eBay and Shopping Comparison Engines: Getting a rebate on Seller’s Fees

eBay Live was definitely the most energetic e-comm event I have seen. Yes, eBayers know how to party. (Even though I am told Vegas was on a whole different level in 2006).

However, what seems to be either a little known or little understood secret is how sellers with an eBay Store can earn a credit or rebate on seller’s fees when using shopping comparison engines. eBay will give a 75% credit on the Final Value Fees when affiliate marketing efforts like using shopping comparison engines generate sales from the Store Inventory format listings.

There are some steps that need to be taken in advance, but by changing the referral URL or link to include eBay’s tracking code, sellers can earn back their click through cost and more.

The following is paraphrased based on eBay’s Referral Credit FAQ page: http://pages.ebay.com/help/specialtysites/referral-credit-faq.html
Sellers may direct buyers to any of the following parts of an eBay Store:

• Seller Store’s main page
• Store’s About Me page
• Store’s internal search page
• A Store category page within the Store
• A search results page within the Store, based on keywords previously set
• A custom or landing page created within the Store

The buyer must go to a Store because of using a promotion outside of eBay. eBay’s system interprets any of the following events as caused by an off-eBay promotion:

• Buyers type in the Web address (URL) for a Store in their Web browser.
• Buyers click a saved bookmark to your Store in their Web browser.
• Buyers click a link to a Store that has been placed on another Web site or in an email. To notify eBay’s system that the link led the buyer to the Store, the seller must add a referral code to the end of the URL (“?refid=store” or “&refid=store” depending on which part of your Store you direct buyers to).

I would encourage anyone using shopping comparison engines or similar lead generating machinery to explore this opportunity, especially if the person has an eBay store. Even with a website already using a CSE, this presents an excellent opportunity to expand into new markets.

June 18th, 2007