How to Use Social Media as a Marketing Opportunity for Your eBay Business

As an eBay seller, it is easy to get caught up in the everyday tasks of just keeping your operation running. You might be drowning in brown tape and jiffy bags and making sure you make it to the post office in time, but remember there’s a whole world out there.

eBay is a walled garden. It’s busy and has millions of buyers out there for you. But there is more to the internet than eBay. You can boost your eBay sales by marketing online. One of the most talked about opportunities is social media. That means sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and other activities such as blogging.

Twitter has grown phenomenally in the past year or so and is now a mainstream website used by millions at home and abroad. If you have opened a newspaper in the past year you can’t have missed it. The same is true of Facebook. Both Twitter and Facebook offer the best options to eBay sellers who want to have a go at social media.

Blogging is also a great opportunity. A blog is basically a website where you can write about anything you like and also publish other content such as videos and photos. Setting up a blog can be free and easy, depending on what service you choose. Open source software Wordpress comes highly recommended and is free: you just need to pay for the hosting and design.

If social media seems scary, you’re right to be cautious: time is your most valuable commodity and wasting any of that or getting behind in the essential tasks of running your business would be a bad thing. But by approaching social media with discipline and a clear idea of what you want to achieve, you can reap some benefits.

There are two key benefits of social media to an eBay seller:

1. The first is traffic. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have a massive following with millions of visitors every day. It’s possible to get a little bit of that action and increase the number of people viewing your listings.
2. The second benefit, especially if you already have your own website, is SEO (search engine optimization). Blogging, in particular, is a good way of building your site content and creating valuable inbound links to build the prominence of your site in web searches.

Here are a few ideas that you can try:

• Build a Facebook fan page for your eBay sales. Even your granny is on Facebook these days so it’s a great audience to plug into. Your easiest option is to build a Facebook fan page for your business including links to your eBay shop and items you are selling. One of the best ways to utilize Facebook is to offer discounts and deals exclusively to Facebook fans to tempt them.
  
• Twitter and Tweets: Get started on Twitter and gradually build your network. Succeeding on Twitter can take time but the best way to attract attention is to provide links and information that other people find useful. That could be sharing news stories, your own content or making wry and amusing observations. You will also get a lot out of Twitter if you connect with people you admire and trust.
  
• Blogging: Blogging is something that rewards you the more you do it. If you start a blog, write about things that really interest you. Establish yourself as an expert in your field and as someone who people turn to for insight and interesting comment If you’re not much of a writer, try a picture blog or video blog (vlog).

What you want to avoid, whether on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or any other social network or blogging, is mistaking not working for networking. If you’re just jabbering away to your fellow sellers, friends or people who aren’t buying from you, it could be a waste of time. You need to approach social media as a marketing channel. It should be fun but it does have a very serious purpose: promoting you, your sales and your business.

And the good news is that Frooition can help as you take on social media. It’s essential that your eBay brand is extended to your other online profiles. A consistent look and feel makes your buyers and customers feel reassured, makes you look good and inspires trust. Frooition can help you with custom made-to-order design, expertise and plenty of past experience. Get in touch with Frooition and we can help you extend your eBay brand so it includes social media.

Article from Frooition's Blog.

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

eBay Workshop July 14th - "How to Alter/Edit/Update Your eBay Listings in Bulk, in Seconds!"

Topic: How to Alter/Edit/Update Your eBay Listings in Bulk, in Seconds!

Host: Frooition
Date: July 14th, Wednesday
Time: 10 a.m. PST (Pacific Standard Time)

Location: eBay Workshop Board

Description: Making changes to live eBay listings can be a daunting and expensive task, especially if you have hundreds/thousands of listings to alter. This workshop will show you how to take the pain out of bulk revising items using Froo! Bulk Revision. We will also introduce the new eBay Parts Compatibility functionality in Froo! Bulk Revision tool.

The Froo! Bulk Revision tool will save you time and money – we will show you how! The workshop demonstrates how to use the app as well as explaining how the app can improve your listings.

Topics include:

• Introduction to Bulk Revision
• How to find and replace (Titles & Descriptions)
• Adding Item Condition to your listings per new eBay policy
• Bulk altering prices
• Altering your PayPal address
• Change quantities
• Add eBay Parts Compatibility to your listings
• Typical scenarios

Frooition has currently developed three eBay Apps; check them out in the eBay App Center.

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help an eBay seller grow their business.

Make the Most Out of Your "About Me" Page on eBay

Many eBay sellers may not be aware there is an "About Me" page/feature available for each account to give other eBayers more information on a seller's business, what service they can expect from them and more. Fewer sellers actually take advantage of the additional marketing opportunities an About Me page on eBay provides. Building a successful eBay profile is about using all the tools eBay makes available. If you’re not using your About me page, you’re missing a trick.

What is an About Me page?
An About Me page is a page for you to tell other eBayers about yourself, your business and the things you sell. You can make and edit your About Me page via My eBay. You don’t need any special skills, but if you have some coding or design experience, so much the better. Unusual for eBay, you can have a link on your About Me page to your personal website or blog. Be careful. You are not allowed to link to commercial websites, promote off-eBay sales or link to items prohibited on eBay. You are also not allowed to link to a search engine or site that aggregates the eBay sales of multiple sellers. eBay has a full list of what is allowed and what is not allowed on the About Me policy page.

About Me Page Benefits
There are two significant benefits to building an About Me Page. The first is SEO (search engine optimization). The vast majority of buyers will come to you via eBay’s search but some will find you via search engines such as Google. It’s well worth remembering anything you can do to attract more buyers from search engines is good news for the bottom line. You can also link to your About Me Page from other sites as you like, to improve the ranking of your About Me page in Google.

The second benefit is with branding. Ensuring everything you do looks good and is clearly identifiable as your business is vital when it comes to attracting repeat buyers, inspiring trust and providing a first class buying experience. Frooition can help you with design and implementation of your About Me page and make sure it looks great!

Five things to include in your About Me page:
The good news for sellers is an About Me page is very flexible and can easily be personalized using HTML. eBay can help you build a basic About Me page but to get the full impact, pull out all the stops and make it a fully integrated part of your eBay brand.

1. Auto-generated components: eBay allows you to display your current sales, recent Feedback and even recent bids. So use the auto-generated elements to populate your About Me page easily.
2. Pictures: You can include images and photos in your About Me page to bring it to life. You can host these images yourself, or eBay will do it for you.
3. Words: To get the full SEO benefit of your About Me page make sure you have some text talking about your sales. Cram the text full of relevant keywords that will aid your find ability on Google.
4. Video: You can easily embed a video (hosted on YouTube, for instance) using HTML and that is certain to attract attention. It could be a showcase of your stock, a tour around your business or just you talking to camera about your business. It’s surprisingly easy to make a video, even with your digital camera.
5. Your philosophy: In your item listings and also other eBay pages, you’ll talk about what you’re selling and how people pay and get a refund. An About Me Page offers the chance to be a bit less formal and more personal. Talk about why you got into eBay selling, spin a yarn about why you do it and how you like to trade.

How long will an About Me Page take?
Not long. If you’re clever and reuse content like pictures and text you already have elsewhere, you could be up and running in a matter of minutes. If you want something more professional, it will take longer.

The good news about your About Me page is that it’s a one-off job. There’s no need to constantly tweak and tinker: once it’s up and running you can just leave it be. Of course, if you change your brand or want to make changes, you can then easily update your About Me page to reflect the changes.

Article from Frooition's Blog.

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

Update and Edit Your eBay Listings Quickly with Froo! Bulk Revision

No matter how many eBay listings a seller has live on the site or stored, making revisions to the item(s) can be a painstaking task. With Froo! Bulk Revision, eBay sellers can easily and in bulk, change many elements of their eBay listings to attract even more buyers and close the sale.

Froo! Bulk Revision (by Frooition) is an easy to use application allowing eBay sellers to make changes to their live listings in bulk. Sellers can change item titles, descriptions, increase and decrease prices and more!

Change any of the following features within your active and stored eBay listings/inventory:

Find & Replace eBay Item Titles
If an eBay seller needs to change their item titles in bulk (active and stored listings), they can use Froo!’s find and replace title tool. Easily update item titles for enhanced search and strategy.

Find, Replace and Add to eBay Item Descriptions
eBay sellers can search and replace single words or full paragraphs in an eBay item description (active & stored listings) in a fluid manner to keep the listing information current and in adherence to changing eBay policies as needed.

In addition to editing current item descriptions, a seller can also use Froo! Bulk Revision to add important information to the bottom of an eBay item description.

Returns Policy
Update your returns policies on all eBay listings at once! Write a new policy, select the relevant listings and apply the changes in bulk. An especially useful feature if a supplier has changed their shipping or returns policy, thereby affecting the seller.

Start Price
Stay on top of the competition and maintain a competitive edge on eBay by adjusting the starting price on eBay Auctions or modify the selling price on Fixed Price items (within eBay guidelines).
eBay sellers can increase or decrease the Buy It Now price on eBay listings either by setting it to a certain amount, altering by a percentage or adding/subtracting a set amount from many prices in bulk!

Froo! Bulk Revision tool can edit more aspects of an eBay listing. To check out the Froo! Bulk Revision tool and learn more, go to the eBay App Store. A free trial is available.

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

4 Quick & Easy Tips on How to Improve eBay DSRs and Feedback by Frooition

Article from the Frooition Blog

1. Item as Described
Write full product/item descriptions including all relevant details. Especially the condition of the item and any defects. Use Item specifics and include multiple pictures to help buyers see exactly what they’re about to purchase. Don’t use generic stock product shots, especially for used items – show the buyer the product they are actually going to purchase.

2. Communication
Make sure buyers know how to reach you by providing contact details in your listings, emails and shipping invoices. You can use automated emails through Selling Manager Pro to keep buyers informed of when you receive payment and when their product has been shipped.

3. Postage time
Ship items as quickly as possible once it is sold and paid for. The sooner a buyer receives their item the happier they’ll be. Offer premium postage options to enable buyers to select a low cost, slow delivery or a next day service at a higher price. Remember to confirm the shipping method used and inform buyers when they should receive their item to set their expectations.

4. Postage and Packaging charges
Offer the most competitive postage rates possible. If you can, consider free postage and include the cost in the purchase price of the item. Don't forget to offer discounted postage for sending multiple items which may also increase sales.

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

7 Tips on How to Raise Your eBay Seller Ratings from Frooition

Article from Frooition's Blog

Securing and maintaining eBay’s Top-Rated Seller status should be high on any seller’s to do list. eBay education specialist Mark Buckingham offers a few top tips to help you bolster the fortunes of your eBay Empire.

Introduced in October, the Top-rated Seller program distinguishes the cream of eBay sellers…and it is achievable for the majority:

1. Strive for 5 stars: Avoiding low 1 and 2 stars is key to the Top-Rated program, so communicate to your buyers the importance of Detailed Seller Ratings and feedback. Use your custom emails in Selling Manager Pro to keep your customers apprised, add compliment slips to remind your buyers where they bought the item from and highlight other special offers, and don’t hesitate to pick up the phone if a buyer isn’t happy.
2. Understand Best Match: From meeting eBay’s basic seller standards, to understanding recent sales score and impressions it’s well worth doing a little homework to get to grips with exactly how Best Match sorts matching listings. Get Best Match savvy, and you’ll reap the rewards.
3. Pick your ‘carrots’: Top-Rated Seller is partly calculated by number of transactions, so consider adding cheaper cost-neutral lines that will sell in volume and could help pad out your feedback, and help absorb any low scores. It will also help generate extra footfall into your shop. Don’t forget to use Good-til-Cancelled multi-quantity listings to save you re-listing the item and jeopardizing your sales-score.
4. Manage buyer expectations: setting and exceeding expectations is all-important. In my experience, a buyer won’t mind waiting a week if they know in advance. Don’t promise a turnaround shipping and delivery time you can’t realistically fulfill.
5. Anticipate problems: Look at your Detailed Seller Rating and feedback history and see where low scores and non-positive comments have been left, and look for trends. Perhaps particular lines in your eBay Store are more problematic than others? If so, take time to give those buyers extra-special customer service.
6. Offer free shipping: This is part of the Best Match algorithm – eBay announced they give a boost to listings offering free shipping. Of course, there’s rarely such a thing as free shipping, but it pays to build it into your unit cost, or subsidize it as best you can.
7. Beat your competition: Frooition customers already have an advantage over most sellers who don’t have a professional setup. But it still pays to know your competition and to be creative. Get into the habit of scouring eBay’s Completed Items searches and other research products like Terapeak, to see how your competitors are fairing. Look carefully to see what value other sellers are offering and how you can add more value and stand out from the crowd. Be creative. Consider embellishing your gallery thumbnails and consider adding a subtitle if you haven’t already. Even stating how much money the buyer is saving might mean the difference between winning a loyal buyer or giving your competitors the upper hand.

This article has been condensed. To read the full article, click here.

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.

New eBay Certified Provider - Frooition; Brings Design, Consulting and Marketing Services to eBay Sellers

New eBay Certified Provider, Frooition

The eBay Certified Provider Program is pleased to announce Frooition as a new Certified Provider helping eBay sellers increase sales with design, marketing and consulting tools and services.



Frooition is an experienced eBay Store and listing designer. Frooition specializes in providing design services for eBay, other online channels and website design. In addition to design services, Frooition also provides software for eBay sellers to help easily manage their eBay Store, listings and cross-promotions.

U.S. and international sellers will find Frooition can help grow their eBay business. Frooition can help an eBay seller assure buyers they deliver quality merchandise and customer service with professionally designed eBay Stores or listing templates. eBay sellers can also have Frooition custom design their eBay Store, listing templates or websites specific to their brand.

• Design services customized to your specifications
• Create a professional appearance for your eBay business and stand out from the crowd
• Create recognition and bring in repeat customers and purchases with memorable design

eBay sellers can improve their sales performance with Frooition’s advanced search functionality built into their eBay template or eBay Store.

• Professionally designed and easy to navigate eBay Stores and templates help keep buyers within a sellers listing/Store
• Dynamically display and cross-promote additional products and categories within your Store
• For example: Top 5 cross promotions change dynamically as a seller’s products sell out – no need to constantly reset cross promotions

eBay Seller Testimonials

"They have helped us to grow our business by providing us with a well designed, professional storefront and ad template that our customers love."

"Frooition possesses a very strong understanding of the eBay shopper and what they are looking for in terms of usability and design."

Frooition is a leading provider of eBay store and listing designs. Frooition provide design services for most other online sales channels as well as website design. Frooition has been working with the eBay platform more than 4 years and has clients in the USA, Canada and Europe.