Flush Left

Centered text is harder to read than text that is flush left.  (quoted from Griff who was on eBay Radio yesterday)  Go check some eBay descriptions—you’ll see what he means! 

I really never gave it much thought before since all my eBay descriptions are flush left (also known as aligned left or justified left).  But now that he mentioned it, I think that’s an important point—almost as important as not making your description look like a rainbow. 

It’s all about making your listing easy to read.  If at first glance it looks hard to read, many people will just go on to someone else’s eBay offering.  If you want to make a profit, you have to pay attention to small details!

Selling Barbie Dolls

Do you sell Barbie Dolls on eBay?  I recently acquired a few copies of Barbie Bazaar—a Barbie Collector magazine.  These are from 1989 and beyond (first published in late 1988—I do have the premier issue, too!)—I just about have them all listed.

One issue has an article on selling guidelines.  Remember, this was 1989 when there was no eBay and very little internet.  Some dealers would sell Barbies and accessories by mail.  This article gives suggestions for uniform grading of collectible Barbies.  The purpose was to grade the dolls & clothes; and to list the flaws any item might have.  (Kind of sounds like how I talk about descriptions on an eBay listing to my students.) 

They suggested that these acronyms be used for descriptions:

NRFB - Never Removed From the original Box

MIB - Mint in Box

MINT - Unplayed-with condition.  Doll may have been displayed, but never played with and looks like it just came out of the box.

EC - Excellent Condition.  It may have been played with but has no flaws.

VGC - Very Good Condition.  A nice doll that may have some minor flaws.

GC - Good Condition. This may make a decent display item, but has some major flaws like cut hair, green by ears, fingers missing, etc.

Fair - Item could be dirty, buttons missing, or may be torn or stained.

Interesting list, isn’t it?  I personally would combine the last two.  And, remember to list (and photograph) every flaw that you see in your listings.

Outstanding Customer Service

Part of my recent trip to California included a stop in Las Vegas for eBay sellers’ convention—eBay on Location.  I’ll be telling you about it in bits and pieces, but today I want to talk about Customer Service. 

Marsha Collier, author of the many eBay for Dummies books, was there. She talked about the importance of connecting with customers, making them feel important, and offering top-notch customer service.  Her presentations have motivated me to do better in the communications department (I think I do OK now, but there’s always room for improvement). 

But, let me tell you about an eBay seller who excels in the area of customer service—their eBay ID is sleepymountainmattress.  Granted, they are a company and not an individual seller like myself, but their attention to keeping me informed about my purchase has really impressed me. 

I ordered a memory foam mattress topper from them (I discovered I could get one for soooo much less on eBay than from my local big all-in-one store) a few days ago.  They have sent me at least 3 emails thanking me and telling me that the order was shipped, how it was sent, and when it would arrive. 

This morning my phone rang—I almost didn’t answer it because it was a number I didn’t recognize.  It was sleepymountainmattress, thanking me again and telling me the package ought to arrive today!  Wow!  What outstanding customer service!  I will certainly look to them the next time I need any of their products!

 (And if you have been thinking of buying one of those memory foam toppers, they have great prices—check them first)

Look in your junk drawer!

Don’t discount some of those junk-drawer items as being just “junk.” I have been going through my folks’ house and selling some of their items that my brother and I don’t want to keep. I found this old beer opener and thought it might have some value.

And it did! Even I was surprised! It turns out that the advertising on it was from an old California brewery that no longer exists. I started the auction on eBay at just 99¢ and I was thrilled when it went up to $8, and then a few days later it was at $20. It sold at even higher! 

Check out the completed auction HERE--You will hardly believe the final selling price! Do you have any old beer bottle openers to sell?

There's That LIKE Button Again!

I’ve noticed something new on eBay--there’s a Facebook LIKE button on some of my listings. When I click on it, that listing is posted on my Facebook page!

These Facebook Like buttons appear at the top of the page, directly under the listing title. The buttons do not appear in all categories yet, but are starting to show up on a few of my own listings--mostly those with free shipping.

I had heard a little bit about it at the eBay convention in Las Vegas last week--eBay told us that "We're actively working on putting more "Like" buttons on the site."

I, for one, "Like" it.

eBay + Facebook + twitter

I really like the way I can import specific listings from eBay to my Facebook page. Do you use that function? Just click on the little Facebook icon on the lower right of your item’s description and it will let you put it on your Facebook page for everyone to see. It also puts your item picture with the listing.

But eBay tends to constantly fiddle with its settings. A couple of months ago I found that when I tried to send one listing to Facebook, the picture didn’t appear with the description. After two weeks, it straightened up and the picture was back. And, just this morning, it started doing that again! I certainly hope it doesn’t take another two weeks to get back to normal.

There’s also a twitter icon you can use (right next to the FB icon). When you choose that one your title goes to twitter along with a shortened URL to your listing. I often joke that twitter users will click on anything--if you have a lot of twitter followers, your viewer stats will go up immediately!

4 Silly Questions

Here are 4 questions--you may have seen this test before, but do you remember the answers?

1.  How do you put a giraffe into a  refrigerator? 
Stop  and think about it and decide on your answer. 
 
The  correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in  the giraffe, and close the door. This question  tests whether you tend to do simple things in an  overly complicated  way.


2.  How do you put an elephant into a  refrigerator? 
Did you say, "Open the refrigerator, put in the  elephant, and close the  refrigerator"?

Wrong  Answer.

Correct Answer: Open  the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in  the elephant and close the door. This tests your  ability to think through the repercussions of  your previous actions..

 
3.  The Lion King is hosting an animal conference.  All the animals attend.... Except one.   Which animal does not  attend? 
Correct  Answer: The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.   This tests your memory...
Okay, even if you  did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to  show your true  abilities.
 

 
4.  There is a river you must cross but it is used  by crocodiles, and 
you do not have a boat. How do you manage it? 

Correct  Answer:? You jump into the river and swim  across. Have you not been listening? All the  crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting.  
Sad to say, I missed them all...I wonder what the psychologists would say about that?