Preparing Items for Posting on Ecommerce Sites
Preparing items for posting on ecommerce sites is similar to the expression “it’s all in the planning”. And much of that is true because now we are in the marketing phase of selling. How you present an item is going to make the difference in how well the item sells.
Assessing an Item Before Buying for Resale
Before finalizing a sale on a resale item, you should have thoroughly inspected the item. Make sure there are no chips, cracks or crazing on glassware and ceramic items. Crazing is that crackling look across the ceramic or porcelain because it was exposed to extreme cold while being stored. You don’t want items with crazing because it affects the internal integrity of the item. Shipping a crazed item is risky because it is likely to break en route since it is more fragile.
Be certain clothes and shoes don’t have stains, tears or holes. Test electronics before you post them. Put batteries in everything to make sure the item works. You want to be confident in the items workability.
Preparing Items for Posting on Ecommerce Sites is Easier with Technology
Preparing items for posting on ecommerce sites is so much easier in today’s world with an AI product like Google lens. Before Google lens, it could be difficult to identify items by manufacturer especially ceramic items that didn’t have a backstamp. Google lens was a game changer for ecommerce second-hand industry.
Another game changer was the use of AI in the description of an item. Ebay has this function and it is very robust in its ability to describe the right item. It can search widely and capture the right product in its description 95% of the time. Then, you just need to go through the detail and clean up any language that is offering, update the measurements, and add in any flaws of the item.
Preparing Items for Posting on Ecommerce Sites Needs Good Photos
One of the most important pieces in preparing items for posting is the pictures you take. You don’t need a fancy camera – your smartphone has everything you need. Use a red background for most items as it has been shown to be the best in your item standing out. For some items that are red, cobalt blue, and even clear at times, use a white background. Those are really the only 2 background you need. It is easy to set up a card table anywhere in a corner and pin up red or white blankets or material. I only hang red and just pin up white over the red, as needed. I had my picture taking station in my kitchen nook for years. Here’s my picture taking station showing the red drape with the electronic scale I use, and the second picture shows the white that I would pin up.
Once your setup is ready, place your item centered on the material. Make sure you can only see the material and nothing else. Now, you are going to take photos of as many different angles as you can: front,back, top, bottom, sides. You want the potential customer to see as much of the product as possible, as if they were seeing it live. Take any pictures of flaws in a closeup.
Using a Similar Item Template for Posting Items
Please note: if you have not set up an eBay account yet, go here and find detailed instructions on how to do so. There is no need to start your item from scratch. That takes too long, and you dont get the benefit of an already filled in template. Instead do a search for your item, and find the best-matching template. This is a good place to use lens, because u se it can often find an eBay template for you once it gives you varying results for matching items. Either way click on one of the eBay items that is the best match. Then, click on sell similar. If you are on a laptop or computer, it will be on the left just a little from the top. If you are using your phone, you will have to scroll down a bit to find it.
Preparing Items for Posting on Ecommerce Sites by Adapting the Listing
Once you have the sell similar template up, it is time to adapt the listing to your item. I will be including pictures to show you the various areas to complete. Most of them will be screen shots as they are clearer, so the phone app looks slight different than the computer. I do a lot of my editing on the phone anyway, because I have found it faster.
Now, you can upload your photos. It is easiest to have the eBay app on your phone and to upload the photos right to eBay. Upload all your photos. Then, resize your photos to get rid of any extra outlining, and to zoom in more if needed. You can opt to remove the background, although I would use this sparingly. Photos look better with a background even if it’s a small outline of the background.
Item Category: Next is Category, which should be filled in, based on the template you selected when you chose a very similar item, and clicked on “sell similar”. However, you need to verify that the category is a match for your item. If it isn’t correct, click on the part of the category that needs to be adjusted, and eBay will give you a drop down of other sub or category options.
Selecting an Appropriate Item Condition: You will want to select the appropriate condition of the item. Ebay will give you two different types of condition blocks depending on category. The first has “used” which you will select for second hand. Another block allows for a finer distinction of new vs new (other) which is often an open box. There is also a selection of seller refurbished, used, and for parts/not working.
Item Specifics: Next up is item specifics. Again, because this is a template, many of the descriptor items should have selections. You need to double check these. This is the spot, in particular, that you can miss updating the size field. You can fill in additional items as it does help with searching, but speed is also important in posting so weigh that against getting things out there for sale.
SKU, if desired: Once you are satisfied with the title, move on to the next items. You can use the SKU if you are posting for other clients. I usually use a 3-letter code to identify an item as a client’s. Skip the SKU if you don’t need to assign a client code. I don’t have a picture of the SKU, This is a screen shot, so the SKU is located at the bottom of Item Specifics, but on the laptop screen it is closer to the top.
Writing a Detailed Description: A detailed description comes next. Always select the AI button, as eBay AI is very good. Look down to the very bottom of description and you will see the AI button in the right-hand corner. You will need to update any inaccuracies, and I will make sure all measurements of the item are included, along with a specific description of any flaws. I usually put the condition in the description, because customers seem to see it better here, but adding it to the condition section above means they will have two chances to see it.
Determining a Competitive Price: Pricing is the next section. Here, you would have already conducted a lens of the item and gotten a good idea of potential posted price. Ebay will often give a suggested price. If it makes sense, I accept it, but I often go into the detail to see how similar the sold items were to my item. Sometimes they are spot on, other times the comparison isn’t even close.
As I have spent a considerable amount of time on shipping, I won’t go into detail here. But, shipping is a make or break on a sale, and if the item gets damaged can be a big time waster. So, spend some time looking at the shipping page.
Accepting or Not Accepting Returns: Accepting returns is the only way you become a top-rated seller, so if this is a productive side hustle or hobby, you might have to decide that it’s a good idea to accept returns. This will give you some benefit of additional search optimization. However, beyond that sometimes it’s hard to see value in it. eBay says that if you accept returns, you are more likely to have your item selected over someone who does not accept returns. That’s probably true, but you still have to weigh the costs of doing it.
Returns add to your bottom line, which includes the cost of the shipping, plus any value you have placed on a product. If the item isn’t two or three times as much as the shipping costs, then it often isn’t even worth having it returned. At that point, I tell them to keep the item, and I refund the total amount to them plus the shipping. I no longer accept returns, but I did when I wanted to be a top-rated seller.
We have more on this, be sure to see the Main Page of Information on “Second-Hand Resale” Here.