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Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.
Starting in the late ’90s it used to be, that to get found at the top of search, and have a pleasing listing, you had to do a number of things well:
● Follow A Few Rules: Correct categories, well written titles with keywords.
● Some Suggestions: Good grammar, nice photos, pleasant HTML.
● Do Homework & Research: Answers to common questions.
● Don’t Break The Law: No keyword spamming, white on white, etc
● Clear and Concise Rules: Uncomplicated, not angry and shouting.
Doing the above worked in most categories. Reliably near the top. Now you can do all these things that EXsy & Ebay have added, and never get near the top, if you even get found before the dreaded “page 250”.
EXsy told sellers….. to add attributes to listings….. sizes for a garment….. , length of chain in jewelry….. , color related to a holiday like Christmas….., Plus specifics for Weddings, Birthdays, Bar Mitzvah, Hanukkah, and undoubtedly the ever important, “Man Cave Decorations”. They use the information to help shoppers find relevant items. DUH !
These specifics can’t help ANY giver seller get found, unless they add THOUSANDS MORE specifics. You can’t overcome EXsy’s lack of categories. At EXsy, NO ONE will ever be RELIABLY successful in search again, until they add THOUSANDS more CATEGORIES. Skip the work, all you’ll get is PAGE 251 !
If you’ve done testing, you know that for a variety of reasons, the old rules don’t work, at least for Antique, Vintage, Handmade. Trouble is, there aren’t any new rules that do work for sellers. The rules are for EXsy and Ebay, manipulate as they see fit. I post test auctions all the time, and can NOT get to the first page anymore, by following ALL OF THEIR RULES AND SUGGESTIONS.
I TRULY find this topic sad. Exsy should be HUNG OUT TO DRY, for advising sellers on search. They cause HARD WORKING sellers more & more work, as the pull their hair out, to figure out why they have no sales, when the system is RIGGED and FEW WILL EVER SUCCEED. Trouble is, even Wall Street is OK with this behavior. Someone will get the sale for that beautiful, hand-hammered, sterling & 18kt gold mother’s bracelet, with all the diamond and emerald charms on it. For only 94.51SGD ($69.95 USD) + Free Shipping, in only 30 days from rainy, dreary Singapore, where workers like to stay inside and work long hours.
The above bracelet (which I made up)
will be available on Ali late Thursday for:
70.00 USD / 10
630.00 USD / 100
5,600.00 USD / 1,000
42,000.00 USD / 100,000
Ask to speak to Jack. They’re eating Amazon’s breakfast.