February 2012
1 post
8 tags
More thoughts on marketing via social networks
The scope of the problem
As a viewer of social networks I’ve been making a couple of changes to my usage lately, and it’s got me thinking about the rights and wrongs of using networks as a marketeer.
I’ve recently added Pinterest to my Social Networking sites, which means the list now reads: Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter. Since these days I’m pretty...
January 2012
1 post
Four good reasons to use your Buddy Link.
eBid’s loyalty system is called “Buddy Points”. Points are awarded in different amounts for recruiting other sellers (largest payouts available), making sales and placing bids, getting feedback etc. The full table of what gets you which is here.
Buddy points can be used to “buy” things sold on special buddy auctions run by the site itself. You can see those via your...
September 2011
2 posts
4 tags
How big is eBid? →
A matter of constant speculation, just how big is eBid? One of the best ways of judging the size and scale of any business is to check their annual accounts. This brief report shows the essentials and gives an idea of the bijou nature of eBid, and illustrates nicely why they do not have a multi-million pound advertising budget!
3 tags
How often do eBid update the site?
It’s useful to know if a site is being regularly updated and maintained, so I’ve done a quick round-up of all announced alterations (excluding the Ninja Lister which has it’s own list) and here’s the list for 2010:
BUGFIX - International shipping details missing from sale notification email
BUGFIX - Top buttons mis-directing on nl.ebid.net
BUGFIX - left and right cursor...
August 2011
1 post
3 tags
Standard text: How did you hear about us?
I thought I’d try to build up a library of standard text snippets for people to use if they wish. First one: some text you can add to your emails to try to identify where buyers are coming from. You could just send this out in a confirmation of purchase note straightaway, or add it to whichever part of the process suits. You can change it if you want, it’s copyright free and no strings...
April 2011
5 posts
4 tags
Adding a donation button to your blog
I was asked how to add a donation button to a blog. PayPal makes this very simple, by providing a button builder that produces a complete chunk of code for you to copy and paste.
In PayPal use Merchant Services > Accept Donations.
Take the code produced and make sure you choose HTML mode in your blog editor. Paste the code in, and publish. The success, or otherwise, of your edit will depend...
5 tags
8 tags
Blogging for eBidders
A blog is a virtual journal, a personal route to sharing thoughts, talking to an unknown and changing audience, and getting your stuff “out there”. How can this be useful to eBidders?
Why Blog?
Why should eBidders consider blogging? To promote sales, ultimately of course. There are a number of ways blogging can help you do this.
Share expertise.
By sharing your expertise on any...
5 tags
eBid's upload to Google Products (Shopping)
Quoted with thanks to the Facebooker who kindly posted this entire message to show what eBid’s latest advice is about getting your items uploaded to Google’s shopping base:
To be included for upload to Google Product Search your listing must have at least 3 days to run and MUST have BuyNow feature enabled.
Recap: Auction with at least 3 days remaining & BuyNow available OR...
5 tags
Not joined eBid yet? It's FREE to do so here. →
March 2011
2 posts
7 tags
Business or Personal?
It’s a thorny, not to say perennial problem. Do you register on a site as business or personal? It becomes particularly tricky if you intend selling both household clearance, and pukka retail stock, and the site discourages dual accounts - as eBid does.
eBid’s stance is: you can only have one account. In practice, in fact, they will allow extras but only if you ask first, and make...
5 tags
How to create a Facebook Event
If you have a Facebook account you can create an event and invite your friends and fans to come along to your Spring Sale, Christmas Party, or other special eBid occasion.
Creating an event on Facebook is perfectly straight-forward.
If you have a shop or eBid user “fan page” on Facebook, you now have the option to use FB as that page. I recommend this technique, and the following...
February 2011
2 posts
8 tags
Getting the most from the eBid forums
Views on what the forums are there for, how to use them for maximum effect or maximum fun are bound to vary wildly. So this is just my take…
The basics & background.
eBid provides the forums for three reasons that I can see. 1. To take the strain off the support team. 2. To create a friendly community. 3. To promote the site.
In many areas the advantages to the users of the forums...
5 tags
Thinking of Joining eBid?
Since you don’t have to be a member of eBid.net in order to read the this blog, it’s entirely possible you - the reader - have not joined eBid yet. What’s keeping you? :) If you’re thinking about giving eBid a try, here are some personal views on why I think it’s a good idea, and how I’d suggest you set about it. I hope you find them useful.
eBid is an online...
January 2011
4 posts
5 tags
Kimbo's Alternative eBid FAQ in Four Parts →
Nobody should take offence, it’s just a bit of fun. If you do recognise yourself, don’t shout - think. :o)
6 tags
How to place your "add to favourites" link on...
On each of your listings, lurking at the bottom of various options in the “Meet the Seller” box is Add to my Favourite Sellers. You can find the same thing at the top of your “All About Me” page. As you can see right here, you can recreate this link wherever you wish to use it, on listings, your about me page, or even on your blog. It’s easy to do, and an effective...
5 tags
How to ask for a new eBid Category
eBid is unusually open to suggestions for improvements in the site, providing forums for both category and site-wide improvements. In this blog post I’m going to look at category suggestions.
If you want a new selling category to be added to the site you can suggest it in the New & Ghost Category Suggestions forum. The first post in that forum explains Gazza’s rules for making...
4 tags
Have you checked your email notice options?
It’s worth knowing that you can select or deselect certain emails and notices via your “My eBid > My Emails” page. The options you can choose from are:
My Watchlist - Added
Email sent when you add an auction to your Watchlist.
My Watchlist - Bid Made Email sent when a bid is made on an auction you are watching.
My Watchlist - 24 Hour Warning Email sent when there is 24 hrs...
December 2010
4 posts
3 tags
5 tags
Are you selling to Hong Kong yet?
Earlier this week on my blog I posted the numbers of items available to the UK in each top level category. I’ve just done a comparison of a few of them looking from Hong Kong.
Seems to me that plenty of international sellers might not have updated their destinations yet, and that there’s an opportunity to be at the front of the line.
Examples of UK v. HK numbers…
Clothes,...
5 tags
The eBid Alternative FAQ, by Kimbo! →
5 tags
eBid Categories listing count
As at 1-Dec-2010 the UK top level listings (those included in the front page slide-show) give the following item counts:
Antiques 194,452
Art 66,400
Baby Stuff 3,366
Books, Comics and Magazines 981,382
Business, Office, and Industrial 18,116
Cars and Vehicles 208,230
Charity Auctions 711
Clothes, Shoes, Accessories 77,718
Coins & Banknotes 19,465
Collectables 276,176
Computing...
November 2010
4 posts
4 tags
What items can Bulk Edit alter?
The bulk edit page shows you the following items for alteration:
Title Replace With
Item Condition
Category
Subcategory
Brand
SKU
eBid Store Category
Description (REPLACE) Replace With
Description (ADD)
Starting Bid £
BuyNow Price £
Reserve Price £
Payment Methods Accepted
PPPay.com Instant
PPPay.com Escrow
Credit/Debit Cards
Checks/Cheques
...
8 tags
Choosing your eBid shop name
eBid plus sellers are allowed up to 5 free shops, and more if they pay a subscription. Because they’re mostly free, setting up shop is a very popular option. For small numbers of items a single shop of the “general store” variety is fine, for larger numbers specialisation makes sense. But whether it’s one, or many one of the toughest parts of setting up shop is choosing a...
3 tags
Need some help deciding if eBid's for you? Or... →
6 tags
Run Until Sold - the spawn of Satan?
If there’s one listing feature that gets eBidders hot under the collar, it’s Run Until Sold (RUS).
Many forum users blame RUS for the scourge of the “dump and run” sellers. Without it, goes the argument, even if a seller left, their auctions would expire and the problem of unattended listings would vanish. Undoubtedly, this is true. But… it would be simple enough to...
October 2010
4 posts
7 tags
Happy customers for eBid Widgets
My feedback over the last few days. No cherry picking, I’m confident enough about my service to show you the last batch without needing to weed! Visit my feedback page to see all my comments. If you too would like to receive the standard of service my lovely customers say they’re happy with, just get in touch. Click on the banner to chat about your requirements, or browse my stores any...
7 tags
What are the rules that trip up the most people?
In an ideal world when using a new selling site one should read all the rules, check all the small print, and familiarise oneself with all the dos and don’ts up-front. The reality is that most people rush in keen to play with their new toy, and only find out about the differences from the sites they’re used to when things don’t work, or they get their wrist slapped for breaking...
6 tags
Using Twitter to promote your eBid stuff - the...
If you’ve never used Twitter it can seem pretty mystifying. So for brand new users (or those who wish to join) here are a few basic concepts to get you started.
Social Networking
Twitter, like Facebook, MySpace and others, is a Social Network. It works by putting people in touch with each other. It starts, typically, with people you already know, then via those people and their friends you...
8 tags
September 2010
1 post
6 tags
Twenty tips for successful selling on eBid
The following tips might assume you have a seller+ account - after all, it’s great value for lifetime members so why wouldn’t you? :o)
In no particular order…
1. Include a BuyNow price so that your item is uploaded to Google Shopping.
2. Include as many relevant keywords as possible in your title to help shoppers find your item.
3. Put some introductory text on your All...
July 2010
5 posts
tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?
8 tags
New "boss" getting to grips with YDC
It’s great to see Vonz making such an enthusiastic and popular start to her reign as YDC “boss”. She’s managed to introduce a few new ideas, such as the YDC Team concept without ruffling too many (any?) feathers and there’s a real energy and positivity about this month’s YDC that’s been, sadly, lacking for a while.
Somehow the previous two incumbents...
5 tags
Welcome to the new eBid Widgets blog
Thank you for joining me. You can also find eBid Widgets at www.ebidwidgets.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.
