Tapping into EBay’s Resources
Most people don’t realize that eBay itself is actually a terrific place to find product sourcing ideas. Besides being an easy selling venue with built-in traffic, it also contains a goldmine of useful data about what that traffic wants to buy. One of eBay’s best-kept secrets is their Seller Central page (www.EBay.com/SellerCentral). Very few people, even PowerSellers, are aware of this valuable resource. Consequently, very few people are taking advantage of the tools available there:

• The merchandising calendar — this is a great spot to get sourcing leads because it shows you specifically what products eBay will be promoting over the next few months. It gives you dates and tells you which item categories you need to list your product in for it to be displayed on eBay’s homepage. When a user clicks on that item, your auction will pop right up.

• The hot items section — this is basically a monthly trend-watching report. It tells you what items are moving, producing more bids, and getting higher final prices. It lets you get a feel for where the demand is.

Whether you’re searching for products at a tradeshow or a rummage sale, Janelle Elms (JanelleElms.com), of eBay University, recommends, “Print this report and keep it with you at all times.” She explains, “If you don’t know what to look for, this will help direct and keep your mind focused to what’s moving on eBay.”

• The hot categories section — this resource takes the top categories and gives you tips on how to sell in those categories, insider secrets about your buyers, and trending info. For each category, there’s a section called ‘In Demand’ that tells you not only the top-selling items in that category, but also the top keywords that buyers are using to find these items. Use those keywords in your listing titles. If you have any left over, put them in your description. Essentially, eBay tells you what to sell and then tells you how best to list it.

Catering to Your Customers
Advises Elms, “Don’t ever try to sell to the buyer what you think they need to own.” Users are already telling you what they want to buy — you just have to listen. These tools show you what consumers are saying they want and how they’re saying they want to find it. EBay users are ready to spend money with you — all you need to do is give them what they’re looking for.

No matter what type of buyer they are, no matter where they come from, they all use the same tool to find auction ads;

“They use the search bar to type in general terms..!”

Very rarely do buyers check the “Search Title and Description” checkbox and start browsing the more specific results. Heck; the checkbox isn’t even an option on the front page of eBay, you actually have to do an “Advanced Search” to even have that option. This just confirms the importance of your title keywords.

Some do browse categories rather than search, but we’re mainly concerned with general majorities here, not exceptions to the rule.

In case you’re unaware, this means that most searches are ONLY CHECKING YOUR TITLE, not the words in the description area of your ad!!!

Experience tells me that, since you now know this, you are actually way ahead of 70% of the other eBay sellers out there; and that’s a very conservative estimate..!

Now that you have a clear understanding of the importance of your title keywords, here’s a priority list for precisely picking the right ones for each of your ads:

Take these rules literally, but understand that each of these will not apply to every ad that you run. You have a maximum of 55 characters allowed for your title and just try your best to achieve as many of these as possible in this limited space.

1. Obvious keywords that are specific to the product you’re selling and make sure that they are spelled correctly.

2. One or Two misspellings of the obvious keywords from the last rule. (Google says that 33% of all searches are misspelled) …CATCH THAT? One Third! Don’t Forget This Part.

3. One or Two general eBay keywords such as “nr”, “n/r”, “no reserve”, “free shipping”, or “lot”. These are keywords that a lot of pro buyers search for.

4. Other general keywords like “new”, “free”, “excellent”, “pc”, “usb”, “dvd”, “wholesale”, or “supplies”. You can only use ones that are relevant to the product you’re selling, but these are very powerful.

Now, take these rules and create a list on a piece of paper each time you’re about to list an ad. Usually the list is way too big to fit into the title. Once your list is done, start narrowing down the list using the priority structure that I just gave you until they do fit into the 55 character limit.

If you have more than one of the item to sell and intend to list multiple copies of your ad, be certain to take the time to create different titles for each one!!! If you don’t, and you just use the same title for each copy; you’re just wasting money. Multiple versions of the same ad with different titles for each can really increase your traffic.