eBay Finders Feed

OVERVIEW

BACKGROUND

eBay is the original online destination for preloved items.

But with a wealth of opportunities in the preloved space, Gen Z are less likely to consider selling on eBay. How can we engage with this audience and not only get them to consider selling, but to actually start selling with eBay?

Many Gen Zers are stepping out of the family home for the first time, finding ways to better stretch their budgets and acquire things for themselves. They’re familiar with online secondhand marketplaces, but wouldn’t usually consider eBay.

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PROBLEM

Gen Z only knows eBay for its extremely specific offerings.

Young users do not recognize the human stories behind eBay's unique listings.

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OPPORTUNITY

How can we bring Gen Z to the eBay marketplace to sell their preloved items?

SOLUTION

Welcome to the Finders Feed

We began with the insight that there's an innate human desire to help others find their missing puzzle pieces. Fortunately, the right piece never gets lost when eBay exists.

To get Gen Z to sell on eBay, we flipped the idea of buyers and sellers by reframing everyone as seekers of lost items.

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THE FINDERS FEED

A new app feature that turns buyers and sellers alike into seekers

Integrated seamlessly into the existing eBay app, the Finders Feed is a place for browsing, buying, and selling.

Browsing the Feed
Similar to a social media feed, the Finders Feed is a place to browse what seekers are searching for and get invested in their stories.

Posting on the Feed
‍‍If eBay doesn't have the item you are searching for, you are invited to list it to the Finders Feed, along with your personal story.

Finding on the Feed
‍If another user discovers that they have the missing item, they can click the puzzle piece icon and list it for sale.

Browsing the Feed
Similar to a social media feed, the Finders Feed is a place to browse what seekers are searching for and get invested in their stories.

Posting on the Feed
‍‍If eBay doesn't have the item you are searching for, you are invited to list it to the Finders Feed, along with your personal story.

Finding on the Feed
‍If another user discovers that they have the missing item, they can click the puzzle piece icon and list it for sale.

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THE TUBE TAKEOVER

We will immerse travelers in the world of lost items.

Targeting Gen Zers as they come home for the winter holidays, we will take over the Tube and advertise the Finders Feed.

PROCESS

We arrived at this idea through lots of research, user interviews, and journey mapping. Below are some of our key process artifacts.

REFLECTION

MY TAKEAWAYS

This was one of my last projects at VCU Brandcenter, and it felt awesome to have well-defined roles in the team and really get into our groove.
Case study videos are so effective in quickly and clearly telling the story of a project. And I had fun doing the video editing, which I hadn't had much practice with since my video class the year before.

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CREDITS

Will Russell: strategy
Hannah Zetty: creative brand management
Ryan King: copywriting
Eleni Alafoginis: art direction