Well prepared for the year-end business – with eBay advertising options
Just looking at last year shows: one fifth of consumers are already thinking about what should end up under the Christmas tree by the end of September* — so it’s high time to ask our marketing experts from eBay Ads once again. How do I advertise successfully on eBay to prepare for the peak season in the third and fourth quarters?
* Current survey by eBay Ads and the opinion research institute Civey from June 20-21, 2022, published in the “Christmas Shopping Report 2022”. Read more
**Important links**
Seller portal "Reach more buyers"
Isabell: Hello dear listeners, and welcome to our new podcast episode for our sellers and of course for everyone who wants to become one. I’m very happy that you’re joining us again today, and I’m equally happy that my esteemed podcast colleague Tino is back with us too.
Tino: Yes, hello dear Isabell and also a warm hello to all listeners. In today’s episode, we want to talk about the advertising options on eBay, because surprisingly: the Christmas business is just around the corner again. So it’s high time for us to talk once more about how you can keep growing by advertising successfully on eBay.
Isabell: That we’re already talking about the Christmas business in late summer. For this topic, of course, we invited experts. Hello dear Stephie and hello dear Matthias.
Matthias: Hi!
Stephanie: Hello everyone!
Tino: Yes, hello Stephie. Could you tell our listeners what exactly you do at eBay?
Stephanie: Of course, gladly. I take care of marketing at eBay Ads, so marketing within the advertising team. That means, for example: how can our advertising options be well explained to our sellers through various communication channels, so that as many sellers as possible understand what advertising opportunities are available at eBay, and of course also make our entire eBay Ads team, which serves as the direct contact for all advertising options, even more visible.
Isabell: Matthias, what exactly is your role at eBay?
Matthias: First of all, without Stephie our team would be nothing, because she always supplies us with great materials. Officially, and let’s start with the Denglisch already, I guess a few more terms will come up now, I’m Head of Ads Partnerships for the Electronics and Home & Garden areas. And together with my team, we see ourselves as the first point of contact for all topics around advertising at eBay for our sellers. So more visibility, more sales, and with a focus on our ad formats.
Tino: Stephie, as mentioned, you’ve been a guest on our podcast before. Last time you told us how the ad formats at eBay differ. What’s new at eBay Ads?
Stephanie: We actually brought a few updates. First to mention is that we have a new ad format. It’s called "Promoted Listings Express" and is available for auction listings, so it’s primarily for private sellers. In addition, with "Promoted Listings Standard" we now have more than 100 placements across the entire eBay network. In other words, visibility is even greater when you use "Promoted Listings Standard". And there’s also news with "Promoted Listings Advanced": we no longer only have the top placement available there, but placements one through four on the eBay search results page.
Isabell: We already did a podcast episode on the topic of ads. We would definitely recommend all listeners give it another listen. Stephie, what has stayed the same?
Stephanie: What has stayed the same, of course, is that we continue to recommend that all eBay sellers use and test our ad formats to keep growing their own eBay business. And of course what has stayed the same is that with "Promoted Listings Standard" you get a lot of visibility and therefore more reach for your listings, and relatively risk-free. You only pay an ad fee if the item listed is also sold via "Promoted Listings Standard". We recommend advertising as many fixed-price items as possible with "Promoted Listings Standard" to create a baseline buzz. We also still have "Promoted Listings Advanced" in our portfolio, and here you still have the option to set keywords and a respective click price. This is especially worthwhile for newly listed items in order to build a quick sales history and thereby boost further success on eBay. It’s also fantastic for seasonal occasions, when competition increases and even more visibility becomes important. For that, "Promoted Listings Advanced" continues to be a very good marketing option.
Tino: On the topic of seasonal occasions: Matthias, you found in a representative survey that 1/5 of consumers are already thinking by the end of September about what should end up under the Christmas tree. So apparently I wasn’t one of them, because I’d bring the average down. But could you maybe tell us a bit more about that and give us some insights?
Matthias: Yes, very gladly. The numbers I’m about to mention refer to the increase in purchases or searches on our German marketplace, so on eBay.de. And Tino, as you said: 26% of women start thinking about Christmas gifts around September. 15% of men. If we had surveyed 100 people and you and I had been among them, I’d guess it would only be 13%. We can take a little look at a few categories and areas on eBay. For example, furniture and home furnishings — unimaginable for me. In fact, searches for Christmas decorations, items, and gifts start rising there as early as mid-September. So for me that would probably be from mid-November or so, Tino — December then, right?
Tino: Yes, actually, end of November, December 1st. Maybe that’s true. So, completely seasonal shopping and not so anti-seasonal, I’d say?
Matthias: Exactly. But that’s how it is — that’s how our buyers search on eBay. In the Christmas decorations and gifts area, from early October. Then, shortly before Christmas, we actually see the peak in purchases. If we shift a bit toward electronic products, there we see an increase in searches for TV sets from mid-October, and one of the demand peaks is Cyber Week. There we see an increase of more than 130% compared with the annual average. And what I personally find very interesting is the week after Christmas. That is the absolute peak week in terms of demand for TV sets. Plus 318% compared with the annual average. I have kind of two explanations for that personally. Sometimes there’s money under the Christmas tree, and then you also have time, or make time, because maybe you don’t want to go for a walk with your loved ones again, but instead go back onto eBay, to eBay, and look for TV sets.
Tino: Yes, I actually count myself in that group. Because at Christmas, I gave myself a PS5, and then of course I needed the right TV set.
Matthias: Very good, yes. We can take another quick look at the gaming area. Here we see an increase in searches and sales starting around the end of October. And for smartphones, notebooks, consoles, video games, we see demand/ a peak around Cyber Monday, i.e. the end of November, around Cyber Week. But of course it’s important not to only be visible then, but to be visible beforehand and, so to speak, try to bind potential buyers to yourself and your job. And then? I haven’t been on a winter holiday in far too long, but ski and snowboard equipment also sees a noticeable increase in searches from mid-October. The peak in sales actually comes in the following year, from around mid-February, when the winter holidays are happening everywhere. But at Christmas we also see an increase of 252% for snowboards. That’s basically what Stephie and her team found out. Very interesting. Maybe I am a little different from the people who were surveyed here.
Isabell: Yes, it’s really super exciting to see that cross-section, how the average consumer, so to speak, behaves. We’re still a bit ahead of that time right now. But Stephie, that already shows a little that timing is a central factor, right?
Stephanie: Yes, as the saying goes: timing is everything. And for our sellers this means one thing, especially in marketing: don’t wait until the peak is there to start trying to generate visibility, but simply start beforehand. So start a few weeks earlier or, if possible, build it up throughout the whole year, especially with "Promoted Listings Standard" as baseline buzz, which we already mentioned earlier. And then for the individual sales peaks, see whether I should add "Promoted Listings Advanced" as well. But don’t start only at that moment either — start beforehand too. We’ve also developed a great Ad Moments calendar. We’d be happy to link it in the show notes for our sellers.
Tino: Matthias, what can our sellers do to achieve exactly that and land in the mindset of our consumers?
Matthias: Now Stephie and I have both worked at eBay for almost exactly 15 years. Well, more precisely at eBay Ads. So what else should we say except ads, ads, ads. "Promoted Listings Advanced," as Stephie just said, is especially well suited to push seasonal items, keyword being Christmas decorations, for example. With "Promoted Listings Advanced," you can choose search terms, i.e. keywords, and then specifically address users exactly when they are looking for those items. And as mentioned, now on the first four placements, visibility on the search results page. We all know how important that is. On Google, too, few people maybe even go to the second page. So it’s extremely important to be visible there. And with "Promoted Listings Standard," certainly the baseline buzz throughout the year, simply to get into people’s heads, so they remember you as a seller. Maybe save you already as a preferred seller on eBay. And when people come to eBay, they don’t do it to watch funny cat videos — they come with buying intent. They come with an open wallet and want to, or come to us with the intention to buy. That means there are somehow millions of buyers already active with us.
Isabell: Matthias, for the sellers who maybe haven’t used advertising options on eBay all that often yet, could you maybe tell us a little insider knowledge and share some "best practices" — now we’re back to Denglisch — so some tips and tricks from more experienced sellers?
Matthias: Of course, very gladly! "Fix the basics," or in German, "the basics have to be right." When you look at a listing on eBay, it should ideally already be set up so that it also performs well organically. So that means having a good item description, providing meaningful professional product photos, and making sure the title on eBay is right. I mean, Tino, it’s 80 characters, and ideally you should use all of them and not stop after 60 or something. The whole topic of course includes ratings from buyers, service status, whether you use "eBay Plus." So the factors that certainly play some role for our algorithm should be in place. And if you then additionally run a "Promoted Listings Standard" or "Promoted Listings Advanced" campaign, the chances are pretty good that you’ll get significantly more visibility as a result. And to maybe go into a bit more detail on the two formats and what we would recommend there. With "Promoted Listings Standard," there’s an option to set up campaigns automatically. So it’s also a question of time, of course. With these automated campaigns, you can think about a bid strategy. So you can say: I’m willing to stay 0.5 percentage points above the ad rate recommended by eBay, but only up to a total of 10%, for example. So you set an upper limit there. And what we can also really recommend — we make a lot of reports available in Seller Hub Pro. So with "Promoted Listings Standard," download the sales report, take a look at it, and draw your conclusions from it. And with "Promoted Listings Advanced," which is a cost-per-click model, as said, it’s wonderful for seasonal items. What we also see, and what my colleagues have told me too: listings that perform well through a "Promoted Listings Standard" campaign can definitely also be advertised additionally with "Promoted Listings Advanced." You can also download the keyword reports here, see which keywords generate maybe many impressions but few sales, add new keywords, remove others accordingly, and play around a bit with the matching phrases you have or the exact term. So search term "vacuum cleaner." If you say, I really only want to be shown for the keyword and that works well, then you can expand it to a matching phrase. And then all searches entered on eBay that come before the term vacuum cleaner and after the term vacuum cleaner can also trigger the ad campaign to be served.
Isabell: Thanks again. Thanks to both of you for being here today and sharing the exciting insights into the world of ads with us. Especially important now, just before the start of the Christmas season. Today we talked with you about how "Promoted Listings Standard" can create a low-risk baseline buzz, so to speak, and then "Promoted Listings Advanced" can create a seasonal boost for your listings. With your calendar, which you put together for our sellers, you can also take another look at exactly where the sellers’ inventory should be boosted, I’d say. Of course it’s important that the basics in the listings are right, that the fundamentals are correct. For optimization, our sellers can then use the reports in Seller Hub Pro again. And we’ll definitely link all the links to the various things and tools we mentioned in the show notes again, so that everyone who listened to the episode can optimize their ads and listings. Stephie, at the end there’s always one question we ask our guests. Namely, what they last bought on eBay.
Stephanie: Exactly, for me it was actually the UNO game, which was available as part of the charity campaign on eBay for UNO Refugee Aid.
Isabell: Very nice. That’s definitely a great purchase. Matthias, what was it for you?
Matthias: It was two things, a perfume that isn’t so easy to find otherwise. And the second is a radiator. Just as a precaution for autumn.
Tino: It smells incredibly good in here. Unfortunately, there’s still no smell podcast, but maybe that’s coming. Then our podcast is actually over again. We’d love to hear your feedback on our podcast. Feel free to share your experiences with us in the eBay Community, especially if you’ve already taken part in the program, and leave your questions there too. Of course, we’d also be very happy if you leave a subscription or a like. And with that, many thanks to the three of you for being here. Thanks Stephie, Matthias, and also Isabell.
Matthias: Thank you very much.
Stephanie: Thank you very much.
Isabell: Take care. Bye.
3 comments
jh-modelcars-and-more
·3 years agoHello,
what does the campaign mean when promoting an article?
podcast@ebay
AdminOP3 years agoHello @lira_deko ,
it’s never too late to improve your service status so you can participate in ads again, and it’s great to hear that ads are having a positive impact on your offers.
You have the option to check under your service status what exactly can be improved for the future in order to optimize your services.
Service status and minimum standards
Questions & answers about ads
Best regards
your podcast team
lira_deko
·4 years agoHello, I’d really love to advertise; with eBay and ad fees I generated very good sales. Unfortunately, because of what an eBay employee said, with my current status — I’ve unfortunately slipped below average for the past 3 days — I can’t do any marketing on eBay at all.
I’m very disappointed because I have winter stock!
Best regards,
LIRA DEKO