Templates are the design elements that you might have noticed some sellers using on their auctions, like the borders around the edge, and the different fonts. Many sellers who are new to eBay don't bother using them, and you might not have either – generally, a descriptive listing and a good picture will do the job just fine.



If you want to really finish your auctions off and make a really good impression on your buyers though, it's useful to have a good template. Here are a few tips on what to do and what not to do.

Choose something appropriate. The most important part of your template is what you choose in eBay's listing designer (in step 3 of the Sell Your Item process), or the equivalent in whatever listing software you're now using. You might prefer to use third-party software for this, as eBay's designs can be somewhat… unimpressive.

Anyway, the different template designs will usually be themed, with names like ‘Computers', ‘Toys' or ‘Crafts'. Make sure what you choose is appropriate for what you're selling – those flowers might be very pretty, but what exactly do they have to do with DVDs?

Put the photo at the top. The photo of your item is far more important than the text. Put your best photo at the top of the description, followed by the text, and then finally any extra pictures you have. The full-size photo of the item is the first thing your buyers want to see when they click your auction – why leave it for last?

Add your logo. A well-designed logo gives a professional air to your auctions, especially if the colour scheme and look fits in with the rest of the template, and it also serves to create more recognition when people have seen your auctions before. Pay a logo designer a few dollars to do you a logo if you don't have one already.

Don't be afraid of large fonts. Fonts are supposed to be different sizes sometimes. When you have something important to say, don't be afraid to put it in a bigger font, headline-style… just as long as you don't get carried away, of course.

Learn a little HTML. It might sound scary, but there are plenty of books out there about learning HTML, and a little goes a long way. Once you know what you're doing, you'll find all sorts of ways to make your auction look better – you'll be able to put complicated information in a table,

Preview your listing. Remember to click that ‘Preview listing' button to see what everything's going to look like when it goes live. Good luck!

One of the best things you can put into your auction template to make it more appealing to buyers is something called a ‘SquareTrade seal'. This seal is a promise that you will handle any disputes using SquareTrade, an independent dispute resolution service. We'll take a closer look at what it is and how to get one in the next email.