Organizing
I only use two tools to help me run my auctions, Turbo Lister and Shooting Star. Links to these products are in the resources section.
Turbo Lister works great for a place to store and organize your auction ads. And the best thing is that is free.
I downloaded Shooting Star for free and tried it for thirty days and then decided I was going to write my own software to manage auctions. Bad choice. The money and emails started pouring in and I couldn’t keep up with it. The program was a big one to tackle. The designers at Shooting Star know what they are doing. I coughed up the $50 and it has paid for itself by saving me time many times over. Updates are always free and they are adding features all the time. I highly recommend at least trying it for the first thirty days, especially if you are new to eBay.
Where to list
Do your research. Look for products similiar to yours and see how and why they get the bids. Is it their Title? Is it the graphics they used? Did they feature? Does their ad copy just leap off the page at you?
I recommend doing searches that you think that customers looking to buy your product will do and then finding out in what categories the top selling items in those searches are listed. You will learn a lot by doing this or you can download Hotbid below to do the work for you.
Some great info categories:
Books/Other Business & Industrial/Businesses For Sale/Other Business & Industrial/Businesses For Sale/Websites Computers & Office Products/Software/PC/Other Computers & Office Products/TechnologyBooks Computers & Office Products/Services/Informational Everything Else/Services/Information Services Everything Else/Ebay User Tools (especially for this ebook) Do your research
These links should help you zero in on your competitors and beat them at their own game. Hotbid is my software program. Free for you to try for 14 days.
Ebay Hot Items Forum Andale Research Hotbid Auction Market Analyst How to list
There are two types of featured auctions – those which are featured in category cost $19.95 and show up at the top of the item’s category main page. This ensures that anyone who visits that category will probably see your auction. The normal browser will scroll down a few screens and then leave. I recommend featuring your item in its category if it has an average sales percentage of 50% or greater. So start out by listing your auction with no features and if you sell half of your products, feature it in that category. But remember what i said about niche items. The smaller the niche the more likely that customers will hunt you down, so featuring in this case may not be to your benefit.
Ebay does not allow you to go further than featuring in a category with informational items, so we will not cover that.
Writing Titles and Ads
Photo
First off, use a photo that will attract readers. Browse through the acution in the category that you are going to list to see what works. I have seen it all: the shock photos that just get people to click the link but have nothing to do with the product, photos that emphasize “hot”, “limited time offer”,”buy now”, etc., photos of cash, or just plain photos of the product. Each have there place. Experiment to find out what works for you. I suggest adding your photo to the gallery. It’s cheap and helps a lot.
Titles
The title is what will get your potential customers to click. Make sure to use words that not only describe your item, but also words that your type of customer will use for your search. These two categories of words are not always the same, especially when you are selling information. A lot of your customers will not be looking for your information, although when they find it they will not be able to resist buying it.
For example lets say that you are selling a information product that shows people sources to buy electronics at closeout prices. Would you put electronics in the title? Maybe. Would the customers that you are trying to attract use electronics in their search? Probably not.
Since you can list the auction in an electronics category without getting booted (Info products can only be listed in certain categories. You can get away with listing them in software categories if they are in the form of any executable program,like an ebook), how do you go about getting hits. You do so with a title like “Get Laptops and Other Electronics for next to nothing.”
Another hint: the title above will grab customers seraching for “laptops” but not ones searching for laptop. Therefore a better title would be “Get a Laptop or DVD Player for Next to Nothing.”
If you have room left you can use power words that either describe the rarity of your offering such as “limited time”, “leaving ebay”(how many of these have you seen), and the like. Or words such as “Latest”, “Free (shipping)”, “Guaranteed”.
You can get a free info pack on ad writing and ebay marketing by clicking the link at the bottom of the page and giving me feedback.
Description
With your description, you want to paint a picture for people browsing your listing. You want them to go quickly from being skeptical to emailing you and asking you if they can buy before the auction is over. Believe me, it is a great feeling when your ad can do that. You know it hit the right spot.
Start out by getting into your buyers mind. What would make you buy this product? To gain financial freedom. What kind of picture can you paint with this? A new car, house. Not having to get up at 7:00 every morning. How can you ad to this? Ease of use. A premade product that will sell itself and that they will hardly have to touch.
Once you have the buyer dreaming, you present your solution. Their dream can be reality. Your product comes with free resale rights and premade ads and only costs $17. You do not have to manufacture it. You can copy it over and over again. The whole marketing process is also set up in advance. Who can resist?
Just remember to create these state in the reader’s mind by having them identify with your words. Instead of writing, “I will teach you how to…” write “You can easily learn how to…”. Think of the mood you want them to be in in order to buy and set that mood.
I am only touching the surface here. Ad writing is an art and can be fun. Give me feedback below and I will send you the ebook I personally use to help me come up with my ads.
Graphics
I suggest you go to one of the free template sights to download a template for your ad instead of coming up with a scheme of your own. Believe me, its quicker and the results are 500% better. Their are links in the resource chapter.
When to list
This depends on who you are marketing your information to.
For housewives list your auctions so they end in the morning For oppurtunity seekers try late at night For big purchases try in the evening when the whole family is there to decide As far as which day to list, this is something you have to find out for your self. For the longest time, I thought Sunday evening was the best time to have your auction end. But I have also noticed great results for auctions that end on Wednesday. The best bet is to try both days and test your results.
Why do you want a certain day for the auction to end? Because the most bids come at the beginning and at the end of the auction. This is because Ebay allows you to order your search by the auctions that end first or end last and browsers get bored easily and will stop with the first few pages.
Ebay allows 3,5,7, and 10 day auctions. So you want your auction to run as long as possible to get the most exposure, but you also want it to end on a high volume day. With practice, you will learn to balance the two.
Stephan Miller
http://www.stephanmiller.com
