How to write a card listing that sells
Buying and selling. . 1 min read.
A card sells for less when fewer people see it and fewer of those can tell what it is. Both problems are solved in the title and the photographs, before price enters into it.
The title
Buyers search the way the card is described on its back. Include, in roughly this order: year or season, set name, player name, card number, parallel, and grade if graded. Leave out adjectives entirely. Nobody searches for rare, mint or investment, and those words consume characters that a card number needed.
The card number is the single most skipped element and the one that makes a listing findable by someone who knows exactly what they want. Those are your best buyers.
The photographs
- Front and back, square on, filling the frame.
- Natural indirect light. Flash hides surface faults and buyers know it does.
- A close shot of each corner on anything mid value or above.
- Photograph any flaw deliberately. A disclosed flaw is a lower price; an undisclosed one is a return.
The description
State the condition in plain terms, note whether it has been in a sleeve, and say how it will be posted. If it is raw, say so explicitly rather than letting a buyer assume.
The price
Set from completed sales, not from what other people are asking, for the reasons in why your card is worth less than the listings say. The method is how to price a sports card.