10 Proven Tips to Skyrocket Your eBay Sales: Best Practices for Listing Success
Why should you follow these tips when selling on eBay?
Selling on eBay can be incredibly rewarding, but to truly excel, you need to optimise your listings for maximum visibility and appeal. Whether you’re new to eBay or an experienced seller, these ten proven strategies will help you improve your listings, attract more buyers, and increase your sales.
With over 1.2 billion listings on eBay, competition can be fierce. With each listing competing for the attention of eBay’s 182 million active buyers, sellers have to ensure they use best practices to get their listings in front of the designated audience.
Some eBay sellers aren’t only skilled at getting their listings in front of potential buyers, completing sales, and gaining positive feedback – they’re extremely successful at it. These sellers have years of experience when it comes to selling on eBay, so naturally, they have an advantage over new sellers on eBay.
So, what are the most important aspects when it comes to selling on eBay?
1. Crafting Effective Titles
When selling on eBay, your title is your first and most important impression. Use specific, relevant keywords that buyers are likely to search for. Avoid unnecessary words and focus on key details such as brand, model, and condition. For example, a title like “Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max – 256GB – Silver (Unlocked)” is precise and optimized for search engines, increasing your chances of appearing in relevant search results. Your eBay title is your first chance to grab attention. Include relevant keywords and make it descriptive yet concise. Avoid unnecessary words and focus on what buyers are likely searching for.
We can’t say this enough, a well-optimized title is your first line of attack in getting noticed on eBay. Think of your title as a search engine magnet—what keywords would your ideal customer use to find your item? Use a mix of descriptive words, including brand name, model, color, size, and condition. For instance, instead of “Nice Watch,” go for “Seiko Men’s Automatic Stainless Steel Watch – Black Dial, New in Box.” This approach not only improves visibility but also attracts the right buyers. Avoid filler words like “look” or “wow” and stick to the essentials.
Best Practices:
The first 4 keywords are the most important – they decide where your item will end up in the search rankings. Try to refrain from using symbols or Special icons in your titles, for example, + – _ £ &. These symbols damage your item’s visibility, as eBay’s algorithm is unsure of its purpose.
Try not to use item specifics in your title such as size colour or condition as these can be documented in the ‘item specifics‘ fields on the listing.
2. Using Item Specifics Wisely
In most cases, eBay will offer recommended item specifics when creating a listing. If these are applicable, you should use them to quickly create your listings. Try leaving nothing to the buyer’s imagination when listing your products on eBay by using as many item specifics as possible. This will improve your best match placement and any EANs or MPNs will allow people to track your items using Google search. Item specifics help eBay match your listings to buyer searches. Complete all relevant fields to improve your listing’s visibility.
Item specifics are like mini SEO boosts for your listings. eBay uses these details to categorize your product and match it with buyer searches. Fill out all relevant specifics such as brand, size, color, and model. If you’re unsure about certain specifics, research similar listings to see what’s commonly included. The more information you provide, the easier it is for eBay’s algorithms to show your item to the right audience. This not only improves visibility but also helps build trust with buyers who appreciate detailed listings.
Remember, if you cannot find the right item specifics your items need on the ones offered by eBay, then you can add your own – such as your own Brand, MPN number, and so on.
3. Crafting Detailed Descriptions
Creating a compelling description is essential for converting potential buyers into actual customers on eBay. A well-crafted description not only informs but also persuades. Here’s how you can write an SEO-friendly and engaging eBay item description:
- Start with a Hook: Begin with a brief, captivating overview of the product. Highlight the main features or benefits that make your item stand out.
- Use Bullet Points for Clarity: Break down key details into bullet points. This format is easy to scan and ensures that potential buyers can quickly grasp the most important information. Include details like brand, model, dimensions, condition (new, used, refurbished), color, material, and any unique attributes.
- Incorporate Keywords Naturally: Identify relevant keywords buyers might use when searching for your item and integrate them seamlessly into your description. Avoid keyword stuffing; the text should read naturally.
- Highlight Benefits, Not Just Features: Explain how the item’s features will benefit the buyer. For example, instead of just stating “water-resistant,” you might add, “This water-resistant feature ensures your belongings stay dry, even in the toughest conditions.”
- Be Honest About Condition: If the item is used or has minor flaws, be upfront about it. Buyers appreciate honesty, and this can help prevent returns and negative feedback.
- Include a Call to Action: Encourage potential buyers to take the next step. Phrases like “Don’t miss out on this deal” or “Add to cart now before it’s gone!” can prompt quicker decisions.
- Enhance with Visuals: If possible, complement your description with additional images or videos. A video can be especially useful for demonstrating functionality or highlighting details that photos alone can’t capture.
- Maintain Proper Grammar and Spelling: A well-written description reflects professionalism. Double-check your text for any errors that could detract from credibility.
By following these steps, your eBay item description will be not only informative but also persuasive, increasing the likelihood of a sale. Remember, your description should act as a virtual sales pitch, making your item irresistible to potential buyers.
4. Leveraging High-Quality Photos
Quality photos are essential when selling on eBay. Buyers can’t physically inspect items, so your images need to convey as much detail as possible. Use a clean, clutter-free background, and natural lighting, and capture your item from multiple angles. High-resolution images are crucial for showing the finer details, which can help build buyer confidence and reduce the likelihood of returns.
Having high-quality pictures of the products you’re selling is important, the better the picture quality the more appealing your listing will look to potential buyers. eBay offers sellers the opportunity to upload 25 pictures free of charge- the more pictures you upload, the lower the chances of a customer returning the product. More pictures may also improve your Best Match when it comes to eBay’s search algorithm. If you are looking for tips on how to make the best product photos for your listings, check out our guide about How to take the perfect photos of the products you sell online.
5. Item Revisions – frequency of revisions
Staying active and revising your listings regularly is a smart strategy when selling on eBay. Regular updates, such as adjusting prices or refreshing descriptions, signal to eBay’s algorithms that your listings are current. This can improve your visibility in search results, leading to more views and potential sales. Regular revisions also provide an opportunity to add new keywords or correct any mistakes.
However, constantly revising items on a daily basis can negatively impact your item’s Best Match performance. eBay’s search algorithm might believe that you are unsure of the item’s price, description, specifics, and title, as a result, it’s not comfortable placing your listings high in the search rankings. We advise that you only revise your items if needed, and make sure you have enough quantity to cover a week of sales to avoid constant revisions.
6. Pricing Strategies for Success and Postage
Competitive pricing is crucial. Research similar items and consider your pricing carefully—too high, and you might deter buyers; too low, and you could lose out on profits.
Offering additional services like Click and Collect and the Global Shipping Programme on your listings gives them another dimension in sales, as you will be open to a wider audience. People may not be comfortable getting items delivered to their address for many reasons, so they will look for sellers who offer Click and Collect. This service allows buyers to pick up items at their convenience, potentially increasing your sales. Highlight this option in your description to attract buyers who prefer or require a local pickup.
The global shipping Programme gives your listings international visibility which will only improve your sales and improve your Best Match placement.
7. Managing Your eBay Reputation
Maintaining a positive reputation is crucial when selling on eBay. Respond promptly to buyer inquiries and address any issues professionally. Positive feedback and ratings directly impact your sales, as buyers are more likely to purchase from sellers with strong reputations. Handling negative feedback with care and resolving disputes can help maintain your reputation and encourage repeat business.
Also, responding to your buyers within a 24-hour time frame is said to be one of the factors that the algorithm looks at when it comes to your Best Match performance. Try to honour your buyers by being prompt and professional when it comes to replying to their requests.
8. Listing Practices
Re-listing an item or using ‘sell similar’ can determine your listing’s Best Match performance. Re-listing an item that has been underperforming would not be the best practice, as the Best Match performance of that listing will not improve much. We advise creating a fresh new listing in this case, as buyers like to see what’s new on eBay.
Determine whether Sell Similar works best for you- rather than creating a listing from scratch. Please be mindful of the listing you are using to “sell similar”, as the performance of that listing may not be strong.
Identify your underperforming listings as these will negatively impact your click-through rate score- this can have a negative effect on your well-performing listings as well. End any stagnant listings and create fresh, new listings with competitive pricing to improve your sales and overall Best Match performance.
9. Utilising eBay’s Promotional Tools
To maximize your success when selling on eBay, consider using eBay’s promotional tools like Promoted Listings. These tools increase your item’s visibility, placing it at the top of search results. Additionally, take advantage of markdowns or sales events to attract buyers looking for deals. Bundling items together at a discount can also boost your average order value, helping you sell more efficiently.
10. Avoiding Duplicate Listings
The more times you list an item, the higher the chances of it selling, right? Wrong!
When selling on eBay, it’s important to avoid duplicate listings. Duplicate listings can hurt your search rankings and confuse potential buyers. Instead, create unique listings for each item, even if they are similar. Vary the titles, descriptions, and photos to ensure each listing stands out. This approach will keep your account in good standing and improve the shopping experience for your customers.
eBay’s search algorithm can easily identify duplicate listings and it will penalize the performance of both of your listings. You might also receive a warning message from eBay regarding your duplicate listings and how they can negatively impact the overall performance of your store.
Final thoughts
If you are new to selling on eBay, you may not be able to implement these tips immediately. For example, it takes time for your listings to rank, or you might need to gather all the details related to the products you’re selling.
However, even if you’re only just getting started with listing your products on eBay, it’s clear that there are numerous tips that you can follow to ensure that you create successful listings from the start.
Selling on eBay can be highly profitable when you apply the right strategies. By crafting effective titles, using high-quality photos, and regularly updating your listings, you can significantly boost your eBay sales. Implement these tips today to optimize your listings and start seeing better results on eBay! If you are looking to list and manage products in bulk on eBay or any other platform, we’ve built a custom piece of software that helps you get all the essential details right from the start – Ad-Lister. Using the software, you can identify duplicate listings, missing Item Specifics, and a lot more. We hope that you’ve found our tips for selling on eBay useful and that they help to increase your store’s performance. If you have any questions about how we can help with increasing you sell more on eBay, please feel free to contact us.
