A question....

windswept

How many of you know that you are allowed to have a link on your 'about me' page on ebay to your e-commerce website?
I only ask because so many people, buyers and sellers, have no idea about this and are really missing a trick as it is the only way to 'legally' advertise the fact on ebay.
I always check a sellers about me page as 9 times out of 10 they have a site and their things are cheaper than on ebay - that certainly is the case with me - my ebay shop is now merely an advert for my website.
I had a customer ring this morning who had seen a kite on ebay, googled it and then found my site, when I explained to her about 'about me' pages she had no idea and was an ebay seller herself , so if you tell 10 people and they tell 10 others - word will soon get around.
It definitely comes under the definition of 'money saving'.;)

lilymia79

I have several links on my 'me' page and looking at my website stats they work well!

I have around 200 views a week to my me page and more than 1/2 of them go on to my website, it's a great way of advetising!

steviebabes

Yes it's good marketing but beware, if you are selling the same items on your website cheaper than on ebay they will end your listings. This happened to me a couple of years ago and I lost hours of work. I always make sure similar items are priced the same on ebay as my website. Not sure if they have some sort of policy about this but sure someone on here will know! It is your competitors you have to worry about as I don't think ebay would have the resources to check. I now try to have slight differences on my website like quantities and brands. Hope this helps.

ChrisCar_2

Back in Jan'06 I had links to my 3 web sites on my 'me' page and was give 24 hours to take then down.
I don't have a 'me' page any more

blue_monkey_2

You are allowed the website address ChrisCar - i've had mine up for a few years so unless you was advertising something prohibited then there should be no reason why you cannot. I advertise on there.

Steviebabes is right though - you can't sell things cheaper on your website than on eBay else they will cancel your listings. However, nothing to stop you giving your customers a discount code they can use and asking them to spread the word! It is one way around it.

ChrisCar_2

This is the email I received, I've deleted the actual addresses and my user name.
I don't sell cheaper on my web sites and the links had been there since I started selling on ebay in 2003 ie for 3 years with no problems:-

From: ukrswebhelp@ebay.com
Subject: LP Notice: eBay Informational Alert- eBay ABOUT ME PAGE CHANGE REQUEST
Date: 6 January 2006 11:06:57 GMT
To: .........

Dear ....... (.........),

Thank you for your interest and participation in our About Me feature. Unfortunately, it was brought to our attention that your eBay About Me page, located at the following URL: http://members.ebay.co.uk...........
is in violation of

Inappropraite Links

We noticed that your About Me page contained:

You'll find more of Chris' stuff at .........

You'll find Frank's stuff at ........

You'll find some ribbon and craft stuff at ..........

While eBay will, if necessary, remove About Me pages that violate its policies, since your About Me page is an expression of your personality and tastes, it is contrary to our policies for us to edit your About Me page. We need to request that these changes be made within 24 hours.

You can make changes to your page by going to the following URL and entering your User ID and password as requested:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/services/aboutme/aboutme-login.html

If you are unable to make these changes, we will need to remove the entire page for you to start over in creating your About Me page. Please note that our policies that apply to auction pages also apply to our About Me pages, with exception of advertisements. eBay will permit members to advertise their businesses in describing who they are and what they do on their About Me page. However, please remember that it is not acceptable to solicit direct sales in promoting that business.

You can view these guidelines for a better understanding of our listing guidelines and how they affect the way you post your information at the URL below:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/community/png-list.html

Information on infringing or illegal items or for information on other eBay listing guidelines, please view:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/community/png-items.html

We would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation in making these changes within 24 hours.

Regards,

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
eBay International AG

blue_monkey_2

But this could be because you have several links so that would not be 'About Me'

Thank you for your interest and participation in our About Me feature. Unfortunately, it was brought to our attention that your eBay About Me page, located at the following URL: http://members.ebay.co.uk...........
is in violation of

Inappropraite Links

We noticed that your About Me page contained:

You'll find more of Chris' stuff at .........

You'll find Frank's stuff at ........

You'll find some ribbon and craft stuff at ..........

Obviously we do not know what the links are but I know from having spoken to someone else they had lots of items removed just for sellings hand made cards with a specific die cutter (sp?) and that company objected. I think it is more because you did not just have your own website listed in there and the only reason things are removed is because people report it so more like your competition or someone who owns those links has reported it for you. Some companies are very particulat about their stuff being mentioned on eBay and this is the problem that lot of sellers face these days.

ChrisCar_2

All three web sites are mine. Frank makes chess sets. I paint and the ribbon web site is all ribbon I bought at an auction that has no manufactures' names on it.
We work as a team, all out listings say Frank and Chris. That was OK'ed by ebay yonks ago.
They even OKed links from my listings to my painting web site - after a 45 minutes phone call from the US.
At the time, all we were selling was my painting stuff and ribbon. We sell all sorts of things now but the ribbon site still hasn't got any crafts on it.

You are right about firms objecting to ebay selling.
I've been buying things from trade shows for years, but when I first told sellers we were selling on ebay, several refused to supply us.
Things have changed over the last couple of years though, now when you mention ebay most want to sell to us.