How Buyers Use eBay

by Jen Cano, eBay Certified Consultant

Ever wonder what the eBay user profile is? I recently got my hands on a report from eBay about this very subject, and thought I´d pass some of the highlights on to you. (For the full report, go to www.ebay.com/sellercentral/buyers.pdf.)

So, without further adieu...

How Buyers Use eBay

What´s an eBay Certified Solution Provider?

HammerTap for Overstock on the Horizon

How Many Are Coming?

eBay has determined that just over one third of all Internet users (not just shoppers) visit eBay once every month. They also state that they reach more people in the United States than any other eCommerce property. What does that mean for you and me?

I can think of a few ways we can seize even greater opportunities on the Internet. First, with so many shoppers, eBay becomes not just a place to sell, but a place to be seen and a market to study. If, for instance, you have an independent website, eBay can become just as important for building your customer base as search engines are.

Second, since such a large percentage of Internet shoppers shop on eBay, eBay now represents the perfect place to research and test market which products might do well on other markets.

This is an opportunity not just to sell a lot of auctions, but to grow your business.

When Are They Coming?

eBay’s report says that Mondays are the most busy days, boasting over 16,000 visitors on average, with Sundays at a close second. They state that a well-timed ten-day auction could include two Mondays, giving you better visibility than on any other auction schedule.

While these statistics are true for shoppers, they don’t really tell us anything about buyers. In other words, to make sound selling decisions, you need to determine when people are buying, and not just shopping for, your products. A thorough analysis of when buyers are buying would mean completing an research on your particular product and category, using a tool such as HammerTap.

How Long Are They Staying?

Currently, the average visitor stays on eBay for upwards of twenty minutes. And this timeframe has been steadily climbing over the past two years. In fact, the average visitor stays on the eBay website much longer than they do for other competing markets, including Amazon and Walmart.

This further supports the suggestion that eBay is a fantastic place to market your business and to build a customer base for a more solid Internet business.

Where Do They Go?

If you’re looking for a new product niche or deciding which way to move your product offering in the coming year, this list could be significant for you. The study revealed the following as the top-visited eBay categories:

1. Collectibles
2. eBay Motors (this category occasionally drops below the next two)
3. Clothing
4. Electronics
5. Health and Beauty
6. Toys
7. Computers
8. Business and Industrial
9. Jewelry and Watches
10. Crafts
11. Sports
12. Musical Instruments

Why Do They Shop on eBay?

The study identified two types of buyers. Broad Category were typically women who shop and purchase in eleven or more different categories. Narrow Category buyers were typically men who limit their shopping to four or less categories. Furthermore, Broad Category buyers like eBay for experiential and emotional reasons, while Narrow Category buyers like eBay for it´s ease of use.

Overall, each type of buyer likes eBay for the following reasons, in the following order:

1. unique items
2. easy convenience
3. thrill/competition
4. choice/selection
5. deals/prices
6. social
7. business

The Complete Study
For the complete study, visit www.ebay.com/sellercentral/buyers.pdf.

eBay Certified Solution Provider

The HammerTap team is working toward becoming an eBay Certified Solution Provider. Part of the requirements for becoming certified is that we give them a list of HammerTap customers who are happy with our product and will act as a reference for us. If you are interested in helping our company achieve this status, please email us at auctionography@hammertap.com.

How Will I Benefit from HammerTap´s eBay Certified Solution Provider Status?
In order to become certified, the HammerTap team must conform to a superior level of understanding of eBay and provide quality products for eBay members. Following are a few of the qualifications:

* HammerTap team members must become eBay Certified Consultants. This process requires rigorous study of eBay's policies, best practices, and features. Consultants must pass annual exams covering subjects ranging from VERO to MissionFish to shilling policies to prohibited eBay items.
* HammerTap programming staff must become eBay Certified Engineers. The engineers must also pass yearly exams to satisfy eBay´s strict requirements.
* Certified Commercial-Tier through the eBay Developers Program and market data license. For this qualification, eBay examines HammerTap products to ensure that they are quality, legitimate products for eBay members.
* We also must present a list of satisfied customers, some of whom must be at least Gold PowerSellers. We must present testimonials and case studies that demonstrate how our product has helped businesses over time.

Overall, we must maintain a higher standard of quality than is required of eBay product providers who do not achieve the certification. And we must renew our certification each year. This way, our knowledge and expertise will always remain solid and sharp.

Thank you for helping us with our certification.