You are reading Selling On Ebay Series Read more from this series of articles.
Listing for success, continued.
eBay is such a huge community and it’s pretty likely someone else (or a thousand and 2 someone else’s) is selling the same item you are. Creating a selling Title and Description is your best bet in courting potential buyers. Not only do you need to use the right wording, but your listing should be pleasing to the eye. You don’t have to use fancy templates or backgrounds. Plain white is fine. Don’t go hog wild with the colors. I fine 3 colors (including black) is plenty. You don’t want the listing to end up cluttered and busy.
Before you list an item it’s a good idea to do some *research. Type your item name into the search box and see what comes up. How are people listing this item? What are the items selling for? Which items in the search results seem to be getting the most bids, and why? I like to check out the popular items and see how the seller has described the item. What have they done to capture the buyer’s attention and convince them their item is “the one?”
After searching for current listings of an item you can look on the left side of the page and click the box next to Completed Listings. Then hit the “show items” button. This will bring up items that have recently ended. Once again you’ll be able to see which items were popular, what sold and what didn’t, and how these people made their sales.
*Don’t spend too much time researching or you won’t get around to listing your item and making money! 
I normally try to look at 4-5 listings before I list my own item.