How to Create the Perfect eBay Listing: Tips to Improve eBay Sales

I have a lot of experience selling on eBay, so this article will go over the things I do to craft the best possible listings.

We will discuss: 

• The most important parts of an eBay listing 
• Steps to list an item properly
• Tips to improve sales rate

In the end, what you will have is a standard way of listing your item on eBay—a way that gives you a fighting chance against the millions of products on the platform. 

The 4 Parts of a Perfect eBay Listing

There are four main areas where you have to focus on if you want to create the perfect eBay listing. These are: 

• Title
• Item specifics 
• Quality photos 
• Price

Let us take a closer look at each one. 

1. Title

Your product title is what the customer first sees in the feed or search results. As such, you must use keywords properly when writing your product title. 

Take a look at this: 

I highlighted some important words here. As you can see, both sellers of these listings focused on the clarity of the camera (8K), and one of them added “5G” as a keyword.  

What this does is it tells the buyer the properties or features of the drone—features that the buyer needs. We can say that this seller wants to attract buyers who are after a high-resolution camera.

You have to do the same thing with your listings. Use keywords that summarize the feature of your product—words that make the buyer say, “That is what I am looking for!”

2. Item Specifics 

There are two areas for the item specifics. The first one is the standard specifications, and the second one is the product description. 

Here is an example of the item specifics: 

Here is a screenshot of the product description: 

What is the difference? The item specifics are the standard features of what the product can do. It also includes the brand, weight, etc.  

The product description, on the other hand, is where you convince the customer why he should buy your product. You need to use the principles of copywriting to entice the buyer to consider choosing your product over the other sellers. 

As you can see, the product description is where this seller tells the buyer that the product comes with batteries, a remote, and that some parts are required to make this drone fly. The seller also specified here that the product has no propellers or screwdrivers. 

As such, the seller is making it clear to the buyer that this is a second-hand high-end drone that needs some fixing. 

Overall, the product description is where you show transparency about what the customer should expect. If you need more guidance on this, we have a tutorial on how to write product descriptions that improve sales and conversion.

3. Quality Photos 

If you look at the screenshot above, you will likely pay more attention to the first and third images and click them. Why? 

It is because the photos are professional. You immediately have the feeling that these are brand-new items. 

Such is the power of photos. If you want your eBay listing at the top, invest in photography. Here are some tips to do that:

• The image must have high resolution
• The photo must focus on the product
• Fill the frame with the product image, not with accessories
• Use many images from different angles 

If you are dropshipping on eBay, and you are not happy with the product images from your supplier, you can contact them and ask for better images. An alternative to this is to hire a professional photo editor to make your existing product images better. 

4. Price

Finally, you have to pay attention to how much you are selling your product for. In addition, there are two pricing formats on eBay: fixed and auction. We will talk more about what option to choose in another section. 

To price your product competitively, you need to search eBay for competitors selling similar products to yours. 

The trick here is to look for items that have already been sold. To do this, click on Seach > Advanced> Completed Listings.

Here is the first step: 

After clicking advanced, this is what you will see: 

After clicking SEARCH, this is what we have: 

Once you have the results, you will see all products related to the keywords you used that have already been closed. It means that people already bought these items. From here, you can assess what the market is willing to pay, and then price your product within that range.

Steps to Create the eBay Listing

Now, let us take a look at some of the crucial aspects of creating a listing and why doing it right can improve your sales.  

1. Let eBay’s system know what your product is

Once you begin the process of listing an item, the first thing to do is tell eBay what your product is about. The more keywords you put in, the more options (and different, too) you get. 

Once done, you will see something like this: 

You must check the appropriate category to help buyers locate your product more easily. Many buyers use a keyword, but they also filter the search results to specific categories only. 

Telling eBay what your product is allows the entire system to serve your listing to the appropriate users. Listing your item in the wrong category is counter-productive, so stick to what is appropriate. 

2. Add photos and a video

eBay allows up to 24 photos in a listing. You can also add a video, but then you have to ensure that you comply with eBay’s Images, videos, and text policy. 

Your photos and videos must focus on the product. If possible, show images of the product in use (lifestyle photography). Do the same thing with the video. Today, what buyers are looking for is the “experience.” If you can, create videos that look like they are user-generated content (UGC).  

User-generated content refers to videos that users upload on a platform. Usually, these videos are amateurish. Despite that, they are more credible because they came from “regular” people, not from advertising companies that already embellished the video with CGI.

Since UGC is much more credible, you want to use it in your listings. For example, if you are selling drones, you can create a video where you show the drone flying—it is better to do it this way so the buyer can see your drone in action.

3. Select a category and use the appropriate title 

After choosing the appropriate category, you now have to enter your product title. Here are some tips when writing an eBay product title: 

• Use keywords that your target buyers are likely to search for
• If your product has a brand, start your title with that brand name for better recognition
• Add specs if any (ex: 8GB storage 8GB RAM)

In essence, try to squeeze item specifics in your product title. eBay only allows up to 80 characters, so make good use of every space and letter. 

4. Add variations 

We will not delve deeply into this, but if your product has variations, take the time to upload them. Prepare photos for the variations, too. Why is this important? 

If a buyer clicks on your listing, eBay will present the variations automatically to the user and this user is more likely to buy and stay on your product page than if you did not have the images.

5. Specify the product condition 

The item condition is an important factor in the listing that tells buyers what they are paying for. Do not ever lie in this area. If your product is not brand new, choose the USED option as a condition. 

Lying about a product's condition is against the listing policies of eBay. Doing so can get you banned. In addition, a buyer can file a dispute and say that the item they bought is not as described. 

There is no winning in lying—if the item is used, say so. 

6. Choose your selling format and add the price  

There are two types of selling formats on the eBay platform. These are fixed-price and auction listings. An auction listing means that buyers will place bids. At the end of the bidding period, the buyer with the highest bid wins. 

I can say that fixed-price items are great for brand-new items. Auction is an excellent choice for rare items that are no longer being manufactured. 

For example, an old comic book is better-sold auction-style. A brand-new t-shirt should be sold at a fixed price unless this item is one of those limited edition” goods. 

Auction works only for items that are rare because there is a higher demand than the supply. Because of this, buyers will be willing to shell out more money than usual.  

7. Add the shipping details

Like other selling platforms, you can add shipping details to your product, but this can only work at fixed-price listings. For the auction, you and the buyer have to talk about shipping details after the auction is over.   

You can choose either domestic or international shipping. It is up to you if you want to offer a flat rate or free shipping. In addition, you also have the choice to create shipping tables, or shipping prices for different locations and different weights. 

If you do not want to ship to other countries, you can specify this in the system by excluding these countries from your shipping list.  

Is free shipping better than paid shipping? There really is no right or wrong answer here. If the shipping cost is negligible, you can either add that to your listing price or just take it off your profit. 

For small items, free shipping can help you improve your conversion rate. For big and heavy items, there is no going around it—you must charge shipping fees.  

8. Finalize your selling preferences

Finally, you have to toggle your preferences as a seller. Here are some of the things you can adjust: 

• Buyer requirements such as the buyer’s country, or ranking (no canceled orders)
• A payment method that you accept
• Return and refund policy
• The location of your item

These preferences will allow you to weed out the buyers you do not want to cater to, especially those who are likely to scam you.  

5 Tips to Make eBay Sales

There are five essential tips we have for you to improve your conversion rates on eBay. These tips have something to do with:

• Increasing your listing's appearance in search results
• Increasing your click-through-rates
• Improving your conversion rates

Let us go through each of them.  

1. Use SEO in your title and product description

Every platform like eBay, including Amazon, Walmart, etc., has a search engine, and this search engine works only within the boundaries of that platform. What the search engine does is sift through all the listings based on the keyword that the user types. 

As such, if a buyer types “rubber shoes,” eBay’s search engine will only look for listings that have the keyword “rubber shoes.”

Knowing this, you need to use the keyword “rubber shoes” if you are selling rubber shoes. However, you need to dig deeper and add more details. You need to think of words that a buyer may type in the search box concerning your product. 

To do this, think of the qualities of your product that may be of specific interest to the buyer. Here are examples: 

• Blue dress for summer with flower patterns 
• Red drone 4K camera aerial photography for YouTube
• Black Oxford leather shoes for formal wear for men

If you observe closely, each product title has words that a user might type in the search box. These are words that we want in our product description and titles to make eBay’s search engines recognize the listing and say, “This product listing is related to what the customer is looking for.” 

2. Advertise on eBay; use sponsorships

eBay offers several ways to highlight product listings. They call this “listing promotion.” What this does is it boosts the visibility of your products to the users, therefore making it possible to increase not only your impression but also your click-through rates. 

Here are the ways you can improve your listing: 

• Highlight your listing – you pay a fee to make your listing have a different background or highlight to make it stand out from the other listings
• Bold – the text of your product title will be in bold, which gets the attention of the buyers
• Subtitle – eBay will show a subtitle below your product listing’s title in the feed or search results, which gives you better opportunities to get a buyer’s attention.

All these require payment, and the cost varies based on your location and the category of your product. The other method to promote your listings is through advertising. These are sponsored listings where you pay eBay an advertising fee. 

When you advertise, prepare to pay a fee of anywhere between 2% and 100% of your product listing. The beauty of this option is that eBay will only charge you if a buyer clicks on the ad and if that buyer buys your product within a range of 30 days. 

3. Maintain good customer feedback

As a seller, you want to maintain a high star rating on the platform. Take a look at this seller:

The rating is only 81.8% positive, and I can say that this score is really bad. Now, let us take a look at this one:

Between these two sellers, we can immediately say that the second one is more trustworthy. Essentially, a high rating boosts your credibility. 

In addition, eBay displays the seller’s rating in the search results. Here is an example: 

One has a rating of 4.5 and the next one has the same. The first seller has 3 product ratings only, while the second one has 45 reviews or feedback. 

Take note that the number of ratings displayed here is only for the product—it does not cover the entire sales history of this seller from all his listings. 

4. Use large and clear photos

The image above is high-resolution. Even if viewed from a computer, the image is crisp and clear.  Now, let us look at this one:

As you can see, both of these are drone products. One is apparently brand new, and the second one is pre-loved. 

A buyer looking at both these listings will pay more attention to the first one. The second listing could have done better by producing clearer images. 

If you are selling pre-loved products, you must invest in a good camera. If that is not an option, you should at least take the time to get close-up images so the buyer can see your products from various angles. 

Keep in mind that customers see millions of product listings on eBay. Because of this, they know that they have options, and if your images are dull or blurry, they will skip that and move on to the next product.  

5. Tell buyers who you are

Finally, tell the buyers who you are. You can do this in your product description or your About Us eBay page. 

As you can see from this example, this seller specializes in DJI drones. DJI is one of the most expensive and trusted drone manufacturers in the world. As a specialist, the seller is essentially telling the buyer that when it comes to DJI drones, they are the go-to distributor and after-market seller. It is also on this page where the seller tells the buyer what level of customer service to expect.  

Do the same to improve your conversion rate. Here are some tips on how to do this: 

• Add a logo; make sure your brand name is visible 
• Add a photo of your brick-and-mortar store if you have one
• Carefully detail who you are and what you offer to your buyers

Your goal is to introduce yourself to the buyer and build trust and confidence. As such, you need to take some time in crafting your About Us page.

If you are having a hard time doing this, what you can do is go to the About Us pages of your competitors to get ideas.

FAQ: How to Create the Perfect eBay Listing

How do I make my eBay listing look professional?

A professional eBay listing has clear photos and professional product titles and descriptions. One of the best ways to learn how to write a professional listing is by going through listings on other platforms like Amazon.  

How do I optimize my eBay listing?

Optimize your eBay listing by using SEO techniques. You need to use words that people are likely to use when searching for a product. You can use specialized tools to find keywords that you can use. Since these tools are not free, I suggest that you start with Google Trends.  

How do I get my eBay listing to the top?

Getting your eBay listing to the top entails many actions, such as writing your product title and description the right way, following eBay’s policies, and also advertising on the platform. The fastest way is to advertise, but it is also the most expensive. 

What should I put on my eBay listing?

You need to put adequate information that allows the buyer to make an informed decision. You must be honest about your description. In addition, you also have to write using the principles of copywriting.  

Summary

The next step from here is to enrich your knowledge on how to succeed on eBay. We do have tutorials that you may want to read, such as what eBay product tools to use.

In addition, I also recommend that you sign up for a 7-day free account with us and use our product database. Although our system aggregates data from Shopify, you will still find our spy tools useful in your quest to succeed on eBay.