eBay Auctions Cheetos' Take On Famous Banana Art - One Off Marketing Gimmick Or FMCG Play?
Cheetos is auctioning a Cheeto Puff held to a wall by duct tape, with the highest bidder winning both the "priceless piece of art" and a supply of Cheetos worth the cost of their bid - is this marketing gimmick part of larger play for eBay to bulk up on Fast Moving Consumer Goods?
The listing takes inspiration from a duct-taped banana art piece that sold for approximately $6.2 million at Sotheby's art auction last week - though so far Mischief by Chester has not reached such heights, with a current price of $1,100 and 51 bids placed.
Since the listing includes both the "artwork" and a supply of Cheetos equivalent to the amount of the winning bid, technically this listing belongs in the Snacks category, but that would then put it under eBay's policies governing the sale of food items on the platform.
Those policies state food items are required to "Clearly state the expiration date in the item description" which this listing would be in violation of - and of course, intentionally listing items in incorrect categories in order to manipulate search results or avoid certain category specific policies or requirements is also a violation of eBay's policies.
Of course, this wouldn't be the first time eBay took a lax attitude toward enforcement of their food selling policies, especially when they stand to gain media buzz - from Pokémon Oreos to Raspberry Rally Girl Scout Cookies and even recalled Paqui One Chip Challenge products that may have been linked to the death and/or sickness of multiple kids, but were still allowed to be sold on eBay.
The chestercheetah account was created on November 21, 2024 specifically for this one listing.
That of courses raises questions about whether special consideration has been given to the brand and if the account is being treated the same way in other brand new, 0 feedback seller would be in regard to selling limits or other limitations that usually apply.
This marketing campaign masquerading as an eBay listing is also reminiscent of Liquid Death's Super Bowl ad space auction earlier this year - which ended in disaster when Liquid Death refused to honor the winning bid from flushable wipes brand DUDE Wipes after the price didn't go as high as hoped for allegedly due to some "technical issues" on eBay's side the prevented some brands from bidding.
Liz Morton
Will this Cheetos account end up with the same fate as Liquid Death's account, a one sale wonder quickly abandoned after the marketing campaign has served its purpose, or could a longer term relationship between the Frito-Lay brand and eBay be in the works?
A recent open job ad revealed that eBay UK is looking to hire a new Fast-Moving Consumer Goods category manager to develop and lead 2 year initiative to drive GMV growth and establish long-term relationship's with key FMCG brands and sellers, drawing comparisons to strategies successfully used by Amazon and Costco to power lucrative membership offerings.
Liz Morton
If you're not familiar with the term, FMCG typically refers to products with a short shelf life (either due to high consumer demand or perishability) that sell quickly at relatively low cost - think food and grocery items, toilet paper and cleaning supplies, cosmetics, consumable office supplies, and over the counter medicines and supplements - a category that would of course include many products made by Frito-Lay.
The FMCG Category Manager role will be a fixed 2 year contract position, with a focus on building strategic relationships directly with important brands and their authorized resellers.
That explicit call out for creating and negotiating annual contracts is particularly noteworthy.
While the job ad doesn't go into detail, it would make sense that in order to succeed long-term in this category, you would need to be able to ensure that common consumable items maintain steady availability and costs to maximize repeat buying opportunities.
Without brand and reseller buy in and commitments on both quantities and pricing, eBay may get more "one off" buyers only if/when stock is available or the price is right compared to other sites, but those buyers will quickly go back to Amazon or Walmart for their regular purchases if the experience on eBay is not consistent or reliable.
The timing might strike some observers as an odd choice, since eBay is currently undertaking a major strategy pivot back to embracing non-new in season, pre-loved, collectible and unique items that were the "foundation of eBay's success" - particularly in the UK market where they have recently introduced consumer to consumer (C2C) initiatives, including removing fees for private sellers across most categories on the site.
eBay's eventual goal is to remonetize those sales by shifting the fee burden to the buyer side of the equation, with buyer fees and "value-added services" set to be introduced sometime in the back half of Q1 2025.
Liz Morton
One possibility that users have floated for a "value-added service" would be some kind of subscription or membership offering giving buyers certain perks - similar to Amazon Prime or Etsy's recent introduction of Etsy Insider.
eBay already offers the eBay Plus program in Australia and Germany where a monthly or yearly membership fee grants buyers access to special discounts, rewards points, free shipping, free returns, and other benefits.
It's not hard to imagine that expanding the eBay Plus concept to other markets could be part of the plan to monetize buyers, but the current offerings are relatively small cost/small reward.
For $49/year (Australia) or €19.90/year (Germany) you get some basic perks, but if eBay wants to step up to the revenue earning potential of Etsy Insider ($72/year) or Amazon Prime ($139/year), they're going to have to come up with some significant additional value to sweeten the deal.
Cue a well timed story from CNBC relating how Jeff Bezos took advice from Costco founder Jim Sinegal to help turn Amazon into what it is today.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
...Bezos met Sinegal for coffee at a Starbucks inside a Barnes & Noble near Amazon’s offices in Bellevue, Washington, according to the 2013 book “The Everything Store,” by journalist Brad Stone. Bezos wanted to talk about using Costco as a wholesale supplier for some products, but the meeting’s key takeaway ended up involving pricing strategies.
Sinegal explained how Costco could sell so many products for “dirt cheap” by eliminating unnecessary costs and maintaining strong relationships with suppliers to secure the best deals on bulk goods, Stone wrote. Those low prices were key to getting customers to pay for Costco’s annual membership, comprising most of the company’s gross profits.
"Maintaining strong relationships with suppliers to secure the best deals on bulk goods" - that sure sounds like what eBay is aiming for in hiring an FMCG category manager and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the eventual goal is to try to leverage relationships with big brands and their resellers to bolster a paid membership or "subscribe and save" type offering built around deals on high demand, replenishable consumer goods.
It's also interesting that eBay is promoting this Cheetos auction across their official social media channels (with no advertising disclosure).
Would you rather own a banana taped to a wall or a Cheetos puff? If you chose the latter, you’re in luck! https://t.co/Mog8QKDBGm pic.twitter.com/BC9h9BiDrQ
— eBay Newsroom (@eBayNewsroom) November 26, 2024
If this is a first step in a longer term brand partnership, it's troubling to see that eBay may already be loosening policy enforcement or new seller limitations that normally apply.
