Idea #1 - Use your eBay About Me Page!
The about me page is a powerful tool right at your fingertips! Let's be honest, people are inherently just a bit nosey. They like to know things about other people and online auctions are not only about products but the people selling them. I always check out a sellers About Me page if I am thinking about buying an item from them. I like knowing where my purchase is coming from!
Let them know the kinds of products you generally put up for sale. Say you sell jewelry, purses and wallets. One week you only have purses up for sale. A buyer may look at your About Me page and learn that not only do you sell purses but you sell wallets and jewelry too. They may contact you to see if you have a wallet that matches the purse they want to buy or they may come back to your auctions later to see if you have any jewelry they may be interested in.
Team up with another seller and cross promote items! I met another seller online who helped me tremendously in sourcing products. As a way to thank her I put a link to her About Me page on mine and she did the same for me. We sell similar and complimentary items and while there essentially could be some competition it is doubtful.
On our About Me pages we say something to the effect of: "Looking for similar items or not finding exactly what you need. Please check out Sellers Name auctions." Now, if you are selling VCRs you don't want to cross promote with another seller who also sells VCRs.but a seller who offers videotapes would be an awesome person to team up with. The point is getting your seller ID and link to your items out there to the public.
Idea #2 - Viral Marketing - Get Yourself a Website
I cannot tell you how much just a one page website can help you increase traffic to your auctions and generate sales. I have a personal webpage with a blog as well as a personal blog for both my children. None of them have anything to do with eBay or what I have up for auction - but they all have links to my auction items.
Every few days I write something on each of the sites - things I find funny, things I have read recently, funny stuff the kids have done. I try to be as humorous as possible to keep my readers coming back. Friends, family and online pals come to my page through out the week to read and often share the link with someone they know.
On the side column of each page I have a small paragraph talking about eBay and a link to what I have up for sale. And people click on it ALL THE TIME! I have had friends and family (or their friends) see something in my auctions that they think a friend of theirs might want and have passed the link on to them.
This is called Viral Marketing - the concept is similar to a cold. One person gets the cold and passes it on to another person. Remember that shampoo commercial where one girl tells her friend "and so on, and so on, and so on"? Same principle; except it's your auction items not shampoo. Well unless you are selling shampoo!
Idea #3 - Create an Opt-in Newsletter
Are you an expert on what you sell? You may be shaking your head and saying "no way" but I bet you are! Share your knowledge with others in the form of a weekly newsletter.
Let's go back to our earlier example of the seller who carries purses, wallets and jewelry from Idea #1. Every time the seller makes a sale they follow up to the buyer with their auction invoice. At the bottom of the email it says "Interested in learning more about designer purses, wallets and collectable jewelry? Join my weekly mailing list "Beyond the Bag". Each week we offer news on upcoming designs, retired designs, tips on how to care for your items and more!" and then there is a link on how to join the newsletter.
Use your knowledge to gain repeat (and new) customers! Every week send out your newsletter and tell them all the new stuff you have discovered about a certain designer, etc.
DO NOT ADVERTISE YOUR AUCTIONS IN THE NEWSLETTER. At the end of the newsletter put in your signature line that has a link to your current auctions. The reason for doing it this way is your subscribers won't want to feel like they are getting a big commercial through out the email. That just kills the value of the information. But having your auction information at the bottom makes it a post-script to the content and not offensive.
Idea #4 - Run Promotions
A great way to get repeat customers is to run a promotion. A very successful one is to place a coupon in with your packages that offers your buyer a shipping discount on their next purchase. This is a nice surprise for them when they open their package and gets them to look at your current auction items.
Word to the wise on this: Give each coupon an individual number and keep track of them in an Excel spreadsheet. There are dishonest people out there that will try to take advantage of you and will try to use the coupon repeatedly or tell all their friends about it.
You are offering this promotion only to them as a thank you for their purchase. Using a unique coupon code will stop it from being abused. Have the buyer send you their coupon code at the end of the auction and mark it off your spreadsheet. This way you know it has been used and you won't mistakenly allow it to be redeemed more than once.
Here is some sample text for your coupon: "Thank you for your purchase! I hope you enjoy your item and would like to offer you 10% off shipping on your next purchase! After you have won your next auction item from me email this coupon code to me and I will take 10% off the shipping charge. Your unique coupon code is: 1XFR43E. Thank you again for your purchase." Then list your eBay user ID and the URL to your auction items.