Tuesday, January 19, 2010

How to Write Great eBay Item Descriptions that Sell by Shopster

Blog post by Shopster

Writing eBay Item Descriptions that Sell
Buying online as a rule is an impersonal exercise. While very efficient, it’s essentially, a no-touch experience i.e. the consumer and the seller do not need to make contact for a sale to occur. Because online business owners don’t have any live salespeople to fall back on, they need to guarantee that their site answers any questions a customer might have - hence, why great product descriptions are so critical. A product description is your salesperson, your chance to engage a customer and get them to buy, buy, buy.

3 Tips for writing engaging product descriptions:
Know your audience and write to them
Ensure that your writing style aligns with the audience you’re writing to. If it’s a highly technical audience use the appropriate jargon. Likewise, if you’re writing for a group of grade 6 children – write at a grade 6 level. When writing product descriptions, imagine your target audience and let that guide your language.

Get your customer’s attention
Use attention-grabbing phrases to grab shoppers’ interest quickly and keep it. Don’t be afraid to use strong words, questions, and phrases to do so. Pierotucci does a great job with opening sentences like: “Walk into a room and make an impression”, “Looking hip and cool is easily achieved when you are wearing this fabulous short fitted jacket”.

Tell a story & appeal to emotions to encourage buying behaviour
Once you have a potential customer’s attention, appeal to their emotions to encourage buying behaviour. Then offer logical support to help them rationalize their desire to purchase. Use each product description to paint a picture in your shopper’s mind, tell them a story, and let them insert themselves in the lead role. Use descriptive language and specific examples to get the best results.

Back to our Pierotucci example “Walk into a room and make an impression. Buttery-soft leather adds distinctive class and undeniable comfort to this sleek blazer perfect for work, weekend, and travel." This product description lets me visualize myself wearing this jacket - I can almost feel the leather on my skin, hear the whispers as I walk into a room. This product description does not just make me want this jacket, it makes me feel like I need it.

The moral of the story: Write to your audience, grab their attention, and then engage their emotions to keep it. By keeping these three tips in the forefront of your mind when writing your product descriptions, you stand a much better chance of turning your site browsers into paying customers.

Shopster is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider providing additional product and inventory for eBay sellers through dropshipping. Shopster has customers in 22 countries and provides full service dropshipping to both the United States and Canada.

Friday, January 15, 2010

ShipRush v7 Allows for Faster Processing of eBay Shipping Orders

ShipRush v7 introduces the new online, web portal My.ShipRush. eBay sellers currently using ShipRush will find new features available in My.ShipRush.

What's new with My.ShipRush
  • Share shipping history with users who do not have ShipRush such as customer service staff
  • Network ShipRush history across multiple sites
  • Serves as a backup of ShipRush history in case of PC loss
  • ShipRush Endicia free for 30 days
  • New, faster eBay downloading
  • Print more international label types on 4x6 thermal printers

eBay sellers can also use ShipRush to speed up their shipping processes by -

  • Print shipping labels with just a click or two
  • Auto print packing lists
  • Tracking numbers automatically uploaded to Buyer's My eBay
  • Tracking numbers automatically uploaded to Seller's My eBay
  • Automatic email to the buyer with tracking number
  • Automatic buyer feedback posted

You can use ShipRush and My.ShipRush together at no cost. ShipRush is free! Check out ShipRush today.


Founded in 1992, Z-Firm has been making ShipRush since 1998. The ShipRush mission is to bring big-warehouse shipment automation to small businesses. ShipRush is "FedEx Compatible," "UPS Ready," "UPS OnLine Compatible," and DHL Certified.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

GarageSale Releases Updates for their eBay Selling App for the iPhone and iPod Touch


GarageSale releases update for their eBay iPhone App

Mac, iPhone and eBay software developer iwascoding, released an update for their eBay selling app for the iPhone and iPod Touch known as GarageSale Touch .

eBay Sellers can create, list and manage their eBay listings with their iPhone or iPod Touch - wherever they are with GarageSale Touch.

The recent release of version 1.2 of GarageSale Touch, an eBay selling application for the iPhone, is now available in the Apple App Store.

What's new in GarageSale Touch
  • New auction/template designs
  • Support for text snippets through SmileOnMyMac’s TextExpander
  • Specify up to three domestic shipping services for eBay listings
  • Updated list of available shipping carriers for eBay US and Germany

Download GarageSale Touch today at the Apple App Store or through iTunes.

GarageSale is an eBay selling solution for Mac users. iwascoding is a German company founded in 2005. Frustrated by the absence of eBay listing utilities for the Mac OS X the company founders created a client application for the eBay online auction system. iwascoding is an experienced eBay developer and has created tools to make eBay selling and buying easier for Mac and iPhone users.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

eBay Workshop Jan 19th - "Making Shipping Insurance Cheaper, Easier & Faster"


Host: inkFrog
Date: Jan 19th, Tuesday
Time: 11AM - Noon PST

Description: In this workshop, the inkFrog team will show/demo how you can use ShipSaver Insurance (by inkFrog) to insure your packages for less than you are paying to USPS and UPS.

ShipSaver Insurance, by inkFrog, is a discount shipping insurance application now available in “My eBay” as part of Selling Manager Applications, eBay’s App Store. ShipSaver allows eBay sellers to receive great shipping insurance coverage at a discount.

InkFrog is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider and one of the third party providers included in the new eBay Selling Manager Applications, also known as eBay’s App Store .

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help eBay sellers.

Friday, January 8, 2010

eBay It Forward - Employees and Local Community Raise Items and Funds for Charity with eBay Giving Works


SLC employees kick-off the new year by selling items through eBay Giving Works with proceeds going toward helping the local community

After a year of making huge strides in community involvement, eBay SLC decided to end 2009 by engaging the employee population with the local community.

But the question stood: how could eBay help connect nearly 1,400 employees with the community; help the community connect with one another; give back to an amazing local charity; and, in typical eBay fashion, create something unique which had never been done before? Enter "eBay it Forward."

The eBay it Forward experience called for individuals to focus on what they want to share with others and bring forward to 2010 — the things which meant the most to them and for which they are most grateful. Participating individuals, families and groups were asked to look back through the year and identify an important personal item which improved their lives, created joy, provided comfort or maintained happiness during 2009. Then, using eBay Giving Works, the community could share their items with other community members who made need the same joy, comfort or happiness that these items provided their previous owners in 2009.

Calling on the community
Although the experience of sharing ones most precious items is fulfilling in and of itself, eBay SLC wanted to find a way to connect the community and bring these stories to life.

So, community members were asked to bring their items to the eBay it Forward pavilion in SLC to be put on display, along with handwritten notes telling each objects story.

Together, the objects and their heart-warming histories created a large-scale installation displaying the community’s most valuable possessions. Here the beginnings of eBay echoed, as the visual of people connecting with one another while exchanging items, interests and stories came to life. Not to mention it carried the sustainable aspect of giving pre-owned items a new life.

Community "art" display
eBay it Forward officially kicked off Dec. 28 with a sneak preview event for eBay employees and invited members of the SLC community. The goal was to prepare the community “art” display for the official opening and stock the shelves with items for the public to see when the door opened on Dec. 29.

After appearing in multiple news outlets, eBay was hopeful for a huge turnout. Despite harsh weather conditions, the community came and the shelves began to fill up with New Year’s treasures. One community member brought a collection of stuffed animals he and his wife had bought for the children they hoped to foster. However, his wife became sick and their dream of a home full of foster children was no longer a reality. So, they decided eBay it Forward was the perfect way to pass these items on to children who could love them and help out a great local charity in the process.

Most stories associated with the donated items pulled at the heart strings and required a tissue to read. One of eBay’s own employees, Jillene Prolo, a customer solutions agent, donated a necklace she bought from one of her favorite stores because all the proceeds were being donated to cancer research. Three members of her family had been affected by cancer: herself, her father and her grandfather (whom she lost several years prior). The necklace had three silver rings she felt represented these three people. She and her father beat the cancer and therefore wanted to pass on her “good luck charm” to someone else who may need it in 2010.

The start of a new tradition?
Nearly 200 items and amazing stories like these were collected to share with the community, with items ranging from stuffed animals to golf shoes to a Blue-Ray DVD player.

Even employee volunteers turned out in droves to help because they felt it was important to the community, with many of them bringing items and stories of their own to add to the project. “It was an amazing chance for employees to really get out and interact face-to-face with members of the community in which they work,” said J.D. Norton, senior specialist, events and awards. “And, they absolutely loved doing so. For three and a half days, they gave eBay and eBay Giving Works a smiling face in the Salt Lake community. Hopefully, this will become a New Year’s tradition.”

The fundraising goal for eBay it Forward 2009 is $10,000 for the designated charity. Items are currently in the process of being listed on eBay Giving Works, with the first batch of items being listed on Jan. 9, with a new batch going up weekly. All items are listed under the user ID: eBayitForwardSLC or can be found by doing a title search for “EIF”.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Latest Enhancements to Auctiva's Listing Solution for eBay Sellers

Auctiva, an eBay Certified Solution Provider, has added new features to their software for eBay. The new software enhancements allow eBay sellers to manage more of their eBay selling activities from the Auctiva solution.

Advanced Edit Mode
Edit most fields in your closed listings before relisting them, including title, duration, starting price, reserve price, subtitles, shipping costs, listing format and even category. Save time and preserve your relist credit.

Auto-save
No more losing long descriptions you've worked so hard on. Auctiva will automatically save your work to ensure you won't have to start from scratch if you encounter a problem when creating or editing your listings.

More Templates
Browse through Auctiva's new templates to find the design best suited to your listings and wows buyers at the same time. Auctiva has both holiday themes and others you can use year-round.

International Ship-to Exclusion
Specify the countries you will not ship to when creating a new listing.

Bulk Live-Listing Revision Tool
Revise your active eBay listings right from Auctiva.com. Easily edit the description (including your Seller Details), title, return policy, handling time and more.

New Help Documentation
Quickly find the information you need the most. Auctiva has added new FAQs about their newest features.

For more detailed information from Auctiva about their software update, please read their Auctiva EDU article. eBay sellers with any questions about these new features, or anything else related your Auctiva account, please contact Auctiva's Customer Support team.

Auctiva is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider offering listing management solutions and features for beginner -to mid-to high-volume eBay sellers.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

New! Terapeak Collectibles Application Provides Extensive Research for Antiques and Collectibles

Have you ever cleaned out the attic and wondered what an old collectible is worth?

Have you been to a garage sale and wondered if there is money to be made in antiques?

Now eBay sellers can easily determine the value of antiques and other collectibles items with the new Terapeak Collectibles market research tool.

With just a few simple clicks, users can research multiple years of data to find out how much an item is worth and how best to sell it. The Terapeak Collectibles database accesses both online and live auction houses, and also allows users to view photographs, descriptions, and other antiques and collectibles data.

  • Search and browse multiple years of antiques and collectibles data
  • Price antiques and collectibles based on what they have sold for in the past
  • View data, descriptions and photos from both online and live auction houses
  • Access fast, reliable customer support and video tutorials
  • Never have to leave your My eBay page!

Terapeak Collectibles is a brand new application allowing users to research antiques and collectibles data from eBay, other online marketplaces, and real-life auction houses. Terapeak has partnered with WorthPoint, whose "Worthopedia" database houses data from more than 10 years of live and online auctions. WorthPoint's database combined with eBay market data by Terapeak, creates an extensive and powerful research tool for antiques and collectibles sellers.

Available only in eBay's App Store, Selling Manager Applications.




To access Terapeak Collectibles (try it free for 7-days), sellers will need to subscribe or currently be subscribed to eBay Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro. Once subscribed to Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro, sellers can add Terapeak Collectibles at this link.