eBay Delivers Deals, Steals & Style for Back to School Shoppers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, introduces the Gear Up for College campaign featuring an inspired, interactive destination for students to discover and shop Back to School merchandise available on eBay. The dedicated destination delivers essential tips and resources for college co-eds this shopping season, including shop-able spaces curated by design expert Kelly Edwards, a tool to create a virtual dream dorm room, and a digital gallery for shoppers to show off and share original photos of their on-campus décor, exclusively at ebay.com/gearup. In August, students are invited to upload an original photograph of the dorm room they designed for a chance to win one year of free college tuition, valued up to $50,000.

“College is a great time to express your style, but not everyone has the resources or know how when it comes to designing – and financing – a dream dorm room”

“College is a great time to express your style, but not everyone has the resources or know how when it comes to designing – and financing – a dream dorm room,” said Richelle Parham, Chief Marketing Officer of eBay North America. “From laptops, flat screens and coffee machines to bedding, bikes and text books, we are working with top sellers to deliver deep discounts on the most popular Back to School items, and delivering a one-stop shop for students to gear up for the school year on eBay.”

Design expert Kelly Edwards showcases the best of dorm décor with three shop-able inspiration rooms - University Suite (bedroom), Study Central (office) and Varsity Club (lounge) - and delivers weekly tips on how to turn simple spaces into innovative interiors on a budget. Students can click tagged items to immediately shop eBay for deals on similar inventory, based on the looks they love.

“Shopping smart and staying stylish this season is simple with eBay,” said designer Kelly Edwards. “The site’s amazing assortment lets you browse and buy all your Back to School must-haves, plus one-of-a-kind finds to differentiate your dorm room design.”

Win a $5000 Shopping Spree

Armed with Edward’s inspiration and eBay’s inventory, visitors are also invited to design a dream dorm room by outfitting a virtual space with must-have merchandise using an interactive digital tool. Users who decorate and submit a virtual room will be automatically entered into the “Build Your College Dream Pad” sweepstakes for the chance to win a $5,000 shopping spree on eBay.

Win Tuition for a Year

Starting August 15, eBay calls on college co-eds from across the country to flaunt their dorm room style for the “Show Off Your College Pad” contest. Students are invited to upload an original photograph of their unique space to ebay.com/gearup or Facebook at facebook.com/ebay, for inclusion in a digital image gallery, and share with family and friends. eBay’s college community will be tapped to vote for its favorites, with Edwards selecting one grand prize winner from the top 25 most voted on entries. The grand prize winner will be awarded one year of free college tuition¹.

Win Prizes Daily

Shoppers can also win daily prizes - including eBay.com and Half.com gift cards - through a special Gear Up for College Twitter sweepstakes. Students are entered to win by following @eBay on Twitter and tweeting what they want or need for school using the hashtag #eBayGearUp or re-tweeting eBay’s featured Back to School deal tweets. The “Build Your College Dream Pad” sweepstakes runs July 18 – August 14, and the “Show Off Your College Pad” contest runs August 15 – September 9. The grand prize winner of the contest will be announced in October. To join the conversation, follow @eBay on Twitter and visit facebook.com/ebay. For more, go to ebay.com/gearup.

About eBay Inc.

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about connecting buyers and sellers. We do so through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell on eBay platforms in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI Commerce, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

¹ Up to $50,000.00; see http://ebay.com/gearup for rules and regulations.