eBayAdCommerce Blog

We’ve had reports recently of an AdCommerce “spoof” email, originating from a fraudulent address and claiming that the recipient owes AdCommerce a given amount of money.  Spoof emails are messages that claim to be sent by well-known companies. They generally ask consumers to reply with personal information, such as their credit card number, social security number or account password.  Another form of spoof will direct the spoof email recipient to click through a link to what appears to be a legitimate site.    

Please note the screenshot of this particular spoof, below:

For your protection we’ve included tips here on spotting these emails and how to handle them.

1. If you feel you’ve received a spoof message regarding your AdCommerce invoices, the best way to check is within the Invoice Summary screen within My Accounts in your AdCommerce dashboard.  The bottom line – all information regarding your AdCommerce invoices should be reflected within your Invoice Summary under My Account.
2. The good news about spoof emails is that you are in control – you can protect your personal financial information by ignoring the spoof altogether. You should never provide contact, sign-in or other sensitive personal information in an email.  
3. If you feel you’ve received a spoof email, please forward a copy of the spoof email here.

You can also visit the PayPal Security Center at http://www.paypal.com/securitycenter or check out the eBay Spoof tutorial at http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial/ to learn more!

The AdCommerce Team

Few people knew what to expect from the 2009 holiday shopping season after 2008’s disappointing results. Fortunately, the big shopping weeks of 2009 turned out to be good ones for many online retailers. This week comscore reported U.S. online holiday sales were up 4 percent compared with 2008, to $29.1 billion.

We’re pleased to report that our AdCommerce partners enjoyed a particularly happy holiday season, as they launched successful campaigns that provided maximum exposure and big traffic boosts during the busiest time of the year.

KMS Coins attributed an influx of traffic into its auctions to its AdCommerce campaigns. “We get roughly 550-600 hits on our auctions each day from AdCommerce, which is a great way to boost our traffic across the site,” said Mike Schwede, KMS Coins Owner.

BrandNameLiquidations’ perfume campaign spiked in December, attracting double the traffic and hundreds of bids and sales.

The folks at Buy.com report that even post-holiday sales during the week after Christmas remained strong. In fact, post-holiday sales for eForCity’s electronics accessories peaked at an all time high, as consumers shopped for the add-ons to their new game players, GPS units, printers, cell phones and other personal electronics.

eMarketer predicted this week that the 2009 online holiday sales growth points to “brighter days ahead,” and expects online sales growth to surge ahead in 2010. We’re looking forward to being a part of your growth in 2010!

The AdCommerce Team

Welcome to 2010! We’re excited about getting a fresh start in the new year – it’s always a great time for getting new priorities off the ground.  What are your goals for the year ahead? Do they include increasing your site traffic? Boosting sales? AdCommerce is a great way for eBay sellers to increase visibility of their products among eBay’s millions of online shoppers. 

If you’re just starting out with AdCommerce or are considering adding us to your advertising mix, welcome. Below we’ve included a few ideas to transform your journey into a successful venture.

1. Make a plan. What’s your budget? What would you like to accomplish with AdCommerce? Which products and/or categories make the most sense to promote and when?  A little up front organization will help you reap the rewards later.
2. Plan ahead. Often it takes several weeks for a campaign to build momentum, so that means right now you’re planning for sales around Valentines’ Day or later. (Watch this space for thoughts on Valentines’ Day promotions.)  Consider:  84 percent of our top advertisers saw a strong increase in their ROI during the holidays. Those who planned ahead with AdCommerce showed larger increases in return.
3. Get down to writing. Take ad copy seriously. Use the flexibility in our titles and draft copy that draws customers in.  Make sure your ads reinforce the perception you’d like customers to have of your product. Be relevant to the user, focus on product value and highlight key features that make your product stand out from others.
4. Play copy editor. Avoid errors and all caps, same for over-emotional pleas, scare tactics, etc.
5. Optimize like a pro. Use the robust reporting features to adjust your campaigns for maximum returns.

Feel free to send us additional tips on how you’ve used AdCommerce here.

Or, click here to get ramped up now.  Best of luck in 2010!