Hacks 1917 Industrial.. Strength Tips and Tools [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 47 List Your Other Auctions in the Description

Capitalize on a single
auction's popularity by using it to promote your
other items.

[Hack #46], it's beneficial
to make your other running auctions as accessible as possible so that
your bidders will be more inclined to purchase multiple items from
you.

The first thing you'll want to do is tell your
customers that they can save money (in the form of shipping expenses)
by purchasing multiple items from you at the same time. Probably the
simplest and most effective way to do this is to place the following
HTML code in your auction descriptions:

<a href="http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.
dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=my_user_id">Check out my other auctions</a> 
- bid on multiple items and save on shipping!

This link is effectively no different from the "View
seller's other items" link that
eBay provides, except that your message suggests to customers that
they have something to gain by clicking through. And since you
customize the link, you also have the advantage of being able to
pre-sort the listing and even show more auctions on a single page;
see [Hack #12] for details.

4.16.1 Specific Product Links

The next step up is to actually link to specific auctions in your
description. This is most useful if you're selling
an item and a bunch of related accessories separately. For example,
an auction for a PDA might contain this HTML code:

Note that I'm also selling a genuine leather case for this PDA <a 
href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3116521524">here</
a> and a travel charger <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.
dll?ViewItem&item=3116521523">here</a>. Bid on multiple items and save on 
shipping!

Then, in the auction description for the aforementioned travel
charger, you might include something like this:

Note that I'm also selling the PDA that uses this charger <a href="http://
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3113167823">here</a>. Bid on 
multiple items and save on shipping!

The resulting links, shown in Figure 4-11, are much
more convenient and conspicuous than the simple list of auctions
hidden behind the "View seller's
other items" link. Your bidders will be able to
quickly flip between your related auctions, and
you'll probably get more bids as a result.

Figure 4-11. Place links to related auctions right in your auction descriptions to increase the likelihood that buyers will purchase multiple items from you

There is one catch, however. The item numbers in the links are
assigned when the auctions begin, so you can't
include complete links to auctions that haven't
started yet. Instead, just type your links without the auction
numbers, like this:

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=">here</a>

Then, once the auctions have started, go back and revise the
descriptions, inserting the corresponding auction numbers as needed.
See [Hack #50] for details.

4.16.2 Java-Based Galleries

Although the targeted links in the previous section are often the
most effective method for linking to your other auctions, they do
require a good amount of extra time and attention for each auction in
which they're used. Busy sellers who
don't want to invest the extra work may instead
prefer to place automated galleries in their auction descriptions.

For a monthly fee you can use the
Andale
Gallery (shown in Figure 4-12), an interactive,
Java-based browser that allows your customers to browse through your
other items without even leaving your auction page.
It's automatically updated with your current
auctions, so very little customization is required.

Figure 4-12. Include the Andale Gallery in your auction descriptions

A free trial of the Andale Gallery is available at www.andale.com. A similar tool, AuctionLynxx,
is available at www.auctionhelper.com. Although these add-ons
are overkill for small sellers, those running a business on eBay will
probably appreciate the slick, store-like feeling they afford.

4.16.3 Create a Custom "Gallery"

The
Andale Gallery is essentially a scrolling viewport with dynamic
(changing) content. Using iframes, discussed in [Hack #51], you can create your own custom
gallery. All you need to do is reference a page with a list of your
auctions, optionally with Gallery photos.

Of course, you could place your "View
seller's other items" page inside
the iframe, but your bidders would only see the
huge eBay logo and menu bar; they'd have to scroll
down for the actual list. Instead, you'll want a
more abbreviated list, like the one described in [Hack #94]. Or, check out [Hack #77] and [Hack #78] for a way to have eBay pay you for
linking to your own auctions.