eBay has gone discount crazy - 20% cash back now avail! Up to 30%+ off if you play it right!!!

(Sellers - be patient, read to the bottom for a great idea on how to use this to drive sales for YOU)

I've blogged here about several things going on right now like:

• Copious couponing (I'm hearing 10% off up to $100 is being flooded to registered users right now - see above and I just got a $10 off shipping for 3 items too!!)
• Paypal's 1.5% cash back
• The eBayBucks 4% (or whatever you get offered) back program

And now eBay has partnered with Microsoft's Live search engine to offer 20% cash back (some people say 35%, but I only have seen 20%).  Yes you heard me, 20% cash back (that's more than eBay's take rate so I don't know how the math is working on this one.) Here's the beauty - these programs don't seem to EXCLUDE each other at all.  I've had several readers report being able to use for say a $200 item:

1. eBayBucks 4% - $8
2. 10% off up to $100  - $10
3. Paypal 1.5% (fund from balance or bank) 1.5% - $3
4. And the biggie - 20% from live.com - $40

Yielding $200-$40-$10-$8-$3 = $139 left to pay or a whopping $61 in discounts or 30.5% off for those of you keeping track.  So if you've been waiting for a $200-$500 item and are willing to invest some time in this, you can get a rare 30% off.  This is evidently burning up all the discount sites out there so no telling how long it will last.

Sign me up!!

Ok, here's my quick and dirty 'how to play' instructions:

Step1:  Go to live.com, do a product-oriented search and you'll see a sponsored link for the program.  Click that and register for the cash back program. Make sure to choose paypal as your $ system and make sure it's the SAME account you'll be using for everything you want to layer in (1.5% cash back and stuff).
Step2:  Go BACK to live.com and do a search for a product (xbox games works as of this writing).  You will see an eBay.com paid-search advertisement.  Click on that link.

You see the first two steps below:

You'll know you've done this right if when you get to eBay it is splattered with live cash back icons and banners on the top and down the left side, like this:

Step3: Read and make sure you understand the terms (the eBay specific ones) that are here.  The biggest gotcha's I see are:

• Limit three per account
• You have to buy within 60 mins of click and pay within 30 days (to be safe do it all fast)
• no ebayexpress or half.com (NOOOO!!! kidding - nobody shops there)

Step4: Ok go buy something, use your coupons at checkout like you normally would.

Step5: You will be sent an email via mymessages confirming the deal!

To do your other 2 purchases, make sure to go to live.com, click on an eBay sponsored link and shop quickly.

If my instructions don't make sense or work for you, here is a more detailed set I found and sites like fatwallet.com are littered with them.

Tidbit for sellers

Ok sellers, here's how you can use this to drive GMV on eBay's dime.

1. Create an eBay store page with instructions like mine or the ones I linked to on how to use the program for your buyers.
2. Make sure your listings specify Paypal and you have lots of BINS/fixed price listings out there (store listings would be great if you already have some).
3. Email your customer base with a title like this:  Myshop - eBay 20% cash back summer madness sale via live.com+eBay partnership.
   1. In this email Point them to your instructions in your store as step one.
   2. As step 2 send them to your eBay store and tell them to start shopping.
   3. Maybe even highlight some listings in the 200-300 as 'optimized for the program'
   4. Maybe even remind the buyer to check their eBay mymessages (put a link) for any recent eBay coupons that work for your store as well.
4. Sit back and count the $$

Heck you could even raise prices a little bit before doing this as they will get 20% off ;-)

Comments

[cash back]

This is a great idea by livesearch. I have been using the cashback service for a few months now and had positive results.

[Wayne]

When you pull up www.live.com,.... & then do a product search (in my case,..such as a; Asus Eee PC901 netbook computer or Tissot T-Touch watch),... it usually brings up, buying the watch through Ebay w/ some sort of "Live Search cashback". The rebate amount currently shows 8%. I assume it's still being promoted. However,... the amounts still vary from time to time. But does anyone care to guess or know how often or when?

[Robbor]

Im not seeing any live.com discounts for ebay. When i search live.com i get no ebay hits. Are any diacounts still avail?

[Wayne]

Would anyone happen to know,.....& or care to guess,...for that matter,.... how often Microsoft & or Ebay changes the discount promotional amount?? Yesterday it was 30% discount (thru Live.com),... today it's 20%,..... etc..
What have you seen daily,weekly or even monthly in the recent past??
Wayne

[Adrien]

I GOT 30% off my ipod nano purchase
here is the copy off the email after the purchase

Thanks for searching, shopping and saving with Microsoft Live Search cashback - The Search That Pays You Back!

From your recent purchases, you have earned cashback savings!

To view the details for this purchase or your other Live Search cashback transactions, sign into your Live Search cashback account. The transaction will be listed as pending for 60 day(s). Your cashback savings will be paid to the PayPal account that you used to make the purchase after a 60 day(s) pending period.

You received $87.89 from your eBay purchase on 11/30/2008:

Details
cashback
NEW Apple iPod nano 8GB Blue (4th Generation)
Unit price: $292.98
Quantity: 2
$87.89

For more information about Live Search cashback, see our FAQ page or Contact Us.

Thanks,
The Live Search cashback team

[cashback]

Good article gives me a better insight. I might look to use livesearch cashback now it's christmas.

[Penny Gould]

Very interesting thread, I had no idea about the live search, I'm going to try it. I wrote a post about eBay promo codes on my blog, and got a comment from eBay staff. They asked me to amend my post, which I did. eBay said that the promo codes are specific to individuals and to opt-in on marketing emails. So I wrote a simple instruction page on how to opt in to their marketing emails. Here it is: opt-in-eBay-emails.
thx.
Penny

[Dan]

Does anybody know if this program still works? I couldn't find it anymore today!

[dim ni]

thanks :)

[tiger]

it is back to 25% as of now, for how long will this last ?? any idea anyone ??

[Mark Dorsey]

Hello, my name is Mark Dorsey and I represent a start up out of Kirkland Washington that is a viable option to eBay and Craigslist. We just launched on June 1st, 2008 and are actively recruiting sellers and buyers. Bonanzle is a newly launched online marketplace that aims to take what's best about Craigslist and eBay, and build on those to create something that startles and delights its users.

www.bonanzle.com

Highlights
No fee for sellers or buyers, we are a community
Post an item for sale in less than 60 seconds
Talk with buyers and sellers in real time via our instant messaging feature
True simplicity as it should be
Import your Craigslist and eBay listings
Tailored for sellers with multiple items to sell
Host a 1-3 hour "Bonanza" which gets prominently featured throughout the site
Price recommending feature
Import your feedback from eBay

Have a look at the site and tell me what you think, I would really appreciate your feedback.

Take care,
Mark Dorsey

[Josh Dember]

Note to Dustin and other CHANNELADVISOR USERS...

Notice that in the Terms and Conditions pointed out in STEP 3 above, Item iv-d excludes ChannelAdvisor and any 3rd party checkout from this offer....

"The following purchases that are completed on www.eBay.com are not eligible for Cashback Rewards (“Excluded eBay Purchases”):
..... 4. purchases that are completed using a third party checkout system.

Despite this - if you're in Dustin's situation and have mad customers who were expecting the discount - in last weeks ChannelAdvisor Webinar, the CEO addressed that the work around for this issue is working with your PayPal rep to offer a direct discount back to customers. He also mentioned that the best way to get eBay to lift this restriction would be for everyone to tell them how ridiculous it is to not offer that discount with 3rd party checkouts.

[Sandy]

Scot as a buyer I got all those discount coupons. The 10% off up to $100 coupon. The $10 shipping for my next three purchases coupon. I got the double Ebay bonus bucks and you know what? I haven't used a single one. Up until the last round of Buy.com favoritism, feedback changes, and Ebay's slide into a marked shift in favoring large sellers I was a VIP buyer. Yes I have the official private buyer VIP number to contact Ebay for problems/concerns. This VIP buyer/seller is tired of shopping in a warzone and I am tired of Ebay's shift to the megaseller. I fully understand that your company provides most of those sellers with software and support so what I have to say is not going to be palatable but it's my opinion.

I would like to tell you and official Ebay both that the "chosen" megasellers deliver the worst buyer experience. I do believe Donahoe when he says the top 200 sellers do 80% of the volume on Ebay. With that top 200 sellers you have the highest buyer dissatisfaction level this site has ever seen. Buyers like personalized service, great merchandise, and a professional transaction. Where that came from consistently was your midsized sellers. Large enough to have the process perfected but still small enough to deliver the individualized buyer experience. Ebay sees that megapairing as a way to conserve resources in staffing and support. You and your company sees this as a golden opportunity to service those chosen sellers. Unfortunately the buyer has disagreed and quite loudly in one big voice. Yet neither company has heard it. So I thought I would quietly drop in and post about it. Do I think this will do any good? Hardly but I feel better. Ebay and the megaseller pairing will do nothing but continue the downward site spiral. That's okay those buyers are now shopping my website and life is very good. Capitalizing on Ebay's stumbles has made my business very profitable.

[pc]

It is actually even better than that

BUY IT NOW on $1000 item. Get $385 back!

1) Microsoft live search 15% off. The 20% is not appearing any more.

2) eBay bucks promotion is 3%, although current promotion (within the promotion) on ebay bucks is TRIPLE your given percentage, so that makes 9%. For those who have 4% base eBay bucks promotion, you are getting 12%. Log into rewards.ebay.com to view your eBay bucks balance and see the details on how they are tripling your % from June23-June30

3) Current ebay coupon for 10% off, max $100

4) Paypal debit card funded 1.5% back

Total back is %35.5 to %38.5

A buy it now item of $1000 can be yield a $385 back. WARNING: this is not pure cashback. The microsoft money appears directly into your paypal after 60 days. The eBay bucks appears as a ebay purchase credit redeemable during Aug-Sept. The paypal% is direct into your paypal instantly. The ebay coupon for 10% is instant calculated during the checkout.

I'm guessing this wasn't thought out completely by the various parties. One hand didn't know what the other one was doing. I am not pulling the trigger on this one, it just feels kind of dirty.

[Chris]

Interesting post. With the discount at around 30% you could just purchase your own items, pay the ebay and paypal fee, and then just relist your item. If you are purchasing a $1,000 item you end up making over $200. I wonder if it is eBay who is supporting this or if Microsoft is kicking in some money too? I guess if it is Microsoft they still have a lot of cash left over from the botched Yahoo deal. If it is eBay it is a really "interesting" strategy.

[Jon Kuhlmann]

Scot

You may also want to mention to sellers that there is frequently buyer confusion as to where to enter the promo code. This often causes buyer frustration, potential checkout abandonment, and increased customer service time. Even worse is when they get frustrated to the point where they complete the payment without the code and then ask the seller for the $$. My recomendation is to have a clear description of what the buyer should and should not being doing so when inquiry come in a cut and paste response will clearly direct the buyer what to do.

We are seeing a spike in customer service related issues surrounding this, but the bright side is maybe we are picking up some sales from the promotion.

Best Regard,

Jon Kuhlmann
Grapevinehill
jkuhl@grapevinehill.com

[Randy Smythe]

I wonder what Wall Street thinks about all these discounts? Is there some kind of accounting gimic here. Pay for the discounts next quarter but drive the GMV this quarter. They are masters at making their numbers each quarter, but at some point they will have to pay for that.

[Dustin]

But Scot the discounts dont work on 3rd party checkout like Channel Advisor. I have been getting a few people a day mad at me that they dont work. Since I sell items from 200 to 600 in price this could be a big deal as far as sells. So now what?

- Dustin