Home › Forums › Buying and Selling › Selling on eBay › Too much time on “Description” section?
- This topic has 16 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 6 months ago by
Antique Frog.
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03/07/2020 at 9:11 am #74838
I don’t write paragraphs about the items I am listing, but I have noticed that most of my comps either just list the title in the description or they have one of those auto fill things talking all about their store in different colors etc.
Other than INAD reasons, how long or how much do I need to actually write? How long does everyone average on listing an item?
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03/07/2020 at 9:36 am #74841
Hi lbh. Great question. If I come across useful info in my research, I often cut and paste that into my description. (example would be a synopsis of the artist’s life & work or brief description of a character’s role for a figure). Otherwise, I am usually just expanding slightly on the title (if at all). I seldom mention condition in description – just keep that under the condition section above.
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03/07/2020 at 9:48 am #74843
My go-to is to just cut and paste the title. Each listing then has a few sentences regarding my return policy and so on. I have a few situations where I add more info: the item is for parts or repair and does not work, it has significant wear or damage, the item is more pricey and I feel I have to add more, or I have a story or information that I think someone will find interesting and will help sell the item.
I try not to write too much because it slows down the listing process. On the mobile app, you have to click through to see the description, and many people don’t bother.
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03/07/2020 at 11:12 am #74846
The more you write, the more eBay messes with the description on mobile. They actually move around and cut entire sentences if the algorithm deems it as not being relevant. You can see this for yourself by viewing an item on desktop and then checking the same one on mobile. I believe you can get around this by just writing one big run-on sentence, but I’ve yet to try it.
I had someone claim I modified the description after I sold the item, and realized that an entire sentence I wrote about a defect had been removed in the mobile description by eBay. Very annoying.
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03/07/2020 at 2:28 pm #74858
Thank you for letting me know. I just checked some of my listings from a different account and it looks like those had some stuff cut off, but not enough where they could claim INAD. I will be much more aware of how much and how I list.
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03/07/2020 at 12:48 pm #74851
I spend way, way too much time on listing descriptions! My listings look like mini-books compared to most other listings. But I do have really good numbers of sales for the number of items in my store, and I sometimes think that people who want more than just the title repeated as the description are attracted to my listings. That’s most likely wishful thinking on my part to justify all the time I spend on descriptions though. I love to read and always wanted to be a writer, I think that’s why I write longer descriptions.
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03/07/2020 at 12:52 pm #74852
As others said, we put almost nothing in the description. Several years ago, eBay began stripping out the description on phones, thus making them almost useless.
eBay has also been very clear that they now require all relevant info to be in the Item Specifics. This is where eBay will back you up. Any info in the description is nice but just really fluff.
I guess it also depends on what you sell. Some collectibles may need them to explain the item? When you buy items on eBay, do you read the description?
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03/07/2020 at 1:25 pm #74856
Depends how on what you sell but just think to yourself, if I were looking to buy this item, what would I want to know?
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03/07/2020 at 2:35 pm #74859
I actually do read the info on items I am purchasing, and I say this all laughing because I am that type of person. Depending on the item it hasn’t stopped me from buying anything yet, but if the person has crappy pictures, it’s a used item, and no description I will pass.
I have to remind myself all the time that I am not my target audience and don’t go into detail about every single thing. I think that is why it takes me so long to list sometimes. Thank you for responding. I am certainly going to scale back on what I write.
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03/07/2020 at 2:36 pm #74860
My reply is below, but yeah I am not my target audience on this one. LOL
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03/07/2020 at 4:56 pm #74868
This is one of those cases where I wish ebay could share some data about buyer behavior. My descriptions are shorter than they used to be, but they are a book compared to many I see. I agree: there are buyers who simply don’t read them, and there is the mobile problem, with ebay’s often god-awful abbreviated descriptions. Good reasons to put very little in the description. The other side is : I do think (but have no data to back this up) that some buyers (especially for non-commodity items) prefer a description that adds a bit more than a repeat of the title.
At this point, I pretty much just accept that I’m sometimes going to write longer descriptions and it may be slowing me down for no good reason.
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03/07/2020 at 5:03 pm #74869
Back when we started selling on eBay in 2008, it seemed expected to have log descriptions. We always struggled with what to write.
“Cool, awesome coat that keeps you warm in the winter. Brown Wool with a hood and inside pockets. Tag says Large. 42″ chest. Sure to keep you cozy.”
Now you can simply see this in the photos and the item specifics. It’s a lot of extraneous writing.
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03/07/2020 at 6:46 pm #74875
My listings are the War and Peace version. Write as if you don’t have photos, take photos as if there is no description. I give a description of the item, the condition, and then paste a very comprehensive store policy/disclaimer at the end. Everything is also in Item Condition and Item Specifics, so a lot of stuff is very repetitive.
I went through a very short phase of one liner descriptions, but I had quite a few issues on items sold. I went back to writing my encyclopedias. It makes me happy. Buyers don’t have to read it unless they want to. It makes them happy either way. Goal achieved.
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03/07/2020 at 6:54 pm #74876
Long descriptions can’t hurt. As you said, back in the “old days” we all used to copy and paste a long list of rules ad request for good feedback. Templates. I still see lot of sellers use templates.
For us, we see that plenty of people buy without descriptions. Plus wenow mainly sell items without significant issues or wear.
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03/07/2020 at 7:28 pm #74877
I’ve been on eBay since 2004. If I remember correctly everyone used to write detailed descriptions. I don’t remember seeing listings back then that were just copying and pasting the listing title in the description box. When I see the copy paste descriptions that are so common today I often wonder if it’s a listing completed by a virtual assistant OR it makes me think that the listing belongs to a really big seller who doesn’t have time to write a description.
I don’t actually buy much on eBay anymore but when I did I wanted as much description as possible. It reassured me that the seller cared enough to type all that in and made me feel like they had some pride in their product. But I’m a senior citizen now (shudder) and probably very old school. I’m sure my 22 year old nephew would hate a long description and would think it a waste of his time to read it. The stuff I sell is more for an older crowd though, so hopefully my long descriptions play to my audience. I’ve tried to cut down on my descriptions to save time but old habits die hard.
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03/07/2020 at 10:00 pm #74883
Most of my listings have no terms of service in the description. Some have a link to my store landing page and some older ones have a mention of my return policy, but ebay has been pretty clear that the description should be just description, NOT terms of service.
I do think the description is one area where a seller can sometimes let some personality shine through. I also think it helps differentiate small sellers from large “impersonal” sellers. But I’m not convinced it really makes much difference in terms of sales.
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03/08/2020 at 1:55 am #74885
Sold some items through a local auction house on Saturday. Their online descriptions are linited to one sentence. Thus “A British Army jack knife, 1947, a bronze handled paper knife and one other paper knife with advertising handle” which fetched £25 nett. One photo. Commission is 15% with a £3.50 minimum, plus £1.75 online lotting fee, so to have them photograph the items, describe them and sell them cost me about 6 dollars. Lots are “sold as seen” (hmm… not “as described”) so no INADs, no returns, no bad feedback, and no chance to let my marvellous personality shine through. There’s always a drawback!
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