Insights and advice to boost sales and maximise brand visibility on eBay
In the first quarter of 2022 we hosted an engaging and informative webinar for eBay sellers, sharing insights and advice for media selling that can drive value on the eBay platform.
Attended by multiple media sellers, we heard from eBay colleagues and two key eBay sellers — Stuart Fraser (Head of Data Insight at Baham Books) and Sam Adatto (Head of marketplaces at WoB, part of World of Books Group). Read on to find out more about some of the industry trends we uncovered and hear our top tips to help media sellers – whether they sell books, music or film – boost sales velocity and drive brand visibility on eBay.
2021 media retail trends
Looking back at 2021, unsurprisingly, the pandemic continued to impact consumer shopping behaviours, with shopping habits across books, music and film categories shifting and evolving throughout the year.
In the ‘books’ category, for instance, fiction novels in Q1 2021 vs Q1 2019 saw high double-digit growth in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) as more people stayed at home and opted to immerse themselves in other people’s worlds. Meanwhile, in ‘music’, vinyl saw a boom, with the GMV of records almost doubling in Q1 2021 vs Q1 2020 (a trend which we feel will continue growing in the coming years). In fact, music in general is a hugely profitable category at present with CD, vinyl and cassette sales increasing by 15% in 2021 to a value of £241m – a faster rate of growth than streaming, according to the British Phonographic Industry.
And while the past two years have been a tricky time for retailers to navigate, with more people than ever shopping online it’s prime time for media sellers to plan ahead and ensure their selling strategies are fine-tuned to ensure they can maximise ROI and visibility on eBay in the year ahead.
Here are some of the best tips and tricks we learned during our webinar to help you do just that…
Nail the basics to ensure your listings are as strong as possible
Your listings are your window to millions of potential media buyers on eBay, so you need to use every trick in the book to make them as strong as possible to attract shoppers and help you stand out from the competition. This is particularly important as people become more and more used to shopping online. From his experience, Sam Adatto, Head of Marketplaces at WoB said that:
Stuart Fraser, Head of Data Insight at Baham Books agreed and added that:
Here are the top four things that we recommend media sellers should consider to create stellar listings that grasp the interest of browsers, and convert them into buyers:
1. Eye-catching images:
- Use high-quality images to draw shopper attention your way and give them confidence in the products you’re selling.
- Take images from multiple angles to give a clear picture of your listing.
- Ensure that the item is in a clean condition, with clutter removed from the background and use a neutral background.
2. Attention-grabbing titles:
- Create clear and concise titles that tell the story of ‘what’ is being sold.
- Include keywords to make your listings more searchable (e.g. if you’re selling Peaky Blinders DVDs then add information on what season it is, if it’s Blu Ray and new and sealed).
3. Detailed descriptions:
- Keep this succinct but also ensure you highlight the key details of your listings such as what the item is and key specifications (e.g. for books, this would be the author, book length, publisher, and if it’s new or second-hand. While for music it would be the item type (CD/ vinyl record, singer, number and of tracks).
- If selling items that are previously used, be transparent about the condition of the item (tears, scratches etc). While it might be tempting to omit such details, doing so can backfire if a buyer returns the item due to an incorrect description of the quality!
4. Free shipping:
- Offering free shipping will make your listing more appealing to buyers.
- While it isn’t always possible to do this (say if you’re selling heavy items or shipping overseas) it is something which is a priority for over 66% of buyers, so always something to think about.
According to Sam Adatto — Head of Marketplaces at WoB, the key thing to remember is that:
Drive visibility further with Promoted Listings
eBay’s family of Promoted Listings solutions are great for helping you gain cut-through and stand out from the competition. Let’s take a look at how each campaign type can help you achieve your business goals:
But what’s the secret to creating the perfect Promoted Listings campaign? In our media selling webinar both Sam from WoB and Stuart at Baham Books agreed that a ‘test and learn’ strategy is crucial. Sam recommended seeing what works for your business and said, “Experimenting with eBay’s tools and trying them with your own business and goals in mind is the way forward.” While Stuart reminded us that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach, saying, “When using Promoted Listings, remember that what works for others doesn’t necessarily work for you. You need to find that sweet-spot that helps you achieve your goals.”
At eBay Ads we help media sellers make sales and grow their businesses. If you want to re-watch our media selling webinar to hear our insights and advice first-hand, get in touch with our team by emailing [email protected] today.