​This is the fourth in a series of articles about how you can create effective eBay listings that help drive both sales and great customer experiences.

A well crafted listing will have everything a prospective buyer needs to make a purchasing decision.

In general, you want your listings to follow these guidelines:

• Place the item in the right category
• Create an descriptive title
• Include high-quality, accurate photos
• Utilize eBay's catalog when available, provide structured data when it's not
• Provide a brief, concise description

This article will focus on descriptions.  

One of our favorite words of advice to our children is "Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD do something."  This applies to eBay listings' descriptions as much as it applies to children's ill-formed idea of jumping off a cliff into a calm lake.

Now, we are not advocating NOT using descriptions.  Rather, our advice is to keep them simple, to-the-point, and as vanilla as possible.  

Keep in mind that eBay already provides space for the following items (and buyers know where to look for this info), so you needn't include in your description:

• Pictures
• Return policy
• Payment policy

In the same vein, there is no need to use a font other than the standard Arial.  Bullet points are sufficient with additional narrative to reinforce the value of the product and perhaps a bit about you, the seller.

We know this is potentially controversial advice, especially given how much sellers have invested in descriptions before.  Please let us know if you differ in opinion!

At CommerceESB, we have a long track record of helping sellers create effective listings.  Please contact your account manager if you want some advice -- we are happy to help our customers continue growing their business!

This is the third in a series of articles about how you can create effective eBay listings that help drive both sales and great customer experiences.

A well crafted listing will have everything a prospective buyer needs to make a purchasing decision.

In general, you want your listings to follow these guidelines:

• Place the item in the right category
• Create an descriptive title
• Include high-quality, accurate photos
• Utilize eBay's catalog when available, provide structured data when it's not
• Provide a brief, concise description

This article will focus on pictures

Its a well-worn truism: a picture says a thousand words.  This is as true today as ever, especially given the limited screen real estate for buyers making ever more purchases on mobile devices.  

eBay and their buyers love it when you provide more, high-quality pictures -- so give 'em what the want!

Note that eBay now requires a minimum length of 500 pixels for the longest side.  

For best results, eBay recommends the following:

• Don't just settle for the minimum: use pictures with 1600 pixels on the longest side
• Use 12 pictures if you have them
• Make sure each has a white background
• Do not include anything other than the item in the picture.  For example, do not include borders, text overlays (e.g. "Free Shipping!"), or logos
• You can use watermarks, just be sure they use 5% or less of the total picture space, opacity is less than 50%)

For those taking their own shots, eBay provides a comprehensive guide for taking great pictures.

At CommerceESB, we have a long track record of helping sellers create effective listings.  Please contact your account manager if you want some advice -- we are happy to help our customers continue growing their business!