Best Listing Tools for Small Seller

[auctionworks1]

I've been selling on eBay for years, and used to use Turbo Lister many years ago.  I stopped using it and just listed free style on my own.  I'm realizing it would probably boost my sales if I ramp up my listings and use some fancy templates, but I have no clue what's the best tools to use.

Any recommendations?  I checked out Crazy Lister but it seems to be better suited for sellers who list at a higher rate than I.  I usually try to keep anywhere from 25-75 listings active.  Any help would be appreciated!

[mam98031]

---

@m60driver wrote:

You can always use Notepad or another plain text editor to create a basic or a fancy HTML template and then just copy and paste as the advanced listing option allows you to insert HTML code. 

---

Such good advice.  Years ago I designed my TOSs [terms of sale] in Microsoft Word.  It save all kinds of time when designing listings over the years.  I do still use TurboLister and have templates in there, but having my TOS in MS Word has been a very good thing.

[anthology-of-treasures]

In GarageSale reusable "text snippets" that you wish to inject into your templates are displayed in their own window. The left column is a vertical list of whatever snippets you've constructed while right area of the window display each snippet's content.

These can be plain text, html, CSS + html.

Here we are using some CSS to style the TOS, such as inserting a 2em margin between the TOS and the item description.

You could of course edit the snippets directly in this window. When you do each listing inside GarageSale that uses that snippet will be updated. To update the new TOS on eBay simply select the listings (or folders full of listings) and tell GS to update the item's description.

I found its far more efficient to create a special folder in GS's main window using some blank item templates. That way whatever you type in the preview Mode will be automatically converted to styled html. If you have any CSS in the template switch over to the Edit Mode to examine the raw CSS & HTML. Once you are done constructing your text snippet paste in the main snippet window and save it. This essentially allows you to use a blank item templates as WYSIWYG editor for text snippets.

Preview Mode for Snippet:

Editor Mode for Snippet:

[m60driver]

HTML ranges from the complex to the basics. I use Coffecup's free HTML editor and stick to the basic stuff, no need to get fancy,  just adjust fonts, colors and sizes and create lists.  But do look up some basic mobile friendly code.  I use the following:

<font rwr="1" size="4" style="font-family:Arial"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<div vocab="https://schema.org/" typeof="Product">
<span property="description">
<p>
...description.....
</p></span></div>
<p>

And no, I don't understand it all, but it seems to work to keep listings mobile friendly.

[auctionworks1]

Hey, you mentioned using your wife's account.  Would you mind sharing with me the benefit of having multiple ebay accounts?  We've only used one for 21 years, but could easily add a second account.  Just never thought of it.  What's the purpose of selling from your account as well as your wife's?  Thanks so much!

[loveyourimagination49]

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/All-Listings-Are-Now-Mobile-Friendly-by-Default/ba-p/299...

All listings are mobile friendly now.

[abfabvintage]

@auctionworks1 

Hi, I have used as a listing program and a program that saves everything that I list on ebay since 2000. It is not an ebay tool. Auction Wizard 2000. I am not promoting their site, but I am a really really small seller and it does what I need. In particular, I can call up listings that didn't sell or didn't list all the way back in 2000. If I want to make them active and do re-lists, all I have to do is tweak it to match the current ebay changes. 

When I hear sellers losing their photos, their scripts, and even their entire listings for no unknown reason, I have never lost one single listing saved in my program. Very simple, easy to use, and it stores your pictures, scripts, everything you would be uploading to ebay. Again, I do not work for them, but for 50.00 per year and they have not raised their pricing since I started with them, which was in 2000, I look at it as a bargain...particularly there are no files to convert over, you can have stores, you can have multiple IDs to sell, nothing to do except set it up and list.  Been using them for so long, I do it with my eyes closed...and you don't even need to go into ebay to list. It does it for you.

You can go to their website auctionwizard2000.com where I believe they have a 60 day trial period. AND, if for some reason some of my listings get screwy, it is due to my laptop/hard drive which they will fix by you sending them your files to review and fix. 

I just had a friend on here tell me she lost some listings, or maybe she couldn't access after the ebay 60 day or 90 days that ebay keeps the data. I have all of mine going back to 2000. Whether sold, unsold, waiting to be listed, drafts whatever. Doesn't need to be fancy, yet they do have template choices. Good Luck. 

[auctionworks1]

Thanks! I will check it out!!

[slippinjimmy]

---

@auctionworks1 wrote:

Hey, you mentioned using your wife's account.  Would you mind sharing with me the benefit of having multiple ebay accounts?  We've only used one for 21 years, but could easily add a second account.  Just never thought of it.  What's the purpose of selling from your account as well as your wife's?  Thanks so much!

---

Here are a few reasons......

 - More free listings, every selling id gets at least the 50 free

- Better chance of getting listing promos, when eBay hands them out I get them on some id's but not others

- Protect your metrics, if one id is in "danger" you can switch to a different one

- Perhaps an advantage if you sell wildly different items (kids books & "adult" items).

- If you need more than what you get with a Premium Store but not so so much that you need an Anchor Store then two Premium Stores would work but you can only have one Store per selling id.

[auctionworks1]

I never thought of that. I just thought it was best for me to sell on one account so I could build up a higher feedback score, but some of the points you mentioned might just outweigh getting a higher score. Really appreciate the advice here. Can definitely see some advantages to open a new account. Thanks!

[slippinjimmy]

---

@auctionworks1 wrote:
I never thought of that. I just thought it was best for me to sell on one account so I could build up a higher feedback score, but some of the points you mentioned might just outweigh getting a higher score. Really appreciate the advice here. Can definitely see some advantages to open a new account. Thanks!

---

A higher score is useless, at least once you get more than a few hundred.

I have found that I actually have better results with my smaller id's than with the ones with 5 figure feedback. It's not conclusive of course because I can't list the exact same items at the exact same time and the buyer pool is always changing.

Crazy as it sounds there are some buyers (mostly other sellers I think) that prefer to buy from a seller with 300 feedback over one with 3000 or 30,000.

When I'm shopping on eBay I rarely even look at a sellers feedback and when I do it's only the percentage not the raw number.

[mvls1]

Multiple accounts offer everything Jimmy said, plus with more accounts when one may not be selling one of the others may be selling giving you cash flow throughout the month. You also get shipping supply coupons with each store that you have, though I am not sure how much that would be worth to you. One of your stores could be an eclectic mix of items giving you a better chance of a sale occurring while the other may sell a niche area with high demand items. 

You can set each account up to cater to a different market area. We have found that an eclectic mix of items on two of our accounts helps to ensure that we have items shipping almost every day. 

[findingfinds888]

---

@buyselljack2016 wrote:

@auctionworks1 

Don't know anything about  Turbo lister, or Crazy lister.

We have 200 + listings(3 selling accounts.  over 100 currently on wife's account) going most of the time, and after putting up a few,  have never had a need for any thing other than just putting up a listing.

When doing a new item we just use "sell similar", and then make the needed changes.

We have never felt there was a need for any fancy templates, or fancy listings.

Using the sell similar gets all the text in there about shipping, returns, reading, knowing what you are buying..........

Just have to load the new item photos, and item description.

---

I believe this is better, its partly the cell phones as they won't load fancy listings. Don't know myself, since I don't have a cell phone. 🙂 

[findingfinds888]

---

@auctionworks1 wrote:
Thank you, I've never used the advanced option because I don't know too much about HTML code. Is it very difficult to use?

---

I've sold for many many years on here and have never used HTML -- except to sometimes pop into the HTML screen on one of my active listings and delete some random coding that is gumming things up.  I run around 100 listings, all GTC, and just use Sell Similar each time and, like another said, just change what needs to be changed. Then you don't forget to put in things that you want carried from listing to listing. 

[findingfinds888]

---

@anthology-of-treasures wrote:

Here we have a new order from a group of GTC items - its turned green. I end these at 28 days so they are not automatically rolled over by. 

_________________________

But didn't ebay state they'd change the GTC to be renewed on the same day of every month? so if you listed it on the 5th, it'd renew on the 5th of the following month. This was to avoid people having to close out listings at 28 days to avoid a double hit in one month for listing costs by using a 30 day set rotation...??