In 2013 Paul Jones started a business from his home, making bags. His personal mantra is “make a good start Jones” and so he named the business Goodstart Jones.

And as starts go, this one certainly was good. Paul Jones made a lightweight and durable bag with a waterproofed wooden stability panel. As well as carrying, it can be used for all kinds of tasks like writing and for eating on. He called this bag the Woodsack. The woodsack was not like anything else on the market and customers loved it.

Keeping his focus on quality of design and craftsmanship has grown Jones a loyal customer base. The business now employs two other people alongside Jones and operates from its own 520 sq ft premises in Wolverhampton, producing a whole range of Woodsack bags.

Growing with eBay

When the eBay Retail Revival team came to Wolverhampton in 2018, they chose Goodstart Jones to take part in their retail boosting project.

Goodstart hadn’t sold on eBay before. But the Retail Revival scheme grows brick and mortar retail businesses by helping them to find customers online. The scheme helped Goodstart Jones to set up an eBay store and start selling to eBay customers worldwide.

Paul Jones was enthusiastic about the scheme, saying “The support of eBay means a lot to us. It will give us the experience and help we need to have an online presence. We have a great product and want to grow it without losing the handmade aspect.”

Now, having been on eBay for nearly six months, Mr Jones says that Goodstart Jones is enjoying the increased visibility that comes from being on eBay.

Telling us about Goodstart Jones’ experience of selling on eBay so far, he said “It’s been a steep learning curve for us and we’re still learning, but the support from eBay has been amazing. Some of our products are a little unconventional and eBay has gone above and beyond to make us feel right at home.”

Creativity at every step

The eBay team wanted to ensure that Goodstart Jones got the most from the additional exposure their eBay store would bring. So, they referred them to Frooition to get a branded custom listing design.

Goodstart Jones is a brand built around creativity and freedom of expression. Their products are not just unusual, they’re also fully customizable and the quality is second to none. Every bag is hand made in their Wolverhampton workshop and the brand collaborates with up and coming artists to make bags that are ethical and original.

Celebrating individuality is a core value for Goodstart and Frooition created them an eBay design to reflect that.

Clever details in Goodstart Jones’ eBay design help to carry the innovative spirit of the brand into their eBay listings. Category boxes are styled as Polaroid photographs. Large product shots in the header are finished to appear like they’ve been trimmed with tailors pinking shears. The custom service promotional box looks like it’s stitched onto the page and the unique points flip over to show more detail when a customer hovers over them.

Goodstart Jones could not be happier with their eBay design. Mr Jones says that he wouldn’t change anything about the design, which he describes as “clean and very professional”.

“We love the fact the eBay design reflects the overall style of our own website. It’s important for us to present a consistent image on every platform.” – Paul Jones

In addition to custom visuals to project their brand, Goodstart Jones’ eBay listing design has a host of sales boosting features. The most powerful of these is dynamic cross promotion. Dynamic cross promotion in listings means that only live and relevant items from Goodstart Jones’ own inventory are cross promoted. No promotion of dead or irrelevant listings.

Working with Frooition

Custom eBay designs typically take four to six weeks to complete. During this time, every Frooition customer has their own eBay designer working with them, creating a unique design from their specification. Goodstart Jones worked with Frooition designer Kim to create a professional design that elevated their brand online.

“The design process was very clear and inclusive. We were kept up to date at every stage of the process, our feedback was always heard and implemented and we like how much we were included. We really felt like we were sat alongside our designer helping to inform decisions.”

If you want to strengthen your brand image online and generate extra sales from eBay, fill in our contact form and one of our eBay certified advisers will get in touch to discuss your requirements.