Your Auction Headline - The Most Important Part Of Your Auction

by Robbin K. Tungett

The words you select to describe your item will have a tremendous impact on the final price it receives or if it receives any bids at all. This is because no matter how great the item is you have up at auction, if you use words that don't lead prospective buyers to it, no one will ever see it. You have a total of 45 spaces to use for your auction headline to get people to visit your auction, so it's extremely important that you use each space wisely. The vast majority of buyers search through eBay listings by entering the item they are looking for into eBay's search engine. The main auction search engine only searches for words listed in auction titles. If a person selects a word that isn't in your auction title, your auction won't come up as a result of their search. This means that by far the most important task you have when composing a title for your auction is to use words that are relevant and specific to the item you are listing. While this may seem obvious, a lot of sellers don't do it (in fact, searching for listings in which people have ineffective or misspelled titles can often get you some great items which you can resell for a profit). If you are going to spend any extra time on your auctions, thinking through the best key words for your title is where you should spend that time. With a limit of 45 spaces, writing everything you want in the title just isn't going to be possible. For example, say you have a complete set of four bobblehead giveaways, sponsored by Mountain Dew, that the Minnesota Twins gave away at select home games during the 2002 season. Although accurate, that description is way too long for the allowable number of spaces. The key is to think through an accurate description that includes everything and then taking the most important words out of that and using them. A simple title might read "Minnesota Twins Bobbleheads". However, that title would be ineffective because it isn't specific enough. While there are many buyers who are looking for Minnesota Twins memorabilia and bobblehead dolls, the categories are too large and your auction will be lost among all the listings. You will have a very limited number of people who will ever see your auction. A better title might be "2002 Complete Set Minnesota Twins Bobbleheads". This title uses every available space and gives a specific description of what you are selling. It will also now appear in results for a narrower search. Another possible title might be 2002 Minnesota Twins Bobblehead Bobble Head". People searching for this item type bobblehead into the search engine, while others type bobble head. A search for one will not bring up any results for the other, so at times it's to your advantage to list two different spellings of the same word. Take a few minutes to think about who would want the item you are selling and, if they were searching for it, what words would they be most likely to type into the search engine. You will find many sellers using what some call Power Words. These are words such as RARE, LIMITED, VINTAGE, UNIQUE, WOW, GREAT, WONDERFUL and AWESOME. Many sellers seem to think that using words such as these will attract more bidders to their auctions. I''ll guarantee you right now, that no one types any of these words into eBay's search engine. The use of words such as these does nothing but take up valuable space that could be used for words buyers do search for. Avoid them like the plague. The same applies to the symbols so many sellers use in their headlines. They try to make their headline stand out by using symbols such as $,#, %, and @ in their auction titles. A particular favorite of many is L@@K!. Once again, all of these are a complete waste of valuable title space. The only symbols you should ever use are & or + when their use will save you valuable title space. Acronyms and abbreviations are another matter however. Collectors of certain items have developed their own abbreviations and acronyms for certain commonly used phrases within their specific collecting specialty. It is to your advantage to learn at least some of these. NR, for example, means "No Reserve." To a Star Wars collector ROTJ means "Return Of The Jedi." Becoming familiar with some of these that are common with the type of items you sell will allow you to get more key words into the limited space which will result in more people viewing your auction. Spend some time browsing the titles that others have created for their auctions. Look for both good and bad examples of titles. Just spending a few hours doing this and thinking about where the seller could have improved their title will help you enormously in writing titles for your own auctions. Never forget - the first step is getting buyers to your auctions because if they can't find them, they can't buy anything from you. About the Author Robbin K. Tungett is online marketing and eBay veteran of 8 years. She is most widely known for her eBay expertise and her website http://www.AuctionRiches.com. Please visit her blog at http://www.AuctionHerald.com.

Auctions and Car Transport : Everything You Need To Know

by Nick Telford II

Everyone has wanted to sell a car at some point and in the age of Internet auctions, there are more options than ever when it comes to selling your car whether it's an '05, '78 or a '20. With this ever expanding world of options comes the need to make delivery after you've sold the vehicle and that requires a car transport service. Depending on the auction service, you can list that shipment of the item is completely up to the buyer's discretion or offer a method of transportation to fold into the final price. The first is often more preferable to buyers because it allows them to shop various car transporters themselves to find the one that suits them best. However, if you decide to fold the cost of the shipment along with a hand picked transporter into the auction of your car, there are some things you need to do. First, you need to narrow down your selection of transporters in some fashion that incorporates not only their price ranges but also their reliability and service records. Remember, that by folding in the selection of the transporter to the auction, you are in some way taking responsibility for the shipment both before you deliver it to the transporter and after. Second, to simplify the matters with regard to the auction, make sure you have all the information about your selected transporter at hand. Include this information in the auction information. When buyers look through potential cars to buy on auctions they are as concerned about the cars they are looking at as to how they might get there. Some buyers may not want to use the transporter you have selected; you may or may not wish to include that as an option to turn down on the buyer's part. Finally, when you are ready to list the car as well as the transporter information, be sure to include a series of price quotes from the transporter from the car's location to major hubs on both coasts, the mid-west and include both upper and lower sides of the coasts, mid-Atlantic and so on. This will allow the buyer to guess based on their proximity to one of those locations what the cost will likely be. Always be sure to list that the quotes are not exact and are not final until the buyer's shipping information is received. It may seem like more work than it's worth to go through all of this prior to listing the car that you want to sell, it will pay off at the auction's closing. As the seller, you simply wait to confirm where the car is being transported to and confirm a final quote from the transportation company. Once the seller receives the payment from the buyer they can get the car to the transportation company of their choice and not have to worry if the buyer chooses a transporter that will be a hassle for you the seller. While most buyers and sellers work in fairly cooperative relations in order to receive the item sold and the payment for the item, sometimes having the game plan set will save a lot of time. =========================================================== Discover vital information and advice about car and auto transport services. Find out what you must do, and what you must not do. Click http://www.auto-transport-101.com/ About the Author Nick Telford regularly buys new cars from across the country, and gets them transported home. Now he's written a series of articles giving his experiences, good & bad, of how to use car transport services.

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