Off to New York Tomorrow...

I'm not listing any of my own items this weekend, since we're driving to New York tomorrow to see one of my favorite cousins and we're not coming back until Sunday night.  My cousin mentioned she may have some things she wants to sell - not surprisingly, since she has a ton of nice stuff.  Since I've actually got a little money in my Paypal account, I might actually take advantage of the trip to dip my top in Phase II: Buying Items to Resell for a Profit.  I've still got some of my brother's stuff to sell, but I've decided women's clothing is really where the money if for me.  I know the brands, I have relatively good taste, and for the most part I can tell what will sell.

One thing I've been thinking about yet that I have mentioned before is writing effective item descriptions.  I think I do a crap job.  It's not easy.  On the one hand I try to be completely transparent regarding the items I sell, but on the other I wonder whether I'm not making my items sound less attractive than they really are.  Remember my "why items don't sell" post?  If not, let me refresh your memory.  The post is called "Unsold Items and Similar Calamities" and you can find it here: http://notyourmamasebay.blogspot.com/2010/03/unsold-items-and-similar-calamities.html

A big part of having a successful auction on eBay is making your item sound as appealing as possible without lying or embellishing.  Whereas some seller will lean toward embellishing in their descriptions, I go a little too far in the other direction.  I make item defects figure very prominently in the description, and that probably puts buyers off.  After all, they probably take what I write about my own item with a grain of salt, meaning that when I say "it has a small spot" they probably take it to mean: "there's a pretty visible spot" when in reality I mean "there's a spot that no one will notice unless you know it's there."

On a tangentially related note, I've discovered a couple of other blogs from more experienced sellers that could be GREAT sources, both to me and to you as we bumble through this eBay thing.  I promise to share the links as soon as I can, but right now I have to get some shut-eye, otherwise we'll never make it to the Big Apply.

Good night, everyone.  Thanks again for reading.