When you write a listing you are trying to get people who read it to take action. Basically what you want them to do is make bid on your item. In other words you have to motivate them to take action. Copywriters have identified 10 triggers that will motivate people to buy or in this case bid. Those triggers are:
1. People want to make more money. They may want to start their own business, get a higher paying job or or learn a new cash generating skill. This will make them feel successful.
2. People want to save money. They may want to buy a bargain or buy something that reduces a regular cost such as a low energy light bulb. This will make them feel more secure.
3. People want to save time. They may want to work less and spend time enjoying lifes pleasures. This will make them feel more relaxed.
4. People want to look better. They may want to lose weight, tone their body, or improve their facial features. This will make them feel more attractive.
5. People want to learn something new. They may want to learn how to change their car oil or build a deck. This will make them feel more intelligent.
6. People want to live longer. They may want to get in shape, eat better or gain extra energy. This will make them feel healthier.
7. People want to be comfortable. They may want to relive aches and pains or want to sleep in a more comfortable bed. This will make them feel relieved.
8. People want to be loved and be loved. They may want to show that love by buying a special gift for a loved one. This will make them feel happy
9. People want to be popular. They may want to be a famous celebrity or be more popular in school. This will make them feel praised and admired.
10. People want to gain pleasure. For a collector this may be the pleasure of ownership or with a record the pleasure of listening to it.
All items consist of benefits and features. For instance lets take a washing machine for example. This may have lots of features such as a state of the art motor, bigger capacity, shorter spin cycle and goodness knows what. But as buyers these facts will not motivate us to buy. A feature always leaves you with the question “so what?”
For instance, it has a high revolution spin cycle. So what?
Well it means that you can dry the clothes in half the time – a time saving
Because it is quicker it uses less electricity – saves me money
So from one feature we have two benefits for the product, it saves us time and money.
This is what you should emphasize in your listing, what is in it for the customer.
Because if you think about it when you make the purchase as a customer you are not really after a washing machine you are buying clean clothes.
Look for the features that your items offer and see how you can use a motivational trigger to increase your bids.
Dave Bromley is a writer and webmaster who specialises in subjects related to eBay and other online auctions. He edits and publishes a monthly newsletter and his web site is
UKAuctionline.co.uk