Linking to off-Ebay Websites in your About Me page

[the80skidcloset]

I recently bought the eBay Stealth Book, and am in the process of both reviving some old, valid pre-11/2007 accounts, as well as attempting to get some suspended (NARU'd) pre-11/2007 accounts reinstated.

Anyway, after reading eBay Stealth, as well as after all my personal bad experiences, I now know how unreliable & unsecure that eBay is in terms of stability, and that one of the main keys to success is DIVERSIFICATION, not only with multiple eBay accounts, but also with your own website and various other off-eBay selling venues like other auction & sales sites (like Amazon, Etsy, iOffer, Sell.com, uBid, Ibid, etc.)

However, to get the kind of customer traffic on a website or other off-eBay venue, that is equivalent to the amount of traffic on eBay, obviously it is necessary to advertise and/or link to those website (s) through your eBay "About Me" page.

So I'm hoping that this isn't true, but I was surfing the Internet earlier today, and I came across an off-eBay site (I think it was through Auctiva) that said that along with eBay's recent feedback changes, that eBay had instituted a policy that prohibits listing or linking to off-eBay sites (like a business website)

Is that true?? Is eBay really forbidding people from linking to their own websites??

I hope not, because then people like me who have no hope of a stable and steady income through eBay, are doomed if they are forbidden from attracting and drawing customers towards their own websites.

Is it really going to be prohibited to link to off-eBay sites? If so what can people like me do??

[aspkin]

I think I heard something about this, but before you were able to link to your own site for information purposes, to give more details of the item being sold.

Google adwords is a great way of bringing targeted traffic to your site. It can work wonders for you if you give it a chance. Ask Modee how it's working for him.

[GreenBean]

Read this from ebay About Me Guidelines

[The_Cynic]

I think I read that the change will go into effect in July, right now they have millions of about me pages linking to the vendor's websites.

They do allow links to added pictures of the items, but the page hosting the pictures cannot be a commercial site. However that does not cover <img src=""> tags

You can use your site to host pictures using the html <img src=""> as long as there is no<a href=""> tag also. Right now, that is what I do and I do get quite a few "right Clickers" that check on the picture, and find host site and land on my front page.

The only other thing the <img src=""> is for ranking in Google images which can draw some traffic.

Over the last 2 years I shamelessly violated the linking rule from my actual listings and I was never caught. In think it depends on your niche, if it is competitive you will get snitches.

If you are putting up throwaway accts to shaft Ebay for the fees though, then screw their rules, link away.

[rockitaway]

Has anyone successfully built their own templates with links to off-eBay stores within the template design?