How to Write Better eBay Descriptions - One Example

Once you start selling on eBay with any consequence, you need to come to grips with the fact that you´re in the marketing business. You´re a buyer, a seller, an office manager, and a strategist, but you´re also in the business of persuasion. With that realization comes a simple responsibility to connect with customers on their terms. That´s where your profits are going to come from. That´s how auctions get bid up and why some eBay Stores are more popular than others.

The sooner you can think of yourself as a persuader, the better. We live in a world of mind-boggling supply, where piles of useful stuff go unsold (or are sold at a loss) because nobody has the time or inclination to introduce it properly to the right audience.

A lot of people think that products sell themselves, but this simply isn´t true. Products don´t have worth or value until you connect them with prospects, and the only way to connect with prospects is to identify with their needs and desires. That´s why it´s important that you maintain an intimate knowledge of your niche market.

As an eBay seller, you don´t have to develop new needs. But you do have to be keenly aware of the connection between product and need, and then market accordingly. The trick is to define your product accurately and place it in the context of customer needs that already exist.

Take a look at how two different eBay sellers presented what´s usually considered a commodity item-soap. Here´s the first description:

"You are bidding on a bar of Nautica soap. This is a new bar in cellophane wrapper with no box, as pictured below."

Another soap seller provides a bit more information:

"My rose-scented natural soap is a soft-white bar featuring the lovely Rose fragrance and is enriched with lots of moisturizing shea butter. Rose is a timeless fragrance, and this bar captures the enchanting scent of the rose bloom beautifully. Bars are fragrant, lather luxuriously, rinse clean, and are hard, long-lasting, and a delight to use. If you are looking for a premium quality, rose-scented natural soap for yourself, or as a gift for someone special, this is the ideal choice."

The first seller thinks you can just trot out a product like a pony and expect the masses to open their wallets. The other holds your hand and introduces you to a dream of moist, scented skin, and a long-lasting bar that provides delight, cleanliness, and sublime aroma. He acts like Willie Wonka, helping you understand the new life, the new "you" that will emerge in the glorious sunshine of possibility.

The description even suggests giving the soap as a gift. It´s not necessarily the zenith of descriptions, but it sure beats, "Yo, soap for sale." If you intend to move a lot of soap, it can pay to stand out, offer up some enticements, and develop a compelling description.