BannerPlay: A New eBay App

Do you ever look at the different apps available for eBay sellers? There are interesting apps that you can access directly through your selling account by clicking on the "applications" tab. A new app called BannerPlay has been getting some buzz lately, including this article on EcommerceBytes, a site which I definitely recommend as a useful resource for online sellers.

Basically, BannerPlay is a way to advertise your eBay listings using banner ads placed on a variety of websites. The cool thing is that the app is integrated with eBay, so all you have to do is log into the app through the eBay website, choose the listing you want to promote, and work with the app to create an ad. You don't have to worry about formatting, design, etc. The app makes it easy.

You also don't have to worry about finding places to put your ad because BannerPlay sends it out through the different sites the company works with. Your ad is targeted using keywords as well as geography (if your shipping specifies US-only, your product will be shown to viewers in the US, etc). Through BannerPlay, a variety of viewers will see your ad.

In the ECommerceBytes interview, BannerPlay's product marketing manager says that as "a very rough estimate, each dollar in the daily budget buys about 10,000 views." That's a lot of eyes on your ad! The actual number can depend on your keywords, of course, and when you think about it, a smaller number of views could also work very well if you have a product that is targeted toward a very specific niche. After all, you just need one person to click through and buy your product.

This is a cost per click advertising system, and your account is only charged after someone clicks on your ad. You pay through PayPal. The cost you pay for a click depends on a bidding process, so price can vary, but it can be as low as a penny per click. As you will know if you've done Facebook ads or any other advertising with a bidding process, it can take a little experimenting to find the sweet spot in terms of what you need to spend to get a good return.

By the way, there is a BannerPlay app you can access through Etsy, too, with the same easy integration of using the images, keywords, etc from your listings. For online sellers on either platform (or both platforms), I think this is a tool worth trying. A lot of sellers express frustration about not getting enough views for their items from eBay's own search engine, so why not try bringing in some traffic from elsewhere?

Here's a video from BannerPlay with a brief overview of how it works.

Planning for Seasonal Sales

Honestly, I have not done very well at all in getting seasonal items listed for sale on eBay. Well, I did sell a Mrs. Santa Claus Build-a-Bear dress this past Christmas, but otherwise I didn't plan for Christmas-related items. The reason I'm doing this post is to report that I did, in fact, get it together to list a fun item with a Valentine's Day link. It just sold this morning.

The first time I listed this item, I didn't even think to use Valentine's Day as a keyword. Then when I was renewing the listing, I realized I was missing an opportunity. I bought the t-shirt because, let's face it, you just don't see very many unique and fun politically (or a-politcally?) themed tees out there, and I thought this was a great one.

For me, the moral of the story is: it's OK to think about holidays in offbeat ways, and always think creatively when it comes to the keywords for your listings.

T Shirts with Great Keywords

I picked up a couple of t-shirts at the Goodwill recently for 99 cents each (well, actually I picked up more than a couple, but I'm just going to mention two in this post!), and while they seem pretty different on the surface, I think the reason they both sold quickly (and for decent prices) is that they both brought to mind good keywords I could put in the listings.

The first shirt was for the band Chicago, and bands always give you great keywords to use: band, tour, rock, etc. This wasn't a tour shirt, but it had a quote from a song lyric, which made it stand out from other shirts, I think.

Let me say here that I seldom pass up a t-shirt from a tour--people love to buy tour t-shirts, and by nature the shirts are limited edition. Mostly I've had a pretty quick turnover with the tour shirts I've bought, but I've had a couple that I probably shouldn't have bought. (But maybe someone will come along and buy the Taylor Hicks Soul Patrol tour shirt I've had listed for a few months now, which will make me eat my words!)

Anyway, I think part of what helped the Chicago shirt sell was that it was easy to come up with a title filled with words that somebody who wanted a retro rock tee would use in their search. Likewise, the other tee from that same shopping trip that sold this week was this one for the Christian Motorcyclists Association.

I remember reading that one sign of a great eBay item is having some crossover in terms of keywords so that people who would search for different things might find it. When I saw this on the rack, I felt that Christian + motorcycles would give the listing some excellent crossover potential. I also shared the link to this listing on Twitter a few times because #motorcycle is a popular hashtag, and I thought some of the people who saw it might have a particular interest in a Christian-themed motorcycle shirt.

Although I've been doing a lot of fixed price listings lately, I listed both of these as auctions, and both received multiple bids, so I was happy with the results. I feel like it's probably best in the long run to make sure to do a combo of auction and fixed price listings. There's something fun in the auctions that you miss when you just do fixed price. Having two of my auctions inspire mini bidding wars added a little thrill to my week!