eBay has not had a lot of success with running its own rewards program. Way back in ’03 they tried something called Anything Points. They discontinued it in 2005, allowing members to cash out earned points through mid ’06. Last summer, they tried again with a beta test of a program called eBay Bucks. It lasted for a few months, ended, and it never went public, so I guess we can assume it wasn’t viable long-term.
The latest rumor is that eBay is considering some sort of loyalty program that rewards for the use of PayPal by eBay members. AuctionBytes reports that one of their readers participated in an eBay survey last week which gave an indication of eBay’s plans to create a program to provide rewards for eBay members’ use of PayPal. Spending over $3,000 at eBay through PayPal would generate one level of membership, or a higher level of benefits would be reached at $5,000. Potential rewards include free front-page advertising if you’re a merchant, or discounts and sale previews if you’re a shopper.
Please note that nothing’s been confirmed about this yet; apparently this is still very much in the planning stages.
This would be a completely separate reward from the current cash back awards paid by many rewards programs right now for eBay bids and BINs which, depending on the rewards program, is generally between 1 and 2.5%. Update, 3/23: The highest reward that I’m aware of for Ebay purchases is 10% from Microsoft Live Cashback — go to Live.com, search for xbox, and click through the sponsored link. You can use the link to get 10% on anything, not just the Xbox, but you must choose a BIN item and pay by PayPal.
More details on this new eBay/PayPal loyalty program as they become available…stay tuned!
