4 Tips For a Successful eBay Auction

Anyone can throw a listing onto eBay and hope for the best, but if you want to have a truly successful auction there are a few steps that can help you with this.

This hub assumes that you have already taken the time to research and pick items that are in demand. No matter what you do, if no one wants your item then you are not selling it. The good news is that nothing rings truer than "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Especially on eBay.

eBay only gives a certain amount of characters that can be used in the title. Use every one of these to your benefit.

Tell the buyer exactly what the item is in the title.

If you have room for more words don't waste that space on things like "L@@K" or "NICE". No one searches for these terms on eBay and they will not help your listing. Instead use the extra space for keywords that people may use to search for your item.

Do not spam the title with keywords that do not match your item. The buyer will not be looking for your item anyway and they will not like to be misled when looking through your items for sale.

After choosing items that are in demand, taking good pictures is the most important part of your auction.

I have seen a lot of instances when pictures, or lack of pictures, have hurt the seller. Buyers are taking a risk when depending solely on your description. Since the buyer can not physically inspect the item you need to show them exactly what they are getting.

• Use the highest quality setting you have on your camera.
• Take multiple pictures from different angles. Show everything there is to see.
• Use a solid color background. Isolate your item and eliminate distractions in your pictures.
• Light your item well. You don't need a fancy lighting setup. Sometimes a simple desk lamp will light well enough for quality pictures.
• Focus. This seems obvious, but make sure everything in your photo is in focus.

Never skimp on your description. Be honest and tell the buyer everything there is to know about the item. Does it work properly? Is there any wear or tear? Is it clean? Does it smell like smoke?

Do not leave anything out of the description. Saying that there is a mark on the underside of your item may cause someone not to bid, but that is a lot better than having to settle a dispute because the buyer wants his money back.

Also do not use words like "excellent" "great" or similar words to describe your item. Want is great to me may not be great to you.

This one is not an obvious detail to most sellers. Many people list auctions and let them go. But do not leave buyers out of the bidding by ending it at 2:00 in the morning. And do not forget about time zones.

I am on the east coast, so I like to list my auctions around 8:00 to 9:00 pm my time. This works out to 5:00 to 6:00 pm on the west coast. So from New York to California most buyers are home from work, still awake, and able to bid on the auction.

Yes, there are buyers that will set their alarm to wake up for an auction. And there are other buyers that can easily access eBay from work. But there are a lot more buyers that will not or can not access eBay at the end of the auction and will just look for another opportunity to buy want they want elsewhere.