Ebid advertisement in the united states

[baconsdozen]

Well over 90% of my sales have been to first timers who've found my products on google.Few of them seem to come back to Ebid and buy anything else.The ones I've asked say thats because they've seen little else they want to buy.I think we need more variety of goods,more specialised and niche items.

[Juliebabe25]

Well over 90% of my sales have been to first timers who've found my products on google.Few of them seem to come back to Ebid and buy anything else.The ones I've asked say thats because they've seen little else they want to buy.I think we need more variety of goods,more specialised and niche items.

x2
There are many categories with very few listings.

[Juliebabe25]

The owners of ebid are not stupid.
Everyone knows that advertising is good.
But it is also very expensive and does not always bring results.
I have spent money to bring traffic to my website and it has not paid off.
The only ones who win are the advertising companies.
If ebid thought they would double sales by advertising I am sure they would
But how much would you want fees to go up by ?

[poppa501]

It seems that it always boils down to money (Doesn't it always?) I wouldn't mind donating 1-2% FVF to an "advettising pot". Maybe they could set up a check box in the listings--"Check here to donate (1-2%?) to eBid's advertising fund" It would be optional and would go to an interest bearing acct. Don't know all the techy stuff involved in setting up such a thing. At least I would know that there would be some monies devoted strictly to advertising. Just an idea.

[deltadelta48]

This is popular discussion on ebid forums. Its too expensive. And when we get buyers anyway without advertising, why do it? Its old fashioned and not effective advertising. The promoting you discussed (self marketing etc) is what works as does the google link.l Why buy a superbowl $1M ad when someone looking for a superbowl shirt gets directed right to ebid via google? ebid just added another site to its downloads too!!!

Selling is dfferent today. We figured that out a while back. Following the feebay model does not work here, and that is why we started to put our heads together and do the forum tips. We found we could make sales if we changed our techniques. It works and we shared the tips.

Lots of auction sites learned from feebay's deterioration over last years. They are no longer the only game in town. Feebay may have invented the auction, but buyers change. Feebay kept group segregated, sales were from established members, no outside searches, and advertising was for feebay only, not listings. Ebid's sales come from multiple sources, that seems to be the way it works best, as shoppers now visit many sites and are no longer loyal to one. They google for items instead of going right to feebay as they did 5 years ago.

That customer base makes tv or radio or newspaper advertising very ineffective. ebid is grabbing the SPECIALIZED BUYERS right at the source. Someone plugs in "fishing flies" and they get taken to an ebid seller's listing. How effective is that? If ebid advertised ebid in the newspaper, would they have attracted that person to check out fishing flies. I don't think so.

This technique is great for shoppers, they skim the cream off the milk and get just what they want. Sellers get those specialized buyers who tend to buy more items from one seller Happy match. Its the new way of selling that developed itself on the web, and sadly feebay is left out of the loop. More than 2 million "ads" on google everyday promote not only ebid but our items.

Feebay got a bit of a sucker punch when it did not notice the changes in the marketplace. It never expanded to search sites (unless sellers downloaded themselves), adopted silly rules to exclude smaller sellers (they figures big sellers was way to go), etc. They were all geared up to sell themselves to big box stores. They had traffic and popularity etc. But the market changed and they never saw it coming. Their bid for exclusive GM sales failed after a month. Fashion feebay w/ dif web address has same old tired look of feebay, no burst of sales, they tried classified ads (sort of like Craig list), that appears to be failing too. They went from setting marketing/selling trends to not knowing what the trends were. Sales continue to drop monthly and sellers are jumping off fast. Buyers started to shop around a while ago, but feebay did not notice.

So proposing ebid use the feebay advertising model does not make business sense in this more deversified marketplace. It did not draw in the best buyers when they did it, as it brought in scattered interest, inexperienced shoppers, it will work less effectively now. Buyers don't care what site is called, they follow their items in. If they see professional look, PP accepted, they go ahead and join.

And ebid went to the #2 slot by treating everyone the same (no big box discounts), gives everyone feedback voice, allow FB to be reversed, talks to sellers and listens to their suggestions, made a super professional looking site, quickly handle problems, takes off a scammer in minutes, make listing easy, transfer of listing too, provide open forums for sharing info, charge less for everything etc. That, plus a spotless reputation bring in the sellers and the buyers. Once you get in all the great sellers, they lure the buyers in.

You can't buy this kind of "advertising" (ask feebay, who can't get their reputation for hurting smaller sellers off of many blogs etc). You earn respect, you don't buy it.

You hit on important point, one of the ways word of mouth spreads, at trade shows etc. Many sellers of specialized items do this. Make sure you have your links to stores also printed for those who want to look at your listings, and that you have plenty of stock, a multiple discount policy in place and fair shipping. You will make many sales.

Goes without saying that if a new seller wants to be successful here, dump the emotional/physical ties to feebay. Remove mention from bio (tell potential buyers about YOUR expertise on selling on line), remove the feebay style from listings, rewrite About seller sheet w/o mentioning THEM, figure out new terms etc. Read forums and use all the tips. If a seller does not have first sales within a few weeks, they should come back to forums and members will help them find the problem. Or private message any of us, we are all willing to help new sellers.

And my prediction is that we are going to have a terrific and busy holiday season that starts earlier because people have less money this year. Pack stores and polish listings for the rush. Get problems worked out in listings, and get ready to work hard over next three months.

[deltadelta48]

Well over 90% of my sales have been to first timers who've found my products on google.Few of them seem to come back to Ebid and buy anything else.The ones I've asked say thats because they've seen little else they want to buy.I think we need more variety of goods,more specialised and niche items.

I do agree somewhat about google buyers, but I have had at least 4 come back that buy every week (its been more than a year they have been doing this) , and/or go on binge buying that involves 30-40 items at a time. They all came off cold from google, bought an item or two, I kept experience positive, I added lots of things they liked, and they returned. Again and again. Those buyers (from google) make up a majority of my monthly sales. But I make sure I stock just what they want and keep it well stocked for them.

Lots of room for improvement. Especially in our quantities and varieties We have to make this a place to come that offers more than 20 items per seller. A place where the sellers have hundreds of tempting items, and who treat buyers well. Reputation can't be bought with an advertisement.

Just ran into a situation that supports what you are saying. i.e. I talked up ebid on my knitting site, ravelry and many buyers did not realize that feebay was holding payments, not treating sellers fairly etc(Subject came up when someone on forums wondered where their yarn sellers went). They were excited to try another site for yarns, especially since ebid is in UK. But when they came here, they only found 500 listings for yarn, feebay has 50,000, so nothing to buy here for most of them. I plan to put some of my stash up for sale, and have been picking up vintage yarns, etc. Hopefully more sellers will do same and we can lure people over here for the specialty yarns, needle accessories too. There are categories that do not have a huge variety of items and we have to fix that.

Several sellers have mentioned similiar stories, we talk them into coming, but some areas just don't have the stock to keep em here. We have to change that over the next few months. There is a need, why not fill it. And those areas that are full, like books, we should think of ways to promote those items outside ebid. Whether at book fairs, etc. Anyone who knows specialized buyers should bring them here, BUT we need listings to keep them here and buy.

Holidays are fast approaching, lets hit the 3 million mark which will mean a very busy holiday season for sellers here.

[MagnetsAndHangers]

It seems that it always boils down to money (Doesn't it always?) I wouldn't mind donating 1-2% FVF to an "advettising pot". Maybe they could set up a check box in the listings--"Check here to donate (1-2%?) to eBid's advertising fund" It would be optional and would go to an interest bearing acct. Don't know all the techy stuff involved in setting up such a thing. At least I would know that there would be some monies devoted strictly to advertising. Just an idea.

I would be quite happy with higher fvfs for such purpose - across the board - not just donations.

[terry5732]

Yahoo! spent a bundle on TV ads

How'd that work out for their auction business?

[oaktreesports]

You have made a valid point which is often forgotten, iwiw: Feebay was once an embyonic auction site and, through aggressive advertising, became the giant (ogre) it is today. Of course we have to do our bit instead of sitting back and moaning about the non-appearance of sales, but it would be helpful if eBidplayed a part in advertising their site.
I requested an eBid car sticker but this has not been forthcoming. Surely the cost of sending every new member a sticker would not be too prohibitive? And this would be a good way of advertising the site at car boots etc.
In spite of the lack of advertising, I have done well in the short time I have been here. But it would be nice to be able to leave Feebay behind and put ALL my eggs in one basket

I received a car sticker with my ebid Tshirt.

[baconsdozen]

I saw an advert for Gumtree today on ITV.