I was thinking last night how else I can generate leads and build a list other then writing articles (which is a very long tedious process) and then thought of selling low priced items on eBay and then adding the buyers e-mail address to my list and marketing to them. I just want to know if this is allowed, as I don't want to do anything shady... but it just seemed like a good idea to me. what do you guys think?
As long as you allow them a chance to opt out I think you would be fine. In a business I recently sold I used eBay for years to generate leads and web traffic. Most of the auctions I posted were no cheaper than anything listed on my site. The main purpose was to get the viewer looking and thinking about my company brand. I really didn't care if I sold the item on eBay as long as we were seeing increased results on our website. Dan
It's bordering on spam to be honest. Unless you explicitly state in the auction 'I will add you to my mailing list', or ask them once they've made their purchase. You can't just add them to your list because they bought something from you.
One option to do this on eBay within their terms - at least it was last time I was doing it -- is to run classified ads. You can put an opt in box right in your ad. The other method is run your low price auctions but have prominent links to your About Me page in the ad telling them they get something for free at your About Me page. There you are allowed to build your list, but not from your actual auction page. Hope that makes sense.