eBay Taps into Its Reputation as a Place for Everything

The head of eBay’s US marketplace Adam Ireland published a blog post on Friday about how eBay would be marketing the site to holiday shoppers. In it, he said eBay would be tapping into its reputation as the place for shoppers to find everything – value, unique items, and trends sold out in stores.

eBay will do so with a “consistent look, feel and experience across the site throughout peak holiday shopping dates,” Ireland said. Conspicuously absent from his post was any mention of holiday marketing specifics, a sore point for sellers who note Amazon and Etsy are running TV commercials to attract holiday shoppers.

He noted that shoppers are more receptive to buying, gifting, and receiving items that fall outside of the traditional “new in box” category: pre-loved fashion, vintage handbags, discontinued toys, refurbished electronics, collectible cards, and more – which is exactly the varied selection that sellers deliver on eBay.

“We’re now in the midst of ‘holiday prep,'” he said, ” emphasizing home décor and hosting items like cookware, candles and bedding, plus fashion and luxury self-gifting in anticipation of parties ahead.”

And with a nod to next week’s “Cyber 5” holiday shopping period that spans from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday (Novmber 23 through November 27), Ireland said eBay would be focusing its campaign on name-brand items at incredible value.

He pointed to eBay’s guide that showed the first Sunday in December (the 3rd) was historically one of the biggest shopping days of the season. eBay’s research also showed December 11th – “Green Monday” – was a time when online shoppers “flood to the marketplace” to find gifts.

“We’ll ultimately round out our holiday marketing with a “Get It In Time” push, directing shoppers to save big on their last-minute gifting,” Ireland said. “Because the holidays are the most competitive time of the year for shoppers’ attention and dollars, we’re differentiating ourselves by reminding us what this time of year is all about: the people and passions that fuel us. Whatever you need to get festive, you can find it on eBay. However hard someone is to shop for, you can find the perfect present on eBay.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.