Can You Do This On Ebay?

[moneytime]

Can you place an opt-in form in your auction listing?What about on your about me page?How about in your classified ad?

I didn't find anyone doing this in any of the listings I checked.I also didn't find any information regarding this on the site.

It has been some time since I last used Ebay so I am out of the loop with any recent changes in policies.

Any information on what you can and can't do would be very helpful.I'm not trying to be slick with any techniques,I just want to know what the limits are.

Thanks in advance.

[The Expert]

Opt-In's area no-no.

Ebay instituted rolling changes throughout the first half of 2008 which effectively banned all methods of leveraging ebay to drive traffic to your site or build lists.

This includes your About Me page.

[Ron Killian]

I was just going to say that people use to use the about me page, but guess that is out now huh?

[gbm000]

It's true, eBay have really tightened up on preventing traffic being taken off-eBay.

However, you CAN have an opt-in form on an eBay Classified Ad page. I use them myself and plug my Aweber code directly into the Classified Ad page.

If you think about it, this isn't unreasonable. After all, you can't sell an item directly from an eBay Classified Ad page as they are specifically designed to generate leads and contacts.

.

[The Expert]

Classified Ads still seem to be the "wild west" of ebay.

There are plenty examples of people adding signup forms to them. There's even people that plug their own custom "Buy It Now" buttons on them which take customers to off-ebay payment processors.

When I used to do ebay, it was weird because some of these would be pulled down while others would be left alone. It's almost as if the ebay police don't have a true consensus on what's allowed and what's not. Might also be that a competitor can report the auction and then when it's inspected it ends up falling the discression of the reviewer as the entire classified ad format is a complete grey area.

[Alton Hargrave]

There is still a lot of confusion about Ebay policies, especially those that refer to selling products that can be downloaded. I am sending out the cds to my customers, but yesterday I came across a seller that is offering to send his products through the email for no shipping or he will ship on a cd for an additional 5 dollars. And, he has been doing this for months now and on multiple listings.

So, not everything is perfectly clear and if so, not all of us are playing by the same set of rules. Or, maybe Ebay just can't keep up? Or, doesn't want to enforce rules and lose more sellers?

[traceye]

You can have an opt-in on ebay classifieds. Use the html code from your autoresponder and not the javascript code (ebay doesn't allow javascript)

The rules state that you can't send the customer to a page that has something for sale directly after they enter their details. So let them see the regular aweber 'check your inbox for confirmation email' page or something similar.

Once they've confirmed, then you can send them whereever you like.

You can't use an optin in a regular auction though.
(I'm pretty sure you still can on your about me page though).

However you can link to your classified ad in every regular auction you run since you are allowed to link to any page on ebay. Great way to get more traffic to your classified ad.

[Robyn8243]

Not really sure whether this is against spirit or letter of TOS,
but you could add on your About Me page that they can get
more info or a free report by emailing you at YOURLISTNAME@aweber.com

That would add to your Aweber autoresponder list. I assume other autoresponder
services have something similar.

I have also noticed that despite the fact that ebay no longer allows sales of digital downloads outside of classifieds, there are a number of ebay sellers who are clearly selling this way through auction listings.

Many are regular ongoing sellers, so I don't get it. Maybe there is someone in compliance who you can "tip" so that you can get away with it. I really don't know...but it is something I wonder about. It is hard to imagine how people can get away with it on an ongoing basis when the eBay police seem to be out in force on a regular basis.

Robyn

[goingup]

I just bought a product that tells you when the sale is complete to tell the buyer to pay on your site. Isnt that against ebay rules?

[Alton Hargrave]

Originally Posted by Robyn8243

Not really sure whether this is against spirit or letter of TOS,
but you could add on your About Me page that they can get
more info or a free report by emailing you at YOURLISTNAME@aweber.com

That would add to your Aweber autoresponder list. I assume other autoresponder
services have something similar.

I have also noticed that despite the fact that ebay no longer allows sales of digital downloads outside of classifieds, there are a number of ebay sellers who are clearly selling this way through auction listings.

Many are regular ongoing sellers, so I don't get it. Maybe there is someone in compliance who you can "tip" so that you can get away with it. I really don't know...but it is something I wonder about. It is hard to imagine how people can get away with it on an ongoing basis when the eBay police seem to be out in force on a regular basis.

Robyn

You can still sell digital downloads outside of classified listings. You just have to deliver them on a cd in the mail. And, you cannot mention an additional instant download in the listing. I give them both. But, sometimes, they jump to conclusions after the purchase when they see the email from DownloadGuard. They think I am charging for the cd and instead sending the instant download. I have to include that information in my DLG download page.

All these rules are insane. No real thought was put into them. Buyers don't want to wait days for their products. And, it is a waste of their money and a waste of my time mailing products that can easily and cheaply be downloaded.

[Todd Sampson]

When did ebay quit allowing opt in forms on the about me page?
I looked for info on their site and didn't find anything prohibiting it.
I have had an opt in form on my about me page for over 2 years, of
course I haven't been selling anything on ebay in over a year though.

Here is the only guidelines I can find on the about me page:

The About Me page may not promote outside-of-eBay sales or prohibited items, nor may it contain links to commercial Web sites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine. See Additional Information to learn more about links from your About Me page.
Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

• AboutMe page removal
  
• Listing cancellation
  
• Limits on account privileges
  
• Account suspension
  
• Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
  
• Loss of PowerSeller status
  

I don't see how a opt in form violates this.

-Todd Sampson

[himanuzo]

You can place standard HTML codes to your eBay auction page for the opt in. But eBay doesn't allow all kinds of scripts for all listings.

[pcpupil]

You can still have a link to your optin form on your about me page.
I used to have a link there all the time that sent them to Jim Cochrans newsletter.
Its for his ebook [the silent sales machine hiding on ebay].And no,thats not an affiliate link for me.
All you have to do is say something like[Here is how i can retire early and not worry about Social Security],and have your link embeded in this.
I sell on ebay now.
I tried to sell my my products[2] with manual shipping but couldnt get it to work at all.
Ill have to try again.

[Robyn8243]

Originally Posted by Alton Hargrave

You can still sell digital downloads outside of classified listings. You just have to deliver them on a cd in the mail. And, you cannot mention an additional instant download in the listing. I give them both. But, sometimes, they jump to conclusions after the purchase when they see the email from DownloadGuard. They think I am charging for the cd and instead sending the instant download. I have to include that information in my DLG download page.

All these rules are insane. No real thought was put into them. Buyers don't want to wait days for their products. And, it is a waste of their money and a waste of my time mailing products that can easily and cheaply be downloaded.

I understand about being allowed to sell on CD. I am referring to sellers who have no mention of CD selling info for less than $1 with no shipping charges, and who are clearly offering instant downloads. I don't know how some of them can do this.

I agree all these rules are insane and most buyers would prefer to pay less and get instant delivery. Good for Kunaki and the post office....other than that a huge waste of
time and money for everyone.

Robyn

[onlinemoney00]

I am finding it quite difficult placing a classified ad on ebay, say i wanted to place an ad like this on ebay

Make money online
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Freeinternetmarketingcourses.wordpress.com

How do I go about it, what categories

I have tried it on the everything else section, however am being to told classified ads can only be placed on the Cars & Motor Section.

Please Can anyone here enlighten me on how they go about placing their classified ads on ebay

[wisecrone333]

Does anyone know if there are any auction sites like ebay that do allow opt-in forms? And the sale of downloaded rather than CD products - living in NZ the cost of postage etc to the rest of the world would make any products I sold of my own too expensive to be competitive because of freight.

Thanks
lisa

[Al Vaughan]

Ebay has become a law unto it's self, they dictate what they want you to do, I'm sure they only want shop owners and large business, not the ordinary people who made Ebay what it is. If you want to sell a book, music cd, or a multitude of other products you can't or won't be able to charge postage from October, it has to be free postage to the buyer. Oh and only shop owners get an extra discount on final fees for this.

[sparky.ebiz]

Originally Posted by onlinemoney00

I am finding it quite difficult placing a classified ad on ebay, ...
Please Can anyone here enlighten me on how they go about placing their classified ads on ebay

There was a recent posting on the Warrior Forum about this ->

Using EBAY Classified Ads to Build Your List Fast

This may help.

Sparky

[LynnM]

Originally Posted by onlinemoney00

I am finding it quite difficult placing a classified ad on ebay, say i wanted to place an ad like this on ebay

Make money online
Free report reveals all
Freeinternetmarketingcourses.wordpress.com

How do I go about it, what categories

I have tried it on the everything else section, however am being to told classified ads can only be placed on the Cars & Motor Section.

Please Can anyone here enlighten me on how they go about placing their classified ads on ebay

You need to be on ebay.com, as others like ebay.co.uk have restricted classified categories.


Lynn

[moneytime]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I was away for a couple of days and this turned into a very informative thread.

I agree there is a wild west aspect to this.Since I first posted I have found opt-in forms in classifieds and about me pages.Also I have seen several people still offering digital downloads.

I never found anything in the terms and rules that mention opt-in forms.

It looks like the best route is using classifieds and about me for the opt-in,then send them to sales page after they click confirmation link.

[Robyn8243]

Originally Posted by wisecrone333

Does anyone know if there are any auction sites like ebay that do allow opt-in forms? And the sale of downloaded rather than CD products - living in NZ the cost of postage etc to the rest of the world would make any products I sold of my own too expensive to be competitive because of freight.

Thanks
lisa

Lisa:
You can deal with the shipping issue by using Kunaki or another one of the companies who will handle the shipping and delivery aspect of CDs.

Robyn

[rachelberry007]

The opt-in form is not allowed by ebay, since it is abused by most of the users by driving traffic to their own website.

[Trieu]

I didn't realize it is against eBay policies to put optin form on your about me me page. I have been using it since 2009, but didn't get any warning from eBay about it. Perhaps no one has reported me yet, but I always tend to make sure I read all the policies before I would carry this out as I wouldn't want my account to be banned.

[msmir75]

Okay I admit it, I am a strange one because I have never had experience with ebay, but if I choose to give it a try, I will have to discover ways to go around it if I decide to associate an opt-in list with advertising on ebay.

[tsuccess]

Thanks for the information everyone.

[Rob Marr]

I don't think you can do this at all. Anything linking outside Ebay is forbidden unless there's some discussion between you and Ebay. The only way to do this is if you are a big corporation.