Next to the photo that you provide for your buyer, the next most important tool you give to your buyers is the written description of the item you are selling. If you really go through the auction listings for any popular selling item you will start to see that many of the descriptions for the items that are being sold are not actually unique descriptions. Many times the descriptions are generic and pulled from a manufacturers web site only to be cut and pasted into the auction listing. This can work for items that are brand new and still in the box, as there should be little or no difference from one new product to the next. However, when it comes to collectables, antiques, high end sporting goods like competition class bicycles, etc., even the most minute difference in the tolerance of a critical part, or the slightest deviation from what would be considered a normal wear and tear pattern associated with some collectables can affect the value to such a degree that it might render a given item as being absolutely worthless, as opposed to being a fine example of the character common to the era.

If you are trying to start the type of eBay business that builds and snowballs into a respected, trusted, professional, enterprise that is known for its reliable auctions, and ethical approach to on-line commerce, take the time and the effort to examine and describe every aspect of the item in question from its basic measurements and dimensions, to any blemishes and/or damage that may exist, or offer the item on an ?AS-IS? basis with no other descriptive statements.

Regardless of how you choose to proceed, my advise to you is to be honest above and beyond the expectations of potential buyers you may have contact with ? even if that means saying that you don't have certain information, nor the ability to find it. Honesty is not the best policy, it is the mandate by which your eBay business will thrive or whither on the vine.

Great! So, we've decided to be honest! The next question might very well be in what form do we present our honest and truthful descriptions to our lucky sellers?

There are a thousand different sites that will help you tweak your eBay auction sites into gleaming, steaming, beaming, dreamy HTML creations of fantasy that would have no problem engulfing a would be buyer and spiriting that person off into the nether reaches of the cosmos where magic and fantasy are the reality and your wildest imagination controls the hue of every sunset. Unfortunately, my experience has been that although these digital manipulations are showy and impressive, they do little if anything to actually focus the buyer on the quality and features of the item being sold.

An eBay seller would do well to gain a basic familiarity with the HTML language for basic text and site features, however, dancing pandas that sing the national anthem while morphing into 20 year old college co-eds throwing wads of cash around will not sell your father's Canon AE-1 SLR 35mm Camera as well as four crystal clear photos, and a rundown of the features and usage history of that individual item. Really.

If you are ever in doubt, you can never go wrong by keeping your descriptions brutally honest and simple.