
There are a lot of people out there that are now using smart phones and various other mobile devices in order to access the Internet from wherever they are, no matter what else is going on. This technology has opened up many doors and you will find that more of your buyers are visiting your listings from a mobile device. You will, therefore, want to consider optimizing your listings for mobile devices.
Let’s not forget that eBay has a mobile website that strips out any HTML you might have decided to use to make your listing look all nice and pretty. Once all that HTML is gone, what does your listing look like? Is it even recognizable? And even if those mobile users are viewing eBay’s full site, just how well is it showing up on those tiny screens of theirs?
The most important part of optimizing for mobile devices is the same as it is when creating listings for access from any other type of device: getting eyes on your listing. Step one to accomplishing this is ensuring it gets found when searched for, and that means having a good auction title. The key is to switch your thinking into buyer mode. If you were looking for what it is you’re selling, what would you search for? Include these terms in your auction title.
Now that you’ve got the title taken care of, thereby getting people to your listing, you want to focus on professionalism. Since eBay’s mobile site automatically attempts to optimize your listing, you get left with just text. Since that’s almost all a mobile user is going to see, you want to go the extra mile in making your description free of grammar mistakes, misspellings, and other errors. And let’s not forget to upload a nice image via eBay’s sell-your-item form.
Don’t confuse detailed images with super-high resolution images. The first provides a buyer with details about the item they are buying. The latter uses up lots of bandwidth and will take a long time to load on a mobile device running on a slower connection.
Keep in mind that slower internet access is common with mobile devices. Because of this, you’ll want to be mindful of the code you use. Try and keep your HTML code clean for fast loading. Be mindful of coding techniques that might increase load times and avoid using high-resolution images when possible.
And let’s not forget where mobile users are looking at your listings from; probably while on lunch break or, much to the displeasure of everyone around them, at the movie theater. At any rate, these users probably want to move quickly. Be sure to check your listings for questions often and answer them quickly. If someone doesn’t hear back from you before the end of their movie, then they might not ever come back.
For this same reason, including the buy-it-now option is a good idea. Since a mobile-device user’s window to make a purchase decision may be very limited, you’ll want to make it as easy as possible for them to make a purchase without the worry of being outbid during a time that they are unable to counter bid.
As you can see, there are a lot of great ways to make sure that you are really getting the most out of your eBay auctions! Keep in mind all the different ways eBay buyers access the site and create your auction listings with that in mind. The better you do, the wider your target audience will become.
Stu Lisonbee is a former eBay employee and PowerSeller helping others learn how to make money on eBay as well as implement other strategies to make easy money online.




