Auction Templates

In simplest terms, an auction template is a predefined ad layout that an online auction seller uses to showcase any particular item they are selling. Some sellers utilize one layout that they carry across all of the items they have for sale while others employ a wide range of auction templates and use whichever one fits the item they are selling.

In simplest terms, an auction template is a predefined ad layout that an online auction seller uses to showcase any particular item they are selling. Some sellers utilize one layout that they carry across all of the items they have for sale while others employ a wide range of auction templates and use whichever one fits the item they are selling.

An auction template consists of HTML code to support the layout of the auction ad and can be coupled with Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) elements for further customization. It generally holds the graphical layout elements and blocks of information that do not change from one auction to another.

Are auction templates a necessity to sell in an auction format?
No, not really. Sellers can easily type in the details of the item they are selling directly into some sort of “Describe your item here…” type of text box. However, doing so will only produce an auction that consists of plain text and maybe a handful of pictures. Yes, that gets the job done, but the only thing that distinguishes you from the large masses of other sellers doing the same thing is your username.

There are a few main reasons that sellers make the decision to work with an auction template:

• To promote a professional presence to their prospective bidders.
• To reduce the necessity of retyping information that does not change from auction to auction.
• To reduce image hosting costs.

Let’s take a look at each of these in greater detail.

Use an auction template to promote a professional presence.
Let’s face it. A buyer’s first impression of an online auction seller is the description of the item being auctioned. We don’t click into an auction and immediately look at a seller’s feedback. We first look at the item’s pictures and read the details that are of interest to us. If a buyer sees a block of plain text, they immediately wonder if this is a new seller… or maybe someone that’s just quickly trying to rid themselves of a particular item. Plain text does not say “Hello. I am a seasoned seller that is going to deliver a top-quality product in a timely fashion.”

Use an auction template to reduce repetitive typing.
Most sellers have their own set of selling policies that remain constant from auction to auction. Pieces of textual information like accepted forms of payment, refund policies, and preferred shipping methods can generally be typed out once then reused with each new auction launched. If you’re not storing these pieces of information somewhere then you are drastically increasing the amount of time you spend posting each auction. With such hairline profit margins in the online auction industry, time is very precious. Why waste more than you have to?

Use an auction template to reduce image hosting costs.
This benefit may not be readily apparent to the novice seller. Let me first say that the more pictures you have of the item you’re selling, the better. Let’s use selling on eBay as an example. If you are not using an outside image host, each auction could easily cost you $1.00 in picture hosting if you use 6 or more photos to support the sale of your item. By using an image host and inserting those hosted image URLs into your template you can easily reduce that cost to around $0.10. If you’re still confused on this point, the you will want to explore this site to find out more about the benefits of using an image host.

Hopefully you are slightly more educated on just what an auction template is and why many sellers elect to use them. Explore this site further to gain an even better understanding and learn how to win over your customers and keep them coming back for more.