Case study

Persa London: one pair of hands, top five percent of the category.

Case study: hand-painted leather from a Bromley studio. 25+ listing rewrites and 240 product variations took Persa London to the top 5 percent of its UK eBay category, 61,515 impressions in 30 days, +35.9 percent conversion.

The business before

Persa London makes hand-painted leather and canvas bags, bracelets and accessories from a studio in Bromley, London. Each piece is made by one hand. Persian heritage, London craft, in the brand's own words.

The product was already the kind that sells itself in person. On eBay it was harder to find than it deserved to be, and the listings did not carry the words a buyer would actually type.

What was rebuilt

The listings, first. More than 25 of them were rewritten from keyword research, so a search for a hand-painted leather bracelet found one. The catalogue was rebuilt into 240 product variations, so every colour, size and finish had its own place in the results rather than hiding inside one listing.

The photography got direction, so the pieces were shown the way they are seen in the hand. And the account's seller rating was tidied to Above Standard with zero defects, because a marketplace shows the well-run shop first.

The numbers, from eBay

The shop reached the top 5 percent of its UK category. In 30 days the listings drew 61,515 impressions, and the conversion rate improved by 35.9 percent.

The figures are eBay's own. A marketplace reports what it sees, and what it saw was a shop that had become easy to find and easy to buy from.

From marketplace to a shop she owns

A marketplace shop is rented space, and the terms belong to the landlord. Persa London now has its own shop at persalondon.co.uk. The marketplace still brings buyers in. The website is where the brand is fully itself, on a domain it owns.

What I would do next

The next number is repeat purchase. A brand where each piece is made by one hand has a story that keeps customers, and the site is the place to tell it, with the pieces photographed at full size and the making shown. I would build towards customers who come back to the shop she owns rather than back to the marketplace.

Questions people ask

What did the eBay work involve?

25+ keyword-researched listing rewrites, 240 product variations, listing photography direction and seller-rating hygiene to Above Standard with zero defects.

What was the result?

The top 5 percent of the UK category, 61,515 impressions in 30 days and a 35.9 percent improvement in conversion rate, as reported by eBay.

Does the brand still sell on eBay?

Yes, and it now also sells from its own shop at persalondon.co.uk.

Why build a website if the marketplace works?

A marketplace is rented space on the landlord's terms; the website is on a domain the brand owns.

Can you do this for other makers?

The same order of work applies, facts first, then listings written for the words buyers use, then measurement; request the free audit at conversionforge.co.uk/free-audit.

Where is Persa London?

A studio in Bromley, London.

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