When you start selling on eBay, you may not be aware of the small things that you can do to get your store noticed or to keep your customers coming back for more. Many of these tactics you'll learn by experimenting, being patient, and doing a fair share of competitive research. In this article, we hope to surface some simple tricks of the trade (organized by listing or store element) that you can quickly implement to get noticed by the millions of buyers that use eBay every day.

• If the item you're selling is brand new, make sure you include the word "NEW" at the very beginning of your listing title.
• Since you're only allowed 80 characters in your title, avoid using characters that buyers often don't search for, such as ~,/,!, and @. Instead, use this space to describe as much as you can about the items you're selling.
• If you're selling clothing, make sure to include the color(s) and size(s) of the merchandise in the listing title.
• Use commonly-searched eBay abbreviations like NIB, BIN, NWT, NWOT, and NR in your titles.
• Look at your competitors' titles and utilize similar keywords in your titles.

• Use a lot of adjectives to describe the product and help buyers experience it before they bid.
• Include any and all information you have about the product's size, weight, color, storage capacity, and anything else you can think of.
• Make sure to call out all product flaws in your descriptions and photos. That way, you can avoid issuing a refund if a customer isn't happy with a scratch or dent on an iPod, for example.

• If you have a fixed price item that you've had a hard time selling, try using the BEST OFFER feature to allow buyers to negotiate a price with you. You'll likely sell more items this way and also get more positive feedback.
• Get more visibility for your products by listing them in two categories. Note that you may be charged a higher fee for doing so, and this option isn't available for some categories like iPods and GPS systems.
• Use the BUY IT NOW feature in your auction listings, especially as you get close to certain holidays. There are always last-minute shoppers out there who need gifts quickly, and offering the BIN option will likely increase your sales around key holidays like Christmas, Mother's Day, and Father's Day.
• Ever considered selling your items internationally? This strategy could help you reach thousands more interested buyers, and it doesn't take too much extra work on your part. You'll just need to fill out some extra forms at the post office (a clerk can help you with your first international shipment). Just be sure that you state your shipping costs for particular countries in your listing.

• Take pictures against a clean backdrop. For a cheap solution, try gluing a couple pieces of white foam core boards together on which you can rest your product.
• Make your items look as new as possible before taking pictures by ironing/pressing them if they are wrinkled, or polishing them (in the case of shoes or furniture).

• Before you start selling on eBay, buy several items to get used to the process and to obtain positive feedback. Even after you start selling, we recommend that you buy something on eBay about once a week (perhaps a product from one of your competitors) to keep more feedback coming and learn what other sellers are doing to facilitate transactions.
• When you leave feedback for other buyers or sellers, make sure you sign the message with your eBay store name. That way, if someone is browsing another buyer's feedback, he/she might see your name and visit your store. You may have just gained one more customer that otherwise might not have ever found you.

Did you find this article useful? Yes | No