posted on July 10, 2004 01:38:03 PM new
after years of the redwhiteblue template, i want to change...
please take view of this auction.
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after years of the redwhiteblue template, i want to change...
please take view of this auction.
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4717&item=2256463346
I like both templates and I agree, it's better to have the pictures stacked along the side. The colors are fine.
To see the red, white and blue one I took a look at your other auctions and notice there's a typo in the one for the Limoges vase. Limoges is misspelled.
A couple of observations... That first big red paragraph is a bit confrontational and all caps looks like you're shouting. Might be better to move it down below the description, in with your TOS.
If you're going to have a large number of pictures, as I sometimes do, it's a good idea to say so in the description. Something like, there are a lot of pictures here, please allow a moment for them to load, or words to that effect.
posted on July 10, 2004 02:04:38 PM new
For auctions with a large number of pictures, I use a template that stacks two across the top and the rest vertical down either the left or right side. That will move the body of the description down so the photos and description end close together at the bottom. With two across at the top, they won't have to scroll across.
[Edited because my yard sale bargain keyboard doesn't know how to spell.]
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
[ edited by sparkz on Jul 10, 2004 08:04 PM ]
posted on July 10, 2004 03:47:10 PM new
It looks AOK to me. If I have more than 2 pics, I always stack them vertically on the Rt. side.
Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
posted on July 10, 2004 03:48:32 PM new
Hi toy.......I think that overall your auctions look fine. Were I interested in any of your products I'd feel well informed, and would not hesitate to place a bid. Nice work!!!!. I do have a question for you though..
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.1. How many hours do you spend each month on your Ebay business?
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.2. How much is the incremenatal profit that you derive from your Ebay business......
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.We don't need specific dollar or hour amounts .....it's more a question for you to ponder, as it does appear like a lot of hours spent for a small incremental profit. Is it worth it?
I like the way it looks. Personally, I do put all of my pictures vertically on the right as well. I think that they can scroll down as well as reading the description and TOS. I also like the colors that you chose. It really does give it that "old world" flavor to your auction.
I also agree with Lucy. That first paragraph should go below. It's kind of confrontational and you want everyone to read your auction and look at your pics FIRST. Then move on to the other "stuff".
Good job. When I viewed it, you already had 97 hits. Great!!!!
posted on July 10, 2004 06:28:18 PM new
Hi my old toy: I think it looks good. The colors on the borders match off with the item and give it that military feel. It has to enhance the presentation to those looking at that item or those types of items. (One would hope colors and different types of things do something for the auctions, anyway!! lol) Good luck with it!!
posted on July 10, 2004 06:48:15 PM new
sparkz:
when i loaded template with two images across, they loaded so far apart that viewer would still have to scroll left/right..this may be because of size of my images...i am gonna load an auction tomorrow with 800x600 to see if that will work...unless you got a better idea...
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confrontational am i?
absolutely, and very "perceptional" on your part-and i respect opinions from the both of you!!! i loaded that red flag after a week of people[bidders] telling me how to run my business...i.e,. one winner of a post card, sent me a selfaddressedstampdenvelope...with a smart*s^ remark...i used his envelope to let him know my feelings..
but, i am gonna change its look...thanks
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"please allow a moment for them to load, or words to that effect."
..well advised, and will be well taken... i once did so, then i forgot one day because of dsl...
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"it's more a question for you to ponder, as it does appear like a lot of hours spent for a small incremental profit. Is it worth it?"
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what do i need to ponder
[1] first there is NO REAL PROFIT in sales such as this...
[2] incremental? not sure what you asking?if you mean: in addition to something else?
no...
BECAUSE, i work as much as i want, or as little..
...and i dont mind giving you a number...nov2003 was my last month as "power seller," i generated 6K just on ebay...last month, 345bucks...
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tanx for all all the input!!
myoldtoy
posted on July 10, 2004 07:20:46 PM new
biz you said:
"It's kind of confrontational and you want everyone to read your auction and look at your pics FIRST"
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sparkz you said;
"I use a template that stacks two across the top"
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hope you dont me pushing this subject further....
i honestly have never given a thought to loading images at the top, i.e., before the description...and i am gonna relist couple items to get the feel for it...
QQQQQQQ...i would like to hear from those of you who are loading images first...maybe because it is so new to me, and i didnt think of doing it...but why???
posted on July 10, 2004 07:32:35 PM new
Toy -- I LOVE marketing!!! It is one of my most favorite subjects. I want you to, just for a moment, put yourself in a the consumers' seat. When you are watching TV, what interests you? Pictures or writing? If you were watching a program and a commercial came on that was entirely of writing, what would you do? Ok, now, put this in ebay perspective! If you were shopping on ebay, which auction would you be THE MOST attracted to -- the one with the pretty pictures and lovely background, OR the one with the writing that went on FOREVER????
Because Ebay is so unique and there are so many viewers with so many different isps and internet hookups, it's important that you hit the masses. BUT ... How do you do it? Well, for those that have cable and dsl hookup, looking at Vendio's supersize pictures will work. However, with dial-up, those close-ups don't load fast enough, and WHUPS you just lost that potential customer to someone else who posted close-ups right in their listing. My suggestion is to take close-up pictures, or if your camera has a zoom lens, to load pictures already in close-up so that those that have dial-up can view the close-ups that they crave.
posted on July 10, 2004 07:38:58 PM new
this is just "MY" personal preference. I tried several styles and ended up with a couple of custom templates as I don't like backgrounds. I have myallontop and myallonside (custom). I prefer to have my customers read on the right side of the page. Why? I don't know. It just felt right to me. I also prefer that customers have something to read while they are looking at the pictures - hence - the alloneoneside template which I use when I have more than 2 pictures with an auction.
My allontop is 2 or 3 pictures spread across the top. Sorry, it's been a while since I listed auctions and I forget exactly how many I have it set up for. Usually I always have more than 3 pics so I use the other one.
I will agree however that your red "this first" sounds confrontational. It's not so bad that it would necessarily put me off your auctions. It probably would look better however if it wasn't jumping down my throat first thing. I see where it could turn some people off. As an Ebay seller myself, I would take it as knowing there are some a**holes out there. If I was just some newbie or someone that doesn't buy or sell a lot on Ebay, I would see it as being ummm...yep, confrontational.
posted on July 10, 2004 07:43:39 PM new
One of the things in sales that I have learned is that you can please most of the people most of the time. But you will NEVER please EVERYONE all of the time.
Personally, I've experimented with two images across the top and the others down the right side and I'm not sure I like it better than all the pics on the side. Will have to see...
Diane (Hi! ) said it very well in her 07:32:35 PM post. Pictures mean more than words, at least at first. You want the potential bidder to stay with you long enough to read the description. The other stuff (JMHO) should come later.
If the BIG RED is at the bottom they won't hit the back button because of it.
One last observation... the answers to the questions asked of you by Longtime are nobody's business but your own.
posted on July 10, 2004 08:28:55 PM new
The auction description and pics look great!!
The first paragraph is a bit abrasive and I would soften it up a little. I have found that the more comfortable I make prospective buyers immediately feel the more likely they are to bid quickly. If they feel the seller is "difficult" they will head in another direction. You might be able to ward off a few non paying bidders but you also lose out on good bidders that are turned off buy the confrontional attitude.
This is the statement that I put at the end of my auction descritption and I have had good results:
"Our goal is to have happy, satisfied, repeat customers. If you purchase any of our items and you are not satisfied, please contact us and we will make it right with you. Thanks for looking at our auctions."
and i appreciate your view of it...i guess, i caught myself too late, because my answer was more brag than objective...but also true in its context...
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and your reiteration on the BIG RED warning is again, well taken...when i composed it, i had a good reason for it-as far as i was concerned...now, everyone's unsolicited opinion is appreciated...if for no other reason, than it brought back into focus that is it "really isnt needed."
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...i may be the old dawg on this channel, but i still b a quik learner...
posted on July 10, 2004 08:45:28 PM new
Toy...I list the vast majority, 90%, of my auctions with the pictures on the left or right side only. I average about 4 or 5 images per auction. However, some of my auctions may contain up to a dozen images. When I have more than 6 images and a short description, I use a template that will load the first two side by side at the top, primarily to balance the page so the bidder doesn't have to scroll down to see 5 or 6 more images after the description and tos ends. I like to time it so the pics and text hit the finish line at about the same time. Just a tidy housekeeping thing for me I guess, but I always felt if they read and looked at the pictures at the same time, they would go slower and absorb more of each. With the Vendio templates, I never have to scroll at 800 x 600. As well as I recalled, I didn't have to scroll at 640 x 480 either, but it's been a while since I used that setting.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on July 10, 2004 09:07:09 PM new
spark;
i use 8x600 also, and they set so far apart, that i had to scroll right/left..i like idea of top/right..
buttttttttttttt, my problem is a matter of perception...with furniture, i have a 16 image auction going now...that would put 14 vertically on the right...i am gonna experment tomorrow with a relist to see how it looks...i fear i already know.
posted on July 11, 2004 08:57:38 AM new
"it's more a question for you to ponder, as it does appear like a lot of hours spent for a small incremental profit. Is it worth it?"
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what do i need to ponder
[1] first there is NO REAL PROFIT in sales such as this...
[2] incremental? not sure what you asking?if you mean: in addition to something else?
no...
BECAUSE, i work as much as i want, or as little..
...and i dont mind giving you a number...nov2003 was my last month as "power seller," i generated 6K just on ebay...last month, 345bucks
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.
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.toy....I don't mean to be confrontational....I was merely suggesting that you also take into account the time involved in achieving the "look" that you ask about. By incremental, I mean last month, when your sales were $345.....how much could you have realized if you simply took all the items to a dealer. If the answer is $250, then the incremental profit is $95(less fees). If you spent 100 hours last month to accomplish this, then you're working for about 95 cents/hr. I don't know the market in the things you sell. It's possible that there is no market other than Ebay, in which case the incremental profit would be the whole $345. It's possible Ebay leads to other sales. There are also people out there who do Ebay just to keep busy, and there's nothing wrong with that...it has a value as well.
posted on July 11, 2004 09:58:07 AM new
Myoldtoy -
I like your ad layout.
The one thing - I would agree with the others who said that the first paragraph in red was a bit confrontational and should be deleted.
Before I started selling, my upstairs neighbor suggested that I always stack the photos left or right. She's on eBay every single day, reading every single listing in her field of collecting. She said she preferred that format because she could go down the photos on the left, then move over to the text on the right - much easier.
I've never used more than 6 or 7 photos in an ad, and some have 3. So, with the photos on the left, the column of text on the right sometimes far exceeds the photos on the left. In a hard copy print-out, it looks odd. But online, I think it does work better - especially for the people who still have the smaller monitors, where photos running left to right can cut off.
What I try to do is to reconcile the text that's side-by-side with the photos. If I say ... in the second photo, you'll see ... I try to space it so that paragraph is within eyeshot of the second photo.
So my suggestion would be to delete that first graph in red, but add more descriptive text, spaced so it's more side-by-side with the photos. Like - Finally, in the last photo, you'll see the famous World War II era pin-up girl Vivian Blaine, who was featured on the inside back cover.
posted on July 11, 2004 11:57:06 AM new
Personally, I use the "down the side" photo layout when I've got enough pictures to balance out the text. I think a bunch of pictures with no text is distracting. I much prefer the "two across the top/one on the right and the rest at the bottom" format. But, that's just my opinion...
posted on July 11, 2004 12:54:42 PM new
ah ha! That's why I prefer photos on the left! From searching all the Ebay auctions - what else? The photos are on the left and the auction listing is on the right! Plus we "read" left to right. I knew it just felt more natural to put my photos on the left.
Myold....you actually could of eliminated 2 if not 3 of the photos in the Iwo Jima listing. I mean really...what do they say except "okinawa" and "Naha". And I would of shown 1 page of text, not two probably.
I'm like you...I will take endless photos of my items but then seriously edit them. You only want to tantalize them into wanting it. If you do a custom template and spread maybe 3 across the top, that leaves you room for 4 or 5 down the side. And that should be more than enough. I always add that I have additional photos if they desire them. So far, nobody has ever asked for any.
There's one clothing seller, I'm not sure who she is right now, but everytime I click on opening one of her auctions, there's something like 98 things that download on my computer. As soon as I see that opening up, I back out of there!
I do remember what it was like to be connecting via telephone line and it is slower than slow. You don't want to run them off. If it's exceedingly rare or something then I will say there are a lot of photos, give them a minute to load. One of my negs came from somebody that swore up and down he could not get all the photos to load and negged me on condition of the item because he didn't see the auction until 10 minutes before it ended. So I try to be careful not to overload an auction with pictures or graphics.
