Okay, now that you have your very own unique logo, you need to wrap a listing template around it to further brand yourself and make your eBay identity unique and instantly recognizable.eBay's text editor, available in the Sell Your Item form or through TurboLister, basically sucks. eBay further tries to convince you that you need to spend 10¢ per listing to have attractive ads by purchasing their Listing Designer. That also basically sucks, not only because of the extra expense, but also because most of the templates are not very attractive.
On top of that, hundreds of thousands of sellers are using the very same templates so you will not have a unique, recognizable brand by paying too much for those tiresome templates. It's so easy and free to create your very own template with little or no HTML experience.
There are several free sites out there in www land that have template creators designed just for eBay sellers' use. Here are just a few sites you can check out...
Auction Central has two different ad creators, an eZ Auction Template creator and an eZ Auction Advanced Template creator.
In the advanced ad creator, you can select a background, an email graphic, and you can even add links and images with their text editor. Once you have everything done, just clck the 'Generate Source' button, then 'View' your ad. If you need to make revisions, go back to the text editor and make your changes, then 'View' your ad again. If everything is as it should be, click the 'Highlight All' button, then copy your ad and either save it to your hard drive for later use or click the 'Take it to eBay' button which will open a new window to the eBay Sell form.
Fill in all the appropriate information until you get to Page 2, Title & Description. Then copy the HTML code you created at Auction Central into the tabbed section labeled 'Enter your own HTML' and finish going through all the listing pages until you have your auction submitted.
If you are not quite ready to use a text editor, you can use the EZ ad creator which allows you to select a background, an email graphic, one picture to add to your listing (you can enter your logo in this slot) and a text block to write your description with no editing necessary. When you have everything completed, click the 'View' button and, if everything is as it should be, scroll down to the code section, click the 'Highlight All' button, then copy your ad and either save it to your hard drive for later use or click the 'Take it to eBay' button which will open a new window to the eBay Sell form. Fill in all the appropriate information until you get to Page 2, Title & Description. Then copy the HTML code you created at Auction Central into the tabbed section labeled 'Enter your own HTML' and finish going through all the listing pages until you have your auction submitted.
Another great site to create your own ad is Auction Insights Free Auction Template and Ad Creator...
Just fill in the blanks in the form. You can include a title, subtitle, up to 3 pictures, your email address and there are separate locations for your item description and your auction terms where you can choose to use HTML or simply type. If you do not use HTML, your carriage returns and formatting will be ignored in this particular form, so be advised of that.
Click your browser's back button to make any changes. When you are satisfied with your ad, copy and paste the code and take it to eBay. Again, be sure to include your new logo as one of your pics.
There is basically only one HTML tag you need to learn to add line breaks to these template creators. That is the Break tag. Wherever you want a line break to occur, type this... <br>
If you want two line breaks to simulate a new paragraph, type this... <br><br>
That's all there is to it. Your template will look more professional and all of your text will be much easier to read if it isn't all run together on the page.
Auction Riches also has an Auction Ad Creator...
This is very similar to the Auction Insights form. You must use HTML in the description and terms sections or your ad copy will not have carriage returns or paragraph breaks. This ad creator does give you a navigation font color/size, background color, and border color choice, however.
CollierAd.com and Tupics.com use the exact same layout as Auction Riches.
Auction Spice has four different free templates you can choose from, all with room for up to 10 pictures. This site also requires you to use HTML in the description and terms sections or your ad copy will not have carriage returns or paragraph breaks.
AuctionSupplies.com has seven different templates to choose from, all with at least two different options for picture placement. These templates are a bit more advanced. You will need to add your revisions to the HTML code which requires that you find the comments in the code and follow the directions included.
BayDream.com does require you to create a free account with them before you can access their template creator which includes 9 different templates that are very well laid out. You can add up to three pictures via browse buttons which they host for you on their servers. Once you fill in the blanks and add your pics from your hard drive, click the 'Save Content' button, wait patiently for the site to do its magic and design your template, then tweak it to your heart's content, copy the code and take it to eBay.
KD WEb Page Design also has a very nice template generator that includes background choices, font color and background color choices, a link generator and only requires that you use simple Break tags for paragraph creation. The instructions are clearly written on the site.
The Auction Ad Creator from AuctionWatch.co.uk has 4 very nice templates you can use, but they are for the more advanced user. You must know how to add your picture URLs, link URLs, and a bit of HTML to properly set up the templates.
Xample.net also has some very nice templates, but are geared more toward the seller with a bit more HTML knowledge.
And last but not least... my Zoicks.com Mix 'n' Triple Backgrounds template creator...
All you do is pick the backgrounds you want to use, the font color you prefer, click the 'Preview It' button and copy the generated code. You will need to save the background images you want to use to your hard drive, then upload them to an image host, but the instructions are on the site.
So now you have a new logo and a template to wrap around your logo. You have the makings of a completely unique eBay identity. Next time we'll discuss eBay's
page and why you should take the time to create one. Later...Lesley
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