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I’m curious what process others follow for creating eBay listings. My process is described below. I’ve always had a significant inventory backlog because of a few troublesome bottlenecks. I’m hoping to improve my process to resolve some of these problems.
1. Write description and review (15 to 30 mins, sometimes more)
2. Take pictures (5 to 10 mins)
3. Crop and fix pictures (5 mins)
4. Upload pictures to separate album if more than 12 (0 mins)
5. Create eBay listing and review (5 mins)
6. Follow up questions as necessary (0 mins)
7. Packing and shipping (30 to 60 mins, sometimes more)
8. Post Office and FedEx trips (0 mins)Total cycle time: 60 to 120 minutes per listing
The big bottlenecks are writing descriptions and packing and shipping. I am very particular with my descriptions because I despise INAD cases with a passion. I haven’t received one in years because I am very careful with my descriptions. Packing and shipping is also particularly time because I ship large and/or fragile items that require special care like antique radios and phonographs. I’ve considered outsourcing both of these tasks but have not yet done so.
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As an example, here is one of my descriptions. This one took around 30 minutes to write and review.
Up for bid is a nice antique Edison Home signature style cylinder phonograph. With the lid installed, the exterior case measures approximately 16 ½ inches long by 9 inches wide by 12 inches tall. This phonograph is an all original machine, meaning that it will likely need repair and/or restoration before it will work. Overall the phonograph is in good condition.
The exterior of the case is very dirty and dusty throughout and will need a good cleaning, especially along the bottom edge throughout and along the edges of the wood frame around the bedplate throughout. There are many areas of dark black discoloration around the edges of the wood frame surrounding the bedplate. This area also shows heavier scratching, scuffing, general wear and finish wear throughout than elsewhere. The finish wear is particularly heavy along the left and right sides of the wood frame. The exterior shows moderate to heavy scratching, scuffing, general wear and finish wear throughout, especially along the bottom edge throughout. There are many areas of white scuffing/discoloration on the right side near the crank hole. There are some spots of deeper scuffing and scratching on the front just below the Edison decal, along the back center and along the left side. There are some spots of nicking, flaking and chipping to the wood along the bottom edges throughout. The metal brackets on the left and right sides of the wood frame surrounding the bedplate show moderate surface rusting throughout. All four of the original rubber feet are present on the bottom of the case. The lid is overall in good condition. The exterior is very dirty and dusty throughout and shows moderate to heavy surface scratching, scuffing, general wear and finish wear throughout. There are some spots of heavier finish wear along the top right side. There are some spots of deeper scuffing and scratching throughout, mainly along the front and back sides and along the bottom edges. The surface shows many areas of moderate veneer splitting and cracking throughout, which looks to have been caused by the veneer drying out over time. There are some spots of moderate veneer flaking, chipping and nicking along the left and right side edges throughout. The original handle is present on the top of the lid and is in very good condition with moderate scratching, scuffing, general wear, finish wear and nicking throughout. The interior of the lid is quite dirty and dusty throughout but is overall in good condition. The right and left side metal brackets that slip into the left and right side holes on the sides of the wood frame surrounding the bedplate show moderate surface rusting throughout.
The bedplate is overall in good condition. It is very dirty and dusty throughout and will need a good cleaning. There are many spots of caked on grease and oil throughout that will need to be cleaned. The paint shows moderate to heavy surface scratching, scuffing and wear throughout. There are some areas of paint bubbling in various places throughout, mainly along the back edge. There is a large area of worn off paint along the back left side corner that is approximately the size of a quarter. Approximately 50% of the original pin striping is present along the exterior edges of the bedplate. The pin striping that remains shows moderate wear throughout. The two screws on the back corners of the bedplate are replacements. The half nut casting and the left side pulley wheel are very dirty throughout and show heavy surface scratching, scuffing, wear and pitting throughout. There is a belt installed on the left side pulley casting. It is quite old and shows moderate surface cracking throughout. The mandrel shows heavy surface scratching, scuffing, pitting, green discoloration and wear throughout. The reproducer carriage is a bit difficult to move, which looks to be the result of built up grease and oil on the back reproducer carriage rod. The carriage rod will need a good cleaning. The reproducer included with the phonograph is an original Edison Model C 2 Minute. It is very dirty and dusty throughout and shows heavy surface scratching, scuffing, pitting, wear and green surface discoloration throughout, especially on the bottom. The stylus bar and the needle both look to be in good condition. I believe all of the parts and other components are present on the top of the bedplate.
The interior motor is overall in decent condition. The motor is very dirty and dusty throughout with many spots of caked on grease and oil throughout. The motor has not been cleaned or tested, so some adjustment will likely be needed before it will work properly. All of the parts and other components look to be present on the motor. The interior spring appears to be broken as it does not hold tension as it should. The spring case has a 1 inch horizontal crack along the center. As a result of the broken spring, the motor will not start when the start/stop brake is engaged and the top mandrel will not spin. The screws on the back left side hinge that secure the wood frame around the bedplate to the lower case have come detached along the bottom and will need to be secured back into place. The screw holes appear to be stripped. The right side lid latch shows moderate surface rusting throughout. The interior of the case is very dirty and dusty throughout with many spots of caked on grease and oil throughout. Three of the four corner securing brackets are missing from the corners of the interior of the case. There is no horn or crank included with the phonograph.
See pictures for a better idea of condition. (W42)
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I think the amount of detail and description orientation is great. I would like to offer that you may want to condense it using bullet points only. You may want to take out extraneous details such as extra wording like “up for auction”. This will save you time and help buyers focus on what you are selling them.
We have a very short period of time to grab a buyer’s attention. Many people become disinterested (including me) when they see a block of text they have to read to understand what they are buying. Bullets separate info and deliver it in smaller chunks which helps maintain attention. Some people will actually pass on something (even if it is something they are interested in) if there is too much work involved. Think about it this way. You have 30 seconds to shop. How do you want to spend your time? Reading a block of text or getting to the details that make you want to purchase the item?
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Wow – you definitely do not need to go to that detail on the condition. Yes, I realize that you don’t want to have an INAD, but there is no need to repeat words for each part or be so specific. Per what AdventureE said, a potential buyer might skip the long explanation, which would be counterproductive to what you are trying to do.
Here is how I would summarize the description:
This listing is for an antique Edison Home signature style cylinder phonograph. This phonograph is an all original machine, but is not in working condition. Please read condition statement.
With the lid installed, the exterior is approximately 16.5″ x 9″ x 2″
In the condition statement I would write:
Phonograph is dirty and will need extensive cleaning. Unit will need restoration in order for it to work. Wear is consistent with age and includes scratching, scuffing, and wear. Finish wear includes discoloration, nicking, flaking, and chipping. Metal areas have some rust. The interior spring appears to be broken as it does not hold tension as it should. The spring case has a 1 inch horizontal crack along the center. The horn, crank, and a few brackets and screws are missing. Please see photos.
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You definitely can save time by condensing the description and not getting into such detail.
For photographs, you should see if you can save time using the 1×1 aspect ratio on your camera if it has it. You won’t have to crop as much.
Yes, packing and shipping can take significant time when items are fragile. I’ve been able to speed up with experience. A guy named Sheldon Finlay used to post on this forum, and he created a bunch of what sold videos. Some of the videos include packing towards the end. Usually he would mention in the video description whether it included packing. I learned a lot from him, although there are probably plenty of packing videos on YouTube. Here is a link Sheldon’s videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVT1wbvVXy6W1YPRJxQv2CQ/videos -
I understand why you provide so much detail for your listings, but it seems almost excessive. I’m just thinking of it from a buyer’s perspective. The attention span of your average person will just drift off after the first paragraph, if they even get that far into it.
Are you utilizing all 12 photos? Maybe add 5-6 photos of damaged areas, and mention them succinctly in your description field.
From what I’ve read, providing *too* much detail for condition issues is as bad as providing no information on condition issues. It turns off buyers if there’s too much “wrong” with an item, even if there’s really not and you’re just describing all the blemishes.
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Our mindset is on what your time is worth. I would spend an a lot more time and be a lot more particular on an item that is of high value. We have a steel engraving that is listed for about $2k. I spent a lot of time researching that. It was worth it.
Clothes? Listing is about 6 min, all in. Photos would be 3 min. Not worth more unless it is a high value suit.
Also, what is your driving force for selling? If you enjoy the research, the history, and the long descriptions, and this isn’t your main source of income, then you may not have to change. All in what you want. Veronica and I do this for a living, so clothing is a high volume item we want to move quickly, so we created a process to get that done quick. Case in point. We listed 60 items yesterday in SixBit so that we had enough for our photographer. I did 40 items from 11am to 5pm. For those items, speed is of the essence.
I will add that as others have pointed out, very long descriptions may be tiring for buyers to comb through. Get their attention and don’t wear them out. In fact, I seem to remember that about a year ago eBay recommended short descriptions for how they were changing some of their programming.
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