It’s a known fact that adding a photo or photos to an eBay
listing (or Craigslist, or any of the other options open to sellers)
can massively increase the chance of a successful sale.
Another way to boost your chances of getting a good price is
by using a photo of the actual item rather than a stock image of the
product weaned from the manufacturer’s site.
Prospective
buyers don’t just want to read a description, they want to see exactly
what they would be spending their money on since some sellers can be
very vague with their words.
Picture Managers
For this reason, several services such as
Auctiva, MyEasyPics, BiggerBids, and
even eBay’s own Picture
Manager have become profitable in offering indispensable
tools to eBay sellers.
Now, with the popularity of online video rapidly growing, vzaar
is aiming to take eBay auctions to the next level by allowing sellers
to include short video ads (2-3 minutes maximum) of their items within
listings… YouTube-style.
London Based Start-Up
The
London-based start-up, which was launched last September in the UK
(March 2008 in US), claims to already have more than 5,000 sellers now
using videos in their auction listings. At the end of every video,
users will find information about the seller, such as his/her feedback
rating as well as the amount of bidding time left on the
auction.
All
videos use a Flash interface that can be embedded within other web
pages (just like YouTube videos), and vzaar even keep visitors to its
site updated with the most
recent video advertisements uploaded for auctions.
Vzaar CEO Speaks
Ken Moss, CEO of vzaar said:
“Videos provide sellers with a distinct advantage
in the
competitive eBay market, but it has always been a challenge trying to
add videos to listings,”“Unlike other
video solutions designed for entertainment, we built vzaar specifically
for video commerce. Once buyers and sellers first see a video-enabled
eBay listing, they want them for all listings.”
Pricing Details
For free, sellers can post up to 30 videos (2 minutes each)
per
month with a 1GB storage limit. The Plus ($10/mo) and Pro ($20/mo)
service plans allow for up to 3,000 video uploads per month, 2GB
storage and an increased 3-minute video time limit (Pro accounts
only).
The prices seem quite competitive though, considering that
eBay charges
$24.99 per month for 1GB of storage with its Picture Manager.
Vzaar has done a great job in keeping the service simple and
even provides a wealth of help from FAQs
to how-to
guides and even tips
on shooting video.
The service proudly states on its homepage that it is not only
eBay-compatible, but an eBay-approved video provider and developer,
meaning safety and security.
Conclusions
With the widespread use of online video already established,
eBay
customers will surely clamour over the interactive element of being able
to see an item from every angle, and that undoubtedly means that seller
will provide what buyers hope to see.
Those looking for a reliable,
running car will be able to see (and hear) how well a car starts, and
people buying electronics will be able to see an item power on and
function before committing to buy it. Who knows… maybe video
will help
eBay get back some of the lustre it lost after the web 2.0 era struck
the internet.
This article is based on a Profy post written by Michael Garrett.
Related Ad
Buy How-To Book “eBay Income” at Amazon
