Campaign

I art-directed a concept that turns eBay into a destination for uniqueness: a “scroll-up” UX space for the weirdest finds, plus a social pitch mechanic that brings sellers into the story—not just buyers.

I art-directed a concept that turns eBay into a destination for uniqueness: a “scroll-up” UX space for the weirdest finds, plus a social pitch mechanic that brings sellers into the story—not just buyers.

I art-directed a concept that turns eBay into a destination for uniqueness: a “scroll-up” UX space for the weirdest finds, plus a social pitch mechanic that brings sellers into the story—not just buyers.

Feb 2023

IT

Top Floor - Social Activation

View the full project on Behance

For this project, I wanted to treat eBay less like a marketplace and more like a cultural archive—because the platform’s real superpower is not “second hand,” it is the ability to find things you genuinely cannot find anywhere else.
We developed Top Floor as a UX + social concept for the 2023 D&AD New Blood Awards: a new section that feels like a hidden level inside the website, built to showcase (and sell) the weirdest, most collectible items on the platform.

For this project, I wanted to treat eBay less like a marketplace and more like a cultural archive—because the platform’s real superpower is not “second hand,” it is the ability to find things you genuinely cannot find anywhere else.
We developed Top Floor as a UX + social concept for the 2023 D&AD New Blood Awards: a new section that feels like a hidden level inside the website, built to showcase (and sell) the weirdest, most collectible items on the platform.

5) Description – Explaining (first person)

The insight: second hand is everywhere, “unique” is not

The starting point is explicit in the project: Gen-Z loves second hand, but not on eBay.
So the question became: instead of competing on “used,” how can eBay compete on something stronger—uniqueness?

That led to a simple reframing: eBay as the place where you do not just buy cheaper items—you buy items with stories, oddities, and collector energy.

The UX move: a secret floor you reach by doing the opposite gesture

Top Floor is designed as a new website section accessible by scrolling upward from the front page.
That interaction is the concept: it feels like “going up” into a curated, exclusive space. It is a small UX twist, but it turns discovery into a ritual.

Inside, the promise is clear: you can find—and most importantly buy—the weirdest items on the platform.


The social activation: sellers pitch their way in

To make the idea participatory (and not just a curated shop window), we added a second engine: a TikTok challenge where sellers can pitch their products to enter the Top Floor selection, driven by #eBayTopFloorPitch.
This creates a loop:

  • sellers produce content to “earn” a spot,

  • the platform gains fresh, native social formats,

  • the Top Floor feed stays alive and surprising.

Tone and messaging

The copy and visual language stay deliberately simple, almost celebratory—because the weirdness is the hook. The line “In a world of second hand choose to buy something grand!” captures that shift: from generic resale to standout discovery.

My role

I worked as Art Director on the project.
My contribution focused on shaping the concept into a coherent system—insight → UX gesture → social mechanic—so the idea reads quickly and still feels like an “experience,” not only a campaign deck.

Top Floor is my way of saying that “second hand” is not the headline anymore - curation and uniqueness are. By combining a small but meaningful UX behavior (scrolling up into a hidden space) with a social pitch mechanic for sellers, the concept turns eBay’s strangest inventory into a feature, not a side effect.


  • Art Director: Eduardo Pellegrino

  • Support Art Director: Nicola Maggi

  • Copywriter: Simone Migliavacca

  • Supervisors: Federica Scalona, Francesca Nepote

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