How not to eBay a PlayStation3

On Thursday I waited in line for 16 hours to get a PlayStation3 so that I could eBay it for Christmas money. At the time of this writing the units like I have are selling for around $1300 (they cost $500 off the shelf).

One bad thing about eBay is that many lessons come the hard way. As I compiled my auction I worried a lot about the category and wording of my auction.  When I titled my auction I took great care in spelling out PlayStation in every possible combination (PlayStation3, PlayStation 3, PS3. . .).

Now that the auction only has a few hours left , I am beginning to think of things I could have done better.

Hopefully these tips will come in handy for others who like to play the eBay game. These are things that I knew, but I forgot about in all the panic trying to get the auction started while the demand whats at high tide.

1. I didn't think enough about the title of the auction. I tried to spell PlayStation correctly, but I didn't think about the other modifiers like 20GB (20 gigabyte hard drive) or putting in "not 60GB" so that the people searching for the 60GB version would also come across my auction.

2. I placed the pictures at the bottom. I should have built a table and showed the pictures along the right or left side. There is one picture at the top and three at the bottom. Pictures sell items.

3. I was too wordy. I took up a lot of space explaining the small differences between the 20GB and 60GB versions. The people concerned probably know all of that.

4. I didn't take a picture with a pretty girl holding the box. There are websites dedicated to the photos that people are posting of pretty girls holding the PlayStation3. Since I am married to a pretty girl this would have been so easy.

While most people who read this will likely not need it to auction a PS3 the tips here can be applied to any auction.

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