Directing ebay customers to website.

[BigRightHand]

We are including an A5 Flyers in packages we send to our customers on ebay. It directs them to our website and gives them a discont code to use. It works ok but i wanted to know if there are other ways of enticing them over (everyone seems to be doing flyers in packets).

Does anyone have any novel ways of getting these customers over to your website. Maybe something a bit different in the packet than a flyer or maybe a totally different way altogether. (Within the rules).

 

[Page]

And what petcentage or even numbers have you got over

Loads of people try this and the general outcome is near zero success

 

[fisicx]

Are you selling a product they a likely to want more of?

I buy loads of stuff of ebay and I don't think I've ever visited a seller's website. You may be offering a discount but I'll probably have lost the flyer long before I need another of whatever it is you are selling.

 

[Mr D]

At one time ebay did not like sellers stealing customers.
They did years ago use mystery shopping services to sample buyer experience.

 

[Prime81]

I've bought loads of stuff off eBay with business cards and flyers directing me to their own website but most of the stuff I buy is free postage on eBay and paid for on the other site. I also feel better knowing I can get an easy refund with eBay if there is anything wrong. I suppose a significant discount would make me take a look and possibly buy from another website but other than that I'm not gaining anything from moving away from eBay.

 

[pelparc]

If i am making a biggish purchase on eBay i try and find the companies website to see if i can buy it direct. Some sellers make it easy by having the sellers name the same as the company and some display a contact email address with a real web address. It does take a bit of detective work so i would think it would only work for considered purchases that cost quite a bit of money. eBay pricing is quite cheap and its harder to get a better price, Amazon on the other hand appears to be getting more expensive and quite easy to get a better price direct. Most companies take PayPal payments so it is still very easy to get a refund just like eBay.

 

[Mr D]

If i am making a biggish purchase on eBay i try and find the companies website to see if i can buy it direct. Some sellers make it easy by having the sellers name the same as the company and some display a contact email address with a real web address. It does take a bit of detective work so i would think it would only work for considered purchases that cost quite a bit of money. eBay pricing is quite cheap and its harder to get a better price, Amazon on the other hand appears to be getting more expensive and quite easy to get a better price direct. Most companies take PayPal payments so it is still very easy to get a refund just like eBay.

Strange that as the difference between ebay + paypal and amazon fees isn't that great overall.
For a chunk of items anyway.

 

[Paul Carmen]

@BigRightHand Use the flyer to sign them up for marketing offers via your website instead of offering a straight discount (as eBay's policies and email is very restrictive about external links and selling off eBay); e.g. a credit or discount on orders on your website. Effectively you are then not reliant on them keeping a flyer, plus you get them signed up to a marketing list that means you can send them deals and offers on a regular basis.

I'm assuming you're doing this as it's cheaper for you to sell via your own website, if not you can set up an email marketing process on eBay itself.

 

[pelparc]

Strange that as the difference between ebay + paypal and amazon fees isn't that great overall.
For a chunk of items anyway.

I assumed its just a lot more competitive on ebay. As an example i am looking at some radiators and buying from the same company "ibath" on ebay its just over £200 cheaper than Amazon. Shame they don't sell on their own website.

 

[Page]

@BigRightHand Use the flyer to sign them up for marketing offers via your website instead of offering a straight discount (as eBay's policies and email is very restrictive about external links and selling off eBay); e.g. a credit or discount on orders on your website. Effectively you are then not reliant on them keeping a flyer, plus you get them signed up to a marketing list that means you can send them deals and offers on a regular basis.

I'm assuming you're doing this as it's cheaper for you to sell via your own website, if not you can set up an email marketing process on eBay itself.

Can we still do this now that we have GDRS or whatever it is

If they sign up for a newsletter then yes but otherwise ?

 

[Paul Carmen]

You'd be fine under GDPR & PECR, as you have a transactional relationship with the customer, so as long as the offers are relevant it's fine.

Regards signing them up with a flyer, you need your online email marketing sign up process to be 2 step and GDPR compliant, but that's easy to do. What I meant was offer them a deal only when they sign up for marketing via your site; the flyer headline would be something like: -

Get up to 50% off when you sign up to direct deals at XYZ.com/deals

Instead of just having a code on a flyer, you've used the flyer to encourage them to come direct to your site, rather than eBay, & can build a relationship and send regular offer/deal emails.

 

[fisicx]

However.....

In all the hundreds of eBay purchses made by me and the wife, like @Prime81 I don't think I've ever wanted to or actually visited a sellers website. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

@Paul Carmen - do you keep eBay flyers and visit their websites?

 

[Paul Carmen]

@fisicx No, as a general rule I never keep flyers anymore, as I can never find the bloody things again!

That's kind of the point of my suggestion though, I have worked with and used companies for things that I'm interested in, either by signing up for an offer, freebie tool, or just for marketing if it's something I have an interest in for a future purchase or project.

That's why I suggest using the flyer as a tool to try get a marketing relationship going, as usually an offer in a box has come when you've just purchased what you need and don't need any more for months, even if it's something you buy frequently.

I'm not suggesting the sign up rate is going to be huge, if you got 10-20% that would be as good as it gets, it's still better then close to zero though, which is what I suspect the flyer currently delivers...

 

[Page]

I can see that working

I would then try and follow up in a short time with a decent offer for anyone that signs up

I have never ever gone to a website as a result of a flyer

I think 10-20% is an incredibly high success rate

Has that come from any real world experience or is it just a guesstimate

 

[fisicx]

I think 10-20% is an incredibly high success rate

Probably closer to 0.1 - 0.2%

 

[Paul Carmen]

10-20% is a high success rate, 0.1-0.2% is far too low though, it's not worth printing the flyers if that's what you get!

This is real data, albeit Amazon and eBay data from a client. The product is very much a regular repeat purchase one from the food industry.

The main sales driver is price, the second is quality. Realistically it got to this level after quite a bit of testing and the only thing that made it work was being cheaper than everywhere else for bulk orders on the website with the offer (which was better for the client, as they still made money and got significantly more repeat business). Basically we guaranteed various things on a 50% off basis.

As with any marketing programme its about knowing your audience and market, testing to get the right activation and results. In reality for a distressed purchase, or long replacement lead time, this type of offer is going to get minimal results. However, for those type of products, you either accept that the customer is searching on Amazon/eBay, or if its via a Google search you need to ensure your website is ranking via SEO or PPC.

 

[fisicx]

The product is very much a regular repeat purchase one from the food industry.

And that's the rub.

If you are selling chickenwire I doubt you will get anywhere new those sort of figures.

I brought £5 headlamp switch for a 40 year old car this morning. They may put a flyer in the package but the chances of me buying another electrical component is remote - no matter how much discount they offer.

Unfortunately the OP has not returned to tell us what they are selling so we are just guessing on how effective their flyers would be.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

The problem with flyers is that they actually have to type in your web address or scan it, if it has a QR code. Although it is good to have this, you will be more effective with an email and discount code. Simply send them an email after they have purchased, thanking them for their order and giving them a discount. Make sure your prices are the same on your website as they are on EBay. Back when I used to do a lot on EBay this method used to convert around 10%, so it is not massive but for repeat business, it is a good start.

 

[antropy]

Does anyone have any novel ways of getting these customers over to your website. Maybe something a bit different in the packet than a flyer or maybe a totally different way altogether. (Within the rules).

What do you sell?

 

[alan1302]

The problem with flyers is that they actually have to type in your web address or scan it, if it has a QR code. Although it is good to have this, you will be more effective with an email and discount code. Simply send them an email after they have purchased, thanking them for their order and giving them a discount. Make sure your prices are the same on your website as they are on EBay. Back when I used to do a lot on EBay this method used to convert around 10%, so it is not massive but for repeat business, it is a good start.

How can you e-mail them though as you can't go through eBay as it will be against their rules.

 

[Paul Carmen]

Alan's right, you can now only gather and use email addresses via the eBay email service. Sending any emails with links or directing customers to your own website violates their terms of service and they can suspend your account.

 

[Vadym Gurevych]

Yet another way, except for flyers, is to use Facebook ads and Custom Audiences.

Basically, with eBay (unlike Amazon) you get the customer's email address (and phone number). You could use this data to build custom audience on Facebook and then create an ad there offering some special deals to your eBay customers. Not 100% sure how this goes with GDPR but I can not see a major issue as you are not emailing or calling them, just showing them an ad with a tailor-made special offer.

 

[fisicx]

There are a whole load of issues with doing this.

Collecting eBay buyer details for marketing will get you into a all sorts of trouble.