If you’re new to eBay selling or looking for tips and tricks on how to optimise your eBay title, you can use the tips below to:
- give your product the highest possible placement in search results;
- ensure you give potential buyers the information they need;
- and be certain your listing stands out from the rest of the pack.
Be Accurate
Include the item’s brand, artist or designer names where applicable and even if you feel these may not be widely known: eBay is a rich hunting ground for niche collectors who may be looking for that little-known brand or name.
Include Specific Details
Such as size, colour, model and condition.
Avoid Punctuation And Asterisks
These use up valuable characters and add unnecessary clutter. Instead opt for neater vertical bars or hyphens to partition your listing. Similarly, no buyers will be searching for “!!!” so leave them out.
Don't Repeat Yourself
Use the word that best describes the item and avoid variations of the same e.g. case/holder/cover, which may make your title appear long winded and hard to read.
Capitalise The One Or Two Most Important Words
This will draw attention to keywords your potential buyers are looking for whilst scanning listings. Be careful not to overdo it though! Over-capitalisation can come across as shouty and is tiring to read. Use title case to emphasise key phrases (apart from small/connecting words). For example “NEW Apple iPad Mini 2 — 32GB Tablet” is an improvement on “NEW APPLE IPAD MINI 2 — 32GB TABLET”.
Familiarise Yourself With The Local Lingo
eBay veterans love abbreviations like BIN (Buy It Now) and OOP (Out of Print) and these can of course save on characters. Only use abbreviations if your potential customers will easily comprehend their meaning.
Less Can Be More
Only use the characters you need. You have up to 80 characters to play with — but don’t feel you need to use all of them.
Steer Clear Of Buzz Words
Words like LOOK and WOW offer an opinion that may not be shared by your buyers and use up those all-important characters, so leave them out.
Check Your Spelling
A poorly spelt listing can affect your search success and gives a poor impression to those buyers who do come across it.
Do Your Research
Use the auto-complete function in search bars within Google, Amazon and eBay itself to work out what your potential customers could be hunting for and format/detail your title accordingly:
Review The Overall Layout
Is it visually appealing or overloaded with jargon and abbreviations?
Put a label on it | Point out particular features | Peddle it!
Put a label on it — include the brand name, manufacturer or designer as well as the product name (including model, if appropriate).
Point out features — add information on the item’s size, colour, condition — anything particular to the item you want to sell and that buyers may be searching for.
Peddle it — sell the key benefits of your item e.g. free delivery, or if it is new, unused, in original packaging/never unopened or (genuinely) rare.
Don't Break eBay's Rules
This can have serious repercussions, including listing cancellation and even account bans in severe cases.
- Do not include false or misleading information.
- Do not include web addresses, email addresses or phone numbers (domain names for sale are an exception!)
- Do not use offensive language.
- Do not use the following words: prohibited, banned, illegal or outlawed.
For up-to-date eBay’s rules click here.
Happy Listing!