New Services Category Inspires eBay Members
by Maeve
eBay Staff Member

Most of us are familiar with buying and selling products on eBay. Every day thousands of new listings offer collectibles, clothing, computers, and anything else you can imagine. Many of these items are physical goods, items you can hold and feel.

Knowing that our members had much more to offer, we recently introduced our Services category, which allows sellers to market their skills and talents. As part of this launch, we created a new Specialty Services discussion board and asked members to talk about what types of Services they might be able to offer. Ideas have ranged from skills such as providing legal consultation and trading assistance to customizing current products. This month we review some of these services being considered for sale on eBay. (If you have ideas for providing services, come and join in the discussion!)

Member katiyana had this to say about her experimentation in this new category:

There is a whole category for "custom crafts" under the Specialty Services category. I experimented listing a couple of my custom-made doll sweaters in there, and got a bid and 5 BINs the first week… For my items, the buyer gets to choose the color they'd like it to be. I have one listing for each design, and then the buyer can adjust/customize that any way they'd like to.

As a musician, lazerwonder asked for input on his idea to use the new Services category to market his piano playing ability for weddings:

I've been a pianist for about 15 years now. I was thinking, as a service, maybe I can play for weddings and dinner parties. I have lots of experience in performance, but they are usually volunteer or charity work or for friends, so at most, I get "paid" by getting invited to the reception with my date. I was just going to have my friends that I played for do the word-of-mouth advertising for me. But do you think it would be a good idea to start it through eBay, as well? I know it'll be restricted to my locale, but it's a big city, and there's a lot of eBay members in this city!

willsew4u thinks Services might be another way to sell her custom children's clothing:

I sell custom children's clothing. I have a few set designs that the winning bidders choose from, and they pick the fabric. Sometimes they can't quite decide, so they let me pick. I haven't really checked it out thoroughly, but I feel like the custom work is doing better than just creating an outfit and listing it. I can usually start the bidding higher too.

mlondy@msn.com has another custom item to sell:

We sell customized candy wrappers for weddings, baby showers, you name it. I'd say 50% of our orders are rush (event is happening anywhere from 2-10 days from sale date.) We work very hard to be quick printers/shippers and buyers really appreciate this...

Finally, katymom2002, weighed in on her experiences as a buyer in this category:

I bought personalized wooden key chains that were names. I was VERY happy with the results. The seller was courteous, he shipped fast, and the key chains were just great - high quality, and they are "guaranteed for life". I will definitely buy from him again. I had not seen works like his since the booths at the annual Livestock Show and Rodeo, which we no longer attend. Lots of specialized/personalized craft booths at those big to-doo's.

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A special thanks to these members, and to all those who share their experiences daily with other members on the Specialty Services Discussion Board To get to Specialty Services, click Community from the navigation bar at the top of most eBay pages. Next, click Discussion from the Talk square, and choose the Services link from the list of Help discussion boards on the right.