A simple addition you can make to your product descriptions to ensure potential buyers don’t hit the dreaded ‘back button’

It’s been positively chilly this week! I’m in a quandry every morning about what to wear – I think this is a ‘girl thing’ though, because my husband doesn’t seem to have the same dilemma – he just slings on a pair of jeans and a shirt and then if he gets cold bungs a jumper over the top! And me? Well I just don’t know whether I’m in my summer wardrobe, my autumn or my winter one – or it seems, a mixture of all three!

And as for walking my two dogs – well what a palaver. It’s wet and muddy – it’s actually like winter!

So this week, having had to get my waterproofs out more than once and with wellies being the order of the day for every dog walk so far, I decided that I had better be prepared and sort out some new wellies. I seem to go through them at an alarming speed and even the most sturdy, most expensive ones only get through a years worth of stomping through fields before they give up!

So naturally I decided to look on ebay first. I was pleased to find that there was quite a nice selection of ‘possibles’ available from both business and private sellers. I knew the type of welly I wanted and so simply entered those keywords in the search box and my selection came up.

Scrolling down the page, I spotted a pair that met my criteria in terms of the keywords I had searched for, and alongside was a perfectly adequate gallery picture showing me what these particular wellies looked like before I actually clicked through to the full description. There were no further images beneath the gallery image but I wasn’t overly concerned as I was sure I could view more pictures within the listing description itself. The price and postage appeared reasonable too.

Fabulous! And I happily clicked through to the listing.

But that’s when it all went pear-shaped! There were no proper details, no indication as to whether these were ladies or mens wellies (there is a difference you know!) no information on returns….

It did say that they were ‘Olive Green’ though and I did actually want an ‘olive green’ pair.

Anyway, I could go on, but the thing that disappointed me the most was the fact that there were no further pictures within the description. So, all I had to go on was the small gallery picture which didn’t really show me much apart from two welly shaped green blobs. Underneath the gallery picture I tried clicking on ‘click to view large image’ but all this did was show me a bigger white box with the picture of the wellies in the middle – still the same size – small.

And the worst thing was that this was a business seller and so should have known better!

http://mail.canonburypublishing.net/c/129xTHRZkjCJolu86XeEFqWK

So now I had a dilemma. At a glance, these wellies looked like they might possibly be suitable for me to purchase, but how did I know for sure? And at £119.00 plus postage they weren’t exactly cheap! Do I message the seller and ask all the questions that the seller should already have put in the listing and hang around wondering whether they will get back to me or not? Or, should I hit the back button and look elsewhere?

I’m sorry to say, the back button won hands-down.

Scrolling down the page further, I found the SAME pair of wellies offered by a different business seller. The postage cost was a couple of pounds more though. So, I clicked through in to the listing and was met with three large photographs of the wellies. A front view, a side view and a view of the soles.

I discovered that they were Ladies Wellingtons, Size 7, Brand New, Green, Neoprene Lined (for warm toes) and would be dispatched to buyers within 1 business day. I also discovered that they were hard-wearing and suitable for almost any outdoor activity. Oh, and the seller would accept a return if they didn’t fit.

I found ALL of this information in the first paragraph of the description.

So these wellies were exactly the same as the first pair I looked at, but they would cost me a little bit more to get them delivered. There’s no dilemma this time. They were exactly what I was looking for and I know this because I’ve seen three large photographs of the actual wellies taken from all angles!

I don’t care if I have to pay a little bit more in postage! I’d rather pay a bit more knowing exactly what I am going to receive and when I’m going to receive it. Plus I can buy these ones right now without hanging around waiting for answers to my questions that should have been answered in the original listing.

So I will shortly be the proud owner of some brand new wellies. But that’s not my entire point today!

My point here and the thing that really swung it for me besides the detailed description, was the photographs – good, clear, close-ups from several angles that showed me exactly what I was about to spend my money on.

So, the moral of this little story is that buyers just like me will not hesitate to hit the back-button if your listing description does not tell them what they need to know.

Photographs are so important and you are missing out on sales if you don’t include them in your main description. It’s not good enough to just include a gallery photograph. You wouldn’t normally buy something if you didn’t know what it looked like would you? No. So, here are a few tips on adding good photographs to your descriptions:

How to Create a Really Great Photo

  • Use a decent digital camera
  • Set your camera to ‘Medium’ resolution e.g. 1024 x 768 pixels) it will help you when you come to upload your photos to ebay because it will be a lot quicker.
  • Make sure there is enough light coming in when you take the photo – the last thing you want is shadows and a really dark photograph that doesn’t show up on screen.
  • Rig up a plain sheet or towel as a backdrop – avoid getting the children’s toys or the toaster in the picture – this is not a good look and puts buyers off.
  • Hardwood floors often make a really good backdrop for items.
  • Take photos from a range of different angles and as close up as possible without being blurred.
  • Take multiple photos – the more pictures you include in your listing the more your visitors will be compelled to purchase.
  • If the item isn’t new and has any defects, take photos of the problem areas and include those in your description too.

Since August this year, ebay will now allow you to upload extra photos free of charge so my advice is to take advantage of this!

Finally…

This week finally saw the launch of my fifth E-Seller Mastery Mentoring Programme and the response so far has been amazing! If you haven’t seen the details yet then please take a look now as places are limited and are filling up superfast.

You can read all about E-Seller Mastery here.