7. Now is the point where the rubber meets the road. Here's where you can get down to the nuts and bolts of your item and go into as much detail as you want. The first thing that people see when they do a search on your item (and items like or similar to yours, don't forget) is the title. Here's your chance to get attention from your bidders to look at your item. The only catch is that you only have so much space to work with, the number of characters being the downfall, but there are ways to still get a customer's attention despite this setback. Getting the title just right depends on what kind of item that you're selling. A computer isn't so easy because you can have bidders looking for specific parts, and they might pass your auction up if the title doesn't entice them from the start. On the other hand if you're selling as simple as a fancy pair of scissors or modern desk lamp it's not difficult at all.

Currently eBay allows 55 characters on the main title and another 55 characters on the subtitle, which is also a few sizes smaller than the original title. When I'm selling an item I don't count letter-for-letter how much space I'm using up. I start out typing a normal title and try to be descriptive as possible until that I see that no more characters are coming up on the line that I'm typing. From there I shorten it to accommodate my item and details about it. My objective has always been to cram as much info as possible on just the title without having to spend extra on a subtitle which costs 50 cents more. I try not to abbreviate items that are normally not abbreviated in the English language also. This computer poses a challenge. I have to list out all the items with this that would have an advantage over my competitors who are selling the same or similar items. Let's step back for a second and look at all it has. I've put information in parenthesis that breaks the meanings into laymen's terms for those not familiar with computer terminology.

Upgraded 1.2 ghz processor (faster speed), 133 mhz bus speed (faster means of info transferring to the processor), 1.5 GB of RAM (memory - can run more programs, bigger programs that require a lot of memory to run), 120 GB hard drive (more space to store items, plus the computer itself can store even more hard drives, up to 6 total), Pioneer DVD-110D drive (can read and write to CDs and DVDs at fast speeds and in multiple formats), ATI Radeon 9000 Pro AGP card (64 MB graphics card, games run and look smoother), 4 PCI slots (can store 4 PCI cards such as extra fans, cards that have extra USB and Firewire Jacks, up to 4 more graphics cards for a total of 5 monitors), 2 built-in 400 mbps Firewire jacks (PC users have to pay extra for this ability to hook up faster external drives), 2 USB 1.1 ports (standard on most computers built around the time this was made), extra fan (helps keep inside a little cooler so it doesn't overheat and shut off), built in 56k Modem, empty Airport slot (users can install an Airport card for wireless 802.11b reception = wireless internet if a router and open network are available in the user's area), built-in Ethernet port (PC users also have to pay for this, it allows you to hook up to a network or other computer, or have DSL or Cable internet, but the Airport card allows this also), OS X 10.4 Tiger (latest Apple operating system), optional security mechanism (allows user to put a lock on the back so that the case cannot be opened, 802.11g PCI card (allows for 802.11g wireless which is faster and has a more robust signal than 802.11b).

That's a lot of detail there, but this is a complex machine. It's not something simpler like a pair of shoes that have never been worn, a baseball card, or a vintage cigarette lighter. We're still working on the title so we have to pick the best features that will be the important selling points. Don't hesitate to check out other auctions similar to this (as noted on my eBay searching page). Are other people advertising the possibility of wireless internet on their auctions for their G4 computers or are they hoping that the bidder will discover this when they actually look at their auction page? Are they pointing out in their title that it has two Firewire ports or do they know that they're reaching out to the Mac demographic that's aware that all G4 computers have Firewire ports? It never hurts to take a few seconds to check out the competition and get an edge over them, both in the title(s), price, and the description.

8. We can enter a title such as the following:

Apple PowerMac G4 1.2ghz, 1.5GB RAM, 802.11g, 120GB HD

This seems to work just fine with no characters left for me to add. I can remove the commas for three more spaces (spaces count as characters on eBay titles), but there's not much I can put in three characters without it appearing cryptic and unabbreviated. However, there's only one PowerMac and that's made by Apple. I can leave it in there or take it out to add more features of my computer. What if I change it to the following:

PowerMac G4 1.2ghz 1.5GB RAM 802.11g 120GB HD DVD 10.4

I removed the word "Apple" and then took out the commas since I knew I was going to get more than three extra spaces. With the extra space I added that it has a DVD drive and the latest operating system. If I wanted to go über-geek I could tailor my auction so it only applies to those who know a lot about computers and change it to this:

PowerMac G4 1.2ghz 1.5GB 802.11g 120GB DVD 10.4 NR!

I only gain about 3 more space by removing some things, and an experienced computer user doesn't need to know what I'm referring to when I leave out the HD (stands for Hard Drive or Hard Disk) and the GB (gigabytes). A computer of this speed and age doesn't have an older 1.5 GB hard drive anyway. Still I prefer to cater to inexperienced computer users and leave the GB and HD in there.

For this example we can skip the subtitle too. We can make the auction stand out more, but we can do that enough in the product description..

9. In some auctions you won't find the type of list as you'll see below on the eBay page. Here's where you can fill in the fields using the drop down lists for each section. When you fill in these fields, it makes it easier for potential bidders to quickly check out the machine specs without having to drudge through all the other info. Sounds pointless, but it's a benefit to the bidders. Not all sellers are descript in their title, so to help out both the bidder and the seller eBay devised these quick fields that show a basic overview of the item. This doesn't apply to just computers, but books (where you can enter the condition and ISBN number, which fill in the rest of the information automatically) and DVDs as well (where you enter the UPS code and again the rest of the information is filled in). In addition to these you can also add your personal review of the book or DVD

For this example, feel free to randomly select data from the drop down lists. It won't matter since we're not going to put the item up for auction anyway.

Here's where it gets interesting; the item description. If you already know HTML, then then you're a step ahead. if you don't know HTML, you're going to take a crash course in one step. See the grey text below the big field that reads "Enter <p> to start a new paragraph. get more HTML tips"? Simply right-click on the HTML tips link and open the link in a new tab or new window. This page shows you a tiny bit of HTML code and a lot of examples to get you going. It's just enough to make some pretty cool and eye-catching pages that stand out from others. Now the concept here is eye-catching, not myspace.com, retina-burning, hard-to-read, annoying background and text page. Feel free to look at the page source of even this page that you're reading for a basic overview of HTML code and how it works, which you can accomplish by going to the "View" menu in your web browser and then clicking on "Page Source". This will open the source in a separate page where you can view it and study it, or even copy it and paste it into a Notepad or TextEditor doscument and experiment with it.

If you don't want to take the time to learn this programming language, you're still ok, but with HTML you can add pictures in your listing without having to pay extra to have eBay list them for you. And you can still have a decent looking ad. Bidders aren't looking for art, but they want an ad that is clean, easy-to-read and describes the product in detail. It's too easy to get ripped off as a buyer, so give the bidders confidence in bidding on your items which will show in your advertisement.

Ok, we got that out of the way. When you're describing the product you want to point out both the good and the bad, to a point. It helps to point out if there are scratches or marks on the product, if it's missing any parts, maybe a bit of history on the product. This all depends on what you're advertising, obviously. How far into the history can you go when you're describing used shoes, or where a computer video card originated? It helps to describe how well the item works and if there are any problems because you don't want to be burned later by a bidder who leaves negative feedback.

Now I previously mentioned that it helps to list things about your product to a point. case in point: I had my original Airport card for wireless internet access, and it was an 802.11b card. I wanted to upgrade my internet speed and signal, so one of my alternatives was a faster card. Simply typing in "802.11g mac" on eBay brought up a number of items, but the prices were out of my range. One of my favorite websites is xlr8yourmac.com, and there were articles on there that listed a few 802.11g cards made for PCs that work seamlessly with a Mac, yet the maker of the card did not advertise this important feature. So, I typed in the different model numbers on eBay that were listed on xlr8yourmac.com, and I finally found one that I liked for under $25. Yeah, an 802.11g card for for $25 when an 802.11b card which has a slower speed and weaker reception is triple that price! So, I later put the Airport card up for sale and I only advertised that I replaced it with a faster card. I didn't state what the replacement card was nor how much I paid for it, so as they say; knowledge is power!

It's one thing to simply list the features of a particular item in a list form (see the eBay HTML tips for a description on how to do a list in HTML format) or in a paragraph form, but I believe that it depends on the item. Use your best judgement.. You can also benefit by listing each feature and the benefits beside it if you do put it in paragraph form. It will be easier for the bidders to contrast and compare your item against others that they may be interested in when you put it in that form.

Let's assume that you've finished describing the item. Now you can either add more HTML code that will list the pictures of the item (if you don't have pictures just take random ones from your hard drive or from the internet). But now that you've got the pictures, how do you store them and display them without paying eBay to list them? Picture hosting services! This site is hosted by fortunecity.com, as you can see from the domain at the top (fortunecity.com). I think this allows only 10MB of space but since I started on this site in the late 90's I'm grandfathered in to 100MB. Still, that's not enough for me. After browsing the Scale Auto Enthusiast forums I saw that a lot of people were having their photos posted on the site Photobucket. This allows you to have I believe 1 gigabyte of space. Quite a lot! What I like about this site is that everything is laid out logically on their site, and for each picture that you have it lists the HTML tags that you can copy and paste to another site, which takes a bit of the guesswork out of the HTML coding process. I'm not trying to plug their site as there are many more out there, but this was the second photo hosting site that I checked out and since I liked what I saw I stuck with them. I'd go to their site and register right now (free account and you don't get spam at all).

Now that you've registered and have the item description in the field, you can copy and paste the links from the photo hosting site in the description field. Be sure to put the paragraph start <P> and end </P> tags between each of the photos for a cleaner effect. When you're finished, don't forget to preview it first by clicking on the Preview Description link below the field in light gray text. when everything looks clean and neat the click on the Continue button.