Is there a way to drive web traffic to your eBay listing through Adwords etc?
Given the average cost (in volume) of eBay is about 18% of gross (considering an average sell through rate of 50% on your listings), I don’t think adding another 15-20% in Adwords PPC is the way to go.
I’ve had the most success targeting eBay users right on eBay versus going off site. Have you tried the eBay Keywords program? Its currently managed by AdMarketplace -http://www.ampkeywords.com/. The average cost-per-click tends to be lower and it is extremely more targeted than Adwords thereby leading to more conversions.
*START EDIT*
I did some additional research and discovered that the eBay Keywords system is no longer active (spoke directly to eBay about this). Admarketplace is still likely a good place to get started on PPC.
*END EDIT*
Are you including anything in your shipments? It is much easier to get business from an existing client base than to land a new client. Maybe a coupon for reduced shipping or something (considering its an eBay store).
Depending on your type of product, there may be some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques you can employ. This can range from articles to microsites about your products. If you are the manufacturer of the product, you have a lot of options in this arena.
Another route, again dependent on your type of product, is to work with Amazon and few of the other resellers out there. I have a friend who was doing about $5M a year on eBay and he has moved nearly 50% of his volume over to Amazon in the last year.
If you are going the route of considering different outlets and your monthly sales are greater than $10K, you should probably consider Channel Advisor – http://www.channeladvisor.com – These guys allow you to sell on multiple eBay channels as well as Amazon and some of the other engines from a single interface.
Finally, and not least, you should have your own eStore outside of the eBay fees. This becomes more apparent as your sales volume increases and you build a return business. I’ve always advised that eBay should be considered a marketing vehicle. You should make every effort to get folks over to a site where you can enjoy the reduced cost of repeat sales versus being hit with new acquisition costs each time you sell something. My company deploys Product Cart and MIVA. Both are good systems and can be setup and hosted fairly inexpensively. Channel Advisor has a cart with their system as well.
Hope that helps!
Recent Comments