coupon
Thinking of creating a coupon of some sort to send to repeat customers but first I wonder if anyone uses them successfully and what are your tips?
31 comments
Thinking of creating a coupon of some sort to send to repeat customers but first I wonder if anyone uses them successfully and what are your tips?
fbusoni
·2 years agoFWIW I send a refund to repeat customers -- usually 20% of the last item they bought from me.
I have found that doing so is considerably more important to them than receiving a coupon.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoI refund the shipping overage which makes them come back and buy again.
I don't give a refund/discount, because I feel eBay is going to take these under scrutiny for metrics. (Like giving an out of stock defect).
C.
turtles-trading-post
·2 years agoCoupons work or don't work depending on what you are selling. I sell in the stamp collectors market. I sell low dollar items that people will buy several to many at a time. And it's a repeat businesses with followers. I sell to the same folks all the time.
I have an issue with "Send Offer" where eBay will send several to many offers to the same person. Then I get 5-10 separate orders with a note "please combine shipping". Well, eBay already has charged me 30 cents for each of those transactions. I have had people message me that they'd like to buy several of the offers but they want to do it as a single transaction (bless their souls!)
That got me to thinking... so within the letters allowed in the "Send Offer" message I send:
Happy Weekend!
eBay limits you to buying offers 1 at a time, charging postage for each. To buy more than 1 offer, put them in your cart at full price. Use coupon code of XXXXXXXXXX for a 20% discount as one purchase!
Thanks, Tom
It has been working! I'm getting orders for multiple items! Not all the time, but enough to declare it successful. My point? If you use the tools in a thoughtful and clever manner you may be surprised.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoSome of my buyers have to pay for their items separately and can't "add to cart". There are many threads about this (one I started several months ago).
C.
jg.mason
·2 years agoWell I created a 20% off coupon, It only took about 5 minutes. I'll only use it for repeat buyers. If they use it they use it, if they don't they don't but at least I feel good about offering them a discount.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI've used coupons on both Etsy and ebay and they've never worked. Ever. Codes, physical coupons, virtual coupons, etc. None work.
Markdown sales and offers do work.
kickin.assets
·2 years ago@keziak
I realize it all sounds the same, a coupon is a coupon, right? Mmm, not really though.
Can’t really explain why buyers do what they do, but speaking for myself, I largely ignore what feels like spamy, desperate or pushy messages. That’s kind of how I see all those “buy now & save such n such†messages I receive daily from all types of sellers. Those I purchase from, those I haven’t.
Buyers tend to like to find that savings on their own when they are actually shopping your items. Or at least I know I do.
Whether through a sale or discount coupon, I’ve just found those work much better. I like @atlasesattic’s way of thinking though! Never thought of doing things that way. Once you start promoting though, if you’re not careful, you can get caught up in the game! Proceed with caution!
Happy Sales!
Kiks
hollysfinds
·2 years agoI tried using coupons a few times once in awhile.
I don't think any buyer has ever used one.
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·2 years agoI have coupons redeemed almost daily in my store. I send out a 10% coupon off next order coupon in all packages,
keziak
OP2 years agodo you find it a way to get repeat customers?
momtoabeautifuldaughter
·2 years agoIt's worked for me. I have at last 1 repeat customer each week.
keziak
OP2 years agoI have a lot of repeats right now due to special collections. I"m a slow lister so I have to hope they keep following what I post.
turtles-trading-post
·2 years agoI was always a buyer in my category. I bought from a few big players who dominated the category. So I studied them to see what was up. Long story short, they all had thousands of followers. So eBay is sending out those "Items from your favorite sellers..." emails, and the same people buy from these sellers over and over.
So I tried to model my business after their ways, and I'm now up to 250 or so followers. And it's worth about a third of my sales. Can't wait until my numbers are in the thousands!
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoThat's kind of what I did (check what my competition was doing to copy their strategy), which is why I have some stamp albums auctioning this week. The two I bought from who I follow are very successful at that. I'm keeping in mind I'm not known for selling total stamp collections, so I won't get the same bids they get, but the fact that they can do it is encouraging me to try the same.
I didn't want to process 53 stamp collections and make sets with all that stuff, seemed better to photograph the album and run an auction.
C.
heckofagame
·2 years agoI'm seeing about 1% of coupons sent out being used.
atlasesattic
·2 years agoI have been sending coupons, doing 15 percent off, mark down sales etc...for 5 years and nothing works, so rather then doing a sale for 15 percent off, I put that towards promoted listing, is all the same, and that seems to work much better...
keziak
OP2 years agoI still have never tried promoted listings, there seems to be a real difference of opinion about them here.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoPromoted listings are largely a waste of money for a book and media seller. Either there are hundreds of the item available which is going to cause the person to sort by price, or there are very few and the person will see all of them anyway.
atlasesattic
·2 years agoI don't understand the reasoning on not promoting, aren't you doing the same thing giving percentages off on items? I don't see any difference.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI see what you mean about profit margin, but a mark-down sale is for specific items. Promotions, which are getting increasingly more opaque on this site, not only have a 30-day effect, but also a halo. It's less immediately manageable IMHO.
Having said that, I use both, just not at the same time. I haven't decided which works better, though.
keziak
OP2 years agoI just haven't looked into promoting so I don't now.
adamcartwright
·2 years agoWhy don't you try a few promoted listings at the lowest possible level of 2% and see how it goes?
Like anything, some people are pro and some con -- see what works for you.
keziak
OP2 years agoThank you, I now have a couple of methods I haven't tried yet.
kickin.assets
·2 years ago@keziak
Same! As @onefootflipper stated, really no takers on coupons sent out.
On the other hand, in-store coupon code & sales have worked very well! IMO I wouldn’t waste time on creating and sending out coupons, but instead maybe create a sales event or have an everyday coupon code buyers can use at checkout?
Best of luck!
Kiks
keziak
OP2 years agohow is the coupon code different from the coupon?
So far my main engines for increased sales have been combined shipping, Best offer and sending offers. I was just thinking about some way to reward my repeat customers or encourage them to keep buying as I add new stuff.
jg.mason
·2 years agoI was thinking the same thing just today. Had a repeat customer buy another cassette and I thought it would be nice to give them a discount. Then I remembered seeing the send a coupon link so I clicked on it and saw it was going to be a little involved so maybe I'll look at it later.
I guess I could just send a 10% refund?
I could also send them a message and tell them to message me if they want something else I have and I would send them an offer for less than the listed price?
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoMake sure you select the right reason for refund. They have something there titled "other adjustment". I don't use that for refunds often because I'm afraid it will be under scrutiny (since buyers who are out of stock can use that as a miscellaneous reason). Usually to give discounts I apply the discount to shipping (like ship for a discount or free shipping), which is not so likely to come under scrutiny as long as you're refunding less than what they paid for shipping.
Your suggestion to offer another other is making a situation complicated and buyers get confused easily when they don't know what's going on.
C.
jg.mason
·2 years agoThanks, good advice. Yes some buyers do get confused easily. I think I'll look into the coupons.
keziak
OP2 years agoThe other day I decided I could end an auction to sell to first bidder but I sent a carefully structured message first. They literally said OK because due to my feedback they can trust me. What's not to trust about an offer to end an auction so you don't have to wait? Maybe like you say some things may confuse people. I think that is why I have NEVER sold based on Second Chance Offer, despite sending a message explaining why [such as top bidder backed out].
keziak
OP2 years agoI was thinking along those lines. I guess if they see something of mine they like they'll buy or offer anyway. Some buy from me if I have multiples of what they want because I combine shipping.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoI have sent out about 20,000 coupons to date and never had a single one of them redeemed.