Writing the Perfect eBay Description

How to describe your listing as desirable as possible? This is what this post is about.Let’s talk about description.

1. Yes, you have to do it. And it is that important.
2. Not all descriptions are created the same.
3. Not All customers are the same.

I’ll start with a rather long example, which I mentioned in the How to Design Your Store post. The description below is for the same headphones in two different stores. Read it first, see how many differences you were able to detect.

1. Brand new sealed (brand name/ design) Headphones Black or Gold

Holiday Special 20$ off + Free Shipping    

• Industry-leading Digital Noise Cancelling lets you listen without distractions.
• Smart Listening feature automatically adjusts to your surroundings and activities.
• Voice Assist Function (Google App and Siri)
• Quick Attention Mode for effortless conversations without taking your headphones off.
• Touch Sensors to play and skip tracks, control volume by a simple tap or swipe on the right ear cup.
• Battery life up to 30hrs (with wireless noise cancelling).
• Control your phone’s voice assistant with a quick touch.
• App for Android /iOS to use Smart Listening technology to control your ambient sound settings.
• Wireless freedom with BLUETOOTH technology and NFC

2. A high standard of music industry that has been popular with many recording studios. The artists listen with this sound.

The complete professional headphones jointly developed by (brand name), familiar with the world’s advanced technology (brand name) and sound creation it is (name). Great sound quality, launched in (year) and is used ever since.So, how many differences are there?. Let’s put it this way, when I first read both descriptions I felt I was reading about two different items. The first description refers to a set of very modern headphones with apps, and a “smart listening” feature that suits different activities including working out, commuting, in office work etc. The second description discusses headphones with amazing sound quality and… that’s it.At first glance it seems that the first description is better. It names more features, it’s longer and overall it sounds like the more exciting product. However, it is the reader that decides whether the text is useful or not. Consider the next two readers, the first is looking for headphones to use while working out or while he’s going to work on the train. The second is a musician who builds her home studio.

  Consider how each of them will read the texts. The first person will be very much interested in the sound canceling features while the latter will be more interested in professional headphones.In the marketing world they are called Personas. Advertisers often try to think about who their potential customers for a specific product might be. Based on these persoans they think about how to present the product features and benefits in a way that will match what customers are looking for.So let’s do it together. Think of a listing from your store. Try to think of 3 different personas or potential customers who will benefit from having this item in their possession. Take your time. The goal is to think of people of different surroundings or desires who will benefit from the same thing. Here’s another example that might help you. I’m writing this article on January 1st and right now there are still holiday decorations hanging in many businesses and private homes in my city. That made me think of holiday decorations. The same holiday decoration may be used by different personas: a restaurant manager who like to make the business more festive, a family with young kids who enjoy the holidays together and care a great deal about safety concerns, thus not allowing hazardous decoration in their home. The third persona is a woman who invited her kids and grandkids for a holiday dinner and like to decorate her home. After thinking about the different personas we need to think about the benefits for each of them. Using the decoration example, benefits can be:

• Aesthetic value (for all personas)
• Cheap price (perhaps for all personas, not sure)
• Safety (for the family with young kids and the restaurant)
• Ease of use
• Easily stored
• Can be reused

Can you think of more benefits?Next, it’s time to write a description that will include all these benefits, or other benefits as well. However, the description section doesn’t have to describe only the item, free shipping, tax free, special offers and other issues that might be valuable to the client should also be mentioned. Some sellers also add testimonials, it’s a nice touch.

Don’t forget the photos! Great text and reliable testimonials will fly out the window of your photos will not look professional enough. Most suppliers provide hi-res photos. In case you have to take pictures by yourself, make sure to have the right background and lighting. To sum things up, your description should include

• Engaging text

• Technical specs

• Clear hi-res pictures

• Polices (returns/shipping etc)

• Testimonials (optional)

That’s it. Go and write brilliant descriptions!