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My previous eBay auction tutorials have focused on deciding what to sell, and for how much. These are obviously important decisions, but there's one more vital part of your eBay auction posting that we've got to discuss - and that's the content of your auction listing!

Whether you're selling your own ebook of soup recipes or old soup labels, the sale itself all comes down to the listing you write. After all, the listing is the initial interaction you have with potential buyers, and it doesn't get any more important than that!

When I started selling on eBay eight years ago, I made some classic mistakes that I've since corrected, and I've seen plenty of other beginners make the same mistakes. My next few eBay auction tutorials will focus on these mistakes, so you can avoid them and maximize your sales and profits. After all, that's what we're after!

If there's only one piece of advice I can give you about eBay listings, it would be to spell-check your listings, including the title. And while you're spellchecking, make sure to spellcheck the spelling of every word in your description and title!

A misspelled word in your title can cost you sales and money. For example, let's say you're selling homemade jewelry. When you create your eBay auction listing, eBay will ask you for a concise description of your item. If you misspell jewelry as "jewlry", eBay buyers who search on "jewelry" will not see your item. It takes only a moment to spellcheck your listing, so make sure to do so!

Misspellings of this type are so common that there are actually eBay buyers who make money buying items like the "jewlry" we just discussed. These buyers pick up valuable items very cheaply, since most interested buyers won't even see it in their search results due to the misspelling. These same buyers turn around and sell the item with a well-written description and make big money. There's nothing wrong with them doing this, but you don't want to miss out on sales just because you didn't spellcheck your item description.

The eBay listing feature doesn't have a spellcheck feature, but I'm willing to bet that your computer has a word processor program such as Microsoft Word that does. I recommend that you write your eBay auction listing in Word, spellcheck it when you're done, and then copy and paste it into the eBay window. This way, you can also save your description for easier editing in the future.

Starting your own eBay auction home business is one of the best decisions you can ever make. It's paid off big for me, and I know it can do the same for you. By taking the time to take care of details - by using your "sense" - you will soon be making BIG dollars on eBay. So get started, and I'll see you tomorrow with another eBay auction tutorial!