Four Reasons Why You Should NEVER Use Animations In Your eBay Auctions

Inexperienced auction sellers, or those lacking in confidence, often want to make their auction listings more dramatic and exciting. They dread the possibility that buyers will be bored by their auction and turn away with indifference.

Therefore, they reason, they will spice up their auctions with some "animations" - graphics that blink, change colors, spin, travel around the web page.

Or the seller may be a tech person who loves toys and is proud of his ability to create unusual effects.

Regardless of their reasons, animated elements on an auction page are almost never a good idea for the following four reasons:

1. Rather than attracting attention to the merchandise in your auction, your potential customer may watch a spinning ball or follow Santa and his reindeer through the sky. We want the customer's total attention on that all-important question: "Do I want to buy this widget or not?" Distractions are not good for your wallet.

2. Animations can make the load time of your auction listing much longer. I have been using DSL four years and have forgotten (happily!) how horrible it is to use dialup. However, for many places on this planet, high-speed connections simply are not available. For these folks, loading your page might take forever, and you can be sure they won't wait. Experts tell us that the average user spends only 7 seconds at a webpage before departing for greener pastures. If your sales page is still loading, no sale for you.

3. It takes time for you to figure out how and whether to use animations. This is time that would be better spent on writing more exciting and dynamic copy - copy that will turn a prospective customer into a real buyer. A smart business person will treat time as her most precious commodity and spend it on what is most likely to bring a sale.

4. Many of these animations are just downright annoying. I personally do not enjoy looking at screens that are twirling, whirling and blinking. Two particularly irritating animations are an inescapable message that follows up and down the left side of the page, regardless of where I'm looking, and "trails" that follow my mouse.

A huge majority of people feel the same, apparently. Sellers need to make it as easy as possible for people to buy, rather than throwing obstacles in the way.

Are there any occasions when animated pictures are of any value in an auction listing? Possibly. For example, if you are selling to graphic designers then animated elements might be appropriate. As always, testing, testing, testing is the only way to truly know.

But for the rest of us folks - forget the glitter and focus on your merchandise. That's what makes us buy.

Learn how to sell on eBay with 16 hours of online instruction taught by a 10 year eBay veteran. Own an eBay business instead of an eBay hobby.

---

eBay: What Should I Sell?

There is an art to picking profitable products. It's not... Read More

Where To Find Items To Sell On eBay

One question that always seems to pop up is, "Where... Read More

Negating Negative Feedback on eBay

Taking some pride in my one hundred percent positive feedback... Read More

Profitable Paper Piecing on eBay--Part 1

Why sell paper piecings on eBay?eBay is a great way... Read More

How To Find REAL Wholesale Dropshippers For Almost Any Product

With more and more people getting online, many of them... Read More

Top 10 Free Online Wholesale Resources

By the time that a product has made it to... Read More

Before You Sell On Ebay, Take The Most Important Step

If you want to earn a full-time income selling on... Read More

Smart Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Online Auctions

It seems as if everyone is talking about online auctions.... Read More

Turn Your eBay Experience Into Even More Profit

Everyone's talking about eBay these days. With the frequency of... Read More

Top Internet Businesses

The internet is packed with web businesses jockeying for the... Read More

Earn Money Now from Selling Childrens Items on Ebay

Kids Items You Can SellClothes, toys and videos are good... Read More

Dont Be A Victim Of Online Auction Fraud

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) reported that last year... Read More

Online Auctions: 5 Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Online Auctions

Online auctions are now the new gold rush on the... Read More

Selling through Auction Marketplaces

Consumers are increasingly feeling more comfortable in buying products through... Read More

Is it Antique and is it Worth Anything?

Is it an antique and is it worth anything? Would... Read More

How Do You Find A Reliable Dropshipping Source?

A Dropshipper is someone who will anonymously send the goods... Read More

eBay Online Auction Sniping Secrets

Since their introduction several years ago, online auctions, such as... Read More

A WIN-WIN Scenario On eBay For Buyer/Sellers: Tips For Hunting Want It Now Postings

"Ask And You Shall Receive" Policy Works!You're one-of-a-kind baby clothes... Read More

Ebay Auction Selling Secrets - Using Ebay to Launch Your Very Own Highly Successful Website

Launching your very own successful website is the dream of... Read More

eBay Listing Service : Make Managing Your Auctions Easy

Do you want to have a lot of auctions going... Read More

EBay: No Way?Yes Way (Ten Seller Themes)

Hearing that there are more than 1.2 million registered eBay... Read More

The Powerful eBay Bidding Strategy That Claims A 99% Success Rate

Don't you just love it?You've found that special item on... Read More

eBay After Sales - as Important as the Listing Itself

Your eBay listing has finished and you have made a... Read More

How To Sell On Ebay: Using Store Policies To Cement Your Credibility

In your quest to build credibility as an Ebay seller,... Read More

Profitable Paper Piecing on eBay -- Part 2

Basic Paper Piecing TipsHere are some tips that will help... Read More

How To Make Money Online : Sell On eBay

Selling on eBay can be very profitable, and is a... Read More

Auctions Make Money!

An untapped online business resource--outside of your basic Yahoo and... Read More

Mistakes to Avoid in your eBay Auctions

Online auctions continue to grow in popularity as an easy... Read More

How To Sell Internationally On eBay Without Risk

Many people just getting started on eBay have reservations when... Read More

Drop Shipping Is Your Perfect Home Based Business Solution

Drop Shipping Is Your Perfect Home Based Business SolutionDrop shipping... Read More

eBay Consignments: The Giant Opportunity Hiding on eBay (Part I)

More and more, people are becoming aware that they have... Read More

Is The eBay Fee Increase Actually Good For Business?

Fee Increase Leaves Some Sellers Angry, Others ThrilledMuch of my... Read More

How Professional Ebay Auction Templates Can Boost Your Ebay Sales

Do you like to sell on eBay ? It's easy... Read More