Previously we have discussed How to Write the Perfect Product Listing Title, and 7 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Sales TODAY but today we are going to address the elephant in the room; the “Hitler-Style DESCRIPTION and TERMS SECTION” that so many online sellers don't even realize is plaguing their listings ...

One massive mistake many online sellers make is forgetting about the product and focusing on the Return Policy Terms. What ends up happening is two sentences are written about the item then 9 paragraphs smash the buyer in the eyeballs with all the things they can’t do… as you can imagine, this is a turnoff in major ways.  And heck, you don't need to eve worry about a Return Policy if you never sell anything! So, do this instead and you’ll see an increase in sales very quickly!

First, structure your listings appropriately based on the person you are selling to. Men want quick-and-easy listings whereas women want more product details; either way, you need to construct your listing to make it easy to skim, yet to the point. You can bookmark this page and when you finish reading this post, take the time to go back and read the four links shown above in this paragraph; trust me, you will at least learn 1 thing; I promise! Lets continue...

Now here’s the tough part that you have to put some thought into… and this really is difficult and really does require some genuine thought, yet is worth every minute of time put into it:

Print your Terms / Refund Info / Policies on a piece of paper.  Yes, it sounds terribly stupid and like a waste of time, but here's why you need to do it... 

Here’s an example of actual terms shown on an actual eBay listing:

…. I think we all can agree that the Terms of this listing are a turnoff but the seller doesn’t realize how crazy it sounds…. Clearly, the seller is just trying to prevent future problems because she has likely been burned by a buyer in the past. However, she doesn’t understand that her Terms section makes her sound like a psychopath and she is missing out on so many WONDERFUL buyers because she is literally scaring them off.  As sellers, we can't run-off 1,000 awesome buyers in hopes of possibly preventing one rotten piece of sh*t, so we instead have to focus on those 999 amazing people and just deal with the demon spawn when it buys from us.  So, next:

Grab a pen or highlighter

Start underlining or highlighting ONLY the most important things. Do not highlight the excess “filler” content. For example, looking at the crazy rant Terms from above, the first thing this seller says is, “BEST PRICE ON EBAY GUARANTEE: I AM MAKING THIS A YARD SALE TYPE BUSINESS” - none of this information is needed. In fact, this is all clutter. In mega-fact, this information is so beyond irrelevant because:

1.)  In order for someone to get to your Terms section, they already FOUND and CLICKED ON your listing…. Meaning they were already INTERESTED.  - - - Think about this.  Really think about it.  If you went to a used car lot and picked out that super sexy 2010 silver mustang you've always been dreaming of, and while your debating buying it the salesman ran over and started shouting:

 "Just so ya know... we don't take returns after 48 hours.  We really spend a lot of time inspecting these cars, so once you drive it off the lot it's yours.  Like I said, we really, really do inspect these but we can't deal with nonsense returns.  We even clean it before we sell it, but we can NOT deal with games, so if you don't want it, don't buy it.  And nobody has ever smoked in this car.  Alls I'm sayin' is that we have the best prices and we inspected it, but did I mention we don't want returns?"....

wouldn't that freak you the F out and make you start wondering "what the heck is wrong with this car?"....

2.) They already saw your price and apparently it didn’t bother them being that they are STILL READING your listing so why are you self sabotaging your own listing by mentioning “Lowest Price”? Now you are opening up a can of worms when the buyer, who was already about to click “BUY NOW” sees that you guarantee “THE LOWEST PRICE”.... Good Lord lady, what are you doing? You’re not Best Buy, you don’t need to price match!  Why are you flipping the F out over returns when it hasn't even sold?!  If nobody ever buys it you'' never have a possible return!

OTHER THINGS NOBODY CARE ABOUT:

• Your daughter having “great taste”
• Where the items were stored for the past year. Its USED. People expect it to be used.
• And so on. I mean seriously, did YOU even read that entire rant above or did you just skim it? Yes, it’s painfully long to read, especially in 2021 when peoples attention span is a Tik Tok video at best.

So, as I was saying, highlight only the most important things BUT KEEP IN MIND what the site you sell on's return policy is. FOR EXAMPLE, IF EBAY REQUIRES 5 DAYS RETURNS, you are wasting your time and scaring off buyers to tell them more crap about it. Just tell them the basics, based on eBays requirements, such as “Return requests must be received within 5 days. Items must be unworn with tags attached”.

HEAR ME OUT ON THIS: There is literally no point in telling people “If it smells like cigarette smoke I will NOT accept the return!” because the reality is that if they ship it back to you there isn’t jack sh*t you can do about the smell. Yes, it absolutely sucks, but this is the risk you run choosing to be a business owner. Trust me; I know it sucks.  We once got back a $5,000 prom dress that was worn (we assume to Prom, but who knows) that had vomit on it and smelled like a Jack Daniels on top of a landfill ... yes, seriously. Like I said, it sucks. 

So, narrow down your Terms / Return Policy to the most basic points… because if you can narrow it down to 3 bullet points they MIGHT actually READ it!

One you get your Terms down to 3 bullet points, make them into bullet points for quick and easy skimming, such as:

• Returns Accepted within 5 Days of Delivery
• Returns Must Have Tags Attached
• Buyer Pays Return Shipping

See how simple that is? And if your items are used and don't have tags, ADD YOUR OWN (it's super mega simple!)!!! And if you really want to add information about smoke-free, pet-free house and so on, make a separate list:

ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THIS ITEM:

• Smoke Free Home
• Pet Free Home
• Peanut Free Home
• Laundered in Organic Detergent Only
• Stored in a Temperature Controlled Room
• Handled by Angels
• Shipped in the Finest of Poly Bags; Free Trade, Made from Recycled Plastic
• 15% of Each Purchase Donated to St. Jude

if you want to add all of this (often superfluous) details, make sure you follow directions and construct your listing to make it easy to skim, yet to the point <--- Read that article next!!!