Your cross-promotions make buyers aware of other items you're selling and can boost your sales in two ways:

• You sell more items per buyer. A buyer who purchases one of your items is likely to be interested in your other items, especially ones that complement the purchased item.

• You sell higher-value items. A buyer interested in one of your items is likely to be interested in a similar, higher-priced item you're selling and may purchase it as well.

How effective a cross-promotion is depends on which items you show to the buyer in a particular situation. For example, if you walk into an electronics store to buy a TV, the salesperson will probably direct you toward higher-priced TV's with better features. However, once you decide which TV to buy, the salesperson will probably show you complementary items (DVD player, remote control, etc.).

Cross-promotion features on eBay enable you to act as the salesperson, showing the right items at the right time.

When a buyer bids on or wins your item

This is a good time to promote other items that complement the one that was bid on or won, such as accessories. This technique is known as "cross-selling."

For example, suppose someone has just won a men's dress shirt from you in an auction-style listing. This is a time when the buyer may be looking for a more complete outfit, so you promote neckties they can buy right away and have shipped along with the dress shirt they have already won.

You can apply this cross-sell strategy by taking the following actions:

• Set up default cross-promotions for many listings at once. Create rules so that whenever buyers bid on or win an item from a specified category, items from a complementary category are shown.

• If you’re an eBay Store seller, set your cross-promotion display preference to "Show items with a Buy It Now price first" so that the buyer can purchase the cross-promoted item right away.

When a buyer views your listing (eBay Store sellers only)

This is a good time to promote similar, higher-priced items before the buyer has committed to an item by bidding on or purchasing it. This sales technique is known as "upselling."

For example, suppose you sell men's dress shirts in your eBay Store. When someone views one of your lower-end shirts, you promote your premium-brand shirts that are better quality and more expensive. The buyer may become interested in one of these nicer shirts and purchase it instead.

As an eBay Store seller, you can apply this upsell strategy by taking the following actions:

• Adjust your default cross-promotions so that when buyers view an item from one of your categories, more items from the same category are shown.

• Set your cross-promotion display preference to "Highest price items first" so that when buyers view an item, the highest-priced items from that category are shown.

• Consider adjusting your cross-promotion preferences to show more than four items when someone views your item.

Whether or not these strategies work for you will depend on the kinds of items you sell. Use your knowledge of your items and your customers to create the right cross-promotions for your success.