How to sell on Ebay 101

[BDM]

Rant of the day!! First take high quality descriptive photo's, then include an excellent well thought out description. Or, just post one photo, so dark and small, you hardly tell if it's Jimmy Hoffa or the Titanic! Examples below:

First, give me your hard earned money for this well thought out auction post
http://tinyurl.com/cy48w5

Extra dark photo's are always a plus!
http://tinyurl.com/dk5twr

Always describe the item in complete ignorance, regardless how much info is available about a particular item. Then ask an outrages price and hope a sucker rolls along! Jukebox?? Yeah, for an AE50, not 40! This type of auction always spells "LAZY" with me. Careless....The "I'm to busy to do it right" attitude always wins my money! Now, if it had a BIN at $20, I could care less. But still, huge money, and a crapy description. C'mon buddy, you could do better with only 5 minutes of your time.
http://tinyurl.com/cznspk

Ok, I'm at work and need to get back to buisiness. Post your silliness here please. Nothing common, only the most silly or terribly thought auctions please!

[Dan]

It's a double edged sword really, the blurry vague auctions are the best deals sometimes... while the auctions like the seller "finlover" has (check out his yellow 500 now) sell way higher than they're worth. I do see your point when a phone like a trimline is described as a princess....

[HobieSport]

This is all very interesting to me as at some point I'm going to be selling quite a few refurbished phones on Ebay.  My approach will be with good photos, and a complete description.  But it will also be tempting to throw in a little bit of "romance", such as when selling an AE40, to include a movie screen shot of Humphrey Bogart with an AE40 on his desk.  And as much as I don't want to, and at the risk of being banished from the forum forever, I'll probably include the terms "Lucy Phone" and "Art Deco" when selling a 302, just so those key search terms show up for potential buyers.

I always thought it would be interesting to advertise two very similar phones on Ebay, with one ad having lousy photos and a brief yet honest description, and the other having good photos and a complete description, and just see what happens.  Nothing misleading, mind you, just an experiment.

One of my pet peeves is when a $30 phone is advertised as "A similar phone recently sold for $300. and you can buy it now for only $129.95." or something like that.  Argh.

I can see now that before I advertise my first phone on Ebay that I'd better post my potential advertisement here on the forum for some constructive criticism, or I may end up in a thread entitled "Hey, did you see that new idiot of an Ebay seller who..."

[Dennis Markham]

That AE 40 listing is funny, but someone may actually push the button on it.  That seller has had 37 negative feedback ratings in the past year yet still has a 99.2% which of course means they sell a lot of stuff.  That is a $40 phone, maybe $50 and they think someone will pay $250.  What was it P.T. Barnum was quoted as saying?  A fool is born every day?? 

There is a seller of telephones that probably has some phones for sale today...for the past 3 or 4 years I have watched him sell phones and almost always puts a blurry photo of the phone in his listing.  I never know if he just has a lousy camera or thinks he has to blur the image to hide defects.  He usually takes them on a tile floor..you'll know it when you see it.

Hobie, I think the sales pitch is good.  Showing Humphrey Bogart using a phone is good salesmanship.  I used to put lengthy paragraphs on my listings when I sold a few phones on eBay.  As long as you put good pictures, and describe damage you won't have a problem.  A good description leave no questions in the mind of the buyer.  If you don't get any questions you know you described everything.

[BDM]

Hobie, no need to post for our approval. You sell how you see fit. Simple things to remember. Good clean clear photo's, well lit. That can mean all the difference in the world to a good sale. Well researched also is a big plus. At least from a sellers end.

[Tonyrotary]

I agree well lit photos and good description should do it. The Trimline I just bought had more photos than the ones I posted. Also gave a good description. Otherwise I don't think I would've spent as much as I did to get it.

[Dennis Markham]

I just put this in the General Discussion category by mistake.  I'm deleted that posting and will re-post here:

Speaking of eBay.  If you have not heard the eBay song by Weird Al Yankovich you have to take the time to watch this video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKtlK7sn0JQ

[McHeath]

And as much as I don't want to, and at the risk of being banished from the forum forever, I'll probably include the terms "Lucy Phone" and "Art Deco" when selling a 302, just so those key search terms show up for potential buyers.

Oh say it ain't so Joe!

Ah well, we all do what we have to do to get things to move eh?

[Dan/Panther]

Weird Al song is great.
One PEEVE of mine is two pages of disclaimers, explaining in detail why they can, or can not, do this, or that, and all the legalese, thinking they are, big time retail stores like Wal-Mart, and a one line description... "Western Electric Phone", and a crappy picture. But then again, those are the auctions, where you find the Gems, 'IF' you know what signs to look for. You do take a chance, but more than not, you can come out ahead.

D/P

[AET]

Hobie, I like your idea.  Romanticizing the object is really a good route to go.  People will like that the phone is now 'famous' and it will make people more nostalgic.  Play with people's emotions a bit and they'll be more ready to buy!

[Sargeguy]

Don't forget to include the close up of the "F1" on the handset.  I won't bid if I don't see that.

[HobieSport]

I like good pictures of the insides of the phones, also, showing the dates on all the components.

Tom, it should be pretty easy to "play with peoples emotions" in the photos and description, not in a fake or misleading way, but since I (we) can be rather emotional ourselves about phones, just let our natural enthusiasm show through. Of course if selling a WE phone, I'll probably write a little about Henry Dreyfuss also, with some links to info about him.

Dan/Panther, yes, thanks for bringing that up about all those overly lengthy disclaimers.  Seems like they could be reduced to a sentence or two.

Some of my favorite descriptions are brief though complete and to the point, and also have a little bit of humor.  One seller that I recall wrote a guarantee something like this:  "If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the telephone, even if it just doesn't match the curtains, just send it back for a full refund, not including shipping".

What do you all think about offering guarantees/refunds on Ebay?  Seems that it would be worth it even with an occasional return, to give the buyers more confidence.

[AET]

My disclaimer was simple "This item is being sold as-is and is described accurately.  Please feel free to ask any questions if you need more details.  All sales are final, Thank you and God Bless"

Enthusiasm is always a good thing to have.  I sell a lot of cars, and when people come to look at them, I always let them see how the vehicle has been special to me and a part of the family.  I do the same with my other items I sell, but it's harder when you don't talk to the person, personally.

[Dennis Markham]

"They" say that in order to be a good sales person one must know their product and believe in their product.  So that theory would hold true with your personal attachment to the family automobiles.

[AET]

Good point Dennis.  I do the same thing at work, I sell electronics.  I get to know my product, so I can stand behind it.  And tell them that if it don't work, they can come back and beat me over the head with it!