EBay is launching its first TV advertising campaign since 2007 to promote the amount of new product sold on the site.

The campaign, which launches tomorrow, uses the tag line ‘eBay: your shopping universe’ to promote the site as a destination where shoppers can find everything from new laptops to high street fashion.

Globally, 60% of eBay sales are from new items bought at a fixed price rather than via an auction.

EBay vice-president of marketing for Europe Alex Von Schirmeister said: “In the past few years, eBay has changed. It’s now a destination to buy the latest laptops and smartphones, high street fashion, even brand new car parts. We want to say to people that love shopping, and like to have a wide choice and great prices, ‘come and take another look at eBay’. 

Over 100 high street brands now sell on the website.

The UK site was eBay’s fastest growing market last year, attracting more active users than anywhere else. There are over 30 million items available on the UK site at any one time and 17 million Britons regularly shop on the site.

Von Schirmeister said:“It’s an exciting time for eBay in the UK as the business growth continues to outpace e-commerce. The investment in this campaign will ensure that our retail partners, as well as the 180,000 smaller business sellers on our site continue to enjoy strong growth opportunities.”

The 20 and 30 second ads feature a young man travelling through a succession of rooms picking up and trying on products, with each room representing popular new product categories on eBay.co.uk. 

In the final shot, the man gets in to a vintage VW convertible Beetle, to demonstrate how eBay is still somewhere to find rare and hard-to-find items. There are typically around 1,000 listings for ‘convertible Beetle’ on eBay’s UK site at any one time.

The new campaign will run throughout March, appearing on all major channels during peak time viewing, launching with spots in Location, Location, Location on Channel 4, The Mentalist on 5*, and Criminal Minds on Sky Living. Digital advertising will go live on the same day. 

The soundtrack for the TV ad is Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’.

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