How to write an eBay clothing title

Spend the 80 characters on brand, garment, and size

eBay refuses a title longer than 80 characters. Spaces and punctuation count, and the form does not quietly trim the extra words. Put the words a buyer types first: brand, garment, who it fits, the size printed on the tag, then color and fabric if they still fit.

Leave L@@K, WOW, RARE, and strings of punctuation out. They push the size off a phone screen, and eBay treats them as clutter. Write “new with tags” in the condition field. Use NWT in the title only when the tags are actually attached.

Mercari’s sell form also stops the title at 80 characters. The phone feed shows about the first half, so brand, garment, and tag size belong on the left there too. Color and fabric can fill the rest for search.

Mercari measurements and a Marketplace opening line

Mercari’s description box is short next to eBay’s. Plan on about a thousand characters, and assume the first two lines are what a skimming buyer reads. Line one is brand, garment, tag size, and the worst flaw. Line two is the measurements. Then copy the fiber content from the care tag, say what is included, and say whether you washed it.

• Pit to pit, laid flat, seam to seam.
• Length from the highest shoulder point to the hem.
• Sleeve from the shoulder seam. For pants: waist laid flat, rise, and inseam.
• Kids’ clothes: the age or height printed on the tag, not the age of the child who wore them.

Facebook Marketplace buyers often message before they can try anything on. The opening line still needs brand, garment, and tag size, plus the one measurement that prevents a wasted trip, usually pit to pit or inseam. Say whether it is washed and whether you can meet nearby. Leave the price in the price field. “Firm” does not describe a shirt.

Item specifics that stop the size questions

Fill the clothing filters buyers actually use. The usual fields are brand, size, department, type, color, material, and style. If the brand tag is gone, choose unbranded and say the tag is missing. Do not guess a designer from a similar stitch.

• Size type when it is printed or obvious from the cut: regular, plus, petite, tall, or maternity.
• Material from the care label, including percentages. “Soft” is not a fiber.
• Pattern, neckline, and sleeve length when those are how the piece is searched.
• Country of manufacture only when it is printed on the label.

Condition words that name the wear

Say whether the tags are attached and whether the piece was worn. “Excellent used condition” hides the fact the buyer will see in person. If you pick a condition grade, repeat the flaws in the description so someone who never opens the grade still sees them.

• New with tags: tags on, unworn. Mention a marked tag or an opened bag.
• New without tags: unworn. Say if it was tried on.
• Pre-owned: pilling, fade, stretched cuffs, missing buttons, holes, deodorant, stains.
• Altered: hemmed, taken in, or a replaced zipper, and where.

If you have not washed a stain out, do not promise that it will come out. “Dark spot on the front hem, about 1 cm, still there after washing” is a condition. “EUC” is not.

Photograph the tag and the flaw

• The whole garment, front, on a hanger or flat, hem included.
• The back, including the seat of pants or a vent.
• Brand tag, size tag, and fabric-content tag, readable.
• A tape in the frame for pit to pit or inseam.
• A close-up of every flaw you named, in focus.
• Zippers, snaps, and any missing piece of hardware.

Use daylight and skip filters that change the color. Do not upload the brand’s catalog photo. That picture is not your garment, and it hides wear you need to show.

Mistakes that get clothing returned

• A title that is only “cute hoodie” plus a size, with no brand, department, or color.
• Guessing the size because the tag was cut out, or listing the size you wear instead of the printed size.
• Measuring on a body, then arguing about a flat measurement.
• Burying a stain in the last photo or skipping it in the text.
• Calling a polyester blend silk, or calling a recent mall brand vintage.
• Spending the eBay title on price, your handle, or “smoke-free home” instead of the garment.