Part 2 of 2: The eBay User Profile

This morning, I'm posting Part 2 of an article by guest writer Jen Cano. If you missed Part 1, it’s here. I heartily endorse the concepts and products hereafter (in fact, we talk about these in the book at length).

Part 2 of 2: The eBay User Profile

by Jen Cano, eBay Certified Consultant

How Long Are They Staying?
Currently, the average visitor stays on eBay for upwards of twenty minutes. And this timeframe has been steadily climbing over the past two years. In fact, the average visitor stays on the eBay website much longer than they do for other competing markets, including Amazon and Walmart.

This further supports the suggestion that eBay is a fantastic place to market your business and to build a customer base for a more solid Internet business.

Where Do They Go?
If you’re looking for a new product niche or deciding which way to move your product offering in the coming year, this list could be significant for you. The study revealed the following as the top-visited eBay categories:

Collectibles
eBay Motors (this category does occasionally drop below the next two)
Clothing
Electronics
Health and Beauty
Toys
Computers
Business and Industrial
Jewelry and Watches
Crafts
Sports
Musical Instruments

Why Do They Shop on eBay?
The study identified two types of buyers. Broad Category were typically women who shop and purchase in eleven or more different categories. Narrow Category buyers were typically men who limit their shopping to four or less categories. Furthermore, Broad Category buyers like eBay for experiential and emotional reasons, while Narrow Category buyers like eBay for it’s ease of use.

Overall, though each type of buyer likes eBay for the following reasons, in the following order:
unique items
easy convenience
thrill/competition
choice/selection
deals/prices
social
business

The Complete Study
For the complete study, visit www.ebay.com/sellercentral/buyers.pdf.


About the Author
Jennifer Cano is a certified eBay consultant and Senior Editor for Bright Builders, the makers of HammerTap. She is also an editor for eBay Radio.

© Bright Builders, 2006

Fantastic info, Jen. This is the kind of insight that eBay sellers can really use in their day-to-day strategies!

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