In March this year, a new personalisation feature was added to eBay, making it easier to offer services from adding a name or initial to an item, to printing an image on a product. eBay’s new tool and offers makes it easier and cheaper for sellers to support personalisation requests, while helping shoppers to add a personal touch to their purchases and this week we’ll be looking at some of the sellers already using the personalisation feature and today we look at All Things Personal.
In 2020 eBay UK recorded over 600 searches a day for ‘personalised’ items, with personalised mugs and glasses some of the most sought after customised and engraved products, with searches up 111% and 113%.
Leicester-based Optometrist Bhavna Pancholi started making her own greetings cards in 2015 as a creative outlet. She gave them to family and friends and soon found herself getting a wealth of orders. Her husband had always been a C2C seller, so suggested she try selling her cards on eBay. She was shocked by their success and in the first year she turned over almost £4,000, doubling it the next year and the year after. 2020 was her most profitable year yet.
She runs the business from home with occasional help from her family. Her daughter wanted to put her drawing on front of a card, so Bhavna turned it into a Mother’s Day card and sold it on eBay.
“I started making and selling greeting cards on eBay as a hobby in 2015 because I was bored of what was online. Every year since has been a whirlwind – the past 12 months have been especially busy as sales shot up. With people stuck at home during lockdown, many looked to connect with their loved ones in new ways, so the demand for personalised cards grew. Cards for teachers have done particularly well – teaching kids over zoom is a tough gig!
I’ve now introduced a new range, which features characters with different hair colours and styles, so customers can add another personal touch. eBay’s new personalisation tool makes this process simple and easy, and the entire customer journey is incredibly user-friendly. It has definitely helped my sales since they launched it a few months ago.”
– Bhavna Pancholi, owner, All Things Personal
If you sell personalised products, you’ll find the eBay personalisation feature available in the following categories:
- Celebrations & Occasions
- Wedding Supplies
- Art Prints
- Art Posters
- Home Decor
- Jewellery & Watches
- Mens Fashion
- Masks
- Women’s fashion
- Cookware, Dining & Bar
- Make-Up
- Mobile Phone Accessories
- Keyrings
- Football Memorabilia
- Kitchenalia
- Christening & Gifts
- Nursery Bedding
- Nursery Decoration & Furniture
- Baby Books
- Baby
- Golf
- Office equipment & stationary
- Cards
- Crafts
- Travel accessories
- Kids clothes
2 Responses
But another botched idea – if there are limits on the length of the text you can print on an object – you can’t limit the number of characters buyer can enter. Of course you can make a note in the description about the limit – but how many buyers read descriptions – with understanding?!?!
So, another example of how inexperienced people eBay is employing 🙁
Better than nothing but their communication is hopeless.
I am trying to get the instructions to come above the box and it is in item specifics which is useless. Been on phone and message for last hour. No one knows.