What makes a buyer come back for more? With Ebay, it can be difficult to make a buyer return to your store. After all, if they're looking for an item won't they just look for the cheapest deal on the Ebay site? Your mission is going to be to to provide a memorable experience that's going to make them want to be loyal and be enthusiastic about coming back. So how do you do that? It's going to take creativity, interesting content in the form of items and store appearance, and communication follow up that encourages return visits.

Here are the top 10 things I can think of, as a buyer, that would make me not want to visit an Ebay store again, either because there might be a better deal elsewhere or there's no reason to revisit:

1. The store doesn't have a niche. Random items in the store? I'm not going to return.
2. There's no return policy. I wouldn't want to risk becoming a repeat shopper.
3. The seller doesn't take PayPal. I'm not a fan of having to pay via money order, it's risky.
4. The box is a mess when I receive the item, and it's sloppily packed. They could've done a better job packing the item. I'll pass next time.
5. A default, non customized look to the store. If it looks unprofessional, I probably will forget all about it.
6. The seller hasn't even bothered customizing the MyWorld page and other Ebay pages. They obviously don't take their business that seriously.
7. I can't remember the name of the business, but I do remember that it had nothing to do with what they were selling.
8. Boy, that shipping was SLOW... and expensive. Free shipping would've been better.
9. When I emailed the seller to ask a question, they never returned the email. They don't care about getting my business.
10. I totally forgot about them because they didn't communicate with me in any way. Out of sight, out of mind.
    

Email marketing is a big part of business today. An opt in newsletter provides an excellent opportunity for your customers to keep in touch with you. By opting in, they WANT to hear from you. So how do you get an opt in subscriber list for your Ebay store? A bunch of unique items doesn't hurt, and low prices won't either, but you'll have to entice them to sign up. What's in it for them? Will you be:

• Announcing contests through the email?
• Notifying them of sales - big sales?
• Telling them about new product updates and providing them with useful information they can't get anywhere else?

The good news is that an opt in newsletter is free with an Ebay store subscription, and you can get up to 5,000 customers on that list before you have to pay per email (which is 5 cents I believe). Take advantage of this and link in your auction using the "sign up to my store newsletter" link that Ebay provides you with for your auction.  Better yet, create your own clickable link inside of your auctions that stands out and points out the benefits of signing up for your newsletter.

A big roadblock to your success of finding repeat customers is the look of your store. You do have flexibility in terms of the look of your store, and the look of your auctions. A custom auction template and store theme, some of which can be purchased on Ebay, can be put into the HTML code of your store and auctions. This is a simple cut and paste process, or if you're HTML savvy, you can write your own code using your own images.

Why not just stick with the default look Ebay provides?

You look like every other Ebay store. Setting yourself apart in appearance from your competitors is one of the best things that you can do.

Customized Pages

Utilizing Ebay's custom pages that they allow in your store is a great way to provide your customers with useful information that will make them want to keep coming back. Provide sizing information on products that you sell, useful tips on how to use the products, or give them tips on how to shop in your store. You can even tell your Ebay story there, or create customized pages featuring your best products. Link to these custom pages in your guides, blogs, auctions, and offsite on other blogs, sites and profiles.

Not on Hupbages yet? You can sign up here to start creating your own pages today!