Things are getting more competitive for eBay in Australia, and it launched a new marketing campaign this month with ads featuring Australian sports figure Shane Warne (former cricketer), who shared the news on social media sites.
The eBay ads debut as rival Amazon advances. Amazon entered the Australian market in December, launched its FBA fulfillment service for sellers in February, and recently announced plans for its 2nd fulfillment center in that country, with Amazon Prime shipping coming before the end of the year.
eBay is sticking with its price-focused marketing theme launched last summer when it implied Amazon Prime Day deals weren’t all they were cracked up to be. When eBay launched the campaign in the US on July 10th, it wrote, “Starting today, you’ll see eBay on TV in a new series of ads, challenging people who thought they got a prime deal on their recent purchase with a simple question: “Did you check eBay?””
In one of the new ads posted to YouTube on Saturday, eBay Australia provides the following description:
“Shane Warne has regrets… he didn’t check eBay first. With 40,000 stores in one place, he could have found the selection he was looking for, instead of being stuck in traffic for hours to find the right blender. Don’t make the same mistake Shane did… you’ve been Warned.”
The YouTube description points to an “eBay’s Best Price Promise” landing page – if shoppers prove a competitor has a lower priced item in-stock, eBay will give the buyer a coupon worth 110% of the price paid that can be used toward their next eBay purchase. (eBay limits the best price promise to certain products.) Approved competitors include amazon.com.au, but whether that includes purchases made on the Amazon Australia that are fulfilled by third-party sellers is not made clear.
CampaignBrief.com quoted eBay Australia’s Chief Marketing Officer Julie Nestor who told the advertising trade magazine that eBay is committed to offering the best prices on the top selling products in Australia with the help of 40,000 Australian stores on the eBay.com.au platform.
