Secrets of the eBay

CHAPTER 6: Reach the Widest Possible Audience 127
poke fun at himself as well. Here’s what he says on his About the Seller page.
First, he identifies his audience and appeals to their emotions:
Hello, fellow music lovers!!
If music really affects you - changes your mood, gives you
a rush, makes you dance, cry, or remember a great time -
welcome home! Some songs are great friends of mine.
Tony worked in traditional retail management for 12 years. He knows
that in order to make sales, it’s often important to establish a personal
connection with a customer: to make a sale—or to make a customer want to
return to make a second or third sale. Accordingly, he speaks about himself
in a friendly way so potential customers can get to know him:
Is Tony a mental case?
Actually I prefer the term extreme music enthusiast.
I have been traveling the country with my kitty since
September of 2002 in search of great old music that you
just can't find anymore. I also supplement my listings
with some more recent things when I can get it at a good
price. I especially love to find old dance/pop/freestyle/
R&B remix singles - what I consider to be "my music."
Anyone who feels the same about dance music is sure to want to
investigate the site and at least seriously consider making a purchase after
reading this.
“I Want to Be Seen as Approachable, Friendly, and Fun”
Tony now conducts his eBay sales from a residence in Tampa, Florida. He’s
no longer roaming the country full-time in his van, buying music and selling
it on eBay. “The business is too big to fit in the van anymore. Now I’m
working out of my apartment in Tampa,” he says.
Like many eBay sellers, he is able to conduct a large number of sales by
means of a template—a layout he has designed in advance and that contains
standard typefaces, colors, and information such as shipping costs that is
the same from one sale to another. Whenever he has to create a sale, he only
has to write the auction title and add some descriptive information about the
individual item. He can then get the sale online quickly.
Cicalese uses bright colors in his sales descriptions and his logo (shown
in Figure 6-8), eye-catching typefaces, and a web page feature called tables
to organize the contents of his sales of CDs, DVDs, and other music-related
items. It’s in keeping with his business philosophy.