posted on July 11, 2002 07:54:31 AM
I used to think that bidders wanted to read all about the item being offered, so I try to be comprehensive (verbose?) in my descriptions.
But lately, I've noticed some sellers who are having considerable success yet only drop in 20 to 25 words or so to describe their items. Very terse descriptions at best.
Yes, pictures help. However, many of these sellers show pictures that are about as clear and crisp as Mississippi mud.
posted on July 11, 2002 07:58:33 AM
I have found that longer descriptions sell for more, but only 5% or so... not a lot more. People are more interested in the history of an object, then having every nick and scratch described in detail. I have writen short descriptions, and the lower price is balanced by the fewer minutes writing the description. It is a wash. If I have time, I do a full description. If I do not, I take good pics and leave it at that.
The challenge I face with things like "nicks and cracks" is that I don't like to push an item without being honest about its condition...even if that means potential "down-selling" because of the truthfulness.
I figure that if I'm not honest about the stuff, the Online Auction Gods will get me.
posted on July 11, 2002 08:16:43 AM
I think it depends on the item. Mass produced items that everbody (at least your target market) are familiar with, do not need long, detailed descriptions.
Unusual or obscure stuff may need more description in order to sell. I've sold some items thanks to keywords that were placed within the auction and found by people doing searches on "Title and Description." This is especially true for selling vintage magazines and other old paper items - I'll cram in as many authors, artists, advertisers, and subject matter as I can into the description so that people doing the "deep" searches can find it.
Level of detail in the desription of condition also varies with the types of items. Collectors of things like comic books and records can be extraordinarilly demanding, so I try to enumerate everything I see. I may use the grading system, but I still outline the flaws in order to let the bidders make their own decision. For most stuff, I just try to describe the obvious flaws that would be seen by anybody who could actually pick up and examine the item.
posted on July 11, 2002 02:09:32 PM
Short has always worked better for me. Quality of words chosen is more effective than quantity of words. It surprises me too that people will bid with lack of info, but they do it a lot. Most already have a picture in their head when they read the Title, and your words aren't going to change that picture in their mind. People tend to hate details and eyes get blazed over when they see a lot of words.
A two line description is all you need whether you have a photo or not.
As a buyer I have passed by auctions with poor descriptions but my target audience aren't people like me. I want wild and crazy bidders who like to bid high. Which is a good point, people who like to read descriptions are less impulsive. Maybe you can create a listing in big print to satsify the impulsive type, then in small print do the detail description, never tried it that way but it may work. Just don't make it distracting for the impulsive's.
posted on July 11, 2002 02:32:00 PM
Depends on what you are selling. Niche items, collectibles, expensive stuff, used items, etc need a more detailed description than if you were selling something run of the mill like ball point pens. We don't get to talk to the customer face to face so our sales pitch has be through words and pictures. Sellers that do a good job of both can't help but create buyer confidence and comfort, which means cash!
posted on July 11, 2002 04:30:26 PM
I usually try to anticipate questions customers might have about the item and answer them in the text. Find I have very long descriptions explaining what it is, how it works, what it is used with. After 23 years of antique shows, I remember the questions I was frequently asked. And I write my description to answer them. Get almost no emails with questions about the item. And have a good sell thru. Which saves a lot of time. This probably works for antiques and collectibles but would not work for mass produced item.
Try to figure out what questions people might have and answer them in the description. And put in an explanation of things winning bidder could do with the item.
posted on July 11, 2002 09:46:45 PM
I found that larger font sizes are better. I think that many of the bidders don't see very well and like to see the bigger fonts so they can read the descriptions. The default font on ebay IMHO is too small for many viewers. At least for me, when I started using html and larger fonts, my bids increased drastically.
posted on July 11, 2002 10:30:34 PM
A couple of paragraphs that accurately cover all the details is all that is needed. I've seen some sellers that practically write a book in their descriptions. I'm not going to read through it. I'll just click out if I can't get a good feel for the item in 75 (just an estimate) words or less.
posted on July 12, 2002 07:10:33 AM
Thanks to everyone for the posts on this subject. Very helpful.
I do try to present item descriptions in short, easily digestible paragraphs. Bullets are nice, too, although the html coding gets a tad laborious (and so easy to "forget" an "off" switch).
What I personally don't like are the graphics-heavy, multi-colored, multi-font listings that hit overkill on splash and yet provide little info. Comments, anyone?
TOS? By all means, those belong at the end.
And I also quickly skip listings that have ponderous TOS and/or lots of "I don't accept" and "I won't" and so forth. Always sounds like trouble in the making.
posted on July 12, 2002 08:16:30 AM
I tend to be long winded to begin with, so I use long descriptions. In the past few months, in my attempt to tighten up our ads, I went to shorter descriptions, and quickly found that anything that I didn't mention, I quickly got an e-mail asking about.
I HATE E-MAIL QUESTIONS THEY ARE SO TIME CONSUMING - and I quickly went back to longer descriptions, and the questions drop back to almost 0 - I'd rather have a longer description, let the buyer decide what they read or don't read, and satisfy the buyer, and for myself avoid extra e-mail.
Like the original poster, recently I have encountered descriptions which are extremely short - in fact if I were a buyer of the item, I'd have many questions based on the lack of information in many of the new type-short/short ads.
PLUS, longer descriptions stop the after purchase complaint of "you didn't mention" that, or it was too big, or too little, or etc. etc., and more information, equals, less after sale complaints, as the buyer can't say they weren't told!
