These codes are distinguished from normal text by the fact that they’re enclosed within angle brackets. Each particular code turns on or off a particular attribute, such as boldface or italic text. Most codes are in sets of “on/off” pairs. You turn “on” the code before the text you want to affect and then turn “off” the code after the text.

For example, the code <h1> turns specified type into a level-one headline; the code </h1> turns off the headline type. The code <i> is used to italicize text; </i> turns off the italics. (As you can see, an “off” code is merely the “on” code with a slash before it.)

Codes to Format Text

Effect	On Code	Off Code
Bold	<b>	</b>
Italic	<i>	</i>
Underline	<u>	</u>
Center	<center>	</center>
First-level headline	<h1>	</h1>
Second-level headline	<h2>	</h2>
Third-level headline	<h3>	</h3>

Just surround the text you want to format with the appropriate on and off codes, and you’re ready to go. For example, to format a piece of text as bold, you’d write something that looks like this:

<b>this text is bold</b>

Codes for Graphics

Adding pictures and other graphics to your listings really brings some excitement to the normally plain-text world of eBay. You can add pictures the eBay way, which puts all your pictures at the end of your text description or you can put a picture anywhere in your text, using HTML.

Before you can insert a graphic into your listing, you need to know the address of that graphic (in the form of a web page URL). Then you use the following code:

<img src="URL">

No “off” code is required for inserted graphics. Note that the location is enclosed in quotation marksand that you have to insert the http:// part of the URL.

As an example, if your graphic is the file graphic01.jpg located at www.webserver.com/mydirectory/, you insert this code:

<img src="http://www.webserver.com/mydirectory/graphic01.jpg">

The nice thing about inserting graphics this way is that you can include more than just picturesyou can add logos, starbursts, you name it. (And you can put the graphics anywhere in your text description.) You use the same technique to link to any graphic image anywhere in your item listing.

Codes for Links

You can use HTML to add links to your own personal web pages (a great idea if you have additional images of this specific item) or to related sites. Many sellers also like to provide a direct email link in case potential bidders have questions they need answered.

To insert a link to another web page in your item listing, you use the following HTML code:

<a href=”URL”>this is the link</a>

The text between the on and off codes will appear onscreen as a typical underlined hyperlink; when users click that text, they’ll be linked to the URL you specified in the code. Note that the URL is enclosed in quotation marks and that you have to include the http:// part of the address.

You can also create a “mail-to” link in your listing; users will be able to send email to you by simply clicking the link. Here’s the code for a mail-to link:

<a href=”mailto:yourname@domain.com“>click here to email me</a>

Codes for Lists

Finally, if you have a lot of features to list for your item, you might want to format them in a bulleted list. Using HTML codes, it’s easy to create a neatly bulleted list for your ad.

First, you enclose your bulleted list with the <ul> and </ul> codes. Then, you enclose each bulleted item with the <li> and </li> codes.

The code for a typical bulleted list looks like this:

<ul> <li>item one</li> <li>item two</li> <li>item three</li> </ul>

When you're dealing with complex coding like this, it's easier
to understand what's going on if you indent the different levels of code.

Bulleted lists are great ways to run through a list of attributes or specifications; it’s a lot cleaner than just listing a bunch of stuff within a long text paragraph.

The post List of Simple HTML Codes for eBay first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

But then there are those ads that shout at you with colored text and different font faces and sizes and multiple columns and sizzling graphics and…well, you know the ones I’m talking about. How do you go about creating a dynamic listing like that?

Those colorful, eye-catching listings are created with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is the engine behind every web page you’ve ever viewed, the coding language that lets you turn on and off all sorts of text and graphic effects.

Here’s a secret known to successful sellers: eBay lets you use HTML in your item listings! All you have to do is know which HTML codes to enter in the Description box when you’re creating your item listingor you can use eBay’s built-in HTML text editor and skip the coding altogether. Even easier, you can use eBay’s Listing Designer or any number of third-party programs to create HTML-based listings without ever seeing the HTML code.

As you’ll see, creating HTML-based listings isn’t that difficult. And it’s not just a tool for power sellers; it’s a relatively common technique that any eBay seller can use to spruce up an eBay listing.

You can make your listing great looking in the following ways:

The easiest way to create a listing that goes beyond plain text is with eBay’s Listing Designer. This feature is available to all users, right from the Sell Your Item pageand it costs only $0.10 a listing.

Listing Designer isn’t the only option you have for creating fancy eBay item listings. There are many software programs and web-based services that let you create great-looking listings without having to enter a line of HTML code. Most of these programs and services let you choose a design and fill in some blanks, and then they automatically write the HTML code necessary to create the listing. These programs and services are easy to use, even if they do come at a cost.

Probably the most popular listing-creation program is eBay’s Turbo Lister (pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/). Turbo Lister uses the same templates found in eBay’s Listing Designer, but it lets you create your listings in bulk, offline.

If you place a lot of listings, eBay’s 10-cent Listing Designer fee can start to add up. Fortunately, there are lots of free auction templates you can use; it’s always good when you can cut your auction costs.

Free eBay Listing Templates:

Here are some of the most popular of these free auction template sites:

• Auction Riches Free Auction Ad Creator (www.auctionriches.com/freead/create.pl)

• AuctionSpice Templates (www.auctionspice.com)

• AuctionSupplies.com Free Auction Templates (auctionsupplies.com/templates/)

• K&D Web Page Design Custom Auction Creator (www.kdwebpagedesign.com/tutorials/tut_template.asp)

• ListTailor (www.listtailor.com/quickstart.html)

• Wizard’s Free Auction Template Creation Form (www.ambassadorboard.net/hosting/free-form.php)

• Xample.net Auction Templates (www.xample.net/templates.htm)

The post Create Good Looking eBay Listing first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

• Make sure that the item exists and is at hand, and has been cleaned up and spruced up as much as possible. (This includes putting the item in the original box, if you have it.)

• Determine what you think the final selling price will be, and then choose an appropriate minimum bid price.

• Take a picture or a scan of the item and prepare a JPG-format file for uploading.

• If you’re selling a commonly sold item, such as a book, CD, or DVD, write down the item’s UPC number or ISBN numberthis is the product code typically found on the back or bottom of the packaging.

• Determine what listing options you might want to purchasesuch as boldfacing the title or placing the item in the Gallery.

• Think up a catchy yet descriptive headline for the item.

• Write out a detailed description of the item.

• Determine what payment options you’ll accept. (If you haven’t yet signed up with PayPal, now is the time.)

• Determine how you want to ship the item.

• Weigh the item, and then try to determine the actual shipping costs. Use that information to set an up-front shipping and handling charge, if you want.

• If you haven’t yet registered as an eBay user and entered your credit card information, do that now.

• Determine what day of the weekand what time of the dayyou want your auction to end.

The post What to do Before Listing Item for Auction on eBay first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

The post Listing Your Item on eBay – Video first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.

• Insertion fees (I prefer to call them listing fees) are what you pay every time you list an item for sale on eBay. These fees are based on the minimum bid or reserve price of the item listed. These fees are nonrefundable.

• Final value fees (I prefer to call them selling fees, or commissions) are what you pay when an item is actually sold to a buyer. These fees are based on the item’s final selling price (the highest bid). If your item doesn’t sell, you aren’t charged a final value fee.

View eBay’s current fee structure at pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html.

The post Costs of Using eBay first appeared on Tips For eBay Sellers & Buyers.