Creating Listings

A thorough, complete and honest cosmetic and mechanical inspection of a vehicle will give your potential buyers more confidence to bid. Stating that the inspection was performed by a certified mechanic, even if it is your own, will increase a buyer’s confidence and reduce their hesitation to bid. In fact, disclosing everything about the vehicle, even the minute defects, has proven to raise potential buyers’ level of trust even further.

Gather All the Information First
Use a standard "checklist" template (sample) for gathering information on every vehicle. Make sure your checklist will create a complete and accurate description of the vehicle and then consistently use that checklist.  In addition, most eBay Motors listing software provides VIN decoding which pre-populates many features of the vehicle once you type in the VIN.

Take a Lot of Photographs
The more photographs the better. Give the bidder a virtual walk-around tour of the vehicle, inside and outside, as if they have actually touched the car. Seller tools allow for over 30 photographs and some of the most effective sellers on eBay Motors use that many photographs. However, be careful not to use photographs with file sizes so large that they load slowly on the page. Remember that most buyers use dial-up connections to access eBay Motors. Also, devise an efficient process for transferring images from your camera to your computer, such as creating file folders for each car.

Use the eBay Motors Seller Tools
We also know that creating thorough listings may be a time consuming process. Seller tools can save you a lot of time. Listing software providers like CARad give you VIN decoders, condition report forms, an easy way to upload and format a large number of photos, the ease of saving and re-using information that you will put in every listing like your deposit policies, and many other crucial time saving features. And we all know, time is money.

Try eBay’s Marketing Features
Bolding and highlighting make your listings stand out amongst the pack, catching a potential bidder’s eye and getting more page views. Our research shows that bolding and highlighting drives more bids and higher average sales prices.

The Category Feature option is also a very effective tool, and in certain categories, it is almost a requirement to getting your listing to the top of the page, or even on the first page of search or browse results. This elevation in exposure makes a big difference in the number of page views that your listings will receive. Category Feature listings are always shown above listings that are not Category Featured. For example, the first page of the Ford F-150 category is almost always a full page of just Category Feature listings. Don’t get stuck on the back pages, leverage the power of featured placement on the most trafficked automotive web site on the net.

Write Effective Marketing Titles
Our research shows that well over half of eBay visitors use the search function to shop for the items that they are interested in. When visitors use search on eBay Motors, they are primarily searching for matches in your title and subtitle. The eBay Motors site automatically populates your title with your make, model, year, and sub-model information when you list your vehicle, but the details and choice of terms in your subtitle are yours.

Fortunately, some of the most common search terms on eBay Motors are actually vehicle makes and models, so by pre-populating those terms for you in your title we ensure that you will be able to maximize those search terms without having to repeat them in your subtitle. Your sub title therefore can be used at your discretion to attract as many potential buyers to your auctions as possible. Terms such as “low reserve,” “Warranty,” “4WD,” “clean” “single owner” or “smoke free” describe popular attributes that potential buyers will be searching for.

Maximize your share of eBay Motors unrivaled traffic by describing your vehicle in terms that have meaning to your customers. Talk to your account manager about the best way to include the most popular search terms on eBay Motors in your subtitles.

Experiment With Timing
Statistically, the best practice for listing duration and timing for passenger vehicle auctions has been a 7-day format beginning/ending late afternoon or early evening Sunday. However, our research also shows that any day is a good day to end an auction and that the advantage gained by ending on Sunday is not overwhelming.

• The reality is that statistics are important, but real life experience is a better source of information for driving strategy. Be a student of the site.
• Experiment with different time and duration strategies and track your own results to set the best practice for your business.
• Remember that you are selling to a national and even international audience.
• List your vehicles at a time of day that will provide a good viewing opportunity for all of your prospective customers across all time zones.