Listing FAQ
How to create attractive listings, use design software, edit images, and more.
Tags: Listing, FAQs, Selling
Questions
How important is my auction ad?
Your auction ad (including title, starting price, text and images)
is the only thing you can control in the vast eBay marketplace, and for
that reason is absolutely crucial to your success as a seller.
The auction title, along with time remaining and current price,
attracts potential bidders to your auction. You then have to explain
in your advert exactly what the item is (including its condition), terms
of sale such as payment types and shipping cost, and also show that
you are a trustworthy and professional seller. If your advert does not
contain the information bidders want they will look
elsewhere, or even misunderstand what the item is and bid for something
they don't want - which will lead to problems for both of you
if they win the auction.
What is HTML?
HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is the programming language
used to create web pages, as your eBay auction is part of a web page
it is also used to create auction ads. A key
characteristic of HTML is the use of "tags" - text between
angled brackets (e.g. "<p>", "<img>"),
which sometimes have matching end tags (e.g. "</p>"),
and are often "nested"
within each other (e.g. "<p><img></p>").
So that web browsers can display HTML web pages as
their author intended, there are a number of rules to follow, such as
using end tags when they are required. Although HTML is a relatively
simple language it is very easy to make mistakes, which can be difficult
to locate and correct, leading to frustration and lost time.
What is HTML Generation software?
HTML Generation software creates eBay auction adverts without the seller needing
to write the HTML themselves. You choose a design template, then enter
text for description, payment, and shipping fields, and select one or
more pictures - the ad is normally previewed and the HTML displayed so
you can paste it into the eBay Sell Your Item form. Listers add the ability to post the finished advert directly to eBay and other auction sites.
What are HTML Editors?
HTML
Editors are designed to create entire web pages and sites. If you
are already experienced in HTML they offer greater power and
flexibility than HTML Generation software. However, for beginners there is a much greater possibility
of making mistakes since the environment is not as tightly controlled.
A quick tip is to paste in only the HTML between the <body> tags
- the rest is used when creating a whole web page rather than just
part of a page.
What is image hosting?
All the pictures used in auction adverts (and the web in general)
must be "hosted" on an Internet server, meaning the image is
physically located on a computer whose job it is to transmit it over the
Internet when the page is displayed in a web browser.
Standard eBay auction ads only come with hosting for one relatively
small picture. By paying eBay extra for your advert or hosting your
pictures with a service outside eBay you can use more and larger pictures.
When using an outside service this will mean editing the HTML so that
the <img>
tags point to the correct file on your host's servers - many
HTML Generators and Listers have a facility built in for this. The advantage of an Image
Hosting service is that you are not constrained to the layout and
size options offered by eBay - you can have as many images as you want,
of whatever size and placement best complements your item.
It is not always necessary to subscribe to a dedicated hosting
service to use extra images in your auction adverts — you may find
that your ISP has given you some free web space which you can use. You
will require an FTP
client to transfer image files between your own computer and the
hosting server, or some ISPs offer a web-based alternative.
Why should I edit my images?
The two main reasons to edit your images are (1) to improve the clarity
and presentation of your items for sale, and (2) to make your images
"web-friendly". Image
Preparation software helps you improve the clarity of images captured
with a digital camera or scanner using "photo enhancement"
technology, which can sharpen and brighten images as well as more advanced
and subtle improvements.
"Web-friendly" images are small enough (height
and width, as well as file size) to display quickly and
attractively to those with dial-up Internet connections
or low-resolution monitors. Image Preparation software allows
you to crop, resize and recompress images to achieve this.
What programs are available for the Mac?
Web Retailer covers desktop software and web-based
services. Web-based services will work with most operating systems,
but downloadable programs must be written specifically for the Mac or based
on cross-platform technology such as Java. View Mac software in the directory.
