Are Fancy Item Templates a Turnoff?
As an eBay buyer, do you find listing templates with all the "bells and whistles" a turnoff, or do you like them? According to some online discussions I have read, that fancy html listing template may not just be annoying, it may keep listings from displaying properly on mobile devices, where more and more people are buying from now.
One user on an eBay Reddit thread wrote, "A large percentage of eBay's traffic is now mobile users and most of those templates do not display correctly on mobile. A simple text description is fine, if not preferable for most buyers. It's similar to all the old-timers putting up walls of text with pseudo-legal / professional sounding language describing return policies and a ton of other nonsense that just clutters up the page. The less stimuli overload, the better chance of someone clicking buy instead of getting overwhelmed or frustrated and clicking back."
Personally, I prefer at least three or so photos, and a simple but detailed item description. It does not need to be "War and Peace," but neither should it be so short as to be practically just a repeat of the title. My pet peeve is listing descriptions that give you no added info on the item, and appear to have been written in a matter of seconds.
Plus, the way eBay listing templates are moving, and have been moving, it is becoming more important for sellers to check all the right item specifics and other policy boxes, so this is more important than having, say a floral design around your listing.
Another commenter added that while many people hate bad photos, they once got a killer deal on shoes due to the photo quality being so bad!
What are your thoughts on fancy listing templates vs. simple, text-based listings? Post a comment here!