Your eBay listing guideline

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BY ERIN PHEIL
special to the daily
January 20, 2008

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I've bought and sold quite a few items on eBay over the years, and if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it's the fact that there are *always* people who insist upon making their listings as lame as possible.

For goodness sake, you'd think that if people were going to take the time and money to list their items, they'd at least put a *little* bit of effort into making their listings informative and clear. Nope.

Here are some rudimentary eBay listing tips you should be aware of if you're serious about selling your item. They may sound quite obvious, but based on the sheer volume of listings I've viewed that ignore several (if not all) of these, perhaps they're not quite as obvious to everyone as I would have hoped.

• Show a photo. It's nice that you're telling me about your gorgeous blue necklace but there's no way in hell I nor anyone else will even *consider* buying it without being able to see what it looks like.

• Be realistic with your price. Honestly, I think that Care Bear doll is adorable too, but it's used and worn, and I kind of think that $250 is more than you're going to get for it when there are 12 other listings for the same bear in mint condition for $30.

• Explain any flaws! I bought my dining room table from you and I knew it was used, but you never mentioned the enormous oil stain in the middle of it nor did you show it in the photos. You're getting some big fat negative feedback from me and I'm going to dispute this purchase with eBay because I want my money back.

• Reply to questions. I'm really digging those striped socks you're selling, but I have no clue what size they are because you failed to mention anything about size in your listing. So I've e-mailed you a question via eBay but you're not responding. Unbelievable You just lost an easy sale.

• For heaven's sake, please spell check. Because I honestly can't tell if you're selling glow in the dark stars or glow in the dark stags. Here's where a nice photo would have helped me out as well.



Firefox Tip of the Week: The Hands-Down Easiest Way to Update Your Browser's Homepage

I cannot believe I just learned this. Did you know that if you drag a website's favicon (that teeny little icon sitting to the left of the website address at the top of your screen) directly onto Firefox's Home button and then let go, you've just updated your default home page?

Perform this one easy action and the next time you click the Firefox Home button, you'll be taken right to the website from which you dragged and dropped that little icon.

It works. Try it.



Grab Bag: Five Links of the Week

• http://tinyurl.com/ye3woe - Learn how to make your very own ringtone from any MP3 file.

• www.excessaccess.com - This site links donations of businesses and household items with the wish lists of nearby nonprofits that can provide pick-ups or accept drop-offs. SUCH a great idea.

• http://tinyurl.com/2gh54h - This great blog entry compares the websites of world leaders.

• http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov - NASA's alternative to Google Earth allows for fantastic viewing of three-dimensional landscapes, pretty much anywhere in the world.

• http://2prong.com - Disposable e-mail service. Free. No clicking or sign-up necessary to make it work. That's right. Without so much as one click you can have your very own disposable e-mail address for a total of zero dollars.

And that's it for today, everyone. Have a great week, and see ya next Monday.



Based in Frisco, eRin pheiL is the primary creative force behind timeforcake (www.timeforcake.com). She can be reached via phone at (970) 668-0709 or e-mail at info@timeforcake.com.