The Latest eBay Policies ALLOW You to Link Directly to YOUR Website or Blog

Today I want to talk about reading between the lines, pushing the envelope and creatively using eBay policies and guidelines to YOUR advantage.

I’m sure you have heard the popular phrase, “Rules are meant to be broken.” 

My interpretation of the photo to the left would be, as long as you are holding a box or a priority envelope, you can hang out here as long as you want.

Right?

Unless of course, by the “No Trespassing” part of the sign it means that the company doesn’t accept ANY shipments! Then, I guess you are SOL.

I spend a LOT of time trolling the eBay “Help” pages that list, in THEIR language the EXACT policies and guidelines for those sticky little details that seem to get everyone worked up and crying foul. 

What I find is that since some eBay rules ARE made to be broken, and as long as you follow eBay’s polices WORD FOR WORD, it is very, very easy to come out ahead of your competition AND you get to turn eBay’s “restrictions” on its ear and actually USE THEM to your advantage!

I know by now you think I’m a bit daft… but you are probably intrigued… so check out my latest eBay “stunt”:

Below is the exact wording from the eBay guidelines:

These guidelines (click the image to the right to go directly to the ebay.com page) are the LATEST linking policies introduced this Fall (2011). 

If you look at the very last bullet point, you will notice that eBay allows acknowledging third-party providers.

Exactly WHAT is a third-party provider?

It is any company (or ANYONE) who provided a service that enhanced your listing.

Per eBay:

“Many eBay members use third-party providers to help give their listings more impact. For example, sellers may use companies that host images or photos or provide a counter that records visits to the page.

eBay allows sellers to acknowledge third-party providers as long as the acknowledgement meets our guidelines.”

So, if we look at the DoneByDeb image above, it MUST conform to the exact required eBay specifications cited below:

“Up to 10 words of text (HTML, font size 3) and a logo that’s 88 x 33 pixels or smaller in size—but only one of these can be a clickable link.

Either the text or the logo has to be non-clickable.The clickable link can go to the third-party’s web page that gives information only about the service provided for that particular eBay listing.”

Since MY blog teaches people how to create successful eBay listings,  I used that text along with an eye-catching name. 

I added a box around the link and logo, as there is nothing that states that I cannot. A bit of HTML (font size, a one cell table with a border and an image tag) and voila, you’ve got yourself a direct link to YOUR site. 

Curiosity should hopefully entice people to click on the DoneByDeb logo. 

The logo will link to a page that is an overview specifically for eBay buyers & sellers. 

Remember, even buyers can easily become sellers with a little encouragement and some good information!

The best part is that the traffic you are enticing there is LOOKING for what you offer -
and THAT can be marketed to them OFF of eBay.

How sweet is that???

But what if you sell information about your niche? 

Maybe you specialize in costume jewelry, and you have a blog that talks about it. 

You could create a little logo, some interesting text and link to your website or blog, and hopefully end up with some subscribers. 

Kids… Don’t Try This At Home:

You CANNOT solicit people to sign up for your newsletter PROMINENTLY.

Also remember, you CANNOT under any circumstances advertise blatantly to SELL anything that could be sold on eBay… that is a HUGE no-no and WILL get you into trouble, up to and including account suspension. 

You CAN however, talk about what you are all about and why a person would want to “explore” your site further (and perhaps NOTICE the opt-in widget on each and every page of your website).

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The KEY is to work WITHIN the framework of eBay’s policies guidelines AND siphon people off of EACH and EVERY eBay listing you launch!

So… the new rules where you cannot have an email address (clickable or not) on your About Me page AND your eBay listings just became a moot point. 

Not only can you have a (fairly) prominent link in each listing, but you are also setting yourself up as an EXPERT. 

Yep, by making YOURSELF a third-party solution, you are appearing to be an eBay recognized entity… and thus an “expert.” 

For this to “work”, I would NOT point this out in your listing. 

In fact, if your eBay ID is the same as your link text or logo, that could actually diminish the effect you are trying to create, and could also create “issues” with some of the REALLY clueless, yet overly zealous eBay policy  ”enforcers”.

 I hope this post inspired you to become the expert you already are TODAY!

Enjoy!

Best ~Deb