How to write a toy listing that says what is missing

The set number earns the character

eBay gives you 80 characters, counting spaces. For toys, the brand and the set or character number identify the item better than a scene description. “Complete” may stay only after you have counted. If pieces are missing, name the gap in the title when it fits, because that word prevents the return.

Mercari titles stop at 80 characters and the phone shows the start. Put brand and set number first. The description’s first line should repeat what is missing, because that is the question under every toy photo.

Count pieces, then describe the toy

Mercari’s short description should open with completeness: all pieces against the instruction inventory, or the named parts that are gone. Then year, included instructions or box, battery-compartment condition, and whether you tested a sound or a light. A story about who played with it does not replace the count.

Facebook Marketplace is where bulky toys change hands: play kitchens, ride-ons, dollhouses. The opening lines need the brand, the age marked on the box, whether it is assembled, and if it fits in a car. Small parts matter to a local parent. Say if the toy is for display because pieces are missing, not because you called it vintage.

• Piece count you made, or “not counted against the inventory.”
• Box: present, crushed, or none. Box condition is not toy condition.
• Instructions, posters, and stands, included or not.
• Brand and model or set number, so a buyer can check a recall list themselves.

Specifics collectors filter on

Typical toy specifics are brand, character or series, type, year, and the age or age range printed on the package. Fill year only from a date stamp, a catalog, or the box. A guess teaches the next buyer the wrong year.

• Recommended age from the package, not from how sturdy it feels.
• Material when it matters: wood, die-cast, plush, plastic.
• Features you tested: lights, sounds, remote. Untested stays untested.
• Country or “reproduction” only when the mark says so.

The toy and the box are two conditions

Write both. A mint box with a played-with figure is not a mint toy. A loose complete set with no box is not “new.”

• Paint wear, broken pegs, chewed ears, cut hair, and marker.
• Battery leaks and corroded contacts. Say if batteries are included.
• Smell: smoke, detergent, or a damp basement.
• Repairs and non-original parts.
• Missing stickers or a replaced sticker sheet.

Do not write that a used toy is safe for a child. Include the brand and model so a buyer can look up recalls. If you do not know the history, say you do not know it.

Lay the pieces out

• Everything included, in one overhead photo, so the count can be checked.
• The set number on the box, instructions, or a stamped piece.
• Front and back of the figure or vehicle.
• Close-ups of breaks, stains, and corrosion.
• The battery bay, open, if the toy takes batteries.
• A separate photo of the box if you are selling the box as part of the deal.

Do not use a manufacturer photo of the complete set when yours is missing a minifigure. That photo is a different inventory.

Mistakes toy buyers dispute

• “Complete” without a count, then a missing accessory.
• A title with no set number for a set that is searched by number.
• Box photos only, when the toy inside is damaged.
• Calling a reproduction an original because the mold looks right.
• Leaving a leaky battery in and writing “works.”
• Claiming a certificate or a limited number that is not on the piece in the photo.