How to Write eBay Titles That Sell

What eBay actually says about titles (and what it doesn’t)

There’s a whole industry of “Cassini secrets” out there. Most of it is guesswork. eBay doesn’t publish its ranking algorithm, so here’s what eBay itself has said, and nothing more.

• The limit is 80 characters. eBay’s Seller Center says: “use all 80 characters and focus on relevant keywords.”
• Best Match looks at more than the title. eBay’s Best Match help page lists these factors: how closely the listing matches the search terms, how popular the item is, the price, the quality of the listing (description, photos and so on), how complete it is, your terms such as return policy and handling time, and your track record as a seller.
• Formatting can hurt you. eBay’s cross-border seller guide warns that writing whole words in capital letters, or putting asterisks and other markers between words, “can lower your listing ranking in search results.”
• Irrelevant keywords break the rules. The search manipulation policy says “Using keywords that are not directly related to the item for sale is not allowed,” and bans comparisons with other products.
• Item specifics decide filtered search. From Seller Center: “your item will only appear in those filtered search results if you’ve added the matching item specific.”

Why keyword order matters

eBay doesn’t say how much word position counts in search, so treat any exact rule you’ve heard with suspicion. There are still two good reasons to put the identifying words first:

1. Buyers scan. In a grid of 60 results, people read the first few words and the price. “Levi’s 501 34x30” at the start of your title answers the buyer’s question at a glance. “Vintage Awesome Faded Denim…” doesn’t.
2. Long titles get cut off on phones, which is where much of the browsing happens. If the end gets truncated, you want it to be “Denim”, not the model number.

eBay’s own recommended format follows the same order: [brand] [product name] [model no.] [variants: size, color] [additional keyword].

The universal formula

Build every title from these parts, in this order, and cut from the end when you run out of room:

1. Brand (or maker, author, artist). Spell it the way buyers type it: “Levi’s”, “J.Crew”, “Le Creuset”.
2. Model, line or name. “501”, “Better Sweater”, “Pegasus 39”, “Butterprint”. This is often the single most valuable word in the title, and the one beginners leave out.
3. Item type in plain language: jeans, fleece jacket, running shoes, mixing bowl.
4. Deciding specs: the two or three attributes a buyer uses to rule the item in or out (size, color, capacity, storage, edition).
5. Differentiators: era, material, country of manufacture, style code, “Tested Works”, “w/ Box”, whatever justifies your price.
6. Synonyms, if characters are left: “Sweater Knit”, “Denim”, “Sneakers”.

Title formulas by category

Each category has its own must-have words. These are the orders we use. Leave out any part that doesn’t apply to the item.

Where to find the words buyers use

Your title should use the words buyers search, and the best record of those is what already sold.

• Sold listings. Search the item on eBay, filter to Sold Items, and read the titles of the ones that sold for the most. Note which words keep coming up: the model name, a nickname (“Butterprint”, “Chuck 70”), a color name.
• Search autocomplete. Type the brand and item type into the eBay search bar and look at the suggestions. They show you the phrases real buyers use.
• The eBay catalog. For electronics, media and many branded products, matching your item to the catalog fills in product details and item specifics for you. Use the catalog’s model naming in your title as well.
• Collector vocabulary. Every niche has its own terms. Pyrex people say “turquoise”, not “blue”. Denim people search “selvedge” and “big E”. Game collectors search “CIB”. If you don’t know the niche, the sold titles will teach you.

Titles and item specifics work together

A buyer on the Men’s Jeans page who clicks “Size: 34” and “Brand: Levi’s” is now only seeing listings with those item specifics. If your title says “34x30” but the Waist Size specific is empty, you’ve dropped out of that filtered view. It doesn’t matter how good your title is. That’s straight from eBay’s Seller Center.

So the job splits in two:

• Title: matches keyword searches, and persuades someone scanning the results to click.
• Item specifics: match filters. Fill every required one and as many recommended ones as are true for your item. eBay describes recommended specifics as coming from buyer demand and popular searches.

Put the most important attributes (size, color, model) in both places. For apparel and shoes, size specifics now follow eBay’s standardized size lists, so check that yours match. We cover that in eBay item specifics & size requirements.

Before and after: six rewrites

Character counts include spaces and are calculated from the exact strings shown. The model numbers and style codes are examples. Always use the codes printed on your own item.

Why each rewrite works:

• Jeans: Swapped hype for the model (501), exact tag size, wash, and the “Made in USA” detail vintage denim buyers search for.
• Running shoes: Model name and number plus the style code from the tongue label. Condition goes in the condition field, not the title.
• Tablet: Generation, storage, connectivity and the A-number decide the price of an iPad. “Tested Works” and what’s included answer the two biggest used-electronics questions.
• Book: Title first (that’s what book buyers type), then the edition details that separate a $5 copy from a collectible one. Only say “1st Edition” if the copyright page supports it.
• Vintage kitchen: Pattern name and bowl number are how Pyrex collectors search. Collectors call the color “turquoise”, not “blue”.
• Fleece: Dropped the second brand (a search manipulation problem) and used the product line name buyers search for.

Worked example: a thrifted J.Crew topcoat

Here’s the actual order we’d build a title in. The item is a men’s J.Crew wool-blend coat with the tag reading 40R, charcoal, single-breasted.

1. Must-haves first: J.Crew Wool Blend Topcoat Mens Size 40R (39 characters). Brand, material, item type, gender, size.
2. Deciding specs: add Charcoal Gray Single Breasted. Now at 69.
3. Synonym with the space left: buyers search both “topcoat” and “overcoat”, so add Overcoat. Final: J.Crew Wool Blend Topcoat Mens Size 40R Charcoal Gray Single Breasted Overcoat, 78 characters.
4. Check against sold listings: if the high-priced sold comps all say “Ludlow” or a specific wool mill, and your tag says so too, that word is worth more than “Single Breasted”. Swap it in.
5. Mirror into item specifics: Brand, Size (40), Size Type (Regular), Color, Material, Outer Shell Material, Style, Department.

What to cut when you’re over 80

Cut in this order, and stop as soon as you fit:

1. Filler: “great”, “nice”, “beautiful”, “L@@K”, “wow”, “must see”, punctuation used as decoration.
2. Words that repeat another field: condition words like “NWT” or “EUC” are fine if they help buyers scanning, but the condition field is what eBay uses to filter.
3. Repeated words: “Jeans Denim Jeans” adds nothing.
4. Long forms: “with” → “w/”, “inches” → “in”, “quart” → “Qt”, “Size” → nothing before a clear size like 34x30 or 40R.
5. Lesser synonyms, and the extra keywords at the end.

Never cut the brand, the model or line, the item type, or the size. Those are the words people actually search for.

Common mistakes

• Writing for yourself, not the searcher. “Cute boho top” describes the vibe. “Free People Peasant Blouse Womens S Embroidered Cream” is what gets searched.
• Leaving out the model. “Nike shoes size 10” competes with tens of thousands of listings. “Nike Pegasus 39 size 10” competes with a few hundred, and they’re all shown to the right buyer.
• Borrowing other brands. “Like Lululemon”, “not Coach”, “Supreme style”: these are comparisons with other products, and eBay’s search manipulation policy doesn’t allow them. The same goes for “fits” or “for” before a brand name on clothing, jewelry and accessories. Keep one brand per title unless the item really is a collaboration and the tag says so.
• All caps and symbols. They look like spam, they’re harder to read, and eBay says they can lower your ranking.
• Guessing claims. “Vintage”, “1st Edition”, “Rare”, “Authentic” and dates need evidence. A wrong claim in the title turns into a “not as described” return.
• Perfect title, empty item specifics. You’ll still be missing from every filtered search. See the section above.
• Fixing the title when the problem is price. Lots of views but no sales usually means the price is off, not the keywords. Check your pricing against sold comps before you rewrite.

Should you rewrite titles on old listings?

For stale inventory, yes. It’s one of the cheapest experiments you can run. Sort your active listings by views or impressions in Seller Hub. Anything with very few impressions after a few weeks is usually a findability problem: a missing model name, a generic item type, or empty specifics. Rewrite around the sold-listing vocabulary, fill the specifics, and give it a couple of weeks before judging. Listings with plenty of views and watchers but no sales need a price or offer change instead. Sending offers to watchers is often the quickest way to move those.