eBay Success Strategies Sarah Brubacher, Seller Development

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eBay Success StrategiesSarah Brubacher, Seller
Development
Infopia ConferenceMarch 4, 2008
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eBays Focus Areas
Example Initiatives
Trust

• Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs)
• Global leader in Anti-Counterfeit Measures

Ensure buying on eBay is safe
eBay Listing Inventory Growth
Selection

• Dramatic reduction in Fixed Price fees
• New consumer demand reports for sellers

Find the bargains youre looking for
Source Q308 Earnings Call

• Deep SKU programs Daily Deal
• New Value-seeking Finding Algorithms

Value
Deals you tell others about
Key Focus for Business Development
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eBays Changes Make It A Better Place To Sell
Hottest Item Wins
Deep SKU Programs Daily Deal
New Search algorithms bringing most successful
items to the top
New promotions moving thousands of units a day
Item Price 1Day Sales Universal
Remote 29 6800 units Digital Frame 39 2300
units 4.3 GPS 99 1100 units Blu-Ray
Player 229 800 units
More sales, higher listing
Sold Out
Sold Out
Promotional Opportunities
Rigorous Anti-Counterfeit Efforts
Special attention on best deals
Zero tolerance on fake goods
SEO Focus
Tens of millions of dollars invested by eBay to
stop fraud 13K rules running simultaneously to
spot fake items 28K Rights Owners enrolled to
help stop fakes 100 of reported items
removed Leader in law enforcement partnerships
around the world
Homepage Placements
Joint Promotions
Direct e-mail Campaigns
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Best Match Search
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Best Match Defined

• Best Match is the default sort order on the
  search results page that shows potential buyers
  the most relevant and popular items for their
  search criteria
• Best Match uses different criteria to evaluate
  and sort Auction-style listings and Fixed Price
  listings
• Best Match evaluates Sellers Items on the
  following
• Recent Sales for Fixed Price
• Time Ending soonest for Auction-style
• Sellers Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs)
• Sellers buyer satisfaction ratings
• Item Title Relevance
• Item Shipping Cost

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Succeed In Search Example Search Results Page
For Wii Console
Success Factors
Detailed item titles and all item specifics
30 sales in the last 24 hours
- All top 8 items have accurate and descriptive
titles
The right format
- Half of the top 8 items are auctions
16 sales in the last 24 hours
Recent sales for Fixed Price listings
- Top Fixed Price listings have recent sales
Free Shipping
10 sales in the last 24 hours
- All top 8 items have free shipping
Your DSR scores
- Top 8 listings have average of 4.8 DSRs
4 sales in the last 24 hours
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Write A Descriptive Title And Use Item Specifics

• Use all 55 characters of the title to include
  words buyers use to find your listing
• Appropriate keywords in your title will help
  buyers find your item
• Relevant keywords in your title will give your
  listing a boost in search results
• List in all relevant categories
• Choose as many item aspects as possible,
  especially condition
• If a buyer filters his results for Condition
  New, listings that have not specified the
  Condition item specific will not be in the
  search results

• List your item as a product using pre-filled item
  information
• Your listing will appear on the product pages as
  well as search results page

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Choose The Right Format

• Key criteria for Auction-style format
• Time Ending Soonest
• When to list in Auction-style
• Single quantity
• Low start price uncertain value
• Fast moving auction-style listings have a higher
  conversion rate than Fixed Price
• Unique or hard to find
• Low inventory/occasional seller
• Include a Buy it Now option to allow buyers to
  purchase immediately

• Key criteria for Fixed Price format
• Recent Sales
• When to list in Fixed Price
• Multi-quantity
• Commodity
• Value is known
• Longer durations available
• Include Best Offer option

On average, auction-style still makes up 70 of
the listings on the first page of search results
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Succeed in Search for Fixed Price

• Gain recent sales for Fixed Price listings
• Price competitively go lower than competition
• Shipping cost counts try free shipping
• Highlight item value with Markdown Manager
• Offer great service
• Dont lose recent sales scores
• Dont raise your price
• Dont change your title
• Dont change your category
• Dont change your items condition
• Try out different features to gain additional
  visibility
• Use Featured First or Featured Plus

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1) Gain Recent Sales For Fixed Price Listings

• What are recent sales?
• Recent sales measure the number of unique buyers
  that have bought an item from an individual
  listing
• Better exposure is given to listings with sales
  that have occurred recently
• How to succeed
• List multi-quantities in Fixed Price with 30 day
  duration and the Good Til Cancelled option
• Price really matters list your item
  competitively
• Relist successfully sold items without changing
  the item title, category, condition or increasing
  the price
• Consider using a paid feature like Featured First
  or Plus to get a chance at appearing on the first
  page of results

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2) Dont Lose Your Recent Sales Score

• Relist successfully sold items to carry over
  recent sales scores. Recent sales are measured on
  a rolling window, so the sooner your relist the
  more recent sales will carry over
• When relisting successfully sold items, do not
• Change the item title
• Change the category
• Change the item condition
• Increase the price
• Its OK to lower the price or use Markdown
  Manager to lower the price

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Best Practices Show Item Value With Markdown
Manager

• Drive buyer excitement
• Offer discounted pricing on Fixed Price or Store
  Inventory items
• Offer limited-time Free Shipping sales
• Automatically notify your email subscribers of
  sales
• Exclusively for Store subscribers

Option 1 Discounted Pricing ( or )
Option 2 Limited-time Free Shipping
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3) Try Out Featured First Featured Plus

• Improve exposure to build recent sales
• Featured First
• A limited number of randomly selected Featured
  First items will be displayed at the top of the
  first page of search/browse results intermingled
  with the Featured Plus items from the first page.
  
• There is NO guarantee that a Featured First
  listing will be displayed in the Featured Items
  section.
• Sellers with lowered search results standings
  are not able to purchase Featured First.
• Featured Plus
• Displayed in the Featured Items section of the
  page they belong on according to the sort

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Proven Results

• Fixed Price listings with recent sales have a
  proven record of success and will get a boost in
  search results
• A majority of Fixed Price purchases are coming
  from items with recent sales
• We have seen an increase in sales where price is
  competitive since the September 16th price change

Example of a sellers sales pre and post
September 16th price change
More sales where price is competitive
Fewer sales where price is uncompetitive
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Its Not Enough To Set A Great Start Price
Sellers Need To Actively Manage Their Prices To
Compete

• New listings may have the best price, but active
  management is required
• Top sellers are revising the price on their
  listings MULTIPLE TIMES PER WEEK

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Strategies to Improve your Detailed Seller
Ratings
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Why Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs)?

• DSRs reflect what buyers think of their
  transactions with you
• DSRs are one way we assess your ability to
  satisfy buyersand are a way for you to assess
  how youre doing relative to other sellers
• The 4 DSRs
• Item as Described
• Communication
• Shipping Cost
• Shipping Time
• Using Lowest DSR (not average DSR)

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Step 1 Before the Sale

• Know and understand your strengths and areas for
  improvement
• Know and understand the market
• Search for similar items use DSRs to identify
  best practices and optimal shipping costs
• Consider using Buyer Requirements and/or blocked
  bidder list
• Research shipping options

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Use Your Feedback

• Study the info on your Feedback page
• What are happy buyers saying?
• What are dissatisfied buyers saying?
• Do any DSRs look low?

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Using the Seller Dashboard

• Use the Dashboard to monitor your business
• Search preferences, fee discounts
• PowerSeller and account status
• Buyer satisfaction
• Your scores vs. Averages

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Buyer Satisfaction and the Dashboard

• Track your 30-day DSRs closely
• Key indicator of buyer satisfaction
• Aim for consistency with each salelow DSRs have
  impact
• eBay uses this information too

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DSRs and Seller Performance Thresholds
Lowest DSR Last 30 Days

• Benefits to great DSRs
• Fee discounts for PowerSellers
• Search promotion (all sellers)
• Making room for great sellers means low DSRs have
  consequences

4.9
20 discount
4.8
15 discount
4.7
Promotion in search
4.6
5 discount
4.5
PowerSeller status
Risk of demotion, seller non-performance, payment
holds

Loss of selling privileges (starting Nov. 1,
2008)

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Best Practices With DSRs

• Put yourself in your buyers shoes. What kind of
  service would YOU expect?
• Remember that buyers are comparing you to other
  eBay sellersand to every other merchant across
  the Internet

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Best Practices Item as Described DSR

• Great Listings Make Great DSRs
• Start with a great, descriptive title
• Show multiple pictures of the actual item
• Do not use stock photos for used items
• Use item specifics
• Detail counts
• Make new vs. used crystal clear
• Know you are selling authentic items

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Best Practices Communication DSR

• Build trust with clear, professional
  communication
• Answer questions promptly (do they show ways to
  improve your listings?)
• Try adding an FAQ to listings and your About Me
  page to manage common questions
• Keep your e-mail messages short, helpful, and
  professional
• Clean, clear listings have higher conversion
  and fewer questions!

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Best Practices Shipping Time DSR

• Set expectations up front with your buyers
• Disclose shipping costs, method, and timing
• Call out International shipping differences
• Costs, method, and timing
• Be clear about customs costs

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Best Practices Shipping Cost DSR

• Have Options
• One inexpensive
• One fast
• Keep your shipping costs reasonable
• Use shipping calculator, or flat rate
• Provide discounts on combined shipping
• Try free shipping
• Keep handling costs reasonable

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Step 3 After the Sale

• Leave Positive Feedback first
• When payment is made, or
• When item is shipped
• Communicate with appropriate tone and frequency
• Communicate shipping status with tracking info
• Ask for positive feedback and 5s on DSRs and
  offer to fix any problems
• Consider using a package insert

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Best Practices Communication
Post-transaction e-mail
Dear BUYERUSERNAME, Thank you for your prompt
payment. I appreciate great buyers like you.
Your item has been shipped via USPS priority
mail and you should receive it within 3 days. The
tracking number is xxxxxxxx I have posted
positive feedback for you. I hope you will do
the same for us. In addition to your positive
feedback, we hope you will give us FIVE STARS on
all of the Detailed Seller Ratings. If you feel
like we fell short of FIVE STARS, please email me
first at vipsupport_at_kunz.com and I will make sure
you are happy. We appreciate your business and
hope to do business with you again
soon. Sincerely, Jamie Dalton Customer Service
Superhero
Consider a package insert with similar messages.
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Question Answer Session