Positive brand protection on eBay

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It’s always bemused me why big brands either ignore eBay entirely, or sign up to the VeRO program but do nothing to establish themselves on eBay. I’ve long been of the opinion that brands would do well to have an active presence on eBay even if it wasn’t a profit making operation.

Many brands and even ticket promotors have attempted to control the eBay marketplace and and yet done little or nothing to make their products and brands legitimately available on the site. Step forward , they have just announced the launch of their eBay shop and part of the reason for wanting a strong presence on eBay is to protect their brand.

  Having our own presence on eBay is definitely an important aspect of enhancing our customers’ experience of Red Letter Days and protecting our brand online particularly as the site is used by merchants either reselling or passing experiences off as Red Letter Days products. Being part of the eBay community ourselves guarantees the Red Letter Days experience will be a good one.
– Angela Greenwood, Red Letter Days’ Online and Direct Marketing Manager

The MD of Red Letter Days, Bill Alexander, will be speaking at Catalyst later this month on the importance of building a strong brand and how to translate brand awareness into online traffic and sales. It will be interesting to hear more regarding their plans for eBay and how this fits into their overall brand awareness campaigns.

It’s refreshing to see a company building their brand and approaching the eBay marketplace in a positive manner, rather than just rushing to fill out VeRO forms. eBay is now maturing as a marketplace and brands that embrace eBay can expose themselves to the 14 million plus active users in the UK. That’s got to be a better strategy than simply attempting to prohibit others from selling your products on the site.

6 Responses

  1. Look forward to hearing more from them at Catalyst.

    Over my time at eBay I really expected to see an evolving attitude from high street retailers and brands in regard to selling on eBay but to be honest only a small handful have really grasped the opportunity. I met with the likes of Tesco, John Lewis, Man Utd, HP, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Harrods, Figleaves to name just a few and although in the early days their fears around brand protection had some grounding as ever the problem is that the decision making tree is too long and too complicated for any of them to commit personnel and time to “new ventures” like eBay. Schuh, is the best in class approach in my time, setting up an individual team set on testing the market and then adapting. They have shone and deserve all their success in not only protecting their share of market but growing it.

  2. Remind me, how many times has ‘Red Letter Days’ gone bust now ?

    Ebay is not a appropriate channel for every brand and to criticise brands for not using it is as daft as criticising brands for using it.

  3. Super Max, yep. Remember Stelios Easy Cruises? *poof* gone from eBay. … who knows how many Brands have come and gone.

  4. “I’ve been looking at Ferrari driving all evening”

    Did it back in 99, absolutely the best money you will ever spend Chris, go for it.

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