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How Do I Find a Specific Vendor?

Go to the home page and click on the 'browse vendors' list. The category outline will show you how many different vendors are listing ads in each main category and the sub-categories. If you click on one of the category links you'll see a list of vendors showing the number of active listings they have in that category. The vendors with the most ads are shown first. Click on the name of the vendor to see all of their listings in all categories. Click on the number of ads to see only their listings in the current category.

How do I understand a Vendor's Rating?

When you view any specific listing for a vendor, you'll see two numbers in parentheses next to the vendor name. For example: (7/0). The first number is the total number of positive ratings, and the second number is the total number of negative ratings. To see details of the ratings, click on the numbers. You will be shown all of the ratings for the user, including comments on why the rating was given. The most recent ratings are shown first.

How do I make my Ads more effective?

Upload pictures. Your photo will say a thousand words. The better the shot, the better chance to sell your item. Remember the first picture you add will also display as a thumbnail on the search results page. Make your first picture roughtly square so the thumbnail will not appear distorted because of odd dimensions. The thumbnail will usually appear best if you use a light background. If the background is a color similar to the dominant color of the item, or very dark, then the thumbnail will appear washed out.

Take care with your descriptions.

Make your descriptions complete. If you want to prepare you descriptions in a word processor and paste them into the description box when listing an ad, use a text editor rather than a word processor. Normally, using a commericial word processor package will be fine, but it could lead to unexpected results some times.

Use HTML formatting in your description. A limited number of HTML markup is supported in your item descriptions. You can break up your description into paragraphs with <p>, and highlight text with <b>.

Use effective keywords in your title. The best way to get people to find your listing is by searching for the keywords describing your item. Don't waste title space with common words like 'a', 'the', etc. These words will not result in hits from keyword searches by prospective buyers.

Add shipping information such as your country, zip code, weight and dimensions of the item. This way prospective buyers can go to USPS and see how much shipping will cost.

Price it right. Pricing is the single best way to sell or not to sell. If it is too expensive for the marketplace, try lowering the price. This will move your item quicker. If you do not know what the value is, go to Ebay and search that particular item or contact a news group or a website that carries that particular item. Check out what others are asking for the same item. Another good place to check the prices on items is at Collectaire.com.

Advertise your ads. Make your listing known by placing a link to your item on news groups, forums, and web sites you frequently visit or cater to the item that you are listing.

How do I 'reserve' an ad as a buyer?

If you are a buyer and want to indicate to others that you intend to buy the item, select the reserve item option in the contact type selection list when you send a contact email to the seller. When you do this, your name will appear as the pending buyer when others go to view the ad.

How do I 'unreserve' an ad as a seller?

If you are a seller and want to discourage further emails on an ad, you can edit the title of your ad to include wording like 'pending sale', or you can just remove the ad from your listings from your 'My Swapmeet' page.

If you are the seller, and you want to 'unreserve' an ad because a sale has fallen through, you can do this also from your 'My Swapmeet' page. Any ads you remove from your listing will appear on your 'Inactive Ads' list on the 'My Swapmeet' page. To reactivate the ad, click on the 'relist' link to move the ad back to your active ad list.

What will it cost for me to list some ads?

For an introductory period, you can list ads for free. Later on you will still be able to list one or two free ads per month. To list more than that, you'll need to pay a monthly seller's subscription according to the following schedule:

• 2 ads for $0.00 per month.
• 10 ads for $5.00 per month.
• 25 ads for $7.50 per month.
• 50 ads for $15.00 per month.

If you have suggestions or comments on this document, please contact us by email at info@modelersswapmeet.com.