Do you like to sell on eBay ? It's easy and fun, isn't it ? In fact, it's one of the easiest online business you can start almost overnight, without any major investments. That's the best thing about it. But do you also know that only the minority of the people selling on eBay are really successful and that most of them quit after a little while or run it only as a hobby. Yes, that's true. Hard facts, but the truth. So, what are the secrets of those successful eBay sellers ? Well, the most important thing to become successful is a unique product. That's the first thing. In case you don't have a unique product, you can sell products which are in high demand, eg. children clothing, designer clothing, digital cameras, etc. But you have to keep in mind that your item has to compete with 100 similar products ? maybe even to a better price. So if you are selling products which are highly competitive, then your sales letter has to be DIFFERENT. No, not only different, it has to be UNIQUE. And not only unique !! Your listing has to be PROFESSIONAL.

Let me tell you about our experiment. We have tried various listings for the same item. And what do you think which listing got the most bids ? Right, listings with a professional UNIQUE design end up with 30-40% more bids. Can you imagine that ? It was exactly the same item. Just the design of the sales letter can make a massive difference in the end price you may get. It's just amazing. We have saying in German: "Das Auge isst mit". The translation is something like: "If it looks nice it has to taste better". Well, as we know this is not always true though, but that's the psychology of our human brain. If the overall impression of the food is good, an impulse is sent to the brain: This has to taste good ? I want to try that. It's the same thing with buying in a shop or on eBay. If the auction website of the item you are looking at looks nice, the product has to be good and it's more likely that you click on the "Bid now" button. We have seen that many times and especially with our little experiment.

So, if you use professional looking eBay auction templates for your listings, you will be surprised how this may boost your eBay business. Try to modify your templates and see which perform better. You will notice that a tiny change can make a huge difference. Keep track which templates have generated what prices and compare after a month. You'll see that some templates do really well and some don't. Be creative and modify your templates. But be careful! Don't overdo it though with bright colours and a dozen animated gifs. No, that's not what the buyers want to see. They want to have a clear and honest description and a good picture. If the overall design is professional, believe me ? it's more likely that they place a bid. And at the end of the day ? that's all it counts, doesn't it ?

Thomas Haselhorst is webmaster of http://www.auction-design-for-free.com and http://www.monster-ebook-sale.com