1. Take good pictures – Since buyers cannot touch or feel the items you are selling on eBay, your pictures need to be of the best quality in order for buyers to feel confident of the quality of your items. Your pictures need to be focused and excess area needs to be cropped out before you upload your photo. If you ever look at your pictures and think, “That’s good enough", they aren’t. The quality of your pictures directly relates to your quality as a seller. A good picture can be worth a thousand dollars, a bad picture will cost you dollars.

2. Correct grammar and spelling – eBay buyers want to know that they are buying from someone that they can trust. You ruin that trust with poor grammar and spelling mistakes. Always double check your final version before posting it to eBay. Poor grammar hurts your credibility as a seller, which in turn will cost you sales and return customers.

3. Proper formatting – Keep buyers’ attention by keeping your description short, relevant and truthful. Use numbered lists or bullet points when describing the details of your items. Bullet points should be phrases and are usually not complete sentences. Do not make your bullet points into paragraphs as that will tend to draw attention away from your crucial selling points. Use bold and underlining only when necessary, and stay away from rainbow colored descriptions. Just get to the point of why your item is so great.

4. Be kind to all – Do not become the angry seller. We have all had bad experiences with deadbeat buyers on eBay, but that doesn’t mean that buyers are your enemy. If your description comes across as someone who is angry and is willing to leave negative feedback at the drop of a hat, then buyers will shy away from you. Always keep your tone positive and buyers will trust that their business with you will be positive.

5. Clearly state your terms and conditions – Don’t leave anything up to the buyers’ imagination. Always state your return policy, even if your policy is no returns. If you hold shipments for people that pay with personal checks, then put that in your payment terms and conditions. Buyers want to know the rules of the game before they play, and the more you hide from them, the less likely they will be willing to set foot in the stadium.

In conclusion, put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. If there is something that makes you feel uncomfortable about your listings, imagine what the buyer feels about doing business with someone whom they’ve never met. These five simple enhancements will help you become a better eBay seller and will help increase your sales.

Doug Luthringer is a certified eBay education specialist who has taught more than 200 students The Basics of eBay Selling course and The Advanced eBay Selling Techniques course. He has been selling on eBay for nearly six years and has completed over 3000 eBay transactions and has over 1800 unique positive comments with no negative feedback. Doug has also been invited to be a guest speaker to talk about how to sell on eBay and the use of Google AdWords to small and medium size business, as well as university students.