List-Your-eBay-Item-Correctly-For-Best-Results/Page1.html
Jane Dawson
Visit the eSources eBay market research and retail market research tool for in depth analysis and reports on your eBay competitors. Find eBay dropshippers and wholesale suppliers here. By Jane Dawson
Published on 01/21/2011
In this article we look at a very important element of your eBay listings that can multiply your selling price many times over.
eBay users, all 100 million of them, use the auction site in different ways. Often enough, EBay buyers know exactly what they are looking for.
However, there are plenty of eBay users who are not quite sure what they want, or they are simply browsing to see what is available. Those users tend to search by category.
That is why it is very important for you to list your eBay item in the right category, so it will also be found by this type of buyers.
Secondly, it is actually against eBay rules to wrongly categorise your item. eBay threatens that they will remove incorrectly categorized items, though they don't always follow through on that threat. However, it is not worth the risk, especially since breaking any rules can result in penalties and loss of selling status.
EBay Assist
EBay will help you figure out your category. Go to the category selection feature in the create a listing area and describe your item then hit the search icon. EBay will recommend a category.
Self Select
If you do not like Ebay's category or simply prefer to do it yourself, then search for items like yours and check out which categories you find them in. Try different terms and see which ones come back with the most results or with the best selling opportunity. For example, if you want to sell a bible, you might list in books, collectibles or everything else.
Consider this example of a seller who did not stop to analyze placement:
Language lessons can be pricey and there are some large language series that retail for $1000 and typically sell on eBay for $300 to $400. An eBay seller decided to sell his iPod and as you might expect, listed it under electronics and the various subheadings that led to iPods for sale or bid.
The thing is, this iPod had $1000 worth of language lessons already loaded in. The iPod sold for $150 in the electronics section because people searching there were interested in the iPod, not the contents.
If he had listed in the language setting, he would have probably gotten $400 for his iPod with the valuable language lessons. It is worth spending time thinking about which category makes the most sense.
Also, remember that the more specific the category, the better. Use as many subcategories as appropriate.
Do not just list in electronics, list in electronics MP3 players iPods. Items listed in subcategories are always listed in every category above.
More than one category may make sense
If you feel that your item should legitimately be listed in two categories or you just cannot choose which one to use, there is an alternative available to you. For a small fee, you can list your item in an extra category, to increase the number of potential buyers who will see it. This is definitely a feature that our poor iPod seller should have used to increase his buying audience.
Everything Else
There is an EBay category called everything else that is something of a catchall. Before you decide to list there, be sure you have exhausted all of the other possibilities. Of course, there are some items that are assigned to this category, such as digital works, religious items, metaphysical items, personal security, funeral items and so on.
List carefully to get the best results.
However, there are plenty of eBay users who are not quite sure what they want, or they are simply browsing to see what is available. Those users tend to search by category.
That is why it is very important for you to list your eBay item in the right category, so it will also be found by this type of buyers.
Secondly, it is actually against eBay rules to wrongly categorise your item. eBay threatens that they will remove incorrectly categorized items, though they don't always follow through on that threat. However, it is not worth the risk, especially since breaking any rules can result in penalties and loss of selling status.
EBay Assist
EBay will help you figure out your category. Go to the category selection feature in the create a listing area and describe your item then hit the search icon. EBay will recommend a category.
Self Select
If you do not like Ebay's category or simply prefer to do it yourself, then search for items like yours and check out which categories you find them in. Try different terms and see which ones come back with the most results or with the best selling opportunity. For example, if you want to sell a bible, you might list in books, collectibles or everything else.
Consider this example of a seller who did not stop to analyze placement:
Language lessons can be pricey and there are some large language series that retail for $1000 and typically sell on eBay for $300 to $400. An eBay seller decided to sell his iPod and as you might expect, listed it under electronics and the various subheadings that led to iPods for sale or bid.
The thing is, this iPod had $1000 worth of language lessons already loaded in. The iPod sold for $150 in the electronics section because people searching there were interested in the iPod, not the contents.
If he had listed in the language setting, he would have probably gotten $400 for his iPod with the valuable language lessons. It is worth spending time thinking about which category makes the most sense.
Also, remember that the more specific the category, the better. Use as many subcategories as appropriate.
Do not just list in electronics, list in electronics MP3 players iPods. Items listed in subcategories are always listed in every category above.
More than one category may make sense
If you feel that your item should legitimately be listed in two categories or you just cannot choose which one to use, there is an alternative available to you. For a small fee, you can list your item in an extra category, to increase the number of potential buyers who will see it. This is definitely a feature that our poor iPod seller should have used to increase his buying audience.
Everything Else
There is an EBay category called everything else that is something of a catchall. Before you decide to list there, be sure you have exhausted all of the other possibilities. Of course, there are some items that are assigned to this category, such as digital works, religious items, metaphysical items, personal security, funeral items and so on.
List carefully to get the best results.