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Make your listings sell for you

By Bobby Buys

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 14May2009
Word count: 545
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When you sell on an online auction site and marketplace, your listing - the title, description and image - is your sales person. You need to consider carefully each element of your listing in order to make a good and compelling sales pitch.

THE TITLE. Write a clear, descriptive title. The title of your listings will appear in the previews and its importance can not be over-estimated. It must be catchy enough to attract attention of casual visitors and prompt them to click on your preview, out of all the previews they can choose from. It must also be clear and exact, unless you want the visitors to leave your listing quickly, very annoyed with less-than honest presentation. For example, it is of little use if the customers click on the words "diamond ring" in the title - only to find out in the listing page that you are really offering a lab diamond ring.

A good title is also crucially important in searches. Try to anticipate what the users search for. Do not weigh down you title with irrelevant adjectives like "stunning", "gorgeous", or "amazing". No one will search for those words. Nor will anyone search for symbols like stars or SMS-type abbreviations. Never, ever sacrifice clarity in a title to gimmicky words, learned terminology or superlatives. It goes without saying that spelling errors are a definite no-no in a title.

THE DESCRIPTION: The rule number one of a good item description is: you will have satisfied customers if your item arrives exactly as described. State clearly and concisely everything about the item you are selling. Be scrupulously honest about what your item is and any scratches or defect it may have.

Within those limits, present your item in the best possible light. Do not tell the visitors what the item is not. Tell them what it is. And tell them what it can do for them. For example, if you are selling a laptop, by all means mention the specifications. However, do not stop there. Most visitors will not know what those numbers and abbreviations mean anyway. Instead, tell them clearly how the laptop you are selling will benefit them. For example, this is how you may make your sales pitch:

- Work from anywhere! This laptop is light, portable and has extended battery life.

- Do away with the unsightly cables! This laptop connects to your ADSL modem wirelessly.

Clear and comprehensive description does not equal long description. If you respect your visitors and want them to stop by your item, you will not burden them with more than 200 to 400 words.

THE IMAGE. A good, clear image makes a big difference to the response you will receive from your listing. In fact, images are so important that they are the single most important element of your listing. You do not need to be a professional to ensure that your listings have good images. It is enough to follow a few simple rules: never use a flash light; take the picture in the natural light, in a shade; put your item on a non-shiny white background; place the camera on a tripod or another stable surface; use photo-editing software to crop and enhance the image. With a little practice, you too will have outstanding, eye-catching results.

bidorbuy.co.za is South Africa's largest online marketplace. Buyers and sellers come to bidorbuy to buy and sell virtually anything in auction format or at fixed prices. Contact details: bidorbuy Marketing Department; email promotion@bidorbuy.co.za, web site www.bidorbuy.co.za

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