September 10, 2011

Important eBay Selling Tip of the Day: Sometimes apostrophes matter!

Last spring, I purchased three vintage ashtrays at Salvation Army for a total of $4.00.  These ashtrays were from a San Francisco restaurant that's no longer in existence.  I didn't want to make competition for myself, so I only listed one.

The first ashtray went for $50. Last week I sold the second one for $24.99.  A few days ago, I listed the third one.

After the second one sold, I searched for this product on eBay.  I noticed that two other sellers were offering it for only $9.99.  Why did mine sell?


Well, I think I figured it out.  The title of my listing included the name of the restaurant with and without an apostrophe.  Someone searching for the ashtray without the apostrophe would only have seen mine.  

Sometimes apostrophes don't matter.  For example, if you search for "mens shoes" and then search for "men's shoes" the search results are almost the same.

Obviously, this is not always the case!  Good to know!   

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm... Who knew? As in the case of "mens shoes," I always thought you didn't need the apostrophe. In fact, I've been told by a seller who listened in on an eBay technical call, that those extra characters confuse eBay search and that we should avoid them. I wish eBay search wasn't so doggone complicated!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tip. You are always a wealth of information and kind for sharing. I like how your tips are short; making it easy to retain and not overwhelming. I've been Ebaying for years bits and bobs here and there, but I've learnt heaps from you in the past year.

    In the past 2 weeks I sold 1 book. Purchased for $1 and sold for $38. I then spent $12 of it on a Wish
    List book for another Blogger I read who seems to be having a hard time, and I still have cash left for me.

    The sharing of knowledge has a ripple affect and allows for good deeds :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Thanks so much for reading, and spread the word. The blog is about to be revamped and improved...with more opportunities for your to submit your own info. so stay tuned!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so Happy to see your post. You did a great job in this post. It was very helpful to me. Thank you for sharing thisFacebook bellen nederland

    ReplyDelete