EBay Marketing on Facebook and Twitter

I'm so excited! My friend Beth Cherkowsky of AntiqueDaze has agreed to guest post for us today.  Beth has been selling on eBay and at Amazon.com for 13 years and really knows a thing or two about social networking.  Today Beth teaches us about marketing our eBay items on Twitter and Facebook.  Pay attention; there's a quiz at the end.

So you heard that you should market your eBay items on Facebook and/or Twitter and get more sales?  How?  I don't mean the "ethics" or advisability of it but HOW? the practical, functional question..how do I get it from there (eBay) over here (Facebook)? Well follow along with me...here is one of my items - see the spot I circled?? That's a handy dandy eBay application that if you click on it, WALA it does almost all the work for you.* 

  (*follow after the jump)

So  you click and you get three options - EMAIL TO A FRIEND, SHARE ON FACEBOOK< SHARE ON TWITTER...

Here's what happens when you pick SHARE ON FACEBOOK

Write a scintillating comment or at least a little "blurb" about this item or at least the category of item (such as "I love Rolypolys but I really like ALL the Harmony Kingdom items' or "this is a vintage rock made in Albania in 1742".  Not just "look at my rock".

I'd show you how to share on Twitter but the FailWhale is sitting on everything over there so I can't right now.

Now there are some rules in polite society and there are here too.  Ms Manners is busy but here are mine - 

1. I only do one or the other for any particular item - Facebook or Twitter - not both.  In part, that is because I had my twitterfeed going to Facebook for a while.  But also because the demographics are different so I try to send stuff where I "think" it will be viewed by the folks, who are most likely  to "want" it. (someday I'll be smart enough to explain that statement but today is not looking good)

2. Do Not sit there and click on every item in your eBay store which has 5000 items.   I will unfriend or unfollow you so fast you won't know what hit you. And so will most other "HUMANS".  I didn't follow/friend you to be spammed.  But I'll tolerate it occasionally.

3. If I have a category that has say 113 items in it, I sort the MYEBAY page by that store category and then copy that url.  I  use Tiny URL or  BudURL or another "Shortener" (Hootsuite.com has a built-in one) to shorten the link and I'll send a link to the whole category so folks can see for themselves what's interesting.  I do not have the patience to tweet 113 things or to put up with anyone else doing that to me either. 

4. if you want people to share or retweet your item, keep YOUR tweet or your "blurb" short.  Twitter allows 140 characters. If you use 139 HOW do you expect me to retweet it??
So 

     4A) use "texting" spelling here - GR8 - 4 U - 2 U-  C U THERE~

           and should be &,  tonight can be 2nite or tonite  for is 4...and four is 4  SHORT and sweet as my mother used to tell me..

     4B) leave me a minimum of 15 spaces to retweet (rt @........) otherwise I'm not gonna do it

      4C) In general on Twitter? LOSE THE PUNCTUATION and the obsession with periods.  Leave a space at the end of your thought, it's  enough.

See you on Twitter or Facebook
@antiquedaze  http://www.facebook.com/antiquedaze and http://twitter.com/antiquedaze
@depressionglass  http://www.facebook.com/depressionglasswarehouse

Did I tell you that Beth knows her stuff? That's the quiz and the correct answer is a resounding "Yes!" Be sure to follow her on Twitter and "like" her page on Facebook at the links above. Thanks again, Beth, for sharing these great tips with us!