Let's face it, "L@@K" is really not a good beginning to an article, and it's definitely not good to include in the Title for your eBay listing.



Why, you ask? Isn't L@@K a good eye catcher? Won't people scrolling through the categories on eBay notice it and click through to the description, bid on your item and make you gobs of money? Well, perhaps, and perhaps people have learned to tune out the little gimmick. The reality is, a great number of people find items on eBay using the search function, and I don't know of many people who search for “L@@K”. (Okay, in researching this article I searched for L@@K and I found 135,726 listings on eBay that recently included L@@K in their titles!)

eBay only allows you 55 characters in your title to bring people to your auction, so you have to use those characters wisely. You have to include words in your title that people are typing into the search box. Words like “WOW,” “rare,” “beautiful,” “cool,” or “unusual” are a big waste of eBay real estate.

What makes a good title? Well, that, of course, depends on the item you have up for auction. You have to anticipate what people will type into the search box. Many people make the mistake of thinking it's redundant to include the category name (such as “men's shirt”) because they placed their item in the “men's shirt” category and they figure it's obvious. However, since a majority of people search through the search box, if they were looking for a “Men's large Hawaiian shirt” that's probably what they'd type in the search box. It doesn't matter if you placed your item in “men's shirts – casual” or “Collectibles – Cultures – Ethnicities – Hawaiiana.,” If your title shouts “WOW – Cool Vintage Kahala Shirt – L@@K” and the person typed in “Men's large Hawaiian shirt,” the both of you will never make contact and you will lose a potential sale.

Make sure you also anticipate different words for the same item. I used to sell Lu-Ray dinnerware from the 1940s. Well, there are three different ways that people search for Lu-Ray: Lu-Ray, Luray and Lu Ray. I had to include both Lu-Ray (Lu Ray and Lu-Ray are considered the same) and Luray if I wanted to bring the greatest number of people to my auctions. The same with “cowboy boots.” To some people they're “cowboy boots” and to some they're “western boots.”

If there's a popular misspelling you might see if you can squeeze that in your title as well. For example, a Jack Lalanne Juicer to many people is a Jack Lalane Juicer.

It's always good to check out similar items as yours to see what others have put in their titles. See if there's a difference between very successful auctions and those that didn't sell. Many times it boils down to the title. Great titles bring the most people to their auctions. Flashy titles which waste precious characters are seen by no one – as in “Don't L@@K now, but you have no bids.”