Descriptive Writing Pays Off

Good writing is like slicing into a piece of chocolate cake; it's rich, appealing and once you take that first bite, you can't walk away until you're finished. 

 Image found here.

A good description brings words alive and appeals to the senses of the reader.

Let me share some examples.  

Eden with a tall man.

 

Factual, but let's try it again.

24 inch Eden with 6 foot 11 inches Channing Frye, power forward of the Phoenix Suns. 

Now that's better.  You get a feel of just how adorable these two were together.

See, how a little description can go a long way.

Here's another.

I have a new quilt on my bed.

or

I purchased a King Size Pottery Barn Island quilt and 3 pillow shams off Craig's List for $75.00.  New, a quilt like this sales for $249.00 and the pillow shams are $36.00 a piece.

Isn't it nice to get a little bit more information (and isn't the quilt amazing).  

As someone who enjoys the act of writing, I thought I'd put a little EBay spin on this. 

So, this dress.  Cute, isn't it.

I could list it as  Lela Rose Size 4 Black Dress or I could list it as

Lela Rose Size 4 Black Silk Lace Camisole Dress

This type of description helps the potential buyer to find my listing.

How?

Maybe they want a silk dress or a dress with lace.  Maybe they've never heard of the designer Lela Rose?  Either way, they'll find this dress by typing key words into the EBay search engine.  Plus, you get a hint of romance to the dress just buy reading the title.  Now, there's an emotional connection. 

This dress cost me $1.00 and sold for $31.00.

Let's try another one. What about this?

I could list this as a Blue Fish Size 0 Dress

or

Blue Fish Size 0 Long Full Teal Organic Dress

  Using the word organic might bring a new flood of bidders to this dress who aren't aware of the Blue Fish label.  Those of you who've been waiting for for the Blue Fish dress update, here it is.

I paid $5.00 and it sold for $49.99.  Super profit, wouldn't you say.
One thing EBay will not let you do, is use the word "like."
For example, let's say I want to sell a dress that isn't Blue Fish, but has a Blue Fish feel to it.  
I cannot list it as "Blue Fish Like Dress", although Craig's List does allow the word like.  I don't like it when I'm browsing Craig's list specifically for Pottery Barn and I have to read through 300 "Pottery Barn like".
Moving on.

When I found this Levi Size 24 Jean Skirt for $2.50, I know it would be a great buy.

 

I listed it as 

Women's Levi's Plus Size 24 Long Denim Jean Skirt

It sold for $42.00.  Notice how I used the words denim and jean.

Who knows what word people use when looking for a jean/denim skirt?  So if there's enough space (Ebay gives 55 characters when filling in your title description), I list my clothing with both words. 

I can't help myself, but I combine my love of writing and my passion for EBay into one.  That way both needs are satisfied.  Wow!  I guess you can say I'm a paid writer!
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