Product Pictures are Powerful

Successful companies invest heavily in pictures for print and online advertising – Magazines, websites, and catalogs would not have the same impact without pictures. Imagine receiving a clothing catalog in your mailbox without any pictures of the items for sale… would you buy anything from it? What about an online advertisement that offers sports memorobilia for sale, but no pictures… would you buy from them? The point? People want to see what they are going to buy before they buy it.

With that said, your eBay listings for sale need to have a picture. Yes - it’s more hassle, more time, and more money, but it’s going to produce much more interest in your products! Buyers on eBay have an unlimited sea of choices for all types of products, making it a very competitive market for sellers. This means that sellers must make their items stand out and catch the roaming eyes of the buyers before they roam right on by. So, lesson #1: Make sure your listings have pictures! Now, moving on…

Most sellers and storeowners realize the power of pictures and have used them for their products. In order for items to be truly competitive, product pictures need to be what I call the “Three C’s”: Clear, Colorful, and Clutter-free. Images that are pixelated or blurry don’t give the buyer a good look at the item and appear unprofessional. Black-and-white photos are boring and do not communicate to the buyer as effectively as something in color. Products with distracting items in the background (or a background that is itself distracting) take the focus away from what you are trying to sell.

There are many other ways to make your eBay items stand out, but having a picture great picture is a good place to start.

Advertise Outside of eBay

There is a common misconception about eBay in which people think they can get rich easily and quickly. While some people have made lots of money from selling on eBay, it certainly isn’t effortless or easy. Folks need to first understand the eBay environment they’re venturing into. Marketing expert and bestselling author, Seth Godin, calls eBay a “haystack”; something in which people can easily get lost if they don’t have a plan.

In a recent podcast interview, AuctionBytes editor, Ina Steiner, talks with Seth about his new book, “The Dip: A little book that teaches you when to quit (and when to stick)”. During their discussion, Seth talks a little bit about the way he sees eBay commerce:

“eBay is a haystack, and your auction is a needle. You can sharpen your needle all you want, but it’s still going to be a needle in a really big haystack. I think the way you win is by getting out of the haystack.” (emphasis mine)

Seth offers specific ways of doing just that. eBay sellers and storeowners can market their brand, and themselves, on places around the web such as, Squidoo (which he founded), Twitter, and blogging.

Seth Godin is a very well established marketer and there’s no doubt that he knows his stuff about product promotion and brand marketing. I’d like to expand on his idea of marketing outside of eBay to include cost-effective product advertising as well.

eBay sellers have tons of listings, especially if they have a store. While Seth’s suggestions are great for marketing the seller, it is also important to market the seller’s products as well. Blogging about each individual listing is just too time consuming to be a valuable use of time.

ClassifiedFlyerAds.com allows eBay sellers to advertise all of their listings online in one step, simply by using the file feed or RSS feed of their listing inventory. The system automatically places each listing into it’s own web page and posts them to over a dozen online search directories.

With seller marketing and product marketing combined, an eBay seller has a real chance at success.