How to Incorporate Product Variations and Attributes into eBid and Google Shopping

As a seller, you always strive to make your products stand out from the other products on the market. When we think of the world of e-commerce, gaining visibility is absolutely essential. With a new eBid feature recently released, your products not only gain prominence but so much more.

We were having frequent queries on how an item could be listed for sale when it has apparent variations like different colors or sizes. Let’s read on to learn how you can add the product attributes and variations to your product listings which then shows up on both on eBid and Google shopping.

Product Attributes

Feature: One of our new features is “Product Attributes” which are facts defining your product. They help to identify the exact product you are going to list on eBid. Its primary purpose is to ensure that potential buyers can seek out the perfect product they are willing to buy.

Product Attributes make the sorting and filtering amongst millions of products much more accessible with only one click. A customer can see the product attributes on the listing details page. They can click and select the exact product they like from the entire product listing.

Usage: When listing an item for sale you will see the attribute dropdown options in Section One under 'product attributes' if applicable. Click on the product attributes heading and select the ones applicable from the drop-down menu when listing an item. Take care only to choose the relevant attributes.


Example: Let’s say you are selling a T-shirt in three different colors, select colors as the attribute. If the T-shirt is available in various sizes like small, medium and large, size will be another attribute. The three colors and sizes are called terms of the product attributes. Once you do this, the number of products shows up as more than one due to the attributes present. For CDs, you can add a Genre. For Shoes, Size and Color can be added. For Books, Subject and Book Type (Paperback/Hardback) options are available. For External Hard Drives the Capacity attribute can be included.

Product Variations

Feature: Product variations are derived based on the attributes and refer to the different choices a customer has when they wish to make a purchase. In simple terms, product variations give some alternatives to the customers from which they make informed decisions.

Usage: At the time of listing the product on eBid, go to product attributes, and select the relevant ones. Once this is done, choose the product variations from the drop-down menu and add them to the product profile.

Example: In the T-shirt example above, variation will be the specific choice which a particular customer may apply while purchasing. It is also the combination of those attribute terms making up the customer choice. So, if a customer wants a medium size T-shirt in white color, this product will show up as available if it has been entered correctly in the product listing. Another customer may want a small T-shirt in red color, which will be another variation and will show up if it is available in the product listing.

Benefits of Product Attributes and Variations

eBid is an approved marketplace partner of Google Shopping. Once you list your product on eBid, it gets uploaded to Google shopping within minutes, provided the terms and conditions for the Google listing are satisfied and you are a Seller+ member. Make sure that complete product attribute and variation information is present for the product to show up correctly in eBid database and on Google Shopping searches. With relevant and up-to-date information on all product attributes, online shoppers can easily find you in the Google Shopping searches.

In Google shopping and eBid - these product variations and attributes help create multiple product models which a potential customer may choose to buy. If product variations and attributes are not used in e-commerce, it can result in a one-size-fits-all approach, which is not possible. Each customer has their own choice and preferences in purchasing a product. Like manufacturers make products with different attributes, a customer also wants differentiations in product variations.

Tap into the power of Google shopping with your eBid Listing today.

Keys to Buying and Selling Stamps in Today’s Online World

If you’ve had an interest in philately (the study of stamps, as well as collecting them), you might not know where to begin the process. If you’re thinking about selling stamps because you enjoy the process, there are a few important points to keep in mind about buying and selling stamps.

There are plenty of ways to buy and sell stamps.

You can go to a flea market, fair, local shop, clubs, and online to find stamps for sale (and buyers looking for those you have in your collection). More and more shopping online for stamps has become an easy way to build up your collection and over the last 10 years has become the most popular way to buy and sell stamps. eBid has over 700,000 stamps for sale from all corners of the globle Stamps

Have a clear idea about what types of stamps you want to buy and sell.

There are so many different categories, including time periods, that you really need to spend some time going through a catalogue and figuring out what interests you most.
If you start throwing darts at a wall, you’ll hit something, but everyone has their preferences that spark passion and interest. Find out which time period, location, and other aspects are most important to you.

When buying stamps, check the source.

It’s a good idea to check the seller's 'All About Me' Page as well as their feedback. Make sure he or she has a solid reputation and someone you can converse with via the Q&A's if you need to ask any questions.

When selling, be clear on all of the details.

List the details of the stamps or collection(s) you’re selling. What year was it printed? How many years was it in circulation for? Is it rare? If so, provide supporting evidence of that.
Be sure to honestly provide a representation of the quality of the stamp. If it’s never been used and stored in a sealed container, it may be mint. If not, it isn’t.

Ask questions.

Whether you’re the buyer or seller, ask questions. Don’t hesitate to ask these questions because it’s the one question you don’t ask that can be the difference between you making a great decision and one you regret.

Stamp collecting, buying, and selling can be a great deal of fun. It doesn’t cost much to get started and when you follow these key tips, you’ll end up enjoying this hobby tremendously for many years to come and make many new friends at eBid.

How hard is it to find Greeting Cards?

Have you been having trouble finding that perfect greeting card?

Come Christmas and you will want the luxury to choose between Merry Christmas tunes, or to dig deeper for more unusual and even personalized Christmas cards. You might be stuck looking for a greeting card for one of life’s big events, for instance anything to do with babies - that comes in the forms of Personalized Baby Cards, Baby Shower invitations, Christening Invitations and Children’s Cards.

If any or all of these are the case, then you are definitely in need of a place for finding greeting cards for all occasions.

General Greeting Cards

Although general greeting cards like these are readily available at stores, you might be looking for greeting cards with a twist. if you really just want to say hello or “what’s up”, you might have trouble finding the right words to suit your specific needs you may likely be refreshed to come across eBid that offers an alternative.

Now, as for something truly unique, creative and rather unusual – we’ve arrived at the next frontier of eBid Greeting cards under the Occasions & Seasonal.

Unique & Unusual Cards

Do you want to go contemporary or perhaps a little artier? Have you been dreaming along the lines of uniquely designed homemade cards? Wouldn’t we all want to make our greeting cards more personalized by opting for stunning Photographic Cards, Designer cards or an Artisan touch?

Luckily for greeting card enthusiasts, eBid’s Occasions & Seasonal category makes it easy to find the perfect quirky and unusual greeting cards.

New Parent: Save Money on Baby Essentials With eBid

If you're expecting a baby soon then I want to offer you congratulations, but I'm sorry to inform you that babies are incredibly expensive! Whether you've been out looking to buy a cot or buy a pram, you'll be amazed at how much everything costs.

If you have already resigned yourself to spending a fortune on your baby then you will be glad to know that you actually don't have to. There is a great way for you to save money when shopping for your baby essentials which we will tell you about today.

How To Save Money on Baby Essentials

As soon as you start shopping for your new baby you'll be shocked at the incredibly high costs. When you are buying a pram you will find that they can cost as much as $1500.00 (£800) and above. It is usually even more expensive if you want to take home all of the little add ons and extras.

Buying a pram is only one part of the shopping you will need to do before your baby comes along. Even though baby clothes are cheap, buying baby clothes will quickly become an expensive habit! Especially when you notice just how quickly babies grow, never mind how often they are sick on their clothes! You will certainly need a full wardrobe if you want to keep your baby in nice, clean clothes.

Wherever you look, when there's a baby involved there are a lot of expenses!

The good news is that you don't have to pay these high prices for everything you need for your baby. If you are buying a pram you can head straight to eBid and find a huge range of baby essentials with over 8000 items listed in eBid US and over 4500 items in eBid UK which people are selling. You'll find everything from prams to car seats to mattresses to nappies!

You can find everything on eBid for a fraction of the price it would cost you on the high street. This is because as soon as their kids have grown up, parents are usually happy to sell their baby essentials on to other people and get some of money back for them.

Conclusion

If you are expecting a baby soon then you will already be wondering how you can cut down on some of these unexpected costs. You'll be glad to know that, while you can't get rid of the costs altogether, you can reduce the amount you need to spend.

If you check out the baby listings on eBid you will be amazed to find how much you can save.

Whether you're buying a pram or buying a cot, you should head to the baby section of eBid and make those savings today!

News from Gazza

4,644,292 Live Listings New Record
28,546 Categories
$12,125,435,223 Gross Listing Value New Record

Welcome to the eBid July Newsletter

We hope you've all had an enjoyable July, the weather has been a little wetter of late but that hasn't stopped cracking on in the background with our exciting changes. As is often the case circumstances out of our control have set us back a bit on our time-line for launch during July but we have set a date of August 15th for a brief period of downtime to update some hardware in our data-centre and at the same time we will be installing the updated website code so put that date in your diaries.

One of the most significant changes will be product attributes whereby certain values specific to your item can be applied when creating a listing and buyers will be able to filter using these attributes to help locate the items they are looking for much easier and efficiently. At launch we will have attributes up and running for hundreds of categories but if you wish to ensure your favourite categories are ready then pop over to our category suggestion forum and let us know which categories you would like us to spend some time on.

July has seen us reach the 4.5m listing mark for the first time. So a huge thanks to everyone who visited eBid during the month. Gross listing value has also hit a new record.

Another record broken during July is the number of "push messages" that we send out to mobile devices that have the eBid mobile app installed. Push messages are those little notifications that pop up on your phone. Once the eBid app is installed and you "allow" notifications we are able to send you notifications of the important actions that occur relating to your eBid account. For example, when making sales, being asked a question, being made an offer, receiving bids etc. If you haven't already done so just visit the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to keep yourself up to date with all your eBid trading activity.

Once again bidders on eBid have done themselves proud in helping raise over $20,000 during US Soccer's auction of the US Men’s National Team autographed, game-issued and pride-inspired rainbow numbered jerseys from the July match vs. Venezuela. The auctions were in aid of You Can Play Project. Many thanks to everyone who took part, congratulations to all the winners.

We've had quite a few support questions this month from eBidders who were unaware that email addresses they had been using for many years were no longer active. A range of email addresses were taken out of service EE earlier this year. If your email address is in this list then you will need to create a new email address. Full details can be found here .

orange.net
orangehome.co.uk
wanadoo.co.uk
freeserve.co.uk
fsbusiness.co.uk
fslife.co.ukv
fsmail.net
fsworld.co.uk
fsnet.co.uk
Other updates this month :

BUGFIX - Mouse scroll wheels were scrolling the underpage instead of the My Gallery overlay on selling page
Interesting Items on eBid

Selling Tips

General Tips to Follow Every Day

Regular sellers on eBid will tell you there are infinite ways to improve the chances of selling. Some are very small but some are more obvious and should be followed as general rules when listing items on eBid. We've collated a small list of the most effective tips that will help you on your way.

DO make sure you fill the BARCODE and BRAND boxes when listing your items, you'll get loads of extra free promotion for your items via Google Shopping.
DO make sure you add BRAND, SIZE and COLOR data when listing your clothing items, Google Shopping require certain data about your items before they will promote it for you.
DO price your items sensibly. As you are only paying between 0% and 3% sales fee and not 10% to 14% then don't be scared to price your items more attractively on eBid. You can reduce your prices and still make a larger profit margin on your items than selling elsewhere.
DO use our "Make an Offer" system. Just add a sensible BuyNow price to your items and tick the MaO box to listen to offers that your buyers are willing to make. You can set up automatic acceptance and rejections if you want to also.
DO add great photos. We've just increased the maximum photo dimensions from 600x600px to 700x700px. Take advantage and upload photos of at least this size to show your buyers your items in all their glory.
DO be clear and concise with your shipping and returns policies. You'll be surprised how many buyers are put off by having to make contact with you to find out shipping costs and how long it takes for the item to be sent out.
Giving Customers a Good Experience
We all recognise the importance of good customer service. Once upon a time, this was only thought of in terms of items they physically purchased in a store. That has all changed, and buyers expect the same level of customer service when buying online now as well they should. Yes, it is a different scenario and you can't actually smile, shake hands and thank your customers face-to-face, but there is a lot you can do to keep your customers happy and build good relations with them.Have a look at our related blog on Efficient Communication with Buyers - you may learn a few tricks worth putting into practice.

Competition Time

Last Month's Question :

Which US national sporting team is running charity auctions on eBid currently?

a) US Soccer
b) US Basketball
c) US Hockey

The correct answer was (a) US Soccer. Congratulations go to KAYS6912 from South Lanarkshire, UK for winning last month's competition, your eBid Goodie Bag should be with you very soon.

Now for this month's question :

How much did the recent US Soccer Team auctions raise for charity?

a) around $5,000
b) around $10,000
c) around $20,000

To enter send us :

Answer to the competition question
Your eBid username
Name and address for sending out any prizes
Incomplete entries will be automatically deleted. Closing date 10th August 2017. Email answers to competitions@ebid.net

Until next month,
Gazza & Mark