Am I missing out on a significant amount of sales if my items have no description but more photos

[pigeonpicker]

Does more photos replace a description with words? Or do you still need a description and not just rely on pictures. 

[wastingtime101]

---

@pigeonpicker wrote:

Does more photos replace a description with words?

---

No.

[mtgraves7984]

I use loads of photos... usually all 12. I add a description, too. You never know what kind of 'learner' is sitting down here.

[divwido]

The problem is pictures don't always explain everything.  So if they have a question-Where are they going to find the answer?  They aren't.  Back button.   I think not writing an item up and leaving it open to interpretation is risky.

But then, I cannot see what you sell.

[mr_lincoln]

Good evening @pigeonpicker ,

The only thing Buyers know about YOU and your ITEM is what you put on the listing form.  If you don't put together a Description then you are leaving something out, Buyer's may see this as a negative. 

Regards,

Mr. L

[skeletonstore]

While there have been some advances in the detection of photos,  for the most part search engines do not see them,  hence the need for a caption(title/item specifics).  According to ebay themselves most of the buyers are buying on phones.  The ebay app for a long long time makes the description an optional tab.  The description used to be a place to make your pitch but that is so "old soft shoe"  stuff.  The modern way of selling is item specifics,  title,  price and RETURNS(correct problems here).  In other words you work in volume or in the sense expect a certain percentage of sales to have problems and you just correct the problems without even caring.  The more you have to explain the less chance you have to sell unless it is so succintly laid out in the title(IE:   Broken dishes,  great for people who like puzzles,  assorted styles mixed lot, some assembly required).  If you can tell the truth vividly in the title,  that's all you need and you don't need little words like the, and , commas,  periods etc.  I'll demostrate what I mean:  broken dishes puzzles assorted styles mixed assembly.  Best photos have clean white backgrounds.  However you need a tie in with a title that makes a customer say,  oh yeahhhhh.  

[titipeo]

The more descriptive information + quality pictures "might" minimize the buyers questions. 

This, does not mean that a customer will file a INAD claim against you.  

[wastingtime101]

---

@divwido wrote:

But then, I cannot see what you sell.

---

OP's listings. They're not including measurements in listing descriptions or photos. How big is the hot dog cup? Height? Capacity? And why is the word slurpee used when that can result in a VeRO takedown, or even an eBay takedown for key word spamming?

What's the circumference of the Hawaiian Islands baseball cap? Why are all the stains not mentioned in the description, but the tag is mentioned? It's better to under promise and over deliver than it is to over promise and under deliver.

OP is a seller that's been posting questions here every single day. I appreciate that they want to improve, even if they are looking to learn the basics after so many years of selling. What's that they say - it's never too late?

[eleanor*rigby]

---

@pigeonpicker wrote:

Does more photos replace a description with words? Or do you still need a description and not just rely on pictures. 

---

@pigeonpicker 

Here's a coincidence:  the other day, I put one of your items--a jigsaw puzzle--on my watchlist. Shortly thereafter, I received an offer from you. I sent you a message via the item listing to ask whether you could confirm that all the puzzle pieces were accounted for.

You never replied.

And I didn't buy the puzzle.

[gracieallen01]

I was searching for antique Japanese tea bowls the other day - for the first time in quite a while.  I found a number of listings, by a number of sellers that just had the photos and a statement that said to 'look at the photos for condition'.  There is NO WAY that I would spend $50, let alone several hundred or more on ANY of them without a full written description!

Having sold on ebay for over a decade, using photos to show the item and condition/areas of attention, in conjunction with a full description is the only way I would ever try to sell anything for real money.  Just photos MAY work for NIB, commodity, new collectibles, etc. items nowadays, but it left me looking other places for everything, not just things I collect.

[jayjaspersgarage]

You will never know what you miss out on in life or why.  That's why I remind young men to use a belt and pull your DG pants up like a man.  As far as descriptions go if the product is specialized you want to at least mentions some aspect that might set it apart from the competition.

Photos may be worth a thousands words but a hundred words can make a sale.

There is always another angle for a photo so at least six photos makes sense for most objects.  

[dottie1986]

No description is one of my pet peeves!  After I look at the photos & then go to the description & there is nothing given & no measurements, I automatically go to another listing.  Are you trying not to write a detailed description because of laziness?  Listing an item takes time~~sometimes quite a bit of time!

[inhawaii]

All the pictures in the world wont tell the buyer some of the things they want to know.

[yuzuha]

---

@gracieallen01 wrote:

Having sold on ebay for over a decade, using photos to show the item and condition/areas of attention, in conjunction with a full description is the only way I would ever try to sell anything for real money.  Just photos MAY work for NIB, commodity, new collectibles, etc. items nowadays, but it left me looking other places for everything, not just things I collect.

---

I sell mostly NIB stuff and I still wouldn't use photos only. I always provide at least basic information about the item in my description (size, care instructions if applicable, etc.).

[itscalledapostingid]

There was a workaround posted for seeing a user's feedback profile and listings when the links are not available. Here it is:

Workaround for viewinga user's feedback and listings.