On eBay, misspellings in titles and descriptions often mean “opportunity.”
When Steve Marconi wanted to sell his ex-wife’s diamond ring, he listed them on eBay, but his item didn’t sell. So, he put the item up for sale again… still no sale.
Could it be that he used a reserve? Maybe the description wasn’t very good. Perhaps the pictures didn’t do the item justice, because it was, in fact, a beautiful diamond ring. Is it possible that the title was spelled correctly? Diamond Ring Size 6.5 1.0 Carat Emerald Cut Low Reserve
The answer seemed obvious, to everyone but Steve. On eBay, some sellers are clueless, while others are simply sloppy. He’ll find items for sale on eBay like lab computers, throwing knives, Art Deko vases, cameras, comferters, and sapphires… even diamond rings.
Now, you might be thinking… there’s no way people are actually going to misspell the keyword for the specific item for sale. Well, it doesn’t just happen, it happens frequently.
These items will occasionally get bidders, but rarely many. Often these items are picked up by “Power Buyers”, or people who troll eBay for misspellings, buying items cheaply and selling them again on eBay, but with the correct spelling and for the correct price. Michael B., a jeweler in West Palm Beach, Florida, is one of them.
Mr. B once bought a box of gers for $2. They were pocket watch gears, which he cleaned and replaced on the auction block with the correct spelling. They sold for $200. “I’ve bought and sold things on eBay and Yahoo that I bought for next to nothing” because of misspelling or vague descriptions, he said.
David Scroggins, who lives in Milwaukee, also looks for misspellings. His company provides entertainment for weddings and corporate events and microphone systems for entertainment in Wisconsin casinos. He has purchased Hubbell electrical cables for a tenth of the usual cost from him looking for Hubbell and Hubbel. And now he runs his entire business on laptops, having bought three Compaqs for a pittance simply by ordering Compacts instead of him.
No one knows how many misspellings there are on eBay, where more than $28 billion worth of goods were sold last year. The company does flag common misspellings, but misspellings can also lead to similar misspellings, so buyers and sellers often read past the website’s slightly shy line and ask, offhand, “Did you mean … chandelier?”
Just the other day I searched on eBay and in less than an hour I found dozens of items, including bicycles, phones, diamonds, mother-of-pearl, silverware, nightwear, and a bunch of antiques.
This creates a great buying opportunity. People often ask where they can find products to sell on eBay. Sometimes the answer can be as simple as “On eBay.”
Ms. Marshall, who lives in Dallas, said she knew she was on shaky ground when she set out to spell chandelier. But instead of flipping through a dictionary, she did an internet search for chandaleer and found about 85 listings.
She never guessed, she said, that results like these meant she was groping in the spelling desert. Candlestick, correctly spelled, appears 715,000 times.
Some experts say there’s no evidence that people are spelling worse than ever. But with the growth of email correspondence and instant messaging, the language has become more informal. And just like calculators did arithmetic, spell checkers have made good spelling seem like an outdated virtue to many people.
Not that almost everyone uses spell checkers. In fact, experts say that the Internet, with its discussion forums, blogs, and self-published articles, is a treasure trove of misspellings.
“Before the Internet came along, misspelling by the general public was not exposed,” said Paige P. Kimble, director of the National Spelling Bee. Now, however, “we are becoming very aware of the challenge that spelling presents to us.”
Sandra Wilde, author of the 1992 book “You Kan Red This!: Spelling and Punctuation for Whole Language Classrooms K-6,” said language served a variety of purposes, so in some settings it might make sense to omit punctuation or slang speaking She likens instant messaging, for example, to notes being passed around in the back of the classroom when the teacher’s back is turned: correct spelling is not rewarded.
“However, we have something like eBay,” he said, “it matters.”
Smart sellers will actually take into account that misspellings are not only coming from a seller listing an item for sale, but also from a buyer actually searching eBay using a common misspelling of the item. Warren Lieu of Houston, recently selling hunting and fishing knives on eBay, covered all the bases: His listing advertised every type of alphabetical butcher shop, including knives and razors.
Mr. Lieu, a computer programmer, keeps a list of common misspellings, including labtop for laptop and Cusinart for Cuisinart.
His strategy of listing multiple spellings, he said, is based on his experience as a buyer. “I’m a bad speller myself,” he said. Then his mistakes in searching for items led him to realize that he could buy bargains.
“I would go ahead and deliberately misspell it when looking for articles,” he said.
Even some who have made money off misspellings have felt its bite.
When Mr. Scroggins, who has been helping his parents sell the contents of his father’s jewelry and watch repair shop, recently listed “a huge batch of earrings,” it attracted just three bids and sold for just $5.50.
And then there was the time when he sold the family flats.
Tea MisspellGenerator.com The eBay search engine is a great resource for both buyers and sellers. This program is easy to use and search results appear in as little as three seconds. Just enter your keyword and with a mouse click you will be taken to eBay to find the hidden gems.
eBay generates over a billion page views a DAY. Of the tens of millions of items for sale on eBay at any given time, how many misspelled item titles prevent the auction from appearing in a search?
MisspellGenerator.com allows you to search for misspelled items right from your desktop. Enter the name of your item, hit the Search button, the program will search eBay for dozens of variations of your search term. A built-in browser will take you to eBay and provide you with all current active auctions for those items that were misspelled by sellers.
You should be able to score some real bargains without anyone else bidding against you. Just remember that thousands of items on eBay are listed with misspelled titles, from a single word to multiple words. These items often expire and there are no offers on them, since no one can find them. Use MisspellGenerator.com to discover those hidden gems.
See what the experts say about eBay misspellings:
“Look for misspellings! Many famous designers have names that are hard to spell. By searching eBay for a misspelling you can get a great deal!” dummies.com
“There are many items listed on the auction site that sell for far less than they’re actually worth because sellers don’t spell check their listings before posting.” The New York City Times
“Did you know that on eBay you can probably pick up a laptop fairly cheap? How about getting some diamonds at a great price? These and many other items can be yours if you have a list of the most misspelled ones.” friki.com
If they can misspell it, MisspellGenerator.com will find it on eBay.
Two ways to benefit from MisspellGenerator.com on eBay:
1) The first as an eBay seller. . .
Many salespeople misspell words, either by accident or because the salesperson doesn’t know the correct spelling. This can result in little traffic and/or no sales.
Simply use MisspellGenerator.com to search eBay for listings that no one else (or very few) will find, and place your bid for pennies on the dollar of what that item is actually worth.
Then, once you receive the article, republish it with the correct title and an updated description. You may want to take new photos. You already have all the packing material (since the packed item arrived).
MisspellGenerator.com makes this process simple, efficient, and highly profitable. There are sellers on eBay making over $200 every week using this “product switch” strategy.
2) A buyer can also benefit. . .
There are real bargains on eBay, you just have to know how to find them. If you’re in the habit of looking for misspelled auctions, you’ll be surprised at how many offers you can find. Labtop Computers under $200,
Cordless (cordless) drills under $9 (I’m talking Dewalt, Makita, Craftsman, etc.). Dimond Rings (Diamond) for less than $20. Playstation systems (Playstation) for less than $50. The list goes on and on.
eBay has a spell check feature, but like most things, most people don’t use it. Many Powersellers will list items on eBay with third-party auction software providers that do not offer a spell checker.
Commonly misspelled words on eBay can include popular brand names such as:
Tommy, Eddie Bauer, Liz Claiborne, Gap, Dockers, Apple, Vaio, Dell or HP Abercrombie, aeropostale, Cordless, Laptop, iPod, motherboard, silver plate and much more.
learn more about MisspellGenerator.com Today!