| On eBay, Misspelling in titles and descriptions often | | | | who was selling hunting and fishing knives on eBay |
| means "opportunity". | | | | recently, covered all the bases: his listing |
| When Steve Marconi wanted to sell his ex-wife's | | | | advertised every sort of alphabetic butchery, |
| diamond ring, he listed them on eBay - but his | | | | including knifes and knive. |
| item didn't sell. So, he put the item up for sale | | | | Mr. Lieu, a computer programmer, keeps a list of |
| again...still no sale. | | | | common misspellings, including labtop for laptop |
| Could it be that he used a reserve? Perhaps the | | | | and Cusinart for Cuisinart. |
| description wasn't very good. Maybe the pictures | | | | His strategy of listing multiple spellings, he said, is |
| didn't do the item justice - because, in fact, it was | | | | based on his experience as a buyer. "I'm a bad |
| a beautiful diamond ring. Is it possible that the title | | | | speller myself," he said. So his mistakes in |
| was well written: Dimond Ring Size 6.5 1.0 Carat | | | | searching for items led him to realize that he |
| Emerald Cut Low Reserve | | | | could buy up bargains. |
| The answer seemed obvious - to everyone but | | | | "I'd go ahead and deliberately misspell it when I |
| Steve. On eBay, some sellers are clueless, while | | | | searched for items," he said. |
| others are just careless. You'll find items for sale | | | | Even some who have made money off |
| on eBay such as labtop computers, throwing | | | | misspellings have felt their bite. |
| knifes, Art Deko vases, camras, comferters and | | | | When Mr. Scroggins, who has been helping his |
| saphires...even dimond rings. | | | | parents sell off the contents of his father's |
| Now, you might be thinking...there is no way that | | | | jewelry and watch repair store, recently listed "a |
| people really misspell the key word wrong for the | | | | huge lot of earings," it attracted only three bids, |
| specific item for sale. Well, not only does it | | | | and sold for just $5.50. |
| happen, but it happens frequently. | | | | And then there was the time he sold the family's |
| These item will occasionally get bidders - bur | | | | flatwear. |
| rarely very many. Often these items are scooped | | | | The eBay Search Program is a great resource for |
| up by "Power Buyers", or people who troll eBay | | | | both buyers and sellers. This easy to use program |
| for spelling slip-ups, buying items on the cheap and | | | | and search results appear in as little as three |
| selling them all over again on eBay, but with the | | | | seconds. Simply enter your keyword and with the |
| right spelling and for the right price. Michael B., a | | | | click of the mouse you will be whisked off to |
| jeweler in West Palm Beach Florida, is one of | | | | ebay to find the hidden gems.eBay generates |
| them. | | | | over a billion page views a DAY. Of the tens of |
| Mr. B once bought a box of gers for $2. They | | | | millions of items for sale on eBay at any given |
| were gears for pocket watches, which he cleaned | | | | time, how many misspelled item titles prevent the |
| up and put back on the auction block with the | | | | auction from showing up in a search? |
| right spelling. They sold for $200. "I've bought and | | | | lets you search for items that are misspelled right |
| sold stuff on eBay and Yahoo that I bought for | | | | from your desktop. Enter in your item name, hit |
| next to nothing" because of poor spelling or vague | | | | the Search button, the program will search eBay |
| descriptions, he said. | | | | for dozens of variations of your search term. A |
| David Scroggins, who lives in Milwaukee, also | | | | built in browser will whisk you away to eBay and |
| searches for misspellings. His company provides | | | | provide you with all the current active auctions |
| entertainment for weddings and corporate | | | | for those items that are misspelled by the sellers. |
| events, and microphone systems for shows at | | | | You should be able to pick up some real bargains |
| Wisconsin's casinos. He has bought Hubbell | | | | with no one else bidding against you. Just |
| electrical cords for a 10th of their usual cost by | | | | remember thousands of items on eBay are listed |
| searching for Hubell and Hubbel. And he now | | | | with misspelled titles, from a single word to |
| operates his entire business by laptop computers, | | | | multiple words. These items often expire with no |
| having bought three Compaqs for a pittance | | | | bids on them as no-one can find them. Use to |
| simply by asking for Compacts instead. | | | | uncover those hidden gems. |
| No one knows how much misspelling is out there | | | | See what the experts are saying about eBay |
| in eBay land, where more than $28 billion worth of | | | | misspellings: |
| goods was sold last year. The company does flag | | | | "Look for misspellings! Many famous designers |
| common misspellings, but wrong spellings can also | | | | have hard-to-spell names. By searching eBay for a |
| turn up similar misspellings, so that buyers and | | | | misspelling, you may get a great deal!" "There are |
| sellers frequently read past the Web site's slightly | | | | many items listed on the auction site that sell for |
| bashful line asking, by any chance, "Did you mean | | | | much less than they are really worth because the |
| . . . chandelier?" | | | | sellers don't check their listing's spelling before |
| Just the other day I searched on eBay and in less | | | | they post." NY Times |
| than an hour turned up dozens of items, including | | | | "Did you know that on eBay you can probably |
| bycicles, telefones, dimonds, mother of perl, | | | | pick up a labtop pretty cheap? How about getting |
| cuttlery, bedroom suits and loads of antiks. | | | | some dimonds for a great price? These and |
| This creates a great buying opportunity. Often | | | | many other items can be yours if you have a list |
| times people ask where they can find product to | | | | of commonly misspelled." If they can misspell it, |
| sell on eBay. Sometimes the answer can be as | | | | will find it on eBay. |
| simple as "On eBay". | | | | Two ways to profit with on eBay: |
| Ms. Marshall, who lives in Dallas, said she knew she | | | | 1) The first being as an eBay seller . . . |
| was on shaky ground when she set out to spell | | | | Many sellers misspell words either by accident or |
| chandelier. But instead of flipping through a | | | | because the seller doesn't know the true spelling. |
| dictionary, she did an Internet search for | | | | This can result in low traffic and or no sale. |
| chandaleer and came up with 85 or so listings. | | | | Simply use to search eBay and find listings that |
| She never guessed, she said, that results like that | | | | no one else (or very few) will find, and place your |
| meant she was groping in the spelling wilderness. | | | | bid for pennies on the dollar of what that item is |
| Chandelier, spelled right, turns up 715,000 times. | | | | actually worth. |
| Some experts say there is no evidence that | | | | Then, once you receive the item, re-list it using |
| people are spelling worse than they ever did. But | | | | the correct title and an updated description. You |
| with the growth of e-mail correspondence and | | | | might want to take new pictures. You already |
| instant messaging, language has grown more | | | | have all the packaging material (since the item |
| informal. And much as calculators did for | | | | arrived to you packaged). |
| arithmetic, spell checkers have made good spelling | | | | makes this process simple, efficient and highly |
| seem to quite a number of people like an | | | | profitable. There are sellers on eBay who make |
| obsolete virtue. | | | | $200+ every week using this "Product Flipping" |
| Not that spell checkers are used by nearly | | | | strategy. |
| everyone. Indeed, experts say the Internet -- | | | | 2) A buyer can benefit as well . . . |
| with its discussion boards, blogs and self-published | | | | There are real bargains to be found on eBay - |
| articles -- is a treasure trove of bad spelling. | | | | you just have to know how to find them. If you |
| "Before the Internet came along, poor spelling by | | | | make a habit of searching for misspelled auctions |
| the public was by and large not exposed," said | | | | you will be surprised at how many deals you will |
| Paige P. Kimble, the director of the National Spelling | | | | be able to pick up. Labtop comuters (Laptop |
| Bee. Now, though, "we are becoming acutely | | | | Computers) for under $200, |
| aware of what a challenge spelling is for us." | | | | Corldess (Cordless) drills for under $9 (I am talking |
| Sandra Wilde, author of the 1992 book "You Kan | | | | Dewalt, Makita, Craftsman etc. ). Dimond |
| Red This!: Spelling and Punctuation for Whole | | | | (Diamond) rings for under $20. Pyaystaiton |
| Language Classrooms K-6," said language served | | | | (Playstation) Systems under $50. The list goes on |
| a variety of purposes, so that in some settings it | | | | and on.eBay has a feature to check your spelling |
| might make sense to skip punctuation or to | | | | but like almost anything, most people don't use it. |
| speak in slang. She likens instant messaging, for | | | | Many Powersellers will list items on eBay with third |
| example, to notes passed at the back of the | | | | party auction software providers that don't offer |
| classroom when the teacher's back is turned: | | | | a spell checker. |
| there is no premium on proper spelling. | | | | Commonly misspelled words on eBay can include |
| "On something like eBay though," she said, "it | | | | popular name brands such as: |
| matters.' | | | | Tommy, Eddie Bauer, Liz Claiborne, Gap, Dockers, |
| Smart sellers will actually keep in mind that | | | | Apple, Vaio, Dell, or HP Abercrombie, aeropostale, |
| misspelling doesn't just come from a seller listing | | | | Cordless, Laptop, iPod, motherboard, silver plate |
| an item for sale - but from a buyer as well who | | | | and much more. |
| will actually search on eBay using a common | | | | Learn more about Today! |
| misspelling of the item. Warren Lieu of Houston, | | | | |