Importance of eBay description

[SaiJin]

Are you guys pretty elaborate on your description field when listing an item or are you very straight forward and simple?

Which ever you are do you see a difference in sales?

Considering most people now buy from their phone or tablet instead of the traditional desktop, I notice that what's more visible is just the item photo and price and you have to scroll down and click on description to read.

So if an elaborate description doesn't make any difference in terms of conversions / sales I don't want to waste time on it.

[phaz0rz]

My opinion : elaborate HTML listing templates look terrible, take too long to load, distract buyers, and are not worth the effort. Especially the templates made by software that showcase your other listings with images and text links. I've never liked them.

I've experimented around with them but I've always found listings do better with a simple text description. I'll list the name of them item, it's model number, say some things about it's condition, and tell the customer how I ship orders. Then I'll format those 5 or 6 lines of text with basic HTML so it's not just a couple lines of 12pt Times New Roman black text.

[Sunspot144]

If you want to appeal to those using desktops and better your chances of conversions I'd follow thru with it.

It's 15% or so isn't it? Using desktops.

[walkingupwards]

It highly depends on the item you're selling. If it is a rare item, then people would want to read a detailed description. If it is a very common thing (e.g: phone cases...etc), then a simple text would perfectly do the job.

Focus on the title and the main picture cuz those two are the big boys.

[Sunspot144]

Think using a unique format helps to stand out / distinguish yourself as a brand. 8-9% of orders/mo for me are repeat customers which is great to see.

[SaiJin]

I agree about rare items needing an elaborate HTML and long description.

I guess for something like toothbrush or headphones or clock I feel that as long as the title is good, buyer's tend to know already what they are looking for.

So my description is usually just Arial text in Bold with the model number, condition and shipping info.

[SaiJin]

Originally Posted by Sunspot144

If you want to appeal to those using desktops and better your chances of conversions I'd follow thru with it.

It's 15% or so isn't it? Using desktops.

You mean 85% buys from their iPhones / Android
and only 15% still uses desktop?

Wow, the ratio is a lot bigger than I thought.

[Sunspot144]

Originally Posted by SaiJin

You mean 85% buys from their iPhones / Android
and only 15% still uses desktop?

Wow, the ratio is a lot bigger than I thought.

Going off figures from my own experience so it could very well be biased.

Etsy traffic has about 85% coming from mobile. Such a small market compared to ebay/Amazon but my gut tells me the figures on those platforms have some overlap with etsy's.

[SaiJin]

Darn, that's a really huge difference.

So would you all agree that for simple non collectible items as long as they see the photo and title the description really doesn't drive sales?

How about having 1 photo vs multiple?

[BigCJ]

For me, it depends on the item costs and probability for problems.

Most people are on phones/tablets that condense the text and description and dont want to read.

Short and sweet for smaller stuff.

[hiwazup]

keep it simple

[SaiJin]

I just went super simple... let's see how it goes

Something a long the lines of :

"Me product good". "You buy , me ship you product"

[rsot]

Originally Posted by SaiJin

I just went super simple... let's see how it goes

Something a long the lines of :

"Me product good". "You buy , me ship you product"

Sold...internationally....to a foreign country....known for net sales issues....