Insider’s Secrets to Selling on eBay

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

Internet auction house eBay Inc. may begin buying companies with low evaluations as a way to boost its classified ad business, according to a report Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal said San Jose-based eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) will target classified-ad sites that have positions in market segments where eBay is not yet a player.

The company owns about 25 percent of online classifieds company Craigslist as well as sites in Germany and Spain.

The Journal said eBay's classifieds business generates from 5 percent to 10 percent of the company's yearly revenue, and eBay estimates about 82 million people visit its classifieds sites every month.

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
September 15, 2008

Sellers upset with eBay's new ban on paper payments such as checks and money orders wondered what the US Postal Service (USPS) thought about the policy, since the ban extends to USPS postal money orders. So we asked. A USPS spokesperson provided AuctionBytes with a statement that it has been releasing to customers who ask about the change.

"Beginning in late October eBay will no longer allow checks or money orders as payment methods. Only approved electronic methods will be allowed. In January 2009, all accepted payment methods will be integrated into eBay Checkout. For buyers, this change means a more consistent and secure payment experience. For sellers, it means faster payment and fewer unpaid items. Visit www.ebay.com for more details.

"This is an eBay adopted policy that the U.S. Postal Service has no commitment, or control of, from eBay.

"The U.S. Postal Service will continue to provide Money Orders for customers. Postal Money Orders are a safe, convenient, and economical alternative to sending cash through the mail. They can be purchased from any Post Office(tm) locations in the United States as well as from any rural route carrier, available up to $1,000 each. A current government-issued or state-issued picture identification is required for money order purchases of $3,000 or more in a single day."

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:00 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

azfamily.com

More than 300 round-trip flights are being auctioned off on ebay starting at 5 cents Phoenix - Too good to be true? Not if you time it right. For a starting bid of five cents, some lucky travelers started the ball rolling on a round trip ticket on JetBlue.

It’s hard to believe but with today's economy,the airline says it’s putting the price of spontaneous weekend trips this fall into the hands of its customers.

JetBlue is the first airline to use eBay to auction off more than 300 last-minute flights, as well as several getaway vacation packages. This particular promotion boasts more than 20 destinations, but none out of Arizona.

The tickets are for up to two people, roundtrip. The majority of trips we found on eBay are out of New York to places like North Carolina and Chicago. Bidding closes this Sunday.

AAA received an e-mail from JetBlue today boasting the promotion. Agent Brian Korgel says if this deal "takes off" other airlines might follow with a similar type of special. But the reality is that by the time bidding ends on Sunday, the ticket price will go back to being a full fare.

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

WorldofGood.com by eBay Helps Socially Responsible Shoppers Make a Difference

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sep 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

12:11pm 09/03/2008
EBAY today unveiled a new ecommerce marketplace called WorldofGood.com by eBay, which offers products that have a positive impact on people and the planet, empowering consumers to align their social values with their shopping.
Whether consumers are looking to purchase products made from recycled or natural materials, buy organic or support artisan women in developing nations, WorldofGood.com brings a new level of confidence and transparency to the socially responsible shopping experience. WorldofGood.com is a one-stop-shop where the products, producers and sellers are verified by various third parties called Trust Providers -- like TransFair USA (Fair Trade Certified), Co-op America and Aid to Artisans -- to meet a core set of ethical and environmental standards.
"WorldofGood.com by eBay gives shoppers who care about making a difference access to great products that help people and the planet," said Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces. "Socially responsible shopping just got bigger and better."
People PositiveTM and Eco PositiveTM items offered on WorldofGood.com span 15 categories such as home and garden, art, jewelry, clothing and even food items. For example, socially responsible shoppers can purchase fair trade coffee, accessories and home dA(C)cor items made from recycled materials, organic clothing and animal-friendly beauty products on the site. Many products on the new marketplace are handcrafted by artisans across the world, positively impacting these marginalized communities in developing nations. All WorldofGood.com listings are also available on eBay.com, seamlessly bringing these socially responsible products to eBay's more than 84 million active users worldwide.
Shopping That Can Change the World
WorldofGood.com's unique GoodprintTM labeling system is like a nutritional label for each product on the site, allowing shoppers to see the positive social and environmental impact each purchase makes -- whether it provides economic empowerment to people, conserves energy, supports animal species preservation, or is made of recycled, organic and/or sustainable materials.
"We created the WorldofGood.com marketplace to enable shoppers to purchase socially responsible products with confidence," said Robert Chatwani, general manager of WorldofGood.com by eBay. "Regardless of the social causes most important to consumers, they can easily shop for items according to a variety of different attributes, allowing them to customize their shopping impact."
Collaborating for Social Impact
WorldofGood.com is the result of a collaboration between eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, and World of Good, Inc., a purpose-driven start-up dedicated to building ethical consumer experiences, by bringing its deep knowledge of the global ethical supply chain to mainstream retail partners.
The WorldofGood.com marketplace features a vibrant online community that convenes people, products, ideas and organizations all in one place. This facilitates an ongoing dialogue between consumers, producers, sellers and Trust Providers about ethical shopping through relevant blog posts, articles, discussion boards and Q&A forums.
About WorldofGood.com by eBay
WorldofGood.com by eBay an online marketplace which offers products that have a positive impact on people and the planet, empowering consumers to align their social values with their shopping. WorldofGood.com brings a new level of confidence and transparency to the socially responsible shopping experience by working with independent Trust Provider organizations that screen products, producers and sellers on the site. WorldofGood.com is an eBay Global Citizenship Initiative.

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:10 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By John Oates

A court in Belgium has thrown out a complaint by L'Oreal that eBay was not doing enough to combat sales of fake versions of the cosmetics giant's products on its site.

The court ruled that eBay did not need to take proactive action to stop such auctions, although eBay was keen to say it does take down such auctions when notified by rights holders.

The online tat bazaar is involved in several court cases with various luxury brands. Tiffany recently lost a similar case in the US, but has vowed to appeal the verdict.

But handbag peddler Hermes won its case against eBay, along with a €20,000 fine.

In June eBay was told to pay £30.6m (€38.8m) in damages to handbag flogger LVMH on two separate grounds - sales of fake items and "unauthorised sales" of perfume - better known as grey importing - sales of products in a different country to that specified by the manufacturer.

Last month eBay met with various luxury brands in London to try and find a way to end the row.

L'Oreal was suing eBay in five countries, accusing it of not doing enough to combat sales of counterfeit L'Oreal products.

The make-up maker said it was surprised at the decision and would appeal. ®

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:05 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone… I’m Naoki Ogishi from eBay's Mobile team. We've designed a better way for iPhone or iPod Touch users to access eBay. It's a free streamlined download from Apple's App Store, designed and built from the ground up specifically for your iPhone or iPod Touch. We've just released the first version which lets you search eBay, manage your My eBay and bid on items.

Here's how to install it:

If you're at a computer with iTunes installed, you can get it directly from the download page in iTunes.
If you have your iPhone or iPod Touch in front of you, just click the App Store icon and search for "eBay"—you can't miss our bright yellow icon.
I think you'll be amazed to see how fun it is to explore eBay using the touch interface on iPhone or iPod Touch.

In order to install eBay for iPhone, you must have the iPhone version 2.0 software installed. For more information, visit our eBay on iPhone page.

Sincerely,

Naoki Ogishi
Senior Product Manager,
eBay Mobile

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200808061436142.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:27 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone…I'm Jen Ibarra with eBay Giving Works. We're committed to offering you a variety of ways to support your favorite cause on eBay, and I'm excited to let you know about a new feature we launched last month, called Donate Now.

As you know, you can easily help your favorite nonprofit organization by listing an item and donating a percentage of the final sale price, or by buying an item marked with the special charity ribbon. With the new Donate Now option, you have an additional option to give back: you can also make an online gift to your favorite organization. All you need is a PayPal account. You can give as little as $5 by visiting the new "Donate Now" tab on your favorite nonprofit's "About My Nonprofit" page on eBay Giving Works.

For more information, please feel free to visit the Donate Now information page.

Thanks, as always, for your generous support of such wonderful organizations!

Sincerely,

Jen Ibarra
eBay Giving Works

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200807291312012.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:03 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The French company LVMH claimed in a lawsuit that the Internet auctioneer had not done enough to stop the sale of counterfeit goods.

From Bloomberg News http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-ebay1-2008jul01,1,5118636.story
July 1, 2008

EBay Inc. was ordered by a French court to pay nearly $63 million to luxury-goods maker LVMH, which produces Louis Vuitton- and Dior-labeled products.

The French company, whose full name is LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, had claimed in a lawsuit that the Internet auctioneer had not done enough to stop the sale of counterfeit goods.

The ruling also banned EBay from selling perfumes by the company.

"It's a groundbreaking decision that will help protect creativity," said Pierre Gode, a member of LVMH's supervisory board and advisor to Chairman Bernard Arnault.

EBay, the world's largest Internet auctioneer, said in a statement that it would appeal.

"Today's ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive commercial practices at the expense of consumer choice and the livelihood of law-abiding sellers that EBay empowers every day. We will fight this ruling on their behalf."

LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods maker, said it found in 2006 that 90% of the Louis Vuitton and Dior-labeled perfumes, watches and handbags on EBay were fakes.

Online sales of counterfeit clothes, bags and jewelry cost the makers of original products about $30 billion a year, Tiffany & Co. and other retailers claimed in a separate U.S. lawsuit.

In addition to the payment, the court ordered EBay to post the ruling on all its websites in English and French for three weeks and to pay for its publication in three French or international publications of LVMH's choice.

EBay spends about $20 million annually to identify counterfeit goods and remove them from its site, and has 2,000 employees worldwide involved in the task, the auctioneer said.

The court ruled that EBay wasn't qualified to sell LVMH perfumes, which should be distributed only through selected retailers with trained staff members.

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone...I'm Scott Shipman with eBay's Legal team. We've updated the eBay User Agreement and eBay Privacy Policy, which go into effect immediately for new members registering on or after today, and on August 13, 2008, for current members. You'll also receive an email in your My Messages shortly explaining the updates.
Most of these updates are minor, and your rights and our responsibilities have changed very little. The changes are part of a worldwide effort make the user agreements and privacy policies for eBay platforms around the world much more consistent. This way, when you use any eBay platform, you can be sure that very similar policies apply to you.

There are a couple of substantive changes to our User Agreement I'd like to point out. First, we've changed the "Content" and "Liability" sections to accommodate a new program we're rolling out worldwide. That program makes catalogs of content and product descriptions available to sellers, so they can easily include complete and up-to-date product information for the items they list (similar to the Pre-Filled Item Information feature that we offer on eBay.com).

Similarly, we've revised the Privacy Policy's "Disclosure" section to make sure that the language used there accurately reflects the ways in which we're transferring information between companies in the eBay Inc. corporate family to streamline services, fight fraud and provide you with the best, most relevant experience when you use any of our sites or services.

With these changes, we continue to make sure that our legal documents are consistent with the ways our sites and services are evolving and that we meet the needs of our Community. We hope you'll agree that these changes will make the eBay sites and services work better for you. If you accept the new User Agreement and Privacy Policy, you don't need to take any action. If you do not wish to accept the new User Agreement or Privacy Policy, please refer to this Help page for instructions.

Thank you for using eBay!

Sincerely,

Scott Shipman
Senior Counsel—Global Privacy Practices

Original eBay Announcement

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:22 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay is making some big changes to the jewelry category this summer.

Here are the details from eBay
We're planning significant changes to the Jewelry categories in August & September.

What we're doing:

Creating a top-level division between Fine Jewelry and Fashion Jewelry. "Fine" jewelry will be defined as precious metals and natural (not lab-created) stones. A high level sketch of our plan is included in the left-hand boxes.

Creating a separate section for Engagement/Wedding/Anniversary Jewelry

Updating and adding more Item Specifics values

Increasing alignment with the eBay UK Jewelry structure

How the changes will impact sellers:

In June, we're adding & expanding Item Specifics in Bridal Rings and Gemstone/Fashion Rings to give sellers better exposure, weeks before the category changes.

In August, sellers of Fine Jewelry will need to move their listings into the new Fine Jewelry section and adopt new Item Specifics. (Sellers who plan to move their items in August may choose not to revise them in June)

In September, the new umbrella of "Fashion Jewelry" will be placed over categories for jewelry "type" that you see on the site now (for example Bracelets, Earrings, Hair Jewelry, etc).

Sellers of high-end jewelry items, who have moved into the new Fine Jewelry section and adopted Item Specifics, should enjoy increased visibility.

Sellers of fashion-oriented rings, who have adopted the revised Item Specifics, should enjoy increased visibility as well.

Why we're making the changes:

The community reports that it is currently difficult to sort between higher price-point jewelry pieces and the more fashion-oriented items

Creating a well-defined, separate section for precious metals & stones improves community Trust and Safety, and makes counterfeit items easier to identify.

We've received many requests to increase visibility of the highly popular engagement/wedding market.
Item Specifics allows sellers a more faceted description than categories. By including metal & stone quality, type & style in Item Specifics, sellers won't be forced to choose between a gold category & a sapphire category, for example.

We'll be sharing more categories with the UK, to increase opportunity for cross-border trade
When these changes will be visible:

Phase one (the new Fine & Bridal sections) is planned for launch in early August.
Phase two (moving non-Fine categories under the Fashion umbrella) is planned for launch in early September.

Final thoughts:

We encourage sellers to move their high-end listings into the new Fine categories in August, and to adopt the new Item Specifics values, before the Fashion designation is added in September.

Please note that the new Fine section will be created empty. We don't have the capability of moving individual listings.

Remember that "Fine Jewelry" will be defined as precious metals and natural diamonds & gemstones. Lab-created stones will no longer be considered Fine.

Fine Jewelry Materials
Metals considered Fine
Gold (9k-24k)
Platinum
Sterling Silver

Gemstones considered Fine
(natural stones only)
Diamond
Amethyst
Aquamarine
Citrine
Emerald
Garnet
Opal
Pearl
Peridot
Ruby
Sapphire
Topaz

High Level Sketch of Category Changes in August

Body Jewelry
Bracelets
Charm & Charm Bracelets
Children's Jewelry
Designer Brands
Earrings
Engagement/Wedding/Anniversary

Engagement Rings
Engagement/Wedding Ring Sets
Wedding & Anniversary Bands
Wedding Party Jewelry

Ethnic, Regional & Tribal
Fine Jewelry

Fine Bracelets
Fine Earrings
Fine Jewelry Sets
Fine Necklaces & Pendants
Fine Pins, Brooches
Fine Right-Hand Rings
Men's Fine Jewelry

Hair Jewelry
Handcrafted & Artisan
Jewelry Boxes, Cases & Display
Jewelry Sets
Loose Beads
Loose Diamonds & Gemstones
Men's Jewelry
Necklaces & Pendants
Pins, Brooches
Rings
Vintage & Antique
Watches

High Level Sketch of Category Changes in September

Children's Jewelry
Designer Brands
Engagement/Wedding/Anniversary

Engagement Rings
Engagement/Wedding Ring Sets
Wedding & Anniversary Bands
Wedding Party Jewelry

Ethnic, Regional & Tribal
Fashion Jewelry

Body Jewelry
Bracelets
Charm & Charm Bracelets
Earrings
Hair Jewelry
Jewelry Sets
Men's Jewelry
Necklaces & Pendants
Pins, Brooches
Rings

Fine Jewelry

Fine Bracelets
Fine Earrings
Fine Jewelry Sets
Fine Necklaces & Pendants
Fine Pins, Brooches
Fine Right-Hand Rings
Men's Fine Jewelry

Handcrafted & Artisan
Jewelry Boxes, Cases & Display
Loose Beads
Loose Diamonds & Gemstones
Vintage & Antique
Watches

To see all the details

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

June 24, 2008 | 03:06PM PST/PT

Hi everyone. It's Renee VonBergen from the My eBay team. Since we launched the beta version of My eBay last summer, we've gathered a lot of feedback which has been incorporated into the beta version. Based on what you've told us, here are a couple of the newest features we've included in this latest beta version of My eBay:

Columns so you can quickly scan for information, as well as the traditional sections available in the current version of My eBay--Watching, Bidding, Active Selling, and so on.

The ability to organize your items the way YOU want to--put items into lists that you create, such as "Items to Research," "My Wish List," or "Possible Gifts for Joe's Birthday." (More details are available on this thread on the My eBay discussion board.)
A new test
We're ready for a new round of testing, as we prepare for the expansion of the new My eBay to the whole Community sometime later this year. In the next few days, a group of members who have not yet used the beta will be randomly selected to be in the test. The easiest way to tell if you've been opted into our test is that My eBay will appear primarily yellow, while the "classic" My eBay is primarily blue.

Two different test groups will have slightly different experiences: one group will be able to opt out of the test, and one group will not. Why no opt out? Because it's important that we be able to measure the effectiveness of our changes through the total clicks and activity our test group makes. No single member is singled out, but together your numbers will be compared with the aggregate numbers in the control group.

You can learn more about the test by checking out my new thread on the My eBay discussion forum.

Send us Feedback!
Anyone who is placed in the test this week, or who is already using the beta version, can send us feedback at any time through the Send Comments link near the top of any My eBay beta page. You should also check out the beta thread on the My eBay discussion board and leave your feedback--my team and I monitor the thread and will pop in from time to time to answer questions.

I want to emphasize how much we appreciate the time you take to send us comments. Your opinion on what works--and what doesn't--helps us build a better tool. On behalf of the My eBay team, thank you!

Sincerely,

Renee VonBergen
Product Management

Original Announcement

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

June 20, 2008 | 09:47AM PST/PT

Hello everyone...I'm here at eBay Live! 2008 in Chicago, along with 600 staff from eBay and PayPal. I truly wish you were here – the energy is great, and I never feel more connected to the Community than when I'm talking to buyers and sellers face to face. But for those of you who couldn't make it, I wanted to share some thoughts.
Today, we announced some exciting news that will go a long way toward meeting our goal of a healthy, vibrant marketplace. We also provided the audience with some updates on the changes we've rolled out over the past six months, including how members are responding to incentives, pricing and Feedback. Overall, we're pleased with what we've seen, but as with anything we do, we are committed to listening to all of you and looking for ways to improve.

I know that many of you have seen a lot of change over the past six months, and for some it hasn't been easy. But as I told the audience here, people simply expect more when they come to eBay ... and it's our job to make sure we meet their expectations.

Although we have more work to do, we're seeing signs of real progress. The news we announced today builds on what we've done to date ... and I know these changes will make our marketplace stronger.

I'm providing a summary below, and I encourage all of you to read our overview page to learn more about all of the changes announced today.

Improved Protection from PayPal When You Buy or Sell on eBay
PayPal is one of the safest ways to pay on eBay and already used by a majority of eBay's buyers and sellers. This year, our partners at PayPal are making another significant investment in building trust on eBay.

Starting this fall, eBay and PayPal are rolling out improvements to Buyer and Seller Protection on eBay.com. This is huge!

For sellers -- ALL eBay.com sellers will receive improved seller protection benefits previously available only to PowerSellers. Specifically, this means:

There is no additional cost to receive this protection
There is no coverage limit!
There is no cap on items sold or dollar amount!
You're no longer required to ship to confirmed address to be covered ... just send the goods to the address provided by PayPal and keep proof of shipment!
Protection covers shipments to any of the 190 countries in which PayPal is accepted, so the world is more open than ever for U.S. sellers.
For buyers, I can sum it up in a phrase: "Pay with PayPal and you're covered."

This means you're covered on eligible transactions for the purchase price and original shipping costs. Again, this coverage is provided at no additional cost and with no cap on coverage, whether an item costs $50 or $50,000.

For more details about the improved PayPal protection and some eligibility requirements, please read our Frequently Asked Questions.
More rewards for PowerSellers
Last fall, we told you that detailed seller ratings (DSRs) would be an increasingly important success metric for seller standards and rewards. We also stated our intention to turn the PowerSeller label into a badge of distinction, one that buyers would come to recognize as a mark of trust. Today, the PowerSeller program is just that – it rewards sellers for their success in driving sales and buyer satisfaction, as demonstrated by great DSRs.

What's more, I'm pleased to share that sellers have done well improving their DSR averages over the last few months. When we first announced the PowerSeller incentives in January, we knew that 60% of PowerSellers had DSRs of 4.6 and above ... today 67% have DSRs 4.6 or greater.

Also in January, 15% of PowerSellers had DSRs of 4.8 and above ... today, 33% have a DSRs 4.8 or greater – that means that we have more than doubled the number of our best sellers!

In response to this great progress, we announced two new PowerSeller rewards to further encourage and reward our best sellers:

Starting with July invoices, PowerSellers who have a 4.9 or higher across all four DSRs will receive a 20% discount on their final value fees. Today, 16% of all PowerSellers qualify for this substantial new discount ... and we hope to see that number grow.

And - thanks to our partners at UPS - PowerSellers may now receive savings of up to 23% off UPS Ground Daily Rates. This is in addition to the current UPS Special Pricing Program for all eBay sellers, which offers Ground Daily Rates with savings of up to 31%. PowerSellers can enroll now at www.ebay.com/UPSPowerSellerSavings.
Pricing
Back in January, we announced that we were going to reduce the risk of listing and move towards success-based pricing. It's working ... we've seen an increase in volume.

Between now and the holiday season we'll do more to support your success and ensure we are price competitive in every key category. The intent of all this change is obvious: We want great stuff and great deals on eBay – new, used, and collectibles.

Please stay tuned for more pricing information on the Announcement Board later this summer.

Investments in our best buyers
We're investing heavily to make eBay.com safer and easier to use for all buyers. This includes enhancements in our search and user experience, so buyers will see more relevant, high-quality products than ever before on eBay.com.

We're also giving top buyers a bigger reason to keep coming back to eBay. Starting in May, we began sending coupons to top buyers. This is good for sellers too because we know that buyers who redeem these coupons go on to buy more frequently. By the end of June, we will have delivered millions of coupons to top buyers, and we’ll do even more during the holidays.

Top buyers are also getting more attention from us in terms of service. Starting at the end of June, we will be providing live customer phone support to our top buyers. We've been offering phone support to our top sellers for many years, and it is time to extend that to top buyers.

Feedback progress
I want to acknowledge the concerns many of you have shared about the changes to our Feedback system in May. As we outlined in January, we felt strongly that we had to make significant changes to preserve the system's integrity and to reduce the bad experiences created by retaliatory feedback that were driving buyers away. Many of you have written to me personally about your concerns, and I want you to know that we are listening.

I also want to share that, while it's still early, we're seeing encouraging results. Although sellers feared buyers would leave negative feedback more often, I’m happy to report that the combined rate of negative and neutral feedback is unchanged over the first month. Also, the percentage of buyers who are leaving detailed seller ratings has increased: Now buyers who leave Feedback leave DSRs 76% of the time, showing an increased confidence in the Feedback system. And when buyers have more confidence in feedback, they have more trust in shopping on eBay.

That said, this is an evolving system. For example, we’re looking at enabling buyers to withdraw/change their Feedback in limited circumstances to help resolve issues or correct the occasional mistake. Our goal is to address this by the holidays. And we're doing this based on input from our Community, including at eBay Live!.

We'll continue to monitor the effects of these changes carefully, and rest assured, we’ll make additional improvements as needed.

* * *
I hope you can see that although there's still work to be done, we're making progress in improving the overall marketplace. And I have to tell you, being here in Chicago with so many fellow Community members also gives me and the eBay team a huge lift. There is nothing more inspiring to me and all of us at eBay and PayPal than to see thousands of people gathered who have empowered themselves through eBay.
I'm so proud to work for a company that means so much to people ... and we at eBay are more committed than ever to making our marketplace better for all of us.

Sincerely,

Lorrie Norrington
President, eBay Global Marketplace Operations

Original eBay Announcement

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:26 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
June 16, 2008

Developers gathered in Chicago are hearing more about eBay's plans to allow third parties to integrate applications directly onto its site. The eBay Developers Conference kicked off this morning, with a keynote address at 9:30 am central.

According to eBay, the move toward an open platform will give developers "unprecedented access to eBay's community of professional sellers, creating more opportunities for developers to market their tools and giving sellers a wider variety of sales optimization applications." Developers will be able to submit seller tools for inclusion directly onto eBay Selling Manager, an online tool for managing and tracking listings on eBay. In the past, users had to seek out a little-known "Solutions Directory" in order to learn about third-party solutions. With Project Echo, the code-name for the initiative, interested subscribers will get a free, 30-day evaluation period to trial applications.

Over 28 percent of all eBay.com listings are launched with third-party tools, and over 700,000 sellers subscribe to Selling Manager. "By giving developers the opportunity to showcase their tools to eBay's most active sellers, eBay aims to help developers and sellers alike create new revenue streams and maximize their ability to make money through eBay," according to eBay's announcement (http://developer.ebay.com/echo).

Also announced at the conference, PayPal has introduced a new Developer Central portal. Scheduled to launch in July, it will offer a complete set of free business and technical kits to help developers market their services, identify customer leads, complete integration projects more easily, and share knowledge with community peers. PayPal also introduced new application programming interfaces (APIs) to give merchants more flexibility to manage their customer transactions. PayPal's new Recurring Payments API offers merchants more options for subscription billing. The new Reference Transaction API will enable merchants to more easily transact with their repeat customers.

More news is expected at eBay's annual user conference kicking off on Thursday. eBay is expected to roll out new search features onto the main site, such as its snapshot view feature that gives shoppers the option of viewing search results in a "window shopping" display (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y207/m09/abu0199/s04). It appears eBay is also planning to add more third-party advertising in more places on its site.

Posted by eBay Guru at 03:26 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com

eBay is testing a new shopper rewards program. Once shoppers sign up for the program, they earn eBay Bucks on qualifying purchases from May 15 through August 14. Participants will then have 30 days to spend the "bucks" on eBay. Purchases in certain categories are excluded from the promotion, such as all categories in Motors except Parts & Accessories; Classifieds; Live Auctions; Giving Works; Real Estate; and Business & Industrial Capital Equipment.

The reward amount is calculated as a percentage of the total qualifying amount spent, and it appears eBay is testing different percentage amounts with invitees. Some invited to the eBay Bucks Rewards Program also receive a starting balance.

eBay has been spending its marketing budget on such shopping programs this year, including coupon programs (http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/2/1204153476.html).

http://rewards.ebay.com/terms.jsp

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay sellers in Australia continue to express anger over the new ban on any payment method other than eBay's own PayPal payment service, covered in AuctionBytes last week (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m04/i10/s01). An online petition calling on eBay Australia to rethink its decision to remove direct deposit, money orders and checks as payment options has garnered over 2930 signatures as of Sunday evening (http://www.petitiononline.com/ebayau/petition.html), and discussion boards are lighting up with complaints over eBay limiting sellers - and buyers - payment options (http://forums.ebay.com.au/thread.jspa?threadID=500078838).

One member posed the question, "Any One EVER Had a problem with Direct Deposit????" Most replies were negative other than the problem of buyers occasionally entering incorrect account numbers.

However, it was pointed out that recently a seller who had allegedly ripped off eBay Australia buyers for over one million dollars used direct deposit to accept payments from his victims (http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/03/08/8591_gold-coast-top-story.html). eBay promised last month to pay back the victims for their losses (http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/03/10/8646_gold-coast-top-story.html).

Phil Leahy, president of a seller organization based in Australia, sent AuctionBytes a statement stating that the PayPal-only requirement will result in higher fees for sellers, and it called on eBay to reduce fees before the new policy takes effect.

The beneficiary of eBay Australia's new policy may be eBay rival OZtion, which is getting a lot of mention in the discussion boards. http://www.oztion.com.au/company/aboutoztion.aspx

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m04/i14/s03

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Meg Whitman, who raised funds for Romney, has been asking key Republicans about the possibilities, sources say.
By Joe Mathews, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 25, 2008
As she prepares to depart from EBay after a decade at the helm, Chief Executive Meg Whitman appears to be investigating a new career -- in politics.

Whitman has talked with top Republicans about the possibility of a run for California governor in 2010, according to three operatives who have had discussions with her. Whitman is said to be asking detailed questions about the logistics of a run and the effect she could have as governor, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations.

Whitman did not make herself available for comment. A source close to her said she had been talking with Republicans around the state and had become "fascinated" by politics in her work as a fundraiser for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and a former colleague of Whitman at the consulting firm Bain & Co.

The source close to Whitman, however, downplayed the seriousness of the conversations, saying that Whitman was still new to politics and that California Republicans, not Whitman, were the ones driving the discussion.

"This thing has come to her," the source said. "She hasn't given it all that much thought. It's not, 'I'm going to run. Give me a game plan.' "

Last September, Whitman switched her party registration from "decline to state" to Republican, according to records in San Mateo County, where she lives. The source close to Whitman said she had made the change in part so she could vote for Romney in the Feb. 5 Republican primary, which is closed to independents this year.

"Whitman has the potential to be a very strong candidate," says former Republican consultant Dan Schnur. "She brings very strong private sector experience to the table, and her involvement in politics gives her a potential base of support as well."

Whitman could breathe life into a party that has little money and few stars beyond Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is often at odds with Republican doctrine.

A moderate, she is a billionaire who could fund her own campaign. She ranked No. 361 on Forbes' 2007 list of the richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion.

Another anticipated GOP gubernatorial candidate, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, is also a billionaire from Silicon Valley. The two do not know each other.

Whitman, like Poizner, could face a difficult Republican primary against a conservative candidate such as State Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks). "It will be very difficult for her to explain to primary voters why she and Steve Poizner are different in any respect other than gender," Schnur said.

Former Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim, who was among those who encouraged Schwarzenegger to leave Hollywood for politics, says he sees Whitman as a potential candidate.

Sundheim is leading an effort to find candidates for 2010 and is talking to people inside and outside politics, including nontraditional candidates who are wealthy enough to finance their own campaigns, according to people who have spoken with him. Three sources said Whitman is among the candidates with whom he has talked.

"I've heard from others that Meg may have an interest in running for office someday," Sundheim said in an interview Thursday.

"We have many excellent potential candidates and I think Meg could be one of those candidates, and I hope she seriously considers it."

Margaret C. "Meg" Whitman, a 51-year-old New York native, joined EBay as its president and chief executive in 1998, when the online auction company had 30 employees and annual revenues of $4 million, according to a biography posted on the company's website. The company now has 15,000 employees globally.

Whitman said Wednesday that she would retire from EBay on March 31.

Since launching her career at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati in 1979, Whitman has spent her professional life in the corporate sector, as an executive at toy maker Hasbro, Florists Transworld Delivery, Stride Rite Corp. and the Walt Disney Co.

She did her undergraduate work at Princeton and later earned a master's degree at Harvard Business School.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-whitman25jan25,0,7858915.story

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:33 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
December 18, 2007

An economics professor at Loyola Marymount University analyzed auctions of gift cards on eBay and found that gift cards from certain stores fetched consistently lower sale prices than others. Professor Jennifer Pate's research suggests gift cards are less valuable to recipients when given for stores that offer less product variety and fewer locations.

The study, which was published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, also revealed that the average gift card is resold with a 15% discount. "In other words, people who receive gift cards are willing to accept around $85 in cash in exchange for a $100 gift card. For many gift givers, this means that a $100 cash gift will go much farther than a $100 gift card," said Pate.

Ranked according to their resale value, the ten "best" gift cards are Home Depot, Lowe's, Office Max, Circuit City, Starbucks, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target, Staples and Best Buy, all selling for above 86% of their original value (a 14% maximum discount). The five "worst" gift cards are Tiffany & Co, Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, with Express coming in last at 74% (a 26% discount).

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m12/i18/s03

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
November 20, 2007

eBay launched a new site called BestofeBay that showcases the most popular, eccentric, interesting and unique listings on the auction site. When voting for their favorite auctions, users can add comments to the Best of eBay nominees to support their votes. The concept is similar to the Digg website that lets users submit content from anywhere on the web and vote on them, with the most popular ones showing up at the top of the lists.

The new eBay site, online at http://bestof.ebay.com, includes viral marketing elements; users can share their favorite auctions with friends through an "Email to a Friend" link at the bottom of each listing.

On Monday, the top featured auction was for a fake meal consisting of a knitted (with new wool) baked quiche ("looks fluffier and tastier than real scrambled eggs"), listed for sale by eBay Storeowner The Knitted Cafe.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200711191341062.html

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m11/i20/s02

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
November 01, 2007

eBay launched eBay Gift Cards, available in stores and supermarkets nationwide in denominations of $25 and $50. Consumers can use the eBay Gift Cards on items where the eBay seller accepts PayPal, but cannot use them on eBay Express.

It's important to note that consumers who want to redeem the gift cards must have a PayPal account and link it to their bank account or credit card. One eBay member discussing the cards on the discussion board said, "I know there are some people (buyers) who refuse to use paypal, so I think they'd be awful po'd to get this as a gift." (http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?messageID=1010737376&forumID=21).

eBay said it will distribute over one million gift cards in more than 10,000 retail stores, including Kroger, Safeway, Vons, Dominick's, Fred Meyer and Ralphs, through distribution with the Blackhawk Network, the largest provider of third-party prepaid cards. Cards will be in stores year-round. Consumers who receive an eBay Gift Card and need help using it can call (866) 914-8078.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200710311046462.html

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m11/i01/s03

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:40 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Check out our New Features!

FREE eBay Canada
FREE Consignment
FREE CSV Reports
FREE Relist Scheduling
FREE New Insurance Claims Process

eBay CA joins Auctiva's list of supported eBay sites. List your items to eBay CA today.

Consignment allows you to add, list items for, and manage your consignment accounts through Auctiva. Keep track of your consignment accounts, items listed and payouts with our new consignment functionality.

Relist* Scheduling allows you to schedule relists in bulk with staggered launch times. You also have the ability to edit certain fields as you are relisting, like Start Price and Duration.
*Items relisted through Auctiva will be eligible for reimbursement of eBay relisting fees according to eBay rules and regulation.

CSV Reports are designed to allow you to track your sales data. Comma separated values (CSV) files can be opened in applications like Microsoft Excel, for example, and allow you to sort, organize, make graphs and create views of your data.

File Auctiva Shipping Insurance claims online. So far, you have been used to saving lots of money buying Auctiva Shipping Insurance over USPS. Now, should you need to file a claim, the process is step-by-step and online. Save money and sanity using Auctiva Shipping Insurance.

Try them out today! Visit www.auctiva.com.

Sincerely,
Auctiva Staff

See a complete list of new features: http://www.auctiva.com/about/newfeatures.aspx

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 10:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Lissa McGrath
AuctionBytes.com
October 07, 2007

Recently eBay introduced a new Bid History page. I must confess, I thought this was another gimmick. But I think there are some positive changes and improvements.

I'm very pleased to see that they brought back the exact feedback score rather than just displaying the feedback star. I like to know what experience the buyers I'm bidding against have, and frankly, I can't remember what every star represents, so this was a positive change for me.

The biggest new feature is the Item information on the right side of the page. Not only do you see the thumbnail picture, but also the title, current bid, shipping information, and a box to enter your bid.

At the top of the page it clearly states the number of unique bidders who have bid on the item as well as the total number of bids and, most importantly, the time remaining on the auction.

What I really like about this page, and I'm sure eBay is testing here before launching on the main Auction page, is One-Click Bidding. When you enter a bid in the box on the Bid History page, you are not taken to another page to confirm it (as you are currently from the Auction page). Instead, a pop-up window appears and the rest of the page goes into a washed out effect (similar to when you get a pop-up window on the Sell Your Item form) and you can confirm your bid here. There's no page load time, so this is great if you're sniping, or if you're not on the fastest of Internet connections. This is a change buyers have been requesting for some time now, and I think it's been well executed.

I have always been a faithful user of the Auction page for bidding, but I decided I would give using the Bid History page a shot. I used the refresh button (that appears when there are only 15 minutes remaining on the auction, same as on the Auction page) to keep an eye on the time remaining, and placed and confirmed my bid from the Bid History page. It was actually a lot of fun. I didn't feel distracted by other things going on (mainly because this page is very minimalistic and has no ads or fluff to it).

Unfortunately, all of these positive changes are overshadowed by eBay's Safe-Guarding Member IDs (SMI) change. Most buyers were unhappy with the Bidder 1, Bidder 2 idea, but they're not happy about eBay's compromise either. Initially eBay shielded all bidder IDs after the bidding reached $200 (or the reserve price was over $200) by replacing the User ID with Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc. based on the order the bids were placed. This did not go down well in the eBay community where both buyers and sellers said they felt this was shielding shill bidders and removing a lot of the transparency from the site. (See AuctionBytes January 16th article about SMI at http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m01/i16/s01).

So, eBay has responded with a compromise. Now you will see two random characters from the member's User ID with three asterisks between them (for example, auctionbytes could be b*y, c*t, or any combination of letters from within the User ID.) On the forum about the Bid History page, this is the number one topic of discussion. And it's not just buyers who are unhappy. Sellers are complaining that they are losing bids, even more so than when the Bidder 1, Bidder 2 change was first launched.

The reason was clearly put by Goldcoastbridal: "I have been confused over this asterisk thing for a while now and missed out bidding on a couple items I would normally bid on...the names like r**t seemed fishy to me and I thought they were screen names...did eBay send a message about this to all of its users informing them this was going to happen? I thought for sure the auctions I was watching were shilling!" Goldcoastbridal has a feedback score of over 100, so is certainly not a newbie.

This concern is echoed by other users on the forum, such as ehprop, who said: "What eBay has done is to add a cool tool that will gradually convince a lot of good people to shy away from many transactions that earlier would have seemed safe." And rskmgtpro: "I find the User ID masking for bid history information on higher priced items to be totally offensive."

One suggestion that has been made on the board is allowing an established, high-feedback buyer access to the full User ID of bidders he or she is bidding against (i.e. after the bidder has already placed a bid on the item). The suggestion is that buyers go through a verification process to gain access to this information.

Personally, I don't think eBay will go for this, however I do wonder why eBay doesn't just use the first and last initial of the User ID (so auctionbytes would always show up as a***s). This would make it easier for bidders to see when a user is bidding on a seller's items multiple times, or when they are bidding against the same person for similar items, but it wouldn't give scammers the full User ID (to try to steal the bid, or send a phishing Second Chance Offer, etc.). With the exact Feedback Score also displayed, the likelihood of there being two users bidding on the same item who have the same first and last letters in their User ID and the exact same feedback score is quite minimal. I think this would be a true compromise.

You can read all of the comments, as well as the original eBay announcement on the forum board: http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000430110&start=40

It's a shame that so many good changes have been overshadowed by this one issue. I do think that in general the changes to Bid History are a success. I think we can expect some further changes to the SMI policy, but I doubt eBay will return to showing the full ID as many eBay users have requested.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y207/m10/abu0200/s02

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:58 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

October 02, 2007 | 10:00AM PST/PT

Hey everyone...I'm Alan Lewis, and I'm here to tell you about eBay Desktop - an exciting new product we are launching in beta today.
In a nutshell, eBay Desktop lets you take care of most of your normal eBay activity – without having to use your web browser. You can search, bid on, and watch items right from the eBay Desktop application, all while getting alerts about their status. One of the features I like most is the Favorite Search feed, which lets you download items from your favorite searches and browse through them, even when you're not online!

Of course, describing these features in text doesn't do them justice – check out the screenshot below, and try it out for yourself! Thousands of users have been helping us test early versions of eBay Desktop over the past year, and have given us hundreds of awesome suggestions on how to improve the product. Today, we’re inviting everyone in the entire eBay Community to give it a whirl through our public beta. It's fun, it's easy to use, and it's free!

Most importantly, let us know what you think! eBay Desktop has a built-in product feedback tool, and I encourage you to use it to give us your thoughts. Or if you prefer, you can send a note to sneakpeek@ebay.com with your comments and suggestions.

Thanks for trying out eBay Desktop!

Sincerely,

Alan Lewis
eBay Desktop

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200710.shtml#2007-10-02095418

Posted by eBay Guru at 03:28 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
September 24, 2007

Auctiva has introduced a new website called BattleBids.com that features games designed to make bidding on eBay more fun and interactive. The games "animate" auction bids, and include a hot-dog eating contest, a golf game and a racing game. A future game called BattleBids will be a Sotheby's-style auction house with virtual bidders holding paddles. Shoppers can go to Auctiva's BattleBids website, and eBay sellers can place the games directly in their auction listings.

Visitors can click on "Replay of the day" on the BattleBids.com website to see the game applied to a live eBay auction. An animated game called Bid Racer depicts real eBay bidders as racecars speeding along a racetrack. A bidder can shout taunts such as "Eat my dust" when they outbid other bidders. The game page also displays the auction listing description, and clicking on the title brings up the listing on the eBay website.

Auctiva founder Jeff Schlicht said he expects the games to be viral. "At the end of each replay is an invitation to tell a friend which sends them the replay," he said. The first games are called Bid Racer, Nitro Boats, Golf, Shuffleboard, Hot Air Balloons, Galactic Bidder, and Hot Dog Eating Contest. The next group of applications will be focused more towards women shoppers, and Schlicht said he had ideas for other applications that would appeal to adults, such as puzzle games and word games.

"We're planning on building more features around the community of users," Schlicht said. "Each user has their own profile page which displays some of their recent Battlebids wins and losses along with some of their stats." There's no charge for buyers or sellers.

Auctiva provides eBay auction-management and marketplace tools, including the Sellathon analytics tool acquired earlier this year.

http://www.battlebids.com

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m09/i24/s02

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:32 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
September 21, 2007

Many eBay sellers have disputed the legitimacy of VeRO claims regarding copyright and trademark rights. But some have also begun complaining about the legitimacy of the members themselves. They say some VeRO members do not have the rights to the intellectual property they claim, and use eBay's program to remove sellers' listings.

A seller named Tom who said eBay pulled three of his listings because of reports by a fake VeRO member, said, "If this keeps up, they will put me and a lot of their sellers out of business. And unless abated, these skammers now know they can claim anything and get away with it."

eBay spokesperson Catherine England said eBay has a zero-tolerance policy for any eBay seller that engages in anti-competitive practices by filing fraudulent VeRO complaints against other eBay sellers. She said eBay immediately and indefinitely NARUs (suspends) any seller who does this. "It's considered a blatant breech of the eBay User Agreement and it just isn't the way we treat one another in the eBay community."

eBay has verification processes in place, England said, and does its best to ensure that VeRO participants are legitimate rights owners. She said there are several third-party companies and individual consultants that are often authorized by rights-owners to monitor eBay and file VeRO complaints on their behalf, so it isn't always easy to tell by contact information alone if the complaint or the individual submitting it is legitimate.

England said eBay's VeRO team "doesn't blindly remove all listings reported to us - they often call to confirm or take other steps to verify the complaint is legitimate before removing a particular listing. That said, our system isn't 100% fool proof and it's possible some folks may slip through from time to time."

If an eBay seller believes a fraudulent VeRO complaint has been filed against them, or the rights owner is in error, England said the seller can appeal the report and eBay will review it; if eBay finds in favor of the seller, eBay will reinstate the listing.

On the bottom of the information page about the VeRO program, there is a "Contact Us" link (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/questions/vero-ended-item.html). England said sellers can use this link to submit appeals to VeRO report.

In a thread in the AuctionBytes forum devoted to VeRO issues, eBay sellers talk about the problem and the challenges of disputing VeRO claims and discuss strategies for dealing with fake VeRO members (http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=22324).

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m09/i21/s02

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:37 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone...I'm Raza Malik, and my team is responsible for My Messages, your inbox within My eBay where you receive secure, relevant messages from eBay and other members. Not only is My Messages the best way to communicate with your transaction partners on eBay, but it's also an important safety tool to help you verify that the email you receive from eBay is authentic.
We've been working on some changes to the user interface that we think will make it more intuitive and user-friendly - much like most standard email applications.

Here is some more detail about the changes you'll see in the next few days:

Easier identification for alerts, eBay messages, and member messages
To help you prioritize at a glance, we're making it easier to identify what types of messages are in your inbox. Alerts (important messages about your account from Billing, Trust & Safety, etc.) are now displayed at the top of your inbox in a separate section from other messages. If you don't have any alerts, this section will not be displayed.

In the Messages section, messages from eBay will be highlighted in green, while messages from other members, such as questions about an item, will be in black.

Bulk actions and other message management tools
Now you can manage multiple messages at once using Delete, Save to Desktop, Move to, and Mark As actions. You can also set how many messages you want to see on each page, and use a new filter to quickly find messages related to a particular item.

We're also working on "threading" member-to-member messages, so that you can easily read your entire conversation with another member. Look for this in the next few months.

Improved look-and-feel
We've updated the left-hand navigation to make the most commonly-used links stand out more, plus we've designed a cleaner-looking layout to My Messages overall. In addition you'll see new icons that "describe" many of the features and actions and more customization options.

We think these changes will make My Messages an even better tool for you – but your opinion is most important! After checking out the new-look My Messages, please send us an email at mymessages@ebay.com and tell us what you think.

Sincerely,

Raza Malik
Buyer Experience

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200709111528472.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:25 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

ChannelAdvisor has acquired Marketworks.

The combined companies have over 5,500 customers and $2.5 billion in annualized GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) on a global basis, as well as operating offices in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Seattle, Washington; Bacharach and Berlin, Germany; London, England; Melbourne, Australia and now Atlanta, Georgia.

ChannelAdvisor will continue to support Marketworks’ customers and invest in its products. This includes the Marketworks platform and the Premium Web Store offering.

Over the years, our two companies have competed on many levels, and ChannelAdvisor has always respected the Marketworks team and products; we’re excited to welcome them into the ChannelAdvisor family.

To learn more about the announcement please visit www.marketworks.com or www.channeladvisor.com.

To learn more about selling on eBay please visit www.auctiontips.com.

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
September 05, 2007

eBay has ramped up testing of its ad program with Yahoo on the US site, and sellers - and possibly some eBay executives - are concerned about the possibility of the ads cannibalizing eBay sales. The ads appear in a section called Yahoo Sponsored Links at the bottom of eBay search results pages and now compete directly with eBay's own listings.

eBay has told sellers that the Yahoo ads would appear where there were no matching eBay items, or for complementary items, both in the original announcement and during June's eBay Live Conference (http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200605250457542.html and http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m06/i18/s04).

That is no longer the case. For instance, a recent search for "Nike Women Sneakers" showed eBay listings followed by Yahoo ads, including ads for sites selling sneakers such as FinishLine.com (Shop the Large Selection of Nike Women's Shox & More) and DrJays.com (DrJays.com has a wide selection of Nike women's shoes on sale in our online store). Similarly, a search for collectible Longaberger baskets displayed ads for competing sites on the same page as eBay's own listings.

A seller wrote to AuctionBytes on August 23rd, "Today while searching for a Toshiba stylus on eBay, I was dumbfounded to see 3 huge links in the middle of the page, offering the same item that several poor eBay sellers had paid to list. For less ! Live links ! to other sites ! including AMAZON !!"

The competing ads are actually appearing ahead of many of eBay's own listings. On September 3rd, a search for "Nike Women Shoes" showed 1006 matches on 21 pages. But the Yahoo ads appeared on all 21 pages of results. Shoppers viewing the first page of results saw ads for competing sites ahead of 956 of eBay's own listings.

In an interview with MediaPost's Behavioral Insider, eBay senior counsel of Global Privacy Practice Scott Shipman acknowledged concerns over the Yahoo and Google ads. He told the publication, "The key notion, as you can imagine, is that we don't want to cannibalize the activity on the site and direct people off of the Web site. So we are very sensitive to where they appear and the content they are advertising." (http://blogs.mediapost.com/behavioral_insider/?p=187)

However, as a thread on an industry discussion board revealed, sometimes the Yahoo Sponsored Links contain adult ads, such as the one containing the description, "Meet Sexy Local Housewives For Real Nasty Sex. Every Type and Fetish." (http://www.vendio.com/mesg/read.html?num=2&thread=665396).

eBay spokesperson Catherine England said eBay does have some control and filters in place for the ads, but said the process is highly automated and is not 100% fool proof. "The ad that you saw was not specific to eBay but slipped through Yahoo's system and was being served on their entire ad network. We've alerted Yahoo to the ad so they can remove it. Yahoo has been very responsive as we've reported various ads to them and we continue to improve the way we work together."

Yahoo also serves up the graphical ads on eBay. In May, the AuctionBytes blog reported Yahoo was serving up ads on eBay for Netflix on search results for DVDs. Netflix offers shoppers DVDs for rent and for sale (http://tinyurl.com/3bgc9f). The ads for Netflix continue to appear when searching for DVD tiles on eBay.

When asked if eBay had geared up the Yahoo ads, England said testing is ongoing and will continue over the coming months. She said visitors to the site may see different advertising formats, in different places, for different types of items, including sponsored links and graphical advertisements, and sometimes no advertising at all. "We're working hard to determine the best ways to integrate and optimize advertising on eBay, including showing ads to the right users, using the right ad network partners at the right time, and allowing ads from the right advertisers. In our testing, our focus is on understanding whether there is any impact on our transaction business from advertising. This is our primary concern as we are not looking to take business away from our sellers as we enhance our user experience."

When asked about eBay's statements about the conditions under which Yahoo ads would appear, England said, "In Bill's original post about the Yahoo agreement, we did say that we were starting our testing on null search results but also pointed out that we'd be testing other placements too, including complementary items. Due to the very nature of testing - we didn't explicitly state what we would and would not test moving forward. What we did clearly state is that we would not place these ads on view items pages."

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m09/i05/s01

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:36 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 22, 2007 | 09:49AM PST/PT

Hi everyone... This is Don Fotsch with PayPal's product, user experience and design team.
Over the past several weeks, we've been testing our new home page design with the Community and we've seen an extraordinary amount of participation and encouraging feedback.

In the next few weeks, we will be ending the beta test of our new home pages so that we can incorporate your feedback and begin phasing in the new site design and experience.

The new PayPal logo
As part of our overall redesign, I'm excited to let you know that later this month, PayPal will be introducing a new logo.

Our current logo has served us well over the years. However, based on research and discussions with consumers and merchants throughout the world, we believe the time is right to take an evolutionary step in our look. You'll see this reflected in a new PayPal logo. You can see the new Paypal logo here.

You'll see an immediate change of the new logo on the PayPal and eBay website and in our emails in the next few weeks. We are also reaching out to the millions of merchants who accept PayPal to update their checkout buttons to the new look. Please note that eBay sellers do not need to take any steps to update the logo.

Thank you for your support as we continually improve the user experience on PayPal and make it safer and easier to pay and be paid online. I hope you enjoy our fresh new look and I look forward to your continued feedback!

- Don

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200708220949452.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 21, 2007 | 10:29AM PST/PT

Hello everyone... We've been talking a lot with you about improving the buyer experience on eBay, and I'm pleased to let you know about some great new enhancements that we're adding to the site over the next two weeks. We've been working hard to ensure that these enhancements will add to the thrill you feel when you win a great item at a fantastic price. Winning on eBay is a big part of the great experience you have on eBay and we want you to win faster, more often and have even more fun than ever before.

If you've been keeping on eye on Sneak Peek (www.ebay.com/sneakpeek), you're probably aware of many of the products and enhancements we're working on. I'd like to give you a quick snapshot on a number of enhancements that are on their way.

Our new eBay home page – A homepage is like a front door, and it can say a lot about the business inside. Making its debut this week, our new eBay homepage has a simplified interface that puts the focus on you and what you love. Quick access to key My eBay information, featured items and recent activities helps to make a more inspired and fun shopping experience. We hope you like our new "front door" – and that you find it welcoming, informative and fun.

Bid History redesign – Through research and talking to a lot of you, we know that our competitive bidders spend a lot of time on the bid history page. We've enhanced the page to be more functional for you. You'll now be able to bid directly from the Bid History page. We heard that it's really important for you to be able to see more information on all items you're bidding on, so we've restored some transparency when bidding on items over $200.

New look & feel in Search – We're making a number of visual changes to our current Search to make the search results pages less-cluttered. Soon you'll notice subtle changes to color and other details that will help the most important content on the page – your items – stand out better.

Snapshot View on Search Results – Snapshot View allows you to browse quickly through larger item images – it's a little like window shopping but with faster results. Browse for what you are looking for, or refine your search by color or price, and let your visual sense be your guide. You'll find the link to Snapshot View at the top right of every search results page. This is an exciting new way to help you to find and win items on eBay.

You'll be hearing more about these projects and others – like progress with our new My eBay beta, our Finding tests, and more – in the coming weeks. Until then, keep checking our General Announcements board, and visiting our Sneak Peek page for updates. We also hope you'll use our sneakpeek@ebay.com email address to let us know what you think about our new projects. We really want to hear from you – so don't be shy.

Sincerely,
Philipp Justus
Senior Vice President, eBay Auctions

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200708211028562.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 03:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

EBay 'deceiving millions of users'
Class action suit accuses auction site of not giving users the full auction time
Robert Jaques, vnunet.com 22 Aug 2007

A US law firm has filed a class action suit against eBay, alleging that users do not receive the full duration of auction time that they pay for.

Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas filed the lawsuit against the online auction site on behalf of eBay customers.

The suit claims that these users' auctions did not start when their listing was submitted, and that they paid for, but did not receive, the full duration of auction time that they selected.

"EBay has been deceiving millions of consumers over the years by claiming that their auctions start when submitted, when in reality they do not begin for at least several hours, and up to 24 hours," said John Fabry, the attorney leading the litigation.

"However, the clock starts running on your selected auction time even though eBay has not posted it yet."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:53 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

After 7-Eleven, Simpsons Move to eBay
By LIA MILLER
Published: August 20, 2007

"As Apu, the owner of the Kwik-E-Mart store in “The Simpsons,” would say, “Thank you, come again.”

A Homer Simpson prop at a 7-Eleven in Manhattan. Items from a Kwik-E-Mart promotion at the stores have popped up for sale on eBay.

Fans of the TV series have been doing just that, bidding up Kwik-E-Mart mementos for sale on eBay that are left over from a promotion for “The Simpsons Movie.”

In July, a dozen 7-Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts, with employees wearing the green-and-blue uniform shirt that Apu wears. On the shelves were products that are familiar to “Simpsons” viewers: Squishees (replacing Slurpees), Buzz Cola, Krusty-O’s cereal, and Bart Simpson’s favorite comic book, Radioactive Man.

During the stunt, fans came in droves, snapping pictures and waiting in long lines; some stores hired extra security staff. But now that it is over, some people are selling their loot.

A search on eBay for “Kwik-E-Mart” yields more than 180 items, from a $1.99 Squishee cup to a $200 Kwik-E-Mart shirt. The asking price for a box of Krusty-O’s is $10, the same as for a six-pack of Buzz Cola."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:02 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Changes Feedback, Cracks Down on Seller Non-Performance
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
August 17, 2007

"AuctionBytes reported in June that eBay was cracking down on sellers who breached its non-performance policy. On Monday, eBay made the first public announcement to users about the new methodology in enforcing the policy, part of which entails treating neutral feedback ratings as negatives.

eBay Senior Vice President of Auctions Philipp Justus posted on the eBay Announcement on August 13th a message entitled, "Understanding eBay's Seller Non-Performance Policy Enforcement." In it, he explained that eBay has begun enforcing the Seller Non-Performance policy in stricter ways than in the past by considering a seller's buyer dissatisfaction rate:

Sellers who have demonstrated buyer dissatisfaction rates greater than 5 percent within a 90-day window are now subject to temporary 14-day restrictions in the form of selling sanctions or reduced listing volume. Sellers with dissatisfaction rates that are 10 percent or greater are now subject to indefinite restrictions until they improve their buyer dissatisfaction rates to less than 5 percent.

eBay measures a seller's buyer dissatisfaction rate by looking at two metrics: the percentage of negative and neutral feedback they've received and the percentage of Item Not Received complaints filed against them."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 15, 2007 | 03:18PM PST/PT

Hi everyone...I'm Zoulfia Moret from the Seller Marketing team. I'm here to let you know about a great new Refer a Friend program we're kicking off this week to help you share the fun of selling on eBay — and earn selling credits for yourself at the same time.

Here's how it works:

From today, August 15th through September 15th, we'll give you $5 for every friend you refer to sell on eBay (up to a total of 10 friends) via our Refer a Friend site. Note that your friend (or better still, friends) should never have sold on eBay before and should list an item during the dates mentioned. We'll credit your referral reward to your eBay Seller Account 6 weeks after the promotional period.

To qualify for the Refer a Friend program, you should be registered on eBay.com, be a registered seller yourself, and have a Feedback score of at least 10.

What's in it for your friends:
Besides discovering the exciting world of selling on eBay, your friends will also get the listing and Gallery fees for their first 3 listings credited to their Seller Accounts (6 weeks after the promotion ends). In order to qualify, your friends will have to list by clicking on the link in the email they’ll receive during the promotion period. (Cancelled listings do not qualify.)

We have terms and conditions for the Refer a Friend program. For instance – you can't refer yourself (duh!) or someone who has the same address or phone number as you. So please check out the fine print!

We hope you'll have fun helping your friends get started selling on eBay through the Refer a Friend program! Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Zoulfia Moret
Marketing

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200708151517352.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:25 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A People-centric Home Page is On The Way
eBayChatter August 10th 2007
Posted by Renee

"People. People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."

"Remember that song? It used to play in a music box I had as a kid. Though it's a vintage tune now, the message is still contemporary.

I got to thinking about how eBay is all about people. People who need people (and their products!) are certainly what makes the eBay marketplace work. People are just as integral to making eBay work behind the scenes, too.

Specifically, eBay people -- Community members like you -- have been providing us feedback in a variety of ways. We visit you in your homes and places of business to see how you use eBay and to listen to your suggestions. We invite you to our labs to watch you try out new features and to see what you like and what you think we can improve. And we run multiple variations of eBay pages on eBay itself; many of you have been in test groups and we've monitored how easily you've been able to find, bid, and purchase what you want on the eBay site. Of course, this cycle of feedback is the way in which eBay lives and breathes.

Yesterday, Josh Loftus gave you an update about how we're continuing to refine the new Finding Playground. Hilary reports that Window Shopping is testing well. And if you've been following Sneak Peek, you know that a better eBay home page is coming.

"Tailored."
"It's about ME."
"There's a connection."

That's how people in test groups have been describing the new home page. This is one of my favorites:

"I like it... it's more visual... you can zero in on what's hot... it's more personal."

I think that pretty well sums it up: the new Home Page is more personal. People-centric. It's a quick way to see the things you've been desiring and considering, and is a great way to see relevant things you're likely to find interesting. The new home page will be driven by your individual activity, so each eBay home page will be as unique as each eBay member.

Watch for the new eBay home page coming in the next couple of weeks!"

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:00 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

August 02, 2007 | 11:32AM PST/PT

Hi Everyone… I'm Nii Ahene from the eBay Blogs team. It's been little over a year since we launched eBay Blogs at eBay Live! 2006. Since then, thousands of members have started their own blogs on eBay. It's really been amazing to see how members use eBay Blogs to connect with people from across the globe to share their experiences, not only about eBay but also about their personal lives and interests. eBay Blogs truly celebrate the spirit of the eBay Community. .
I'm here to tell you about several new features we're adding to eBay Blogs to help eBay members connect with each other in new and exciting ways. These changes include:

Cool new features on the hub page – To help members connect in more ways than ever we've added a few new features to the eBay Blogs hub page:
You can see bloggers' eBay MyWorld pictures next to their posts.
A moving "film strip" shows you who are the newest members to eBay's blogging community.
Twice as many blog entries on the hub page – twice as many people to connect with!
Ability to add eBay To Go – Now you can showcase your favorite eBay finds or items you're selling directly on your blog, through the eBay To Go widget. Turn your blog readers into your customers!
Ability to embed video – A picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth at least a thousand pictures! Now you can embed videos from YouTube on your eBay Blog (here's how). Just make sure your videos are in compliance with our links policy.
Ability to Personalize your blog – Now you can personalize your blog's appearance with a variety of templates, or use HTML and style sheets to express your individuality to the rest of the eBay Community.
You can use your eBay Blog to talk about just about anything, from tips and tricks for other eBay members, to a rundown of your recent vacation, to your love of precious stones. If you're a seller, keeping a blog is a great way to interact with potential buyers and to talk about your products. Remember that what you write on your blog will be picked up by internet search engines, so blogging is a great way to attract buyers who use search engines to find products on the internet.

If you don't already have an eBay Blog, you can create one easily at blogs.ebay.com. After you create your eBay Blog, you can find it at blogs.ebay.com/YourUserID.

For more information about eBay Blogs, please see our information page and our Frequently Asked Questions on the eBay Blogs discussion board. We're also hosting a workshop about eBay Blogs today, Thursday, August 2nd, from 3-4pm PT, so please come by with any questions you may have about eBay Blogs. Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Nii Ahene
eBay Blogs team

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000411664&tstart=0&mod=1186073058107&anticache=1186076721260

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay can continue to use “Buy It Now” feature

U.S. District Court Judge Jerome B. Friedman has now denied the motion filed by a small Virginia company MercExchange LLC which has been demanding that eBay should be stopped from using their “Buy It Now” feature.

The “Buy It Now” feature on eBay allows the visitors on the online auction site to purchase a product without actually bidding for it.

They had filed this motion after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that eBay infringed upon MercExchange’s patent for the service.

The court had at that time ruled that a lower court would decide whether eBay would be banned from using that feature.

Judge Friedman said in his ruling that MercExchange was not irreparably harmed because it continued to make money from its patents.

MercExchange attorney Greg Stillman had this to say about the court ruling: “It was sort of good news, bad news for both sides. I’m sure eBay is relieved that they’re not going to be enjoined, but on the other hand (Friedman) made it quite clear that they’re going to have to pay for that right.”

http://news.techwhack.com/6218/buy-it-now/

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Google and eBay fight the phone companies

Internet companies are lobbying the FCC to open up wireless networks to new applications and devices. If they win, we could all have cheaper, better, more wonderful cellphones.

By Farhad Manjoo

"In 1921, a small company in New York -- you might call it a tech start-up -- invented a solid-state device to ease the social discomfort occasioned by the advent of the telephone. The earliest phones had poor microphones, and people were forced to bark into them rather than talk; because phone lines were beginning to show up in drugstores, saloons, hotels and offices, all the yelling posed a challenge to privacy (of the callers) and peace (of everyone else). The start-up firm came up with a solution that engineers today would label a kludge -- an inelegant quick fix, but hey, it worked. It was a portable bell-shaped cup that fit over the phone's mouthpiece, a fixed version of the shield you'd make with your hands around your mouth if you were trying to keep your business on the D.L. Hence the device's inspired name: the Hush-A-Phone.

Over the next few decades, the Hush-A-Phone Corp. of New York saw its kludge become a big hit, selling more than 125,000 units to a phone-crazy public. But not everyone was happy about its success. In the late 1940s, AT&T, the monopoly that controlled the nation's phone system, charged Hush-A-Phone and its users with violating a rule: Only devices "furnished by the telephone company" could be used on the telephone network. The phone company threatened to close Hush-A-Phone users' phone lines and shut down the stores that sold them. An epic legal fight ensued, stretching on for eight years and involving the Federal Communications Commission and several levels of the federal courts. When it was over, in 1956, tiny Hush-A-Phone had prevailed -- and so too every telecom start-up since."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:05 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
July 16, 2007

WipBox announced a mobile version of its price comparison service that allows people to check current and average prices of items listed on eBay or Craigslist through SMS messaging. Users can access price comparisons for any item using data from the last 7 days of sales on eBay and Craigslist. WipBox Mobile uses data from DataUnison, an eBay Market Data Reseller. Users can text an item's name to 44636 to instantly get average and high prices for items located in their area.

WipBox launched in April 2007 and simplifies listing items on eBay and Craigslist by pre-populating listing information and suggesting prices and categories based on prior successful sales. WipBox provides manufacturer descriptions and user reviews powered by Amazon.com, free unlimited photo hosting services and an integrated photo editor.

http://www.wipbox.com

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m07/i16/s03

Posted by eBay Guru at 01:01 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay boy finds £44,000 in games console
By David Sapsted

"A schoolboy who successfully bid for a PlayStation 2 on eBay, not only got the games console but found £44,000 in cash stuffed in the box as well.

The 16-year-old paid only £95 for the Play Station 2, which was supposed to come complete with two games. But when it arrived the games were missing and he discovered €65,400 instead - the equivalent of £44,064.

The boy's parents immediately called the police who are currently holding the cash as the suspected proceeds of crime, but it is possible the boy could apply to keep the money under the Police Property Act if the rightful owner is not traced."

To read the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Build a Total Product Line, Not Just a Line of Products
Brad Schepp
July 15, 2007

"Building an inventory is top-most on the minds of many aspiring PowerSellers. As you go about building your inventory, consider creating a total line of products. Build unity into your inventory, rather than just gathering a group of disparate items you happen to come across. For example, if you decide to sell digital cameras, look for the accessories that would be compatible with those cameras. Prepare to stock the memory sticks, batteries, and carrying cases your customers may also need.

Using this technique will allow you to expand your product offerings while staying within a product area. It will also allow you to give you customers some potentially great bargains. At a recent ASD/AMD trade show http://www.merchandisegroup.com/merchandise/index.jsp, a distributor of camera accessories showed us a beautiful camera case. The retail price was $24.99, but you could buy it through the show for under $7.00. By bundling it with your camera, you could easily offer your customer a bargain on the case and make your digital camera stand out in a market where profit margins on the cameras themselves don't allow much flexibility."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:42 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Massive Transformers collection on eBay
Friday, Jul 13th 2007 by Chris Davies

"Admitting this might make me a childish geek, but I don’t care: when I saw this awesome, huge collection of Transformers on eBay I wanted to squeal. I imagine there are an awful lot of other people who’ll have similar reactions to a set of toys that so encapsulates a childhood era. They’ve been gathered by a games programmer who is selling in order to be able to quit his day-job for six months and programme full-time; right now bidding is up to $2,950 with the reserve still not met, but he admits to having had one offer to end the auction for $12,500 which is, apparently, above the reserve price.

It’s a massive collection, with toys from the G1, G2, Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Energon, Japanese limited edition ranges and more, complete with most of the boxes, different accessories and all of the instruction leaflets, information cards and those tech-spec things that you could only read with a piece of red acetate."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

James Blunt sold his sister on eBay

He placed an ad and now she's marrying the man who 'bought' her
Who'd have thought you could find a husband on eBay?
James Blunt reveals he once placed his sister Emily, 28, on the internet auction site.
She was crying because she had to get to a funeral in Ireland and was stuck because the planes were on strike.
'I put on eBay, “Damsel in distress seeks knight in shining armour",' James tells GQ.
'The bids flooded in and the guy who won flew her there.'
Guy Harrison, 39, offered to give Emily a lift in his helicopter and they pair fell in love.
'That was three years ago,' says James, 33. 'This summer they're getting married!'

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Imports Kijiji: Good Idea, Tough Competition
Posted July 5, 2007 | 11:19 AM (EST)
Henry Blodget

"First, the good news: eBay has finally decided to go into a business that makes strategic sense (instead of buying random phone companies and social-web-surfing companies). Kijiji's classified ads are highly complementary to the company's core business, and they allow the eBay to use its core expertise of helping people buy and sell stuff. Kijiji US also provides the company with a hedge in case Craigslist and other free listing sites begin to cannibalize its paid eBay listings.

Despite significant online classified efforts, moreover, the classified opportunity remains massive: The dying newspaper industry still rakes in tens of billions of dollars a year for printed classifieds -- a less efficient, less informative, less convenient, more wasteful, and more expensive way to buy or sell products. In another few decades, when the current (and last) generation of hard-copy newspaper readers dies out, printed classifieds will seem as archaic as whale oil. The newspaper companies may be able to retain some classifieds business as it moves online, but given the success of Craigslist, Monster, et al (and the seriously weak newspaper efforts thus far), this percentage will likely be small.

Alas, there is also bad news about eBay/Kijiji. First, Craigslist is about as dominant in general classifieds as eBay is in auctions, and both businesses are subject to the same network effects. (If the potential buyers for your product or service are searching Craigslist, you'll put your ad on ... Craigslist.) Craigslist is also free, which is a hard price to compete with. So Kijiji has some seriously tough competition."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:51 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Launches Yahoo Co-Branded Toolbar
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
July 04, 2007

"eBay has launched a new version of its toolbar that combines the features from both eBay and Yahoo. Users of the new "eBay Toolbar Featuring Yahoo" can search for items on eBay and Half.com and conduct Yahoo searches. Advanced search includes Yahoo Local, Yahoo Video, Yahoo Answers and more.

The toolbar also gives users one-click access to features including Yahoo Mail, Yahoo.com and My Yahoo. As before, Toolbar also provides buttons that make eBay.com and My eBay just a click away. Users can also customize the toolbar to add or remove buttons.

The new version of the eBay Toolbar continues to offer Account Guard to help protect users from spoof websites and Desktop Alerts, which lets users know when there's been activity on items they are watching, bidding on, or selling.

Existing Toolbar users can continue to use the old version, and eBay said it is working on a Firefox-compatible toolbar.

eBay had announced plans for the co-branded toolbar when it entered into an advertising agreement with Yahoo last year."

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200707031455332.html

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:34 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

July 02, 2007 | 12:47PM PST/PT

Those of you who made it to eBay Live! or who listened to the keynote speech by Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, heard about some of the improvements and innovation in the works. These changes are designed to celebrate what makes eBay a unique destination and to bring out the joy of winning. Whether you're getting that great deal, or selling an item for more than you expected, we want you to feel the windorphins!

For example, Bill mentioned that right now we're testing a number of variations of the eBay.com home page to make it more useful and inviting. Or maybe you've seen how my colleague Blair has blogged about how we're making My eBay even better. And Jeff King recently told you about some important Finding tests going on, as well as the Playground, an area where you can go kick the tires on some of our new designs yourself

(By the way, if you log in and suddenly see a new experience, don't adjust your screen. This means you are part of a test, and the particular test you're in will likely be over in a couple weeks. The data we collect from your use of the new design shows us how you interact with the page, which is extremely helpful for us – it shows us where to go from there!)

I'm Renée and I work in our product development organization. I, along with many of my colleagues, will be sharing the news about these and other changes coming...starting now!

Get a Sneak Peek

Watch for our blog posts and check out all the good stuff at sneakpeek.ebay.com. I'm excited because all of this, of course, is to make YOUR eBay better for YOU. We want you to know about what's happening behind the scenes as we test new products, and we want to make sure you are informed about many planned changes before they launch, so you can give us feedback. Yeah!

Also, be sure to check Sneak Peek often, because we'll be adding new content regularly. If you have input for us, please send it to us at sneakpeek@ebay.com. We won't be able to answer each email individually, but we'll do our best to respond either by batching comments together and blogging about them, or by making tweaks to the project to which your feedback applies.

Check it out...and let those windorphins flow!

Sincerely,

Renée VonBergen

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200707021247442.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:01 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

EBay's Whitman Says Changes Needed to Placate Sellers (Update1)
By Danny King

July 3 (Bloomberg) -- "EBay Inc., the world's largest online auction company, will upgrade its Web site to placate sellers and revitalize the company's slumping sales growth, Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman said.

``You'll see more changes in the next 12 months on our site than you've probably seen in the last three or four years,'' Whitman said in an interview. ``EBay was so successful that we did not keep up with the user experience that was required.''

Sellers have complained that EBay allowed the site to become cluttered with too many listings, resulting in fewer sales and driving shoppers to other retailers including Amazon.com Inc. The company has adjusted fees to try to increase revenue, which rose in the first quarter at its slowest pace in at least eight years.

``People come to EBay for fun, for value, and for those popular and pleasing and weird and wonderful items,'' Whitman said in the interview on ``Conversations with Judy Woodruff,'' which airs on Bloomberg TV tomorrow. ``And we got a little bit too much commodity-oriented.''

Shares of EBay, based in San Jose, California, fell 6 cents to $32.27 at 9:58 a.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They are little changed since the end of 2003."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:12 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Accessory makers ready for iPhone launch
By RACHEL KONRAD

"Apple Inc.'s iPhone won't hit stores until Friday, but the heavily hyped gadget already has unleashed a cottage industry of touch-screen protectors, leather hip carriers and car adapters.

Even the most enthusiastic manufacturers said creating formfitting iPhone accessories was an enormous challenge. A notoriously tightlipped Apple kept many partners in the dark on precise specifications, and some of the company's most trusted accessory manufacturers still have not touched a genuine iPhone.

To compensate, many cribbed size and weight specifications from Apple's Web site, then created models out of wood, cardboard or plastic. They shipped models to Apple for advice on whether headset and other outlets were placed correctly. They adjusted and resent revised versions to Apple.

Many made educated guesses about curved moldings or the location of the proximity sensor, which turns off the touch screen when near the user's face. A one-millimeter error could result in headsets that come unplugged or an uncomfortably hot screen.

...

EBay Inc. listed roughly 1,700 iPhone accessories Wednesday, from belt clips to whimsical T-shirts proclaiming "I (heart) my (picture of iPhone)," many of them from obscure makers.

The San Jose-based auction company is anticipating numerous auctions of iPhones themselves. Instead of signing up for cellular service at the time of purchase, iPhone buyers sign up through Apple's iTunes online store, making the phones easier to give as gifts or resell.

About 2,000 eBay security representatives are scheduled to be on the lookout this weekend for iPhone scams. But Cat Schwartz, the eBay executive in charge of electronic gadgets, acknowledged that she can't do much about ill-fitting accessories.

"It's premature for people to be putting out accessories," Schwartz said. "Until the unit comes out, I wouldn't advise people to buy a bunch of accessories.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:22 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

June 28, 2007 | 09:44AM PST/PT

Hi everyone...I'm Jen Wehrmaker with our Marketing team. I'm excited to let you know about the new eBay MasterCard.
With this card, you can get rewards with every purchase you make, both on and off eBay. Plus, you can choose from 3 unique card designs, and include your User ID if you'd like.

Here are some of the benefits of the new eBay MasterCard:

Rewards on eBay. Earn 1 reward point for every dollar you spend in purchases with your card - anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Then, you can redeem your points for anything on eBay! Visit our information page for more details.

Safe Shipping & Zero Liability. You're protected if you don't receive the item you purchased on eBay. Just notify GE Money Bank within 60 days of billing. You also won't be liable for any unauthorized purchases made with your card.

Fits Perfectly with PayPal®. You can view your Card spending and check your reward points right from your existing PayPal account. If you're not already a verified PayPal member, you'll become one automatically when you get your Card.
Check out http://mastercard.ebay.com to learn more, and to apply today.

Sincerely,

Jen Wehrmaker
eBay Marketing

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200706280944362.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 02:38 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay launches online site in Vietnamese
June 28, 2007 - 8:05PM

"Online auction giant eBay has made public a promotional site in the Vietnamese language at eBay.vn, hoping to benefit from Vietnam's economic and trade potential, the company said Thursday.

A high Internet using rate, stable and fast economic growth and the communist nation's membership of the World Trade Organisation were considered momentums for eBay to launch the site, said Sam McDonagh, Director for eBay Southeast Asia, in a statement."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Two Plead Guilty To Selling $6 Million Of Counterfeit Software On eBay
Each defendant faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. They're slated to be sentenced in November.

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
Jun 27, 2007 10:29 AM

"Two men have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to selling nearly $6 million worth of counterfeit software on eBay.
Robert Koster of Jonesboro, Ark., and Yutaka Yamamoto of Pico Rivera, Calif., both pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit Rockwell Automation computer software over the Internet. Each defendant faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. They're slated to be sentenced in November.

Federal authorities have been cracking down on counterfeiters stealing and selling copies of Rockwell software. These pleas, which came down on Monday, make a total of nine felony convictions involving eBay auctions of counterfeit Rockwell Automation software. The combined retail value of the counterfeit software in all nine prosecutions is about $30 million, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

In May, James Thomas, 38, of Belleville, Mich., was sentenced to five months in prison and five months home confinement for selling more than $1 million worth of counterfeit computer software on eBay. He admitted in court that he bought counterfeit Rockwell Automation software through eBay and then duplicated and resold the copyrighted material to other eBay users, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.

And in March, Courtney Smith, 36, of Anderson, Ind., was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for selling more than $700,000 worth of counterfeit Rockwell software.

Rockwell Automation is a global provider of automation, power, control, and information products, including specialized factory management software. The government reported in a release that the majority of the software applications sold by Koster and Yamamoto on eBay had retail prices ranging from about $900 to $11,300.

Koster admitted that from Sept. 4, 2003 through Sept. 14, 2004, he initiated 105 or more online auctions in which he sold copies of Rockwell software on eBay for a personal profit of more than $23,000. The actual retail value of this software was more than $5 million, according to the DoJ release. Yamamoto admitted that from Dec. 7, 2003 through Aug. 12, 2004, he initiated 92 or more separate online auctions in which he sold Rockwell software on eBay for more than $6,000 in profit. The actual retail value of this software was about $543,000."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:58 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Only To Verified PayPal Addresses Or You Can Get Scammed

"I haven't sold very many things on Ebay. I run a DJ company and had a brand new Pioneer DJ CD player that sells for over $1000 that I wanted to sell on Ebay. I went through the process of selling it and the winning bidder (who had very low feedback) payed me very quickly via paypal. The address the person gave me was for her son in Nigeria. Yes, I know Nigeria I should have known, but I was naive and trusted this person. Plus, I had seen on the Paypal website that they have up to $1000 - $2000 of seller protection. So I figured if it was a scam, then I was covered.

So I received the money and went ahead and deposited it into my checking account via Paypal direct deposit. Then all of sudden after I shipped it the buyer filed a claim against me saying that I didn't ship it...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was contacted by Paypal and provided documentation of me shipping it to the address that she gave to me. They told me that since it wasn't a Paypal verified address that I was out of luck and out of my $1100 that I sold it for. I tried calling the USPS and stopping the shipment, but it was gone already. So I was out of luck.
After a month or two of fighting with Paypal and not wanting to pay them they sent my claim to a collection agency. So I kind of had to pay it at that time or my credit would have been tainted. I ended up paying the $1100 and change to the collection agency via my credit card. I figured that my next line of defense was my credit card company. So after I paid on my credit card I contacted my credit card company and explained to them what happened. They sent me some forms to fill out and I sent them all the proof that I had that I had gotten scammed. They sent me information back saying that they talked to the collection agency and they couldn't help me with my claim.

So now I'm out the $1100 which I could really use and I don't really know where else to turn. I know I made a bad judgment call by shipping to Nigeria, but at the same time I would have never done that if I knew I didn't have any type of protection from Paypal or my credit card company.

If you have any ideas as to how I can get this money back could you please help?"

- Evan

Sorry Evan, you're screwed. Paypal seller protection only works when selling to a verified address. Whenever we sell, we only sell to US, Canada, and UK, require paypal, and make it known that we will only ship to a verified address. Only then will you qualify for seller protection, and for big ticket items like yours, you need to require signature confirmation as well. Consider it a hard lesson learrned, pay your bill, and move on. Next time, a good rule of thumb is, if it involves Nigeria, it's probably a scam. Those advance fee scams filling your email where you deposit $40,000 in gold bullion and send the princess the difference ? That's also called the "Nigerian 419 Scam." Nigeria = Scamopolia. Stay away. — BEN POPKEN

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay jewellery store fined $400,000
Bid $5m on own auctions, attorney general claims
By Lester Haines
Published Monday 11th June 2007 11:17 GMT

"A jewellery company which allegedly bid on its own eBay auctions to "illegally drive up prices by as much as 20 per cent" will pay $400,000 (£204,000) in "restitution and penalties", Reuters reports.

The New York state attorney general's office said Ezra Dweck of EMH Group and his employees made over 232,000 bids on auctions in the company's Jewellery by Ezra eBay store. The store regularly held no-reserve auctions, but Dweck "ensured his employees knew of which auctions to bid at along with a predetermined price".

In around a year, these bids totalled some $5m, the attorney general's office claimed. Attorney general Andrew Cuomo said: "This scam highlights the growing vulnerability of online auction shoppers. Consumers should not have to surf with sharks."

Dweck and EMH deny the claims, and a lawyer for the company said it had agreed to cough up the cash "only to avoid an interminable, costly battle with the AG's office". He explained: "EMH and Mr Dweck did not intentionally encourage any fraudulent bidding. A buyback program, which was vetted by two attorneys, was created to give winning bidders an incentive to sell back to EMH certain items.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:33 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Express Items to Appear on Yahoo Search Marketing?
By: Ina Steiner
Thu June 7 2007 23:31:16

"What if eBay and Yahoo did a deal where eBay Express listings appeared across the Yahoo paid-search network? eBay would get much wider exposure on Yahoo search results pages - and on any site that uses Yahoo Publisher Network (the Yahoo equivalent of Google AdSense).

This is speculation of course, but eBay and Yahoo are already working together on advertising. Recently Yahoo Paid Search ads began appearing on eBay search results pages with listings that competed directly with eBay sellers' own listings. When Yahoo decided to do this (place paid-search ads on auction pages), it first made its auction site free for sellers. The fact that eBay is charging sellers listing fees but running competing ads that take visitors off of eBay is perplexing and just plain wrong. Unless...it's a mutual deal, and in return, sellers get exposure on Yahoo's network."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:49 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone...I'm Ryan Melcher with our Buyer Experience team. Hopefully by now you've filled out your MyWorld page to let people know about you – if not, go to myworld.ebay.com to get started. Remember - whenever someone clicks on your User ID anywhere on the site, they'll come to your My World page, so let your personality shine!
We're adding a bunch of fun new features to MyWorld in the next few days that I'm excited to tell you about:

New themes to customize your MyWorld page – I think you'll find we've added a little something for everybody. (I've even named each theme twice to make everyone happy!)

Tough Guy Salmon / Bubble-gum Pink
Dragon Breath Orange / Fun Pumpkin
Future Purple / Rainbow Violet
Hardcore Sepia / Gentle Terra Firma
Sporty Green / Toothpaste Lima
GNU Blue / Lovely Sky Tone

New Guestbook feature - Everyone will have a Guestbook they can choose to make available on their MyWorld page (or not). It's an easy way for people to let you know they checked out your page and enjoyed what they saw. And if you're on the picky side, you can also control which comments to display and which to hide.

The Page of 49 Faces - We think you'll agree that this is unlike anything we’ve done on eBay before! On the MyWorld hub page, you'll see a collage of faces from people who've personalized their MyWorld pages with their picture. You'll be able to search on what they like to do, what they buy, what they sell, and some of their interests. Be careful though - with well over two million members having customized pages, it can be addicting to explore them!

Related Tags - On the MyWorld hub, you'll also see a set of "tags." These are labels that people are using to describe their hobbies and interests in MyWorld (think: "Elvis" or "Modern Glass"). By clicking on tags that interest you, you can find other like-minded members.
Click, explore, contribute...and find other eBay members who like what you do! We hope you have as much fun with these new additions to MyWorld as we did creating them. And if you enjoy these new features, remember - this is only the beginning. So, stay tuned for more.

Sincerely,

Ryan Melcher
Buyer Experience

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200706060942372.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:55 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Introduces 'To Go,' Its First Widget
By Cathy Harned
AuctionBytes.com
June 07, 2007

"eBay has rolled out "eBay To Go," its first widget, intended to promote eBay listings by enabling users to easily create and embed cut-and-paste code snippets on off-eBay blogs, social networking sites and websites. The widget allows up to 10 items or a favorite search to be featured, with installation instructions located at http://togo.ebay.com. More specific instructions are given for code placement on such social networking and blogging sites as Myspace, Wordpress, Blogger, Friendster, Yahoo 360, TypePad, Live Journal and Tagged. In beta and Flash-based, it's only available in the U.S. but can be used by anyone, including people not registered at eBay.

The widget is not without its problems and skeptics, though, based on comments on the eBay To Go discussion board and the eBay Stores board. eBayers noted that Myspace disables outbound API links, such that the widget is seen but doesn't work. Stephen Chang of "Buyer Engagement" responded on the To Go board to one such complaint, saying: "I believe you're right. We're trying our best to make eBay To Go fully functional within most popular embed environments."

We did find three working examples of "To Go" at other blog platforms and social networking sites, although usually the widget said shipping was unspecified but was, in fact, specified when one followed the merchandise link to eBay."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:09 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) — Online auctioneer eBay said Tuesday it is ready to begin auctioning advertising airtime on 2,300 participating U.S. radio stations, expanding on an existing plan to sell cable television ads.
The move, which puts eBay into competition with Web search leader Google's recent expansion into radio advertising, involved eBay partnering with Bid4Spots to power what it calls the eBay Media Marketplace for Radio.

All major radio operators have joined the radio ad auction market, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest U.S. radio advertising network, an eBay spokeswoman said. Google also is selling radio ads with Clear Channel.

The new U.S. auction market for radio advertising will go live Wednesday and include both conventional terrestrial radio and Internet radio advertising. Stations in all of the 300 top-ranked radio markets are covered, eBay said.

"Available inventory is determined by participating radio stations and what they choose to sell for the next week," eBay spokeswoman Kim Rubey said.

She said the available advertising inventory includes primetime spots. Some 90% are in morning "drive time," midday or evening commute hours from Monday through Friday.

Ahead of the radio advertising announcement, shares of eBay dropped 85 cents, or 2.61%, to close at $31.69 in regular session trade on Nasdaq. The stock edged higher in extended trade to $31.75, up 6 cents, following the news.

EBay has said it sees the hundreds of thousands of sellers in its online auction markets as potential advertisers within the media marketplaces it is seeking to develop.

Its cable TV advertising auction push has met with some resistance from cable operators who fear the auctions could put stiff pressure on advertising rates.

EBay created the cable TV ad marketplace last year with 10 corporate advertisers, including Toyota Motor, Home Depot, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Microsoft. Advertising agency representatives from Magna Global, Omnicom Group and Carat USA are also taking part in the effort.

But the Cable Television Advertising Bureau, an industry trade group that represents large, ad-supported cable channels, withdrew from trials of the eBay Media Marketplace in April, complaining the system was unworkable.

Last week, however, women-oriented cable network Oxygen became the first cable programmer to agree to use eBay's "Media Marketplace for Cable TV" to sell planned, advertising spots nationwide.

By contrast, EBay's own radio auctions target last-minute ad buyers. "This flexibility enables stations to be extremely aggressive in their pricing," an eBay spokesman said.

Advertisers and ad agencies find further information at http://www.ebaymediamarketplace.com. Bid4Spots is a two-year-old start-up company based in Encino, California.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/industry/2007-06-06-ebay-radio-ads_N.htm

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay announces ban on ivory trade on its sitesThe Hague, Netherlands -

"US-based online commerce site eBay said Wednesday it will ban international trade of elephant ivory on all of its sites around the globe, creating the first-ever online international trade ban of elephant ivory.

eBay said the decision followed an eight-country investigation by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) of ivory for sale on eBay sites.

The announcement by the San Jose, California-based company came as more than 170 nations had gathered in The Hague for the 14th meeting of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) to consider a 20-year elephant ivory trade moratorium."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:51 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

June 04, 2007 | 09:53AM PST/PT

Hi everybody...I'm Hope Berschler with eBay's Marketing team.

The new movie Transformers opens in theaters on July 4th, and we're getting the fun started a little early. To celebrate the opening of the movie, we've created a new Transformers Hub at http://transformers.eBay.com. There you'll find all things Transformers, such as movie trailers, exclusive still photos, and links to Transformers-related merchandise and eBay Groups.

Enter the "Transform it with eBay" Video Contest

We're also looking for all you aspiring moviemakers to enter our "Transform it with eBay" video contest! Show us in 1 minute or less how eBay has transformed your life -- or how you've transformed an item you bought on eBay into something else. If your video is chosen as our grand prize winner, you'll get to go on a $5,000 shopping spree on eBay!

All videos will be judged on 4 criteria: clarity of expression, passion for using eBay, appropriateness to the contest theme, and originality. And while we appreciate slick editing and special effects, the story is the most important part. So all you budding video makers take heart, and don't worry if you don't have any previous video experience!

Five finalists will be selected by a team of eBay staff, and then we'll throw the voting open to the Community. Your votes will determine who walks away with the grand prize of $5,000 to spend on eBay.

But, it gets better! If you take the time to vote for the best video, you, too, will get a chance to be a winner! We'll be randomly selecting five voters to receive $1,000 to spend on an eBay shopping spree.

So, remember to check out the Transformers Hub often. We'll be updating it regularly over the next several weeks – you may even see a new contest or information about Transformers listings soon.

Sincerely,

Hope Berschler
eBay Marketing

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200706040953162.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:55 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

HammerTap Partners with eBay
June 5, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) --

"Online auction research software provider HammerTap (hammertap.com) announced on Tuesday that it will integrate its market research solutions with online auction site eBay's (ebay.com) ProStores (prostores.com) Web hosting service.

"This integration is the first of its kind for any eBay market research tool," says Jen Cano, HammerTap spokesperson. "We are breaking new ground to bring online merchants simpler and more relevant research than ever before."

As a ProStores-compatible application, HammerTap says it provides ProStores' clients a unique and streamlined research solution. After importing a client's inventory list, HammerTap organizes the products into categories for easy reference and from there, ProStores' merchants can generate research reports for specific products with ease, bypassing several steps in the research process.

HammerTap market research will also give ProStores' clients an inside look into shoppers' buying habits on eBay. These merchants can then use the information to increase their eBay sales as well as make smart selling decisions for specific products in their ProStores Web stores, says the company."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:43 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By: David Steiner
Wed May 30 2007 14:18:18

It looks like Midwesterners will get their crack at hosting eBay Live in 2008. We've confirmed that next year's convention will be taking place in Chicago, June 19th-21st at McCormick Place West. eBay already has a block of rooms reserved at the adjoining Hyatt McCormick through the Jack Morton Worldwide agency from June 13th through the 23rd, which should cover the Developer's Conference prior to eBay Live. McCormick Place West is a brand new facility opening this year.

Chicago is a great convention city, and an eBay Live in the middle of the country is long overdue. So for those of you who love deep-dish pie, Da Bears and Da Cubs - see you in the Windy City next year!

http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2007/5/1180549098.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:25 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Acquires StumbleUpon
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 31, 2007

"eBay has acquired StumbleUpon for $75 million. StumbleUpon is described as giving people a new way to discover relevant and entertaining content based on personal preferences and community recommendations and is an early-stage company with approximately 2.3 million users. By allowing its community to rate the content, StumbleUpon gets smarter as it is used and provides an increasing level of relevance over time.

According to eBay North America President Bill Cobb's announcement on the eBay Announcement Board, StumbleUpon will run as a separate business unit within eBay Inc. "Although there are no definite plans to share at this time, as the site evolves, we'll be exploring the possibilities for synergies between StumbleUpon and eBay marketplaces, Skype, and PayPal.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:24 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

UK Sellers Boxed In by eBay Global-Trading Policies
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 29, 2007

"We reported in March that UK sellers were getting decreased exposure on the US eBay.com website, and at the same time, they were facing additional competition from US sellers whose items appear on the UK site by default if they specified worldwide shipping. It appears UK sellers are still upset about the issue and now have a new complaint - eBay is limiting some from selling on the US website. They say they have received messages telling them they have exceeded their global trading limit.

Sellers say that when they lost automatic exposure on the US website (previously, items listed on eBay.co.uk also appeared in the default search results on eBay.com), eBay told them to list twice - once on the UK site, and again on the US site. One seller posted on a discussion board, "If I've understood it correctly, this "global trading limit" malarky is a BIT MUCH isn't it? After we were all told that the answer to the problem (if we sold LOTS of stuff to the US) was simply to list all our stuff on dot com?""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:07 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Ten Reasons I Did Not Bid On Your eBay Listing
May 29, 2007 Share This

By Wixx, special contributing writer

I am sure that I am not the only person who did not bid on your auction because of one of these reasons. That means that you may now be relisting your item, or selling it for a lot less than what you could have. The following is a rant. A rant that contains my opinions, which may differ entirely from your opinions. You are allowed to have your own opinions. You have been warned.

#10 You have a bunch of stupid characters in your title and or listing
#9 I can not tell how much you are charging for shipping
#8 You do not accept Paypal
#7 Your description is junk
#6 You can not spell
#5 Busted goods
#4 Item is in Australia
#3 Starting bid is way too high
#2 Blurry/Dark/nearly useless or the wrong picture
#1 No photo

------------------------------------

For a detailed explanation of the above 10 issues please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:59 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

May 28, 2007, 10:03 GMT

Bangkok - US-based eBay Inc on Monday announced plans to launch an e-commerce site in Thailand in partnership with the local portal Sanook! to cater to the estimated 16 million internet users in the kingdom.

The Thai-language site, which is expected to be launched within five to seven months under the name Sanook!eBay, will make Thailand the 38th market where eBay has a local presence.

'Thai sellers are among the most active on eBay worldwide,' said Dan Neary, vice president of eBay Emerging Markets. 'Through this agreement, we are combining our core competency in cross border trade with Sanook's local market expertise,' he added.

'We expect the Sanook!eBay web site will quickly become a popular place for people to buy and sell a wide variety of items both within Thailand and internationally,' said Torboon Puangmaha, chief executive officer of Sanook Online Limited. Sanook means 'fun' in Thai.

Online auction house eBay was founded in 1995 in San Jose, California, and is today one of the world's leading e-commerce portals, incorporating well-known brands such as PayPal, Skype and Shopping.com, among others.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1310176.php/eBay_to_launch_e-commerce_site_in_Thailand

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:29 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Canada Offers Shipping Discount for Sellers
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 28, 2007

"eBay Canada announced that for a limited time, Canada Post is offering savings up to 25 percent off Xpresspost, exclusively through the PayPal shipping tool. Printing an Xpresspost shipping label through PayPal regularly includes an 8 percent discount for domestic purchases, and 9 percent discount for US and international purchases. With the current promotion, sellers will receive an additional discount of 7 percent for domestic purchases and an additional discount of 16 percent for US and international purchases.

The promotion applies to eBay Canada sellers who print an Xpresspost shipping label through PayPal between June 1 and June 30, 2007. See website for details and restrictions."

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200705251513522.html

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Stocks tank as Ebay-Yahoo merger tipped
E-boo? Yahbay? E-bayoo? Ya-hay!!!
By Martin Veitch: Friday 25 May 2007, 10:36

"SOME BIG-NAME technology stocks tumbled yesterday with Network Appliance falling over 16 percent on a weak forecast for its next quarter, raising the spectre of a US enterprise ICT spending slowdown. CA fell eight percent while IBM and Sun were also down.

Cramer described NetApp as “obviously a really challenged company”.

No stranger to self-confidence, Cramer also came up with a modest proposal -- that Yahoo and Ebay merge.

"[Ebay CEO] Meg Whitman wants to run a larger company,” Cramer said. “They have a lot of cash and could easily absorb [Yahoo]. A merger by Ebay with Yahoo could really work."

However, the great man had harsh words for those who bought into tech recently.

"People should never have gotten on the tech bandwagon," he cried. “This is a valley you cannot ride through.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

buyer's new best friend - Bid Assistant
Tired of losing auctions and having to search another item to bid on? Very soon we'll be launching a new bidding tool that manages your bids and makes winning items at the right price easier. Bid Assistant will place bids for you on a series of items from your Watch list - all in one simple step.

For instance, let's say you're shopping for a new Canon digital camera, and you have five that you like on your Watch list. Using Bid Assistant, you simply create a bid group from your Watch list and enter the maximum amount you want to pay. This amount could be the same for all five – or you could specify different amounts for each listing based on, say, the varying item condition. It's up to you.

Once set up, Bid Assistant will place your maximum bid on the item that's ending soonest. While the listing is active, our bidding system will automatically update your bid amount UP TO your maximum amount you gave to Bid Assistant, as necessary.

At the end of the listing, if you win, you get to celebrate your victory! The rest of your listings will not be bid on by Bid Assistant. But if you lose, Bid Assistant will automatically bid on the item ending next. This pattern continues until either you win one of the cameras (woo hoo!), or all five listings end.

Bid Assistant makes it easier for you to win items and saves you time. To learn more, check out our information page.

Take eBay with you - eBay To Go
Those of you who maintain your own website, blog or social networking profile will have a lot of fun with our new eBay To Go product. With just a few simple steps, you can create an eBay To Go widget to showcase eBay listings, or even just your favorite eBay search. In moments, you'll have a fun and functional eBay widget ready to be embedded into your own site. It's perfect for sharing the eBay listings that you’re passionate about with your own web audience.

To learn more and to get started, visit togo.ebay.com. It's free, fun and fast, so check it out!

May 17, 2007 | 04:48PM PST/PT http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200705171647452.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 03:26 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Bans Affiliates from Using Paid-Search Campaigns
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 17, 2007

"eBay is increasing the payout to members of its Affiliate Program effective June 1, 2007, but is disallowing paid-search traffic purchased from Google, Yahoo and MSN for its US members. eBay's Affiliate Program allows third-parties to earn revenue for driving bidders and buyers to eBay listings.

Some affiliates generate traffic to eBay through advertising, but as of June 1st, eBay will no longer compensate affiliates for "paid search traffic purchased from Google.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, nor from any of their content networks, such as Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network, and MSN ContentAds, if it is linked directly to the eBay.com, eBay Express, or eBay Store domains."

One affiliate said the change may have been prompted by Google's decision to limit the number of eBay affiliate ads per search result page to one."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:24 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay's PayPal Service Gets Banking Charter in European Union
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 15, 2007

"Two months after eBay set up a new entity in Luxembourg, its PayPal subsidiary was granted a banking license for the European Union by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg, effective July 2, 2007. PayPal said on Tuesday that the new banking license would allow it to continue its European expansion by offering its services to more online merchants across Europe. In addition, PayPal will be moving its European headquarters to Luxembourg.

eBay recently created eBay Europe, S.à r.l, a new entity that became the new contractual partner for all of its EU-based members on March 1, 2007. The creation of the new entity means all EU-based eBay sellers are now treated equally and are subject to the same rate of tax on their eBay selling fees - the Luxembourg VAT rate of 15 percent."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 10:22 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Moss' clothes fail to storm eBayFirst Published: 19:42 IST(15/5/2007)
Last Updated: 20:40 IST(15/5/2007)

Indo-Asian News Service
London, May 15, 2007

"Supermodel Kate Moss' clothes are not getting a single bid on eBay even though they have been doing well in stores.

Over 2,000 people have been trading Moss' clothes on the auction site but there have been no sold stock and some are even resorting to enticing buyers with false claims that the clothes are sold out in shops, reported dailysnack.com.

Jane Marshall, a-39-year-old, who buys clothes on eBay, said: "The demand for Moss' fashion range has been very flat. A lot of people thought it would sell well and they would make a lot of money. But that hasn't happened.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Phishing eMail Flood Cyberspace

"eBay users watch out! There is a brand new phishing email circulating the internet. And this email is targeting EBay users. The email looks like a normal confirmation message that tells the user $249.20 has been sent to an AOL email address. The email looks legit and even gives a transaction ID number to fool the victim.

But whatever you do - don't click the links in the email! The site itself even looks real and captures all of your account and/or bank account information. Once the thief has this info - he can use it immediately to wipe out your bank account. In today's age this can now happen in just a few seconds.

Yes, there is new technology that allows a criminal to see your personal information in "real time" and use it instantly. They can capture your Social Security Number, Date of Birth, passwords and other confidential information without you realizing it. If you get this email delete it immediately. Don't even think about opening it up and looking at it!

It's real easy for a criminal to fool newbie EBay users. I was a victim to a criminal back in 2002 when I first signed up with EBay and PayPal. There was an email in my inbox that said my PayPal account had been suspended. Being brand new to EBay and PayPal, I didn't know anything about Phishing emails."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Toolking.com: From eBay To A $31M Empire
Toolking.com stays on the cutting edge
By: Michael A. Cox

"If you order pliers from Toolking.com, you really can't just order pliers. You need to know what kind. Do you want locking pliers? Needle nose pliers? Tongue-and-groove pliers, slip-joint pliers, linesman's pliers, diagonal cutting pliers, electrician's pliers, hose clamp pliers, super-grip gripping pliers, welder's pliers, specialty pliers, fence pliers or fuse pullers? Well, you get the idea.

One thing that sets man apart from every other living thing on the planet is his ability to make and use tools. What sets Tool King apart from almost every other place you can buy tools is, well, just about everything the company does. Around 17,000 or so tools sell on the Toolking.com and Toologics.com websites. To make that happen, the company relies on an infrastructure of 30 people and a state-of-the-art warehousing and fulfillment system. The brand has appeared on the "Inc. 500" list three times and is now the go-to place for tool users worldwide.
Don Cohen, a Michigan native and a psychologist by education, started selling tools back in the '70s out of a little store in Detroit. Then he moved to Colorado and built an empire of five stores in Colorado and Wisconsin.

Then eBay happened.

Cohen: In 2001, my 14-year-old son was fooling around on eBay and I asked him, as a kind of bonding experience, if he would like to list a couple of tools. I thought we could spend four bucks and have a little fun for a couple of hours. Lo and behold, the first tool didn't sell but the second (a DeWALT Cordless Drill) did. So, we decided to list four more items and next thing we knew, we had 15 or 20 items up for sale. Ultimately I took it in-house. I ended up closing all the stores but one and built the Internet business around it. We only made $7 on that first sale, but it launched our Internet business.

If you don't know about Toolking.com, we won't keep you in suspense. The business does about $31 million a year in total sales and 65 percent of that is on the Internet. It's located in Littleton, Colo., where its only brick-and-mortar store is located."

The complete interview is well worth reading and can be found HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:03 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Yahoo shuts Auction site, gives up to eBay

"Yahoo has conceded defeat to eBay in the online auction business and decided to close Yahoo Auctions in the US and Canada. This is the second major service Yahoo has cancelled after announcing its intention to close Yahoo Photos in favour of Flickr last week.

According to figures released by Hitwise, Yahoo was flagging massively compared to eBay. Last week eBay accounted for 94 percent of all visits in the Auctions category, with Yahoo only managing to take 0.19 percent.

The last day people can list items is 3 June 2007 and bids have to be completed just under two weeks later by 16 June. Customers will still be able to access their auction accounts until 29 October, although only with limited functionality."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:18 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Google tops brand poll; eBay and Amazon also rated highly

"The extent to which search engine Google has captured the British imagination was summed up as it was confirmed as the nation's best-loved brand in a recent poll.

Google, the leader in online search advertising, came out ahead of mobile phone firm Nokia, supermarket giant Tesco and online trading forum eBay in the poll conducted by Marketing magazine.

The latter gave some indication as to the popularity of online retail, as did the number three in the poll - Amazon. The retailer zipped up the chart from 17th position last year to third for 2007.

However, it was Google that garnered most adulation, with customers drawn by its easy-to-use technology."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:59 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

IRS wants data on users from Internet firms
Companies like eBay, Amazon could be affected
Jaikumar Vijayan

May 07, 2007 (Computerworld) -- "The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is sounding an early warning on a proposal in the president's 2008 budget that would require Internet businesses like eBay Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to collect personal data on their customers and share it with the Internal Revenue Service.

The move is part of an effort by the U.S. Treasury Department to track down unreported small business income generated by the sale of personal property on such sites. Under the proposal, online "brokers" would be required to file income statements for all customers who use their sites to conduct 100 or more separate transactions that generate $5,000 or more per year.

Among the information the brokers would be required to collect would be customers' names, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers or Social Security numbers. The proposal would be effective for sales of property on or after Jan 1, 2008.

"While no lawmaker has yet come out in support of it, the measure could easily find its way into a larger legislative package," the CDT, a Washington-based think-tank, warned in a statement on its Web site.

The biggest concern with the proposed legislation is that it could lead to a vast collection of Social Security numbers and other personal data by a lot of different commercial entities on the Web, said Ari Schwartz, deputy director of the CDT. "The IRS is going after smaller businesses that cheat on their taxes," Schwartz said. In the process, though, millions of other Internet users who use such sites to sell personal property could also be affected.

Though the IRS wants income statements only in cases where businesses or individuals generate more than $5,000 from 100 separate transactions, most online sites are likely to collect personal data from everyone who uses their site, Schwartz said."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

'Dukes of Hazzard' car auctions for $10 million
Replica will be most expensive item ever sold by eBay
Canadian Press

SAN JOSE, California - "A version of the General Lee - a 1969 Dodge Charger made famous in the television show "The Dukes of Hazzard" - fetched a winning bid of nearly US$10 million in an online auction.

If the bidder comes through with cash or financing for the US$9,900,500 price, the car will be the most expensive item ever sold by eBay Inc., company spokeswoman Catherine England said.

Actor John Schneider, who played the blond heartthrob Bo Duke in the show, sold the car, which was not featured in the original show but carries the signatures of the cast.

Schneider, 47, said Friday that he expected bidding for the orange coupe, which has "01" on the doors and is emblazoned with the Confederate flag, to go for US$3 million at most.

"In my wildest dreams, two people would get into a bidding war at about $2.5 million . . . and I would have been delighted with that. However, I'm three times as delighted as that now," he laughed."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:58 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay's Payment Policies Spark Two Antitrust Lawsuits
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 04, 2007

"Two antitrust lawsuits were filed against eBay in April 2007 and have been assigned to the same judge because they are related, according to court filings. The plaintiffs in both parties have complained of eBay's practices with regard to its online payment service PayPal. The same judge had presided over a PayPal-related class-action lawsuit that was filed in 2002.

AuctionBytes previously reported on the recent antitrust lawsuit filed by Michael Malone on April 4, 2007 (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m04/i06/s01). Malone's lawsuit alleges that eBay "utilizes its nationwide monopoly of the on-line auction market to monopolize the available forms of payment that sellers can use on eBay."

eBay restricts which payment methods its sellers advertise in listings and bans sellers from accepting cash, wire transfer services like Western Union, as well as several competing products, including Google Checkout. And in January of this year, eBay eliminated buyer-protection for non-PayPal transactions, while doubling coverage for qualified transactions in which PayPal is used (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m01/i10/s01)."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Mozilla Releases eBay Add-On for Firefox
New Firefox add-on lets users monitor eBay auctions in real time; beta now available in UK, Germany, and France.
Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service
Thursday, May 03, 2007 6:00 AM PDT

"Mozilla Corp. is asking users to test a new add-on for the Firefox browser that lets users monitor their deals on eBay Inc.'s auction site in real time.

Add-ons are small programs designed to provide supplemental functions to Firefox. The gadgets have proved to be one of the browser's most popular features.

The beta test program for the so-called Firefox eBay Companion is only open to users in the U.K., Germany and France, but will eventually be opened up to the U.S. and other countries, according to a Mozilla spokeswoman.

The eBay add-on is a sidebar that synchronizes with the eBay auction and e-commerce site, and displays alerts as items are sold or change status. It also has an integrated search tool. For security, it uses Firefox's antiphishing technology and eBay's Account Guard feature, which also detects spoof Web sites.

No more features will be added, although the add-on could be improved as feedback is received, the spokeswoman said. The final release will come by August, she said."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:31 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

online auction service eBay has announced the launch of a Flash widget applet named ToGo that allows the eBay users to embed their auctions on their blogs and other sites.

EBay claims that this tool is “a fun and easy way for you to share the interesting things you’ve discovered on eBay and personalize your blog, social networking page or website”.

EBay has made available three types of widgets for the users. These are:
1. Showing item information for an auction listing.
2. Showing a slideshow of multiple items.
3. Showing multiple thumbnails related to keyword search queries

The system is open to everyone and is not restricted to people who are actually selling stuff on the online shopping site.

People checking out these widgets would still be required to land on the eBay’s proper website continue to bid on an auction.

http://news.techwhack.com/5691/ebay-togo/

Posted by eBay Guru at 03:08 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay launches Flash widget for websites and blogs

"Auction website eBay has created a new Flash widget application whereby sellers can embed their auctions on sites or blogs around the web.

The move will allow web owners to choose from various formats to place their own auctions on their websites to gain more exposure.

Sellers can choose to display information on a single listing, or to show up to ten separate items that rotate in a slide show. The user can click on one to bring up further details.

There is also no requirement for the person who creates the application to be the seller of the item.

The rollout will allow eBay to increase its online profile and could allow many web owners to supplement the income they may receive from internet advertising."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:24 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

April 25, 2007 | 10:57AM PST/PT

Hi… this is Brian Burke again. In early March we introduced changes to the eBay Feedback system in eight pilot markets worldwide (Australia, Belgium, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom). During the past eight weeks we have evaluated the adoption rate, the impact on bidding and listing, and overall Community reaction in these markets.
Results have been positive. We're seeing a high adoption rate of the new features in Feedback, and there has been no negative impact to bidding and listing. I'm also pleased that, while some members in these communities were initially concerned about these changes, since the launch we've received an increasing number of positive comments, both from buyers and sellers.

Based on these results, today I'm pleased to announce that we will be launching these added features to the Feedback system on eBay.com and all other sites around the world during the week of April 30th 2007:

Detailed Seller Ratings – In addition to the current positive, negative or neutral comment, buyers will be able to rate their sellers on specific aspects of a transaction -- Item Description, Communication, Shipping time and Shipping & Handling Charges. Scores are based on a conventional 1 to 5 scale, with 1 being the lowest and 5 the being the highest rating. The average score for each rating will be displayed on the seller's Feedback Profile page.

Item Title and Price – To give buyers more information while they are evaluating the reputation of a seller, the transaction's item title and selling price will display beneath each Feedback comment on the Feedback Profile page for 90 days.

As a reminder, Detailed Seller Ratings and the other changes do not replace the current Feedback system, rather they augment it. This additional information will enable our best sellers to differentiate themselves from other sellers and enable buyers to make more informed decisions prior to purchasing.

Here are some additional resources to help you get more information:

Overview of the new Feedback profile page
Overview of the new "Leave Feedback" flow
Frequently Asked Questions about the new Feedback system
I appreciate all the input and support we've received from our members, who I know are passionate about Feedback. These changes help ensure that eBay's Feedback system continues to be a credible measure of trust in the ever growing and changing eBay marketplace.

Sincerely,
Brian Burke
Director, Global Feedback Policy

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200704251057402.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:54 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Below is a Special Announcement from the Auctiva Staff regarding the changes being made by the USPS

Auctiva and the upcoming
USPS Rate and Service Changes
We hope you have had a chance to research and prepare for the USPS rate and service changes scheduled to take effect on May 14th.

If you have not read about the changes that eBay is implementing to accommodate the USPS rate and service changes, we strongly encourage you to read eBay's announcement and see how the new shipping rates and services might affect your listings. Auctiva will release updates that coincide as closely as possible with eBay's changes.

Important dates:
May 3* - From this date until May 9, you will have the choice between old and new shipping rates and services on the one-page lister. You need to decide which is appropriate for your listings based on when your listing will end.
*This date is set to coincide with the update of the eBay SYI form.

May 9 - On this date, the one-page lister will be converted to only accept new shipping rates and services.

We will also automatically adjust appropriate saved listings to reflect the change of international services. Here is a chart that reflects the international service changes:

CURRENT USPS SERVICE NEW USPS SERVICE
effective May 14th, 2007
Global Express Mail Express Mail International
Airmail Parcel Post
Economy Parcel Post
Global Priority Mail Priority Mail International
Airmail Letter Post
Economy Letter Post First Class Mail International

If your saved listings have any of the current services listed for international shipping, we will automatically update the value to reflect the new service name.

Important facts:
Auctiva will NOT change any shipping rates.
Closed Listings using "old" shipping services will not relist properly after May 14th.
Auctiva will only update the international shipping services on your Saved Listings.
Long-duration Store items needing updates to shipping rates or services can be fixed in one of two ways:
1. You can choose to manually change each listing using eBay's "Revise Your item" functionality
or
2. You can choose to end the item early, update it and post it again.
*Be advised that this option will incur normal eBay listing fees.
We are working to make this a smooth transition and we will update you if there are any changes. As always, if you need help our customer support team is ready 24/7 to assist you.

Sincerely,

Auctiva Staff

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 07:09 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Shoppers queue for handbags at dawn
Shoppers queue for the must-have bag
DOMINIC CHESSUM
25 April 2007 09:40

"It is without a doubt this year's must-have fashion accessory and the fashionistas of Norwich were queuing at dawn to get their hands on it.

As the doors opened at Sainbury's, on Queens Road in Norwich, this morning there were already 30 people ready to get their hands on the stores limited stock of Anya Hindmarch £5 shopping bags.

With only 30 of the eco-carriers, with “I'm not a plastic bag” emblazoned on the front, for sale dozens of people were being turned away by security guards before the shop even opened.

The bag, by the designer who usually commands thousands of pounds for her accessories, was made famous after being spotted on the arm of Hollywood star Keira Knightley.

When 1,000 of the bags went on sale at Hindmarch's shop in Pont Street, London, 500 people queued from as early as 6am and the whole batch sold out within two hours.

The 20,000 allocated to Sainbury's stores across the country went on sale this morning and were expected to sell out within hours.

Laura Burman, 18, a student from UEA, had been queuing since 5am and was first in line to get her hands on the coveted bag.

She said: “The bag is for a reason - to promote environmental awareness. Everybody will know what it is and what it is for.

“There is no better reason to get up this early in the morning.”

Her friend Georgina Parkin, 19, was second in the queue.

She said: “It is not every day that you get an Anya Hindmarch handbag for £5 - usually they are about £500.

“All our friends think we are mad but we are really pleased.”

The reusable cotton bag, was launched at London Fashion Week in March and handed out to a limited number of celebrities and fashion insiders - it was even made part of the gift pack for celebrities at this year's Oscars.

As part of the We Are What We Do campaign it is aimed at making people think about the impact they have on the environment - specifically the environmental impact of plastic bags.

Even before the bags went on sale today they were already fetching up to £175 each on eBay."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:49 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Don't throw out that used cell phone when a new one tickles your fancy. Be green by making some green. Sell it on eBay

Date published: 4/21/2007

THE CONSUMER electronics boom is fueled by gadget envy that makes people want to have the newest device, even if the one they already own works fine.

That's good for the economy, but bad for the environment.

Human nature isn't likely to change any time soon.

One billion cell phones were sold last year worldwide.

So on Earth Day, perhaps the most reasonable way to deal with the problem is to sell or trade your existing cell phone when buying a that shinier, cooler new one.

Don't toss it out.

Be green by making some green.

Save some money; save the planet.

There are many online companies like cellforcash .com that will pay small sums for used phones and then flip them for a profit.

But eBay is far and away the best way for individuals to get fair payment for devices like cell phones and laptops when they want to upgrade.

eBay is also good for the environment because it offers a way for those who want a slightly used or refurbished phone, laptop or other device at a greatly reduced price to buy a used product with some sense of assurance that it will work.

Ratings and recommendations on the site can tell you how reliable the seller is. You can see pictures of the used device, read about it and e-mail questions to the seller.

Sometimes, people who jump from cell phone to cell phone to be trendy put relatively new phones up for sale on eBay at reasonable prices.

And, obviously, buying a slightly used device at a savings is better for the environment than revving up the corporate machine one more notch by shelling out more for a brand new one.

Cell phones aren't the only tech items piling up in landfills.

Apple accepts old iPods for recycling and gives the sender a 10 percent discount coupon for a new one.

And The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Bochret has some advice on how to avoid green guilt when buying a new computer with all the bells and whistles and dumping an old one.

Recycling sometimes involves disassembly and melting parts down. And it sometimes involves consumer electronic products being refurbished and then being either resold or donated to charity.

Dell will come right to your door to pick up any of its old products free of charge and recycle them.

Hewlett-Packard will also come to your home to pick up and recycle products, but charges $13 to $34 for handling. The company then compensates you for each product with coupons worth from $30 to $50 for new H-P products.

Apple sells $30 labels on its Web site that can be used any brand of computer.

Lenovo has a recycling program called ThinkPlus that provides prepaid labels for $30 each. They're used to send in your old Lenovo system, monitor and printer to be refurbished. Then the computer is donated to a charity.

Always delete data from your hard drive before recycling a computer. Symantec's Wipe Info in Norton Utilities and Systems Works and Webloot's Software Washer both are helpful. Bochret recommends Jiiva's SuperScrubber for Macs.

As an added precaution, look for companies that will shred your hard drive as part of recycling or refurbishing.

Microsoft works with the nonprofit TechSoup to refurbish computers and also provide low-cost software for low-income families. Microsoft has list of 400 nonprofits at microsoft .com/mar.

Bochret recommends donating your used computer for refurbishment as soon as you get a new one. Computers more than five years old are usually too outdated to be reused.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/042007/04212007/277617

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:25 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Google Steps on eBay's Toes
Submitted by Joe Lewis on Thu, 04/19/2007 - 09:08.

"Google has set up a system to provide content recommendations and random site navigation based on information contained within a user’s search history and preferences, which would seem to be a step onto StumbleUpon’s turf. If the eBay purchase of StubmleUpon goes through, we could have a classic confrontation.

Sep Kamvar runs down the new social search features at the Official Google Blog:

The first is a recommendations button on the Google Toolbar that looks like a pair of dice. Click on the dice, and we'll take you to a site that may be interesting to you based on your past searches. If you want another, just click the dice again and we'll show you a new one. We'll give you up to 50 new sites per day that might be of interest.

If you prefer to get your information at a glance, we've added a recommendations tab that you can add to your personalized homepage. Simply click on "Add A Tab" on your Google Personalized Homepage, and type in "Recommendations" for the tab name (keep the "I'm feeling lucky" checkbox checked). We'll give you a page of recommendations that are updated daily.

This move puts Google squarely in competition with StumbleUpon, which is in talks to be acquired by eBay for somewhere between $40 - $45 million. If that deal goes through, it could set up a potential prizefight between two Internet heavyweights that would most likely go the full twelve rounds.

In retrospect, however, perhaps the confrontation was simply inevitable. The two companies have been drifting toward diametrically opposed positions for some time now."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:54 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

EBay profits climb 52 per cent
By Richard Waters in San Francisco

Published: April 18 2007 23:12 | Last updated: April 18 2007 23:12

"eBay has made headway in reviving the efficiency of its core auction business. The online auction site on Wednesday reported quarterly results that topped expectations and said its outlook for the rest of the year would be at the high end of analysts’ predictions.

EBay also disclosed on Wednesday that growth in its most mature markets, the US and Germany, had started to sag again, prompting Meg Whitman, chief executive, to promise a renewed focus on new products and features.

EBay’s performance came the day after Yahoo had disappointed Wall Street with news that it has made little headway in an overhaul of its own online advertising business. Yahoo’s shares slumped 12 per cent on Wednesday, wiping out nearly half of its gains in the run-up to its earnings announcement, while EBay’s stock climbed some 4 per cent in after-market trading.

Revenues in the first quarter rose 27 per cent to $1.77bn, EBay said, ahead of the $1.72bn Wall Street had expected. Net income increased 52 per cent to $377m, or 27 cents a share."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:30 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

HONG KONG: Seller of pirated discs on eBay gets three and a half years
Organization convicted bootleg vendor in its first copyright violation case

South China Morning Post
Tuesday, April 17, 2007

By Loretta Fong

"The mastermind of a copyright piracy syndicate, who sold pirated discs to overseas buyers via the eBay internet auction site, was yesterday jailed for 3-1/2 years.

In the first conviction for copyright infringement under the Organised and Serious Crime Ordinance, Yung Chun-pong, 35, was found guilty on four counts of attempting to export pirated discs and possessing pirated copyright works for trade.

In sentencing, Deputy District Court Judge Anthony Kwok Kai-on said the case was more serious as it had been planned and the discs were delivered overseas.

The judge described Yung as an "intelligent culprit", as he had used the internet as the platform for trading the pirated discs, making the investigation by customs officials more difficult."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Bans Embedded Video - and Its Own Developers?
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
April 17, 2007

eBay announced sellers may link to videos in their listings, an announcement that seemed to come out of the blue considering many sellers already include videos in their eBay auctions. eBay also told users they were prohibited from embedding videos in their listings, despite the fact eBay's Solutions Directory lists approved third-party vendors that offer video-embedding services.

Under the new policy, sellers are limited to using five eBay-approved video hosting sites: YouTube, Google, MySpace, Microsoft, or AOL, services selected "for their combination of popularity, ease of use, and the protection they offer against harmful programs being used inside the videos."

The announcement stated that eBay thinks "the time is right to bring the video experience to eBay."

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200704161811502.html

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:42 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

PRESENTLY TENSE
Confessions of an eBay addict
by D.A. KOLODENKO

"Hello. My name is D.A. Kolodenko, and I am an eBay addict. I wasn't always an eBay addict. I was a normal person like you, who shopped in normal stores and thought auctions were only for Iowa hog farmers who understand rapid-fire talking or sultans from Dubai who acquire rare paintings for millions of dollars by transmitting bids via telephone to their minions at Sotheby's.

It started with the need to put something on my wall. I once knew a photographer who never smiled and had an apartment in Hillcrest with completely blank walls and no furniture except for one sleek, white modern sofa. It was scary and boring like THX 1138, and so was he. I like stuff, and I like to fill up my tiny cottage with it. One day last year, I realized that the 18 inches of exposed wall between my bathroom and kitchen was the perfect space for a vintage 14-by-36-inch insert-style movie poster. I first looked for one in antique shops, because I like to support local businesses, but struck out. Then I tried the memorabilia websites, but the posters I liked were out of my price range. Then Google led me to eBay. And eBay led me to winning a bidding war for an original 1950 Australian insert for the film Panic in the Streets, and I was hooked.

A year before the onset of this eBay addiction, the great spirit decided to bless me with Taylor, my girlfriend, who shares my passion for old things. We like black and white movies, neon motel signs, The Delphonics, large keyholes, the upper floors of Wahrenbrock's Book House at 729 Broadway and receiving packages in the mail. She also shares my passion for clutter."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Stevie Wonder Buys His Stolen Grammy Back on eBay
EXCLUSIVE
By David Cox 09/04/2007

"STEVIE Wonder paid £15,000 to get back his own Grammy that had been stolen and put up for sale on eBay.

The music legend outbid would-be buyers to regain his 1974 Best Album award, which he had won for Innervisions.

It was on offer at the Profiles In History auction house in Calabasas, California, and also carried live on the website for someone who had bought it in New York last June.

Police could not intervene as the theft had not been reported and the seller was classed as the new legal owner.

So Stevie, 56, joined the bidding to regain the award he won with three others months after coming out of a coma from a car crash.

He has 22 Grammys - a record for a solo artist. But a pal said: "This one is special.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Vendio(TM) Announces Record Growth in 2006

Leading E-commerce Services Firm Reports 89% Revenue Growth, Earnings Up
127%

SAN MATEO, Calif., April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- "Vendio(TM), a leading
provider of online sales management and lead generation services for
merchants, today reported another year of record financial results, with
revenues, GAAP net income, and EBITDA all advancing significantly over last
year's record-setting numbers. Vendio's net revenue increased by more than
89%, driven by a dramatic rise in customer subscriptions for its core
online sales management solutions and increased consumer adoption of its
lead generation business, including the Dealio comparison shopping Toolbar
and related Web site. The company has achieved 21 consecutive quarters of
positive EBITDA since 2002.

"2006 was the brightest in Vendio's eight-year history," said Rodrigo
Sales, CEO and co-Founder of Vendio. "The acquisition of Andale helped us
to grow of our customer base substantially while combining resources and
expertise in several key areas. Our continued investment in Dealio resulted
in significant adoption of the Dealio Toolbar and a sizeable increase in
visitor traffic to Dealio.com. We are equally excited by the early success
of Widgipedia.com, and we expect this new area of our business to flourish
as awareness and demand for widgets accelerates in 2007."

Vendio made several cash investments in 2006 that it expects will pay
off handsomely in future years."

For the complete press release click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
March 29, 2007

Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom revealed at a conference last week that the eBay-owned company would introduce payment functionality to the VoIP service. The company announced on Wednesday the availability of Skype 3.2 Beta for Windows that has that capability, called Send Money. It allows users to send money to other Skype users via PayPal, which is also owned by eBay.

The new version of Skype also allows users to import their contacts from web-based email applications, such as MSN Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo Mail. In addition, Skype said its video-calling feature recently emerged from Beta, and is further enhanced by allowing users to instantly capture photos of themselves.

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m03/i29/s04

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:58 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

27 Months for Selling $700,000 Worth of Counterfeit Software on eBay
by SOPnewswire

"WASHINGTON – An Indiana man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling more than $700,000 worth of counterfeit computer software on the eBay Internet auction site, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Susan W. Brooks, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced today.

Courtney Smith, 36, of Anderson, Ind., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarah Barker of the Southern District of Indiana for selling counterfeit computer software over the Internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws. At today’s guilty plea and sentencing, Smith admitted that he purchased counterfeit Rockwell Automation computer software through the eBay Internet auction site and then duplicated and resold the copyright protected software to other eBay users. Between March 6 and May 26, 2004, Smith sold counterfeit copies of Rockwell Automation software in 32 or more separate eBay auctions, receiving $4,149.97. The actual retail value of this software was in excess of $700,000."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:26 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Wave3.com / Associated Press

(FARMINGTON, Ky.) -- Kiss rock band memorabilia collector Barry Carr realized he could turn his longtime hobby into a thriving business when he saw the demand for the stuff on eBay.

Carr's growing worldwide business selling Kiss boots, costumes, lifelike homemade mannequins and even customized Kiss dolls and Pez dispensers is a significant factor in tiny Farmington, about 35 miles south of Paducah, ranking seventh nationally among all towns in per capita eBay use.

Farmington, population 987, had more than 3,000 eBay listings during a three-week survey by the company in November. The town boasted 56 users of the world's leading e-commerce Web who peddled items with an average sale price of $22.

Top-selling goods included textbooks, agricultural and forestry products, cell phones, decorative collectibles and women's shoes. Cars and tractor parts brought the most lucrative sales.

During the same test period, 99 Farmington residents bought items averaging $744 each on eBay. Top categories were information products, software, cell phones, sewing items, desktop and laptop components. Computers, laptops and radio-controlled planes were the most expensive items purchased.

Four towns that made eBay's Community Counts Top 10 have fewer than 1,000 residents and three others have fewer than 12,000 people. Farmington is the fourth-smallest town on the list.

Posted by ebay news guy at 09:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Sony PS3 Sales Fly But Sales On eBay Flop
By David Richards and Wire Services | Monday | 26/03/2007

"More than 20,000 Sony PS3 consoles and accessories worth more than $25 million have been sold in Australia during the past few days. This falls significantly short of both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii first week sales.
However the big advantage to Sony Computer Entertainment is that it is selling a console that has a big margin in it for both the retailer and itself.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 sold 30,421 units valued at $30 and $40 million in its first week and the Nintendo Wii over 32,901 units at an average price of $399.

According to Games Spot "At more than 20,000 units in the first three days, the PS3 looks unlikely to challenge the Nintendo Wii for the title of fastest seller in Australia." The previous record holder was the Xbox 360, which sold 30,421 units in its first four days of availability. Before the 360, Sony's PSP was king with 27,055 units sold in the first four days."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By: Ina Steiner Friday March 16th and Sunday March 18th 2007 - Auction Bytes

When an eBay seller opened an email received through eBay's message system this week, it read, "If you need additional income, we have an open position as a mediator for selling items on ebay. To learn more, open www.tradeportal1.org and enter (Code removed by editor) on prompt." The purported shopper who sent the email to the seller using eBay's "Ask Seller a Question" feature had zero feedback and had registered on eBay the same day the email message was sent.

The recipient, a concerned eBay seller, reported the suspicious email to eBay when she received the email on March 14. A search for tradeportal1.org on a search engine came up with a post on an anti-scam forum from someone who said they had reported a similar email - also linking to the site TradePortal1.org - to eBay on March 9. A WhoIs search on the domain "tradeportal1.org" reveals it was registered on February 13, 2007, using a domain registration company that lets resellers register a .ORG domain for just 99 cents.

What concerned the recipient most was that her name appeared in the message, and that the message showed up in her "My Messages" section of eBay, proving the sender used eBay's mail system. She felt this gave the email an air of legitimacy, and she said she was sure she was not the only one to receive the email. "You KNOW that newbies may (will) click that link and who knows what will happen."

The technique described above uses eBay's message system. Another technique seen this week on eBay uses an "Ask Seller a Question" form inside listings that are not actually going through eBay's message system at all, and harvests users' email addresses.

A reader complained on March 15 that someone was listing Plasma TVs in the Antiques category for $10, a ploy frequently used by fraudsters. While the seller had a high positive feedback rating with over 500 feedback points accumulated, fraudsters sometimes hijack seller accounts, commonly through phishing email scams.

In addition to using incorrect categories and listing expensive items for ludicrously low prices, there were other red flags with the Plasma TV listings. Fraudsters often include an email address at the top of the listing in a large font, hoping shoppers will send them emails directly. And in this instance, including the Ask Seller a Question form that requested shoppers fill it out and include their email addresses was another warning sign.

Upon filling out the non-eBay "Ask Seller a Question" form, users were directed to a website that appears to belong a legitimate company that offers "Web Form Handling Services." The service allows clients to place a form on their site, and when someone fills it out, the service forwards the information to the client - in this case, a suspected scammer.

Harvesting Email Addresses
What good are email addresses to scammers? In the first instance described above, they may be looking to "hire" sellers who think they are representatives of a legitimate company, but are actually participating in money laundering for the scammer, as described in this article from 2003 (http://www.auctionbytes.com/pages/abn/y03/m01/i29/s01).

In the second case, scammers may pose as legitimate eBay sellers of Plasma TVs (or other expensive items) and request the buyer send money to them via wire transfer (such as Wester Union), which is as good as sending cash.

eBay has been trying to limit scammers' ability to contact its buyers and sellers since as early as 2001, which is one of the reasons eBay instituted a message system that masks users' email addresses. Much eBay-related fraud takes place outside of the eBay system, and users who fall for off-eBay scams end up with no protection at all.

Part 2

I wrote on Friday about scammers using eBay's "Ask Seller a Question" feature to help them harvest email addresses in order to perpetrate fraud. The "Ask Seller a Question" feature is designed to allow potential buyers to ask sellers questions without either party having access to the other's email address, but is now being exploited.

I'm hearing from users that the scammers are stepping up their attacks in an extremely devious way. The technique involves asking the seller a question about an "identical item" they saw listed on eBay, and includes a link to the supposed listing. Unwary sellers who go to view the item by clicking or pasting in the link are taken to a spoof site, where they are asked to sign in again (it is not unusual to have to log-in to eBay for different tasks). They then may unwittingly enter their eBay User name and password into the spoof site, which is designed to harvest the information for fraudulent activities such as account hijackings.

Not only is the seller vulnerable, but for auctions where Questions and Answers are displayed on the original auction description page, potential buyers may fall for the scam.

By: Ina Steiner Friday March 16th and Sunday March 18th 2007 - Auction Bytes Blog

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m03/i16/s01

http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2007/3/1174274285.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Utah man wants to sell everything he owns on eBay
Last Update: Mar 18, 2007 10:48 PM

"Do you want to buy a life for $100,000? Cris Fox said he's selling his life.

Fox said, "Take it all. Just give me my phone, that's all I need." Fox is cleaning out his Salt Lake City apartment. He's selling everything he has on eBay.

Fox said, "It's everything in my house. I have lots of bike parts, lots of bikes, just everyday household items, just get rid of it." For $100 grand you also get Fox's mini van, and his collection of ribbons and medals from years of competitive mountain biking.

Fox claims he wants take half of the money and donate it. Fox said, "I want to take $100 bills and walk around towns and just give them to people walking down the street.""

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 10:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/173251/jk_rowling_fans_asked_to_help_in_war.html

A Petition that Supports J.K. Rowling

A couple weeks ago it was reported that J.K. Rowling had won an injunction against the auction giant eBay. This injunction requires eBay to remove all illegal J.K. Rowling works that eBay sellers have up for auction. EBay will have to do this until they go back to court in May. This means eBay will have to remove any Harry Potter e-books from their site because these are illegal copies of J.K. Rowling's work.

Fans are being misled into thinking these e-books are authentic when in reality, J.K. Rowling has made it very clear that there will not be e-book versions of her Harry Potter books. Sellers who auction off such items are no different than people who are selling illegal copies of DVDs, which is probably why eBay chooses to ignore such auctions. EBay has become notorious for their illegal auctions with sellers having everything from illegal copies of CDs to the e-books that are now causing eBay so much trouble. If eBay loses, more companies will be expecting the same treatment. This means eBay will once and for all have to do what is right. They will have to remove not only copies of DVDs but fake clothing from popular designers and everything in between.

J.K. Rowling's lawyer took things one step further by asking Harry Potter fans to sign a petition that will be going to eBay. The petition states the person signing the petition supports J.K. Rowling and her actions. The petition goes on to state why they support her decisions. This is an excerpt from the petition:

"Furthermore, we suggest that eBay has acted in an irresponsible manner by not addressing this fraud and recommend that they remedy the situation by implementing the following changes at a minimum:

• refusing to list illegal merchandise such as materials which infringe on copyrights held by J.K. Rowling and any of her business partners;
• removing listings immediately when they are identified by J.K. Rowling, her legal representatives, or her business partners as infringing on copyrights or containing forged signatures;
• providing COA and authentication guidance whenever a signed book or piece of memorabilia is purchased (similar to what eBay already provides for purchasers of sports memorabilia); and
• providing authentication services free of charge when a buyer is seeking a refund from a seller due to alleged fraudulent behavior."

Everything that J.K. Rowling has requested is more than reasonable. If these were your books and you knew that children were being mislead into asking their parents for fake items, wouldn't you want eBay to do the same thing?

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Romanian Hacker Vladuz Makes Another eBay Housecall
By Ina & David Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
March 14, 2007

"Call it the equivalent of neighborhood teens strewing toilet paper on your trees on Halloween, but the nuisance stunts of a Romanian hacker who calls himself Vladuz has quite clearly confounded eBay's attempts to stop him from making his presence known on the online auction site. Confident of his ability to breach eBay's security, Vladuz posted early this morning in eBay Germany's forums, displaying Pinkliner status.

In a year that eBay has dedicated to creating a safer buying experience, Vladuz has gained attention by flagrantly posting on the boards as an eBay forum moderator, or "Pink." How deep Vladuz' access to the site runs is open to speculation."

Related Stories:

"He's Baaack - Vladuz "Hacker" Taunts eBay"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m02/i23/s01

"eBay Auction Listing Swings Remain a Mystery"
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m03/i12/s01

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:17 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By RTE.ie

Ebay.ie announced today it has over 500,000 registered users in Ireland - this represents 58%of all Irish internet users, and 16% of the over 18 population of Ireland.

Four items are bought and one item is sold every minute by Irish Ebay users.

An item in the computing category is sold by an Irish seller every 5 minutes, and an item of clothing is bought by an Irish buyer every 2 minutes.

Ebay and its payments system Paypal employ more than 1,200 staff at their Blanchardstown offices.

Posted by ebay news guy at 08:51 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Feedback 2.0 pilot on global eBay sites

As of early March, eBay will be launching a Feedback 2.0 pilot on nine global eBay sites. Feedback 2.0 adds a new dimension to eBay’s feedback system, allowing buyers to leave optional, more granular ratings in four areas known as Detailed Seller Ratings: item as described, communication, shipping time, and charges for shipping and handling. Detailed seller ratings do not affect the overall feedback score.

Developer Impact: If a seller has been rated in these areas, they will be displayed in the seller's Feedback Profile and can be retrieved using the API. LeaveFeedback input can include a SellerItemRatingDetailArray container with detailed seller ratings. A GetFeedback call can return FeedbackSummary.SellerAverageRatingDetailArray, which contains averages of the detailed ratings left by buyers.

Developers can read the API documentation Release Notes and Detailed Seller Ratings for more information about API impact. Sandbox testing for Feedback 2.0 will be available as of Friday, March 9th - subscribe to the Sandbox System Announcement for any changes to this timing.

Detailed Seller Ratings will be available on the following eBay sites as part of the pilot:

United Kingdom (site ID 3)
Australia (site ID 15)
Belgium French (site ID 23)
Belgium Dutch (site ID 123)
France (site ID 71)
Ireland (site ID 205)
India (site ID 203)
Italy (site ID 101)
Poland (site ID 212)

Based on the outcome of this pilot, the Detailed Seller Ratings feature will be available on the other API-enabled country sites as of May 2007, including eBay.com and eBay.de. Read the UK Announcement Board post and our interview with Brian Burke of the Trust & Safety team on eBay's Chatter blog to learn more about Feedback 2.0. In the clip below, Brian shares some of the research we've done in buyer adoption of Detailed Seller Ratings.

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Judge Judy Destroys an eBay Scammer
By: Ina Steiner
Tue Feb 27 2007 10:19:34

"After watching a video of Court TV's Judge Judy going head-to-head with a woman she believed was an eBay scammer, some users may wish Judge Judy Sheindlin ran eBay. The case before the judge involved a woman and her daughter who bought cell phones from a seller for over $400. But instead of getting the cell phones, they got photos of the cell phones.

The famous television judge did not hold back on letting the seller know what she thought of her auctions (you've got to watch the clip!). But the sad fact is that eBay allows "wholesale lists" to be listed on its site, something just as deceiving as the case before Court TV. In 2005, freelance writer Mark Lewis wrote about this scheme, which is still alive and well on eBay today. (eBay not only allows them, but even has a category for wholesale lists!)"

For the complete article on AuctionBytes please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Seller Joins Chorus of Complaints over Search
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
February 23, 2007

"Sam Mindel has 5,000 items sitting in a warehouse in Los Angeles, but something is keeping him from listing them on eBay: Mindel said no one can find his eBay listings. He joined other sellers who have been complaining since May 2006 that something is seriously wrong with eBay's search feature.

The only way to see any of Mindel's listings is by knowing the item number - something potential buyers would not have access to when shopping the site. Searching by keywords - and even searching by Mindel's eBay User ID - shows zero results."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Halo 3 voice cameo role hits eBay
Bidding currently at $2,125

Ian Williams, vnunet.com, 20 Feb 2007

"Bungie Studios, developer of the popular Halo video game series, is offering a cameo voice-over role in its highly anticipated Halo 3.

The role was donated to charity organisation Hollywood Arts, which has put it up for auction on eBay. The auction is set to expire on 26 February and bidding is currently at $2,125 after 12 bids.

Hollywood Arts describes itself as a unique arts training and therapy programme that provides opportunities for at-risk, homeless and runaway youths to understand themselves and their own creativity in a safe and supportive environment.

Halo 3 is expected to hit the shelves in March, and the winner of the auction will have to be ready to jump into action if they are to get it all done in time for the game's release.

The original eBay posting caused something of stir when the "wit" who wrote it joked that if you don't make the session in time, you would end up in Halo 4.

Many people took this to imply that Halo 4 was already in development, but Bungie was quick to rectify this with an official announcement that it was simply intended as a joke."

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Who says eBay isnt for opportunistics? A quick search for "Britney Hair" on eBay brings back 67 results the most expensive of which has been bid up to 99,999,999.00 (thats right folks, 99 Million bucks).

I tried to find a "legitimate" listing but couldnt find one. So buyers beware ... you will probably NOT be getting a lock of Britney Spears hair anytime soon.

Britney Hair eBay Search

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:09 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

SAN JOSE -- eBay, The World's Online Marketplace (Nasdaq:EBAY) (www.ebay.com), today completed its previously announced acquisition of StubHub, a leading online marketplace for the resale of event tickets.

eBay announced the acquisition on January 10, 2007. eBay has acquired StubHub for an approximate aggregate value of $307 million, which includes approximately $21 million of net cash as of the closing.

About StubHub
StubHub is the fan's ticket marketplace, enabling customers to buy and sell tickets at fair market value to a vast selection of sporting, concert, theater and other live entertainment events, even those that are "sold out." The company's unique open marketplace, dedicated solely to tickets, provides all fans the choice to buy or sell their tickets in a safe, convenient, and highly reliable environment. All transactions are processed and delivered via StubHub's patent-pending FanNetworkSM ticket delivery service, supported by seven-day toll free customer service, and backed by the industry-first FanProtectSM Guarantee. Company partners include sports teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, leading NCAA athletic programs and media companies including AOL. StubHub is headquartered in San Francisco.

About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust and inspired by opportunity. eBay enables e-commerce on a local, national and international basis with an array of websites -- including the eBay Marketplaces, PayPal, Skype, Kijiji, Rent.com and Shopping.com -- that bring together millions of buyers and sellers every day.

http://sanjose.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=107896&type_news=latest

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Live! 2007 Registration Is Now Open – Save $40 By Registering Early

Registration is now open for this year's eBay Live! event in Boston, MA from June 14-16.
Whether you're new to the eBay Community, or a seasoned veteran, eBay Live! has something for you:

Network with over 10,000 enthusiastic eBay Community members;
Learn how to be more successful buying and selling on eBay at over 150 sessions taught by staff and other eBay experts;
Hear from eBay's leaders at the Keynote Address given by Meg Whitman, eBay President and CEO, and Bill Cobb, President of Marketplaces North America.
Have a ball at the Closing Gala – which, as always, will feature world-class entertainment.
Plus, we've added some new twists this year:

The Help Hall — get personalized, one-on-one attention from eBay experts. Learn how to use eBay tools, get tips on how to spruce up your listings, receive advice on how to grow your business, and more.
The eBay Live! Book Store — relax with a good book on your favorite eBay topics, and maybe get it signed by the author!
Learn from personal finance expert Suze Orman. We're excited to have Suze as a guest speaker. She will share her strategies for mastering your money and achieving your financial goals.
Register early and save $$

Register before April 6th and you'll get all this for only $60 — a savings of $40 off the regular price! Last year's event sold out early, so go to www.ebay.com/ebaylive now and reserve your spot.

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Top trader banned for life over fixed eBay auctions
From The Sunday Times

"ONE of Britain’s top eBay traders has been banned from the auction site for life after a Sunday Times investigation found that an account in the name of his ex-wife had allegedly been used to bid up the price of goods that he was selling.

Computer records show that Eftis Paraskevaides, an antiquities dealer from Cambridgeshire, took bids from his former wife’s eBay account on at least 400 items. The link between seller and bidder had been hidden from customers and eBay officials because the transactions were made in her maiden name.

It follows disclosures by this newspaper last week that the practice of artificially driving up prices — known as shill bidding — is common on eBay. It is against the site’s rules and is illegal under the 2006 Fraud Act.

Paraskevaides and his ex-wife were among six users who were permanently barred from the site after The Sunday Times passed its evidence to eBay. Two others were suspended.

A former gynaecologist, Paraskevaides ran a business selling classical antiquities on eBay often for thousands of pounds a piece. His company’s £1.4m turnover made him a “Titanium PowerSeller” — one of the auction site’s handful of top earners.

Last month he boasted to an undercover reporter that he could call on business associates to bid on his goods for him.

He said: “If I put something really expensive (up for sale) and I was concerned that it was going for nothing, I would phone a friend of mine, even a client of mine who buys from me, and say: For Christ’s sake, I sell you 100 quids’ worth of items a week . . . just put two grand on it, will you?” He claimed that a business of his size and reputation “very rarely” had to bend the rules in this way. However, eBay records show that in the past year an account using the ID “Cathlumb” bid on at least 404 items being sold by BidAncient, Paraskevaides’s company."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The 10 Best Resources for eBay SellersSubmitted by brad schepp on January 31, 2007 - 2:30pm

Want to make a mint on eBay? Thought so. Here are the best sources to help you on your way, based on our years of experience writing books and articles about eBay. They’re in no particular order.

1) AuctionBytes—Online newsletter that covers the auction biz—and not just eBay. Full of great articles, a searchable archive, and two (count ‘em) types of newsletters you can subscribe to. If you’re not reading AuctionBytes now click on this link immediately http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab (then come back and read the rest of this article).

2) eBay’s Site Map—eBay can be a real challenge to navigate, no doubt about it. Here’s a quick way to get to whatever area of eBay you’re interested it. Use this once and you’ll be using it all the time. http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html

3) Auction Software Review—Do you list more than 10 items per week? If so (or you just aspire to one day) you should be looking at ways to make listing as easy as possible. You should be looking at auction management software. This is a great site for getting a good fix on what’s “out there.” Updated often. http://www.auctionsoftwarereview.com/

For the other 7 reasons please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 07:14 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Microsoft (MSFT) To Set Up Online Payment System

"Microsoft is developing on an online payment system that will be cheaper than credit card transactions, making it possible for companies to charge small fees for Web-based content and services they now offer for free. Microsoft's move into Internet payments could threaten credit card companies' online profits. Gates described a system that would undercut credit card fees, making it profitable for an online newspaper to charge small fees for individual articles, for example.

Another potential competitor for PayPal. Nevermind that Microsoft has failed in the past to introduce a popular online payment system (remember Microsoft Wallet and Microsoft Passport). Nonetheless, it's not very welcome news for eBay coming so close to Google's (GOOG) full-effort attempt at rolling out Google Checkout."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

SMH.com.au

One in three Australian adults now use internet auction house eBay to do their shopping, as online spending continues to grow as the preferred method of purchase.

The website said it had signed its five millionth Australian member, which was up two-thirds from the three million users it recorded in August 2005.

eBay Australasian managing director Simon Smith said most Australians initially used the site to purchase a product but later found it a useful way to get cash for unwanted items.

"We find more and more people who have bought things on eBay wake up to the value of the items they have lying around the house," Mr Smith said.

"The average Australian has, I think, $1,700 worth of unwanted items that they could sell just lying around their home.

"We're essentially no more than a way of allowing our community to buy and sell practically anything and have a fun experience while they do it."

Recent data from AC Nielsen showed total annual online spending jumped 63 per cent in 2006 to $12.5 billion.

This represented an average annual spend of $2,100 per person, with almost six million Australians using the internet to make a purchase.

eBay was started in the US in 1995 and now boasts some 212 million users globally.

About 52,000 Australians make either a primary or secondary income on eBay.

Of this, 17,500 make either all of their income or primary income on eBay with another 35,000 small businesses using the site as a secondary sales channel.

Posted by ebay news guy at 08:45 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

1/30/2007 10:25:31 AM, by Nate Anderson

eBay has been quietly pursuing a policy of removing auctions for in-game goods from its site. World of Warcraft players seeking to avoid the sun a bit longer will now have to turn elsewhere when they need to purchase the +10 Mace of Divine Smiting.

An eBay spokesperson tells Ars that "virtual game items" are now banned on eBay's US and UK sites. This includes everything from accounts to characters to currency to items. The new policy was instituted "due to the legal complexity associated with these types of items."

If you don't play such massively multiplayer online games, this might sound like a small change that will only affect the kind of people who attend Society for Creative Anachronism events, but serious money is at stake, and eBay is walking away from it faster than a Puritan from Second Life. The Korean market for in-game goods and gold is estimated to be worth $1 billion a year, and has gained enough prominence to be the target of potential legislation there. Korean gold farmers, who profit from their activities in these virtual worlds, and even formed a trade group to defend their business model.

eBay appears to be banning the auctions because they are generally illegal under the games' terms of service. There are exceptions, but World of Warcraft dominates the market, and Blizzard has repeatedly made clear that it does not allow the sale of in-game material. The company routinely cracks down on those trying to cash in on the virtual economy, going so far as to periodically ban thousands of users for gold farming and item selling.

eBay doesn't want the potential liability that it incurs from hosting such transactions, but it does make an exception for items from Second Life, which the company does not consider a game. eBay tells us that "there is still some question internally as to whether virtual worlds such as Second Life should be regarded as 'games,' and so, at this time, we are not applying this policy to the trade of items that exist within Second Life, while we continue to investigate this issue." Linden Lab, Second Life's creator, imposes no restrictions on what users buy and sell, instead letting the market work for the virtual world much as it does for the real one (in both cases, pornographic fantasies are big business).

Will eBay's decision to stop posting game property auctions help World of Warcraft players—40 percent of whom are addicted to the game, according to one doctor—make it easier for folks to break the habit? Probably not. There's already a thriving marketplace beyond eBay for buying gold and weapons, and people in search of a few quick ingots will turn to such sites instead.

Massively multiplayer titles, which started out simply as ways to have a good time, have found an increasingly large number of real-world issues invading their pristine virtual territories: plagues, globalization, gay rights, and even (inevitably) taxation.

Build it, and they will come... bringing their greed, resourcefulness, lust, creativity, loneliness, and generosity with them. These may be virtual worlds, but they're filled with very human characters.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070130-8731.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:01 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Impeachgeorgebush.org for sale on Ebay after impeachbush.com sells for $25,000.00. Rotary International to receive 30% of final selling price.

"Toms River, NJ (PRWeb) January 28, 2007 -- After seeing impeachbush.com sell on Ebay for $25,000.00, Scott Neuman of Toms River, NJ noticed that the .com extension is the wrong extension for any non-profit or activist group to use when setting up a website and also could possibly donate a large sum of money to Rotary International from the sale of the name. Scott Neuman, president of internet search engine marketing company, Recordweb Communications LLC , then posted for sale, the domain name IMPEACHGEORGEBUSH.ORG on eBay. Any group looking to be setup as a non-profit that is looking to change the politics of the world needs to take advantage of the 501(c)3 tax exempt status and having that status means you should use a .org extension on your domain name and not the .com extension.

This name could be used by any democratic Pac committee, a non-profit looking to actually use the rights our forefathers gave us to move to impeach President George Bush or create public awareness for a President with the worst public rating in history. In addition, anyone typing in President Bushes name or the word impeach would quickly be taken to the website because of the words in the domain name itself."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:50 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

EBay profit rises 24%; sales up 29%
Shares leap 10% in after-hours trading
Last Update: 6:30 PM ET Jan 24, 2007

"SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- EBay Inc. late Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profit climbed 24% as sales rose more than expected, helped by a surge in its electronic-payments business and higher prices for the items eBay sells online.

The online auctioneer also issued a full-year profit forecast that exceeded Wall Street expectations and announced an extension of its share buyback program, helping send its shares up 10% in after-hours trading.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company said net income for the period ended Dec. 31 rose to $346 million, or 25 cents a share, from $279 million, or 20 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding the costs of employee stock options and other items, eBay said it would have earned 31 cents a share. In October, eBay forecast it would earn between 27 cents and 28 cents a share on that basis.

Sales rose 29% to $1.72 billion, topping the company's own expectations and the $1.67 billion estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

The results indicate a strong finish to a mixed year for eBay, which faced a backlash from some of its online sellers after it raised fees, and skepticism from Wall Street after it shut its operations in China after investing heavily there.

"EBay's core business is performing nicely and 2007 looks to bring more margin expansion and more stock buybacks," said Mark Mahaney, a Citigroup analyst who described the results as "unambiguously more positive." Mahaney has a buy rating on the stock."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:25 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Looters put ship's cargo up for sale on eBay
Marcus Leroux and Dimon de Bruxelles

Police cordon off Branscombe beach

"As police attempted to bring order to Branscombe beach yesterday, the original owners of looted possessions were plotting how to regain their goods — some of which have already turned up on eBay.
After hundreds of people had ransacked containers washed up from the stricken cargo vessel MSC Napoli, the beach was closed to stop the previous days’ chaotic scenes. Officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency described looters who carried off hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of goods, from motorcycles to nappies, as “despicable”.

By opening the containers they had made the clean-up operation “800 per cent” more difficult, they said.

BMW, which had components and motorcycles on board the Napoli, has appointed a recovery agency to track down missing goods. Yesterday dozens of new BMW parts were popping up for sale in the Devon area. Some sellers were advertising that the items had come from Branscombe beach.

An eBay spokeswoman said that the site removed items only if there had been a specific complaint from police, but could not confirm if one had been received."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay Bans Auction Extenders to Improve Buyer Experience
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
January 23, 2007

"eBay appears to be putting its money where its mouth is. At a gathering of top sellers last week, eBay emphasized the importance of improving the buyer experience, and it confirmed this week it is banning auction extender tools on its site.

eBay changed its "Circumventing Fees" policy to prohibit the extension of auction durations, both manually and through the use of automatic tools. The new language is found in a section called "Extension of Auctions" that explains, "Extension of auctions by a seller for any reason is not only a form of fee avoidance, but also harms the finding experience for buyers."

The issue of extending auctions came up in a major brouhaha in the summer of 2005, when it was revealed that a developer called Ethical Technologies had been marketing a tool to members of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA) that automatically revised listings for sellers. At the time, eBay waffled on whether the practice was allowed. When Ethical ceased operations, other developers created their own auction extenders to fill the demand from sellers.

Ethical had pitched its original Extender tool as marketing device that could increase sales by up to 50 percent on a sustainable basis. The tool automatically extended eBay auctions from a 1-day listing to a 3-day listing, 5-day listing and 7-day listing, as long as the item had received no bids more than 12 hours before the listing was due to end. The seller would pay one listing fee, but the auction would appear on eBay's highly-trafficked "Ending First" pages up to four times in a 7-day period instead of once. Some eBay users felt the ever-changing ending date of the auction made for a bad users experience, however."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Phishermen full of it

By INQUIRER newsdesk: Friday 19 January 2007, 16:06

THERE'S A NEW phishing scam doing the rounds warns IT security firm Sophos, this one dodgily claiming that eBay will be closing on the 27th of February.
The email says that if users want to keep eBay up and running then a vote is required by eBay users - 50 per cent of users having to disagree with the notion to keep the giant site afloat. Of course, this is all an elaborate ruse to steal information from users, and once the user agrees to vote to keep the site about town they are redirected to a fake eBay page which'll nab all the information right off the computer of a less tech-savvy user.

Here's the e-mail in it's entirety.

'Dear eBay Community:
We have decided to close eBay on 27 February 2007 due to the repeatedly abuses on our company. We ask your opinion on this matter and we want to know if you agree with us or disagree .Below you can make your choice.
If you want eBay to stay open click YES otherwise click NO .Your opinion is very important to us. If 50% of the eBay members vote positive eBay stays open otherwise it will be closed.
Regards, eBay Team'

Not the most cleverly written of letters, really. Yet, while the letter is not particularly convincing, Sophos spokesbloke Graham Cluley warns that users might think the letter is some kind of eBay teaser campaign, or some other kind of promotion, maybe for half priced self-help literacy items.

This latest phishing attack adds to the just-under-80 per cent of all phishing emails targeted at eBay and PayPal customers. So watch out, geezers. µ

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37081

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Holding sellers to higher minimum standards
Bill Cobb

"Another way we improve the buyer experience is to adjust the standards to which we hold sellers on eBay. It's a fact that the majority of bad buyer experiences result from circumstances controlled by sellers. Buyers are less likely to return to the site after having a frustrating experience - like finding the shipping & handling charges are excessive, receiving an item that is not as described, or experiencing poor customer service.

Since last summer, for example, we've made significant progress cleaning up categories where egregious cases of excessive shipping & handling charges are most prevalent. For instance, in our Cell Phones category, the average shipping cost on cell phones has come down by around 25%, and the buyer experience has improved. The competition between these sellers is more fair now, too.

It's clear we have a shared responsibility with our sellers to make sure our buyers have satisfactory experiences. Historically, eBay's philosophy has been to allow practically anyone to sell, with few restrictions. Going forward, we'll apply higher minimum standards for selling on the site. These changes will improve the marketplace for the vast majority of sellers who deliver a good customer experience. Here are some other ways we're addressing this issue:

Private Feedback & Cross-Border Trade Requirements - Last fall we eliminated the ability for sellers to make their feedback private. We've also raised the bar for sellers who want to sell cross-border. To list outside one's home registration site, sellers must establish their identity by becoming PayPal Verified (sellers with established track records will not be affected by this requirement.) (Read our FAQs for more details.)

Safe Payment Requirement for New Sellers - Today I announced that we'll be requiring all newly registered sellers to accept PayPal or a merchant credit card. We know that PayPal is the safest way to pay on eBay, and we want to make sure our buyers have this option with new sellers. (Existing sellers will not be affected by this requirement.). (Read our FAQs for more details.)

Feedback 2.0 - eBay pioneered online reputation systems with the feedback system back in the '90s – and since then, our members have loved to debate its merits. The fact is, it's a great system, but it needs some refinement to keep pace with our marketplace. Today I announced Feedback 2.0, which we'll be launching in pilot markets next month. Feedback 2.0 will add a new dimension to the current system, allowing buyers to rate transactions on item description, communication, shipping time, and shipping & handling charges. The average of each of the Detailed Seller Ratings is displayed on the seller’s Feedback Profile page. It's a simple system that rewards sellers by recognizing and spotlighting the things they do to ensure customer satisfaction. We'll share more about Feedback 2.0 in the coming weeks, so stay tuned."

To read the complete release/announcement please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 07:34 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Dianna Dilworth http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/e-commerce/39668.html
January 16th, 2007

EBay, Amazon and Wal-Mart.com were the top shopping destinations this season, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

The biggest online shopping day of the holiday season was Dec. 12 with 30.4 million unique visitors to the eShopping Holiday Index. On that day, eBay led the top shopping destinations with a unique audience of 12.4 million, followed by Amazon with 6.1 million unique visitors, and Wal-mart.com with 4.0 million.

“A wide selection of products is one factor that each of the top shopping destinations share, each offers a very broad selection of products in almost every product category,” said Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings, New York “Amazon and Wal-Mart also offer very low and competitive pricing on many products, such as flat screen TVs and game consoles. Free shipping was a promotion used by all three during the holidays.”

Online shopping has become a part of the holidays, with 24 percent more unique visitors to the Index on Thanksgiving and 29 percent more on Christmas Day than last year. Many people are taking advantage of holiday time off to go online and shop while bricks-and-mortar stores are closed.

The week ending Dec. 3 was the peak week this holiday season, with visits to the Index increasing 43 percent over the last week in October. Lego, Macy's and Office Depot led the year-over-year fastest growing online shopping destinations that week, with Web traffic increasing 120 percent, 70 percent and 64 percent, respectively.

The day after Christmas, traffic to the retail Web sites included in the eShopping Holiday Index grew 35 percent year over year, from 20.9 million in 2005 to 28.1 million in 2006. Shoppers were going online to check out after-Christmas sales, redeem gift cards and spend holiday cash, or to sell or exchange unwanted presents.

Other popular sites this season included BestBuy.com, Overstock.com, Dell.com and Sears.com.

Visits to shopping comparison Web sites also peaked during the week after Thanksgiving, increasing 75 percent from the start of the season to a total of 64.0 million shopping trips.

During the week ending Dec. 24, there was a 24 percent week-over-week decline in the use of these online comparison tools, from 60.1 million visits to 46.1 million. But the week ending Dec. 31 saw another uptick, growing six percent to 48.7 million shopping trips, another indicator of post-Christmas retail activity.

“Traffic to many of the shopping sites declines the week before Christmas as shoppers shift their spending on last minute purchases to physical stores,” Ms. Dougherty said. “However, there is still significant traffic to shopping sites as retailers are able to offer free or affordable shipping options later and later into the season every year.”

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

SAN FRANCISCO — EBay Inc. (EBAY) is buying rapidly growing online ticket broker StubHub Inc. for $310 million in cash, further expanding the Internet auctioneer's electronic bazaar.

The San Jose-based company announced the deal late Wednesday after the news had already been leaked to the media.

StubHub's sale, expected to close before April, punctuates another improbable Internet success story.

Jeff Fluhr, StubHub's 32-year-old co-founder and chief executive, launched the San Francisco startup against the dreary backdrop of the dot-com bust 6 1/2 years ago with another former student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Eric Baker.

"StubHub's business model is an excellent fit with eBay, a company we've admired for a long time," Fluhr said in a statement. "StubHub exists to serve passionate fans and we feel great knowing our customers will benefit from the power of eBay and its community of users."

EBay's market value has plunged by nearly 50 percent, or $37 billion, over the past two years amid investor concerns about slowing growth in its online auctions, prodding management to expand through into other channels of electronic commerce

Its recent acquisitions have included Internet phone service Skype and online price comparison service Shopping.com, neither of which have become as integral to eBay as its 2002 purchase of online payment service PayPal.

StubHub operates an online market for reselling tickets to major events, creating an alternative market that has been thriving even as its existence incensed some of the sports teams whose tickets are being resold above their face value.

StubHub says buyers paid more than $400 million for tickets sold on its site in 2006, generating more than $100 million in revenue last year. People pay a 15 percent fee to sell tickets on the site, while the buyers are charged a 10 percent commission.

Since its inception, StubHub has brokered the sale of more than 5 million tickets.

Although the privately held company doesn't disclose profits, StubHub is doing well enough to employ about 350 workers in San Francisco, a Hartford, Conn. call center and 10 other small offices scattered across the country.

Fluhr had been mulling a possible initial public offering but apparently tabled those plans after eBay intensified its courtship.

Ebay has been pursuing StubHub off and on for years and nearly bought the startup for $20 million in 2002 before negotiations fell apart.

StubHub is "a perfect complement to eBay's tickets business," said Bill Cobb, president of the auctioneer's North America marketplace. "Together we can strengthen both businesses and provide fans with more choice and better service."

Other big winners in the sale include former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, one of StubHub's earliest investors. StubHub's other financial backers include Frank Biondi, former CEO of Viacom Inc. (VIA-B), and Harvey Golub, former CEO of American Express Corp.

Fluhr and Baker founded StubHub after developing the concept under the name "NeedATicket.com" as part of a competition while attending the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Although picked as finalists, they pulled out of the contest because they feared someone would steal their idea.

Baker, 33, left StubHub in 2004 but retains a significant stake in the company and now runs a similar European ticket reseller called Viagogo.com.

Under Fluhr's leadership, StubHub has tried to position itself as a save haven in the roughly $10 billion market for reselling tickets that have already been purchased elsewhere. Unlike the stereotypical ticket scalper standing outside a stadium, StubHub guarantees buyers all tickets sold on its site are authentic.

The approach has won over about 30 professional and college sports teams that guide fans to StubHub for tickets. The list of teams working with StubHub includes the Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins of the National Football League and the Portland Trailblazers and New Jersey Nets in the National Basketball League.

But other teams have lashed out at StubHub, with the NFL's New England Patriots and the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball emerging as the most strident critics.

The Patriots sued StubHub in November, alleging the site is encouraging fans to break a Massachusetts law against selling tickets more than $2 above face value. StubHub countersued last month, depicting the football team as a monopolist engaged in unfair trade practices.

The Yankees have gone so far as to revoke the season tickets of fans who sold their seats on StubHub, arguing the activities violate the team's licensing rights. StubHub believes the Yankees are trying to stifle competition for an online market that the baseball team hopes to operate on its own.

In an interview last month, Fluhr said fewer teams are trying to deter StubHub because they realize that the company is helping them fill seats that might otherwise go unfilled if the original ticket holder can't attend the event. Although a team doesn't profit directly from scalped tickets, it can still make money by selling food, drinks and souvenirs to the secondary buyer of the ticket.

"As teams have learned about our business and the early adopters have had real success with us, we have had more and more teams sign on," Fluhr said. "I feel we have a real tail wind with us."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243068,00.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 09:56 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Some eBay Users Abuse Auction Site's Feedback System, Professor Finds
Jan. 10, 2007

"Some eBay users are artificially boosting their reputations by buying and selling feedback on the Internet auction site, according to John Morgan, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

"eBay harbors an active market for feedback, where users can buy a compliment to artificially boost their feedback status," Morgan explains. "Users enter this market to leverage their gains in reputation to get higher prices for other, presumably larger, transactions."

Morgan and co-author Jennifer Brown, a UC Berkeley Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics doctoral student, detailed the abuse on eBay in an article titled "Reputation in Online Auctions: The Market for Trust" in the latest issue (Fall 2006) of the journal California Management Review.

Under eBay's reputation system, buyers and sellers can submit feedback to each other at the conclusion of each transaction. The feedback consists of a rating such as positive, neutral, or negative and a brief description of the quality of the transaction. The transaction is bilateral, meaning that both buyers and sellers exchange feedback – and can thus increase their own feedback ratings – through a transaction.

Between June to December 2005, 526 sellers posted 6,526 unique feedback listings for low-priced or seemingly valueless items, whose sales appeared to be designed only to artificially enhance feedback ratings, Morgan and Brown found. Seventy-six percent of the listings, or 5,127 items, resulted in a sale. A follow-up study revealed the market for feedback remained active in 2006, with 398 feedback listings counted from April 25 through May 30.

Morgan and Brown noted that more than 80 percent of the listings studied in 2005 and nearly 88 percent of the 2006 listings had a Buy-It-Now option and a price of one penny. With the Buy-It-Now option, a seller sets a fixed price and no bidding auction occurs for a sale. A Buy-It-Now sale for a penny automatically results in the seller losing 29 cents because eBay charges a 25-cent listing fee and 5 cents for the Buy-It-Now option.

"Such a listing makes no economic sense unless the seller is trying to increase his feedback rating," Morgan says."

To read the whole article as well as more information from UC Berkeley please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:00 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay feeling the heat to make Skype pay
Posted Jan 10th 2007 11:45AM by Brian White on
www.bloggingstocks.com

"Is Skype paying off for eBay? Nope -- and it's not even close. Many eBay shareholders have been quite miffed that eBay even bought Skype for the billion-dollar fortune it paid with little or no future projections on when the company would consistently make money. Those fears are being raised yet again.

Although eBay and Skype are two well-known Internet properties, the concern over whether eBay has really harnessed the power of Skype is a heavy question on the street these days. Indeed, for a leading auction company which wanted to integrate voice communication into its auctions, it's hard to find an auction on eBay these days where Skype is anywhere to be found as an integral part of the process -- except for Skype ads on auction pages. Lame."

For the complete article please click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:16 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

eBay launches business high-fliers
POSTED: 7:58 a.m. EST, January 2, 2007

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- "Auction sites are increasingly being recognized as a breeding ground for serious business men and women, as the growing band of entrepreneurs making a healthy living out of selling their wares online can testify.

Clare Price is one of them.

The 32-year-old left the security of a high-flying job to set up in business on eBay.

Once operations director of an IT services business -- working on the customer service, not technology, side of the business -- she started trading online two years ago, after netting a bargain in the January sales.

Price, from Hayling Island, near Portsmouth, snapped up limited edition Italian designer lamps for £5 ($9.79) each, and made six times that after selling them for £70 per pair.

She then sourced other lamps from a department store supplier and bought a car-full. She sold them within a week.

She bought a van-full -- and sold them within 10 days. She bought a lorry-full -- and started to make some real money.

"It took on a life of its own; I ended up leading a double life," she says.

As the business took off, her husband Craig, 33, left his full-time job in May 2005. And it was not long before Price realized her heart lay with the venture, named Contemporary Home."

For the complete article please click HERE
To Learn more about starting your OWN eBay Business click HERE

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 08:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

***A Message from Bill Cobb – eBay.com and eBay Motors Fee Adjustments***

January 03, 2007 | 03:00PM PST/PT

Bill Cobb

Hello everyone...An important part of any business strategy is a regular evaluation of our pricing structure. From time to time, we make pricing changes to correct unhealthy dynamics in the eBay marketplace, as was the case last July. Typically, however, we make changes on an annual basis at the beginning of the year.
Today, I'm here to tell you about fee adjustments for eBay.com and eBay Motors which go into effect on January 30, 2007.

Core Auction-Style and Fixed Price Listing Fees:

Insertion Fees
We're increasing the Insertion Fee for the $1.00 to $9.99 level from thirty-five cents to forty cents.

Final Value Fees
We're increasing the Final Value Fee for the $25.01 to $1,000.00 level from 3% to 3.25%.

Please note that there are no fee adjustments for eBay Stores or Store Inventory listings.

eBay Motors Fees
The Insertion Fees and Final Values Fees mentioned above will also apply to eBay Motors Parts & Accessories categories.

For eBay Motors Vehicles categories, we are making these adjustments:

The Transaction Services Fee for both Motorcycles and Powersports is increasing from $30.00 to $40.00.
The Transaction Services Fee for Cars & Trucks and all Other Vehicles & Trailers categories is increasing from $40.00 to $50.00.
The Motors Reserve Fee is changing from a flat $5.00 to 0.1% of the reserve price, with a minimum of $5.00 and a maximum of $10.00. (The Reserve Fee is refunded when bidding meets the reserve price.)

Let me say that, while we believe these changes are modest, we consider any changes that may impact our sellers with great care. These adjustments are the result of careful analysis, and we believe they're the right thing to do to keep the marketplace strong for our eBay.com and eBay Motors sellers.

To learn more about each of these changes, I invite you to read our Frequently Asked Questions and our eBay Fees Help page. (To learn more about Canada fee adjustments, please check the Announcement Board for eBay.ca.)

A Successful Online Holiday Shopping Season
As I've said many times, one of our most important jobs here at eBay is ensuring that we're driving buyers to the site. This online holiday shopping season was a big success, and I want to acknowledge the outstanding efforts this last quarter from our marketing team led by Gary Briggs. Our integrated "IT" campaign performed well for the second year in a row, reaching our targeted shoppers an average of 13 times per person.

In fact, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, overall traffic to online shopping sites on the day after Thanksgiving (known as "Black Friday") grew 12% from last year - and eBay was shoppers' number one destination that day with an impressive 7.5 million unique visitors. But the good news didn’t stop there. This momentum continued through the weekend to "Cyber Monday" – the Monday after Thanksgiving which has become associated with peak online holiday shopping activity. I'm pleased to report that Nielsen declared eBay the most visited internet site that day, too, with 5.6 million visitors.

Of course, our shelves need to be well-stocked when the buyers arrive, so these results are testament to the partnership we have with our dedicated sellers. We can all be proud of our joint success in pleasing shoppers with whatever "IT" was this season.

More to come in 2007
Looking ahead at the new year, it's never been more important that eBay deliver value through our marketing investments, product initiatives, and Trust & Safety strategies. Times have changed from 11 years ago when we were a small innovative idea on the internet. Quite frankly, some of the problems demanding our attention are more complex. But what inspires me every morning - and what I hope inspires you, too - is that the opportunities for eBay and its Community to succeed by celebrating what makes us unique have never been greater.

Later this month, I'll be addressing a group of eBay sellers who will be here in person in the San Jose area, and I'll be sharing some of our plans and priorities for the coming year. My keynote speech will be available via a recorded Webcast for our whole Community to tune into. And we'll also be following the event with more announcements on specific initiatives. I think you'll find we're taking a surprisingly fresh look at some of the old challenges, and I'm excited about the road ahead.

Please stay tuned via the Announcement Board for more details on the availability of my Webcast. I hope you'll be able to listen in.

On behalf of everyone at eBay, I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Bill Cobb
President, eBay North America

Posted by eBay Trainer Education Specialist at 09:18 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Mon Jan 1, 5:25 AM ET

LOVELAND, Colo. - Call it a winter sale. Jim and Mary Walker are selling snow on eBay. Starting bids were holding steady Friday at 99 cents for samples from "Blizzard I and Blizzard II."

The Walkers got the idea for selling snow after shoveling mounds from two storms a week apart that together dumped more than 4 feet along the Front Range.

"I figured eBay has ghosts and all sorts of weird stuff, so why not snow?" said Mary Walker, who teaches business workshops on employee communications.

How much snow 99 cents or whatever the winning bid gets depends. Walker's auction notice suggests avoiding shipping and handling charges by stopping by their home and picking it up — in a dump truck.

Only 10 offerings of snow are available and the proceeds are earmarked for a used snowblower for Jim or a pair of shovels.

She says she doesn't really expect to find a buyer for their blizzard overstock.

"We just wanted to just give some folks a laugh," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070101/ap_on_fe_st/selling_snow

Posted by eBay Guru at 11:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz
December 29, 2006
As we kiss 2006 goodbye, we can look ahead to 12 months that may prove to be the most challenging chapter in eBay's (Nasdaq: EBAY) colorful history. The Internet giant has the luxury of watching over three subsidiaries that are so popular, they've become verbs. Whether it's eBay, PayPal, or Skype, you just know that someone out there is using those names as verbs right now.

I'm going to eBay that hideous throw rug that your aunt gave us for Christmas.

I swear, if you let me borrow $50, I will PayPal you back come Sunday.

I don't have time to discuss things right now. Skype me later.

Oh, how great it would be if eBay's satchel could just open up and have verbs joyfully pour out. Those action words -- they just never seem to sit still in one place. Unfortunately, eBay's three verbs are all fighting battles at the moment, and 2007 may prove to be a bloody battlefield if eBay messes up on any of the three fronts.

The hype about Skype
Something pretty important is happening this weekend. The free SkypeOut promotion that allowed Skype users to call phones in the United States and Canada for free in 2006 will come to an end. The regular rates will return. Yes, paying $0.021 a minute is pretty darn cheap, but will the forced upsell work?

Skype is adding a layer of urgency to accepting the change by promoting an unlimited-dialing option for $14.95 for a full year. The incentive to hop on now is that the unlimited plan will more than double to $29.95 a year come February. Will folks pay? Is this the chance that VoIP providers such as Vonage (NYSE: VG) have been waiting for to win back the market's respect?

Jot down Jan. 18, 2007, as a day to check back in on Skype. That will be the day the service announces "an innovative and disruptive pricing structure."

eBay paid between $2.4 billion and $4.2 billion for Skype last year, and the initial analyst expectations of embedding the chat service into the company's auction site haven't really taken off. Skype will have to prove itself as a stand-alone entity, and the shift to a pay model next month for many freeloaders will go a long way toward dictating the platform's success.

There's nothing papal about PayPal
Over on the financial-transactions side, PayPal remains one of the brightest spots in eBay's story. PayPal is growing more quickly than eBay's auction marketplace. The global need for an easy and proven system to complete online money exchanges has been a feast for PayPal; it has opened the service up to a greater potential market than eBay itself.

However, we can't dismiss the peskiness of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). When Google Checkout was initially launched, Google went to great lengths to spell out how the service was not intended to be a PayPal killer. That rhetoric is ringing pretty hollow these days. In providing steep discounts to both consumers and merchants, Google is growing quickly as the payment platform of choice at many online retailers.

When retailers know that the margins on sales are fatter if they prod buyers to go through Google Checkout, can PayPal ignore that kind of threat? Will margins be squeezed if PayPal makes concessions to remain competitive? I don't think that Checkout will prove to be as easy a fly to flick as the now-defunct payment functionality of Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) PayDirect and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Passport.

Taking "It" to the next level
Over on eBay, many are left to wonder whether the online auction business has matured. Oh, the site's popularity continues to grow. The problem is that the temporary glimmer of accelerating domestic growth at eBay has come and gone. There are also challenges overseas.

This may appear to be the calmest of the verb trio, but it's not. Aside from the popularity of free listing sites such as Craigslist, the same entrepreneur spirit that bred power sellers on eBay has moved on, with the creation of cottage industries elsewhere. Folks are marketing their wares through MySpace, building out Google AdSense-fueled websites, and getting crafty about reaching out to customers through YouTube. Yes, eBay is still a very necessary cog in the e-commerce engine, but its flexibility to inch rates higher is going to be tested now that there are so many free outlets springing up for the entrepreneurially minded.

So keep eBay -- a winning Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter recommendation -- on your radar come 2007. Win? Lose? One way or the other, it looks as though eBay is going to latch on to a new verb in the year ahead.

eBay and Yahoo! have been Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter recommendations over the years. Microsoft is an Inside Value selection.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a satisfied eBay user, with 170 positive feedbacks to show for it. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story, and he is a member of the Rule Breakers analytical team, seeking out the next great growth stock early in its defiance. The Fool has a disclosure policy .

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2006/12/29/battle-of-the-verbs-at-ebay.aspx

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

by Steven Schwankert, pcadvisor.co.uk

After failing to gain significant market share in China's consumer auction market, eBay will join Tom.com in creating a Tom.com-operated site in its place, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Rumours have been circulating for months that eBay was preparing to exit the Chinese market, but were readily denied by the company. eBay bought Chinese auction site Eachnet in 2003 for $150m. Eachnet was founded in Shanghai in the late 1990s by local entrepreneur Shao Yibo, and its Chinese name, 'Yi Qu', still represents the site in China.

Alibaba.com's TaoBao site leads the consumer auction market, with the company claiming 30 million registered users and as much as 70 percent market share.

Posted by ebay news guy at 09:49 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
December 19, 2006

eBay Australia announced Monday it had won a court case involving ticket sales policies. According to news wire reports, tickets to the 2007 Big Day Out concerts included a provision that the tickets would be canceled and the holders refused entry if they were resold for profit. eBay said that condition was misleading and deceptive and confused consumers, and sued the promoters. The Australian Federal Court ruled in eBay's favor.

According to Monday's announcement on eBay Australia's board, "The Court has found that the condition in question conveys a false representation that all tickets resold for profit will be cancelled. By claiming the condition is enforceable, the Big Day Out promoter has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct toward members of the public. Today's judgment raises concerns about the implementation of ticket terms and conditions, which will need close inspection by the industry. In particular, promoters need to improve primary distribution and get tickets into the hands of genuine fans, rather than attempting to shut the gate after the horse has bolted."

eBay said the ruling "provides much-needed clarity to consumers."

The Associated Press said the judge in the case also ordered the promoter to pay eBay's legal costs (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/18/asia/AS_GEN_Australia_Scalper_Victory.php).

In Australia, sellers must adhere to eBay's Event Ticket guidelines (http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/policies/event-tickets.html).

In the U.S., sellers must adhere to eBay's Event Ticket Resale Policy (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/event-tickets.html), including state- and province-specific restrictions.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/au/200612181757292.html

Posted by eBay Guru at 10:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A new competition which will be played out on the UK's number one auction site, eBay, is laying down the gauntlet to the region's budding entrepreneurs. Regional development agency One NorthEast and the North East Regional Portal have joined forces to launch the YouTrade competition. The pioneering format will see 10 finalists rewarded with a £2,000 cash injection to set up a business and trade online through eBay.

The 10 challengers will have just 12 months to make as much money as they can in the bid to be crowned YouTrade champion, with bonus points available along the way depending on how well they engage with the eBay business model.

Regional Portal chief executive Norma Foster said: "This competition represents a fantastic opportunity for 10 entrepreneurs to develop a business idea online. We are expecting it to be a great success and can't wait to see the ideas."

Shortlisted entrants will have to submit a business plan which will be judged by a panel of industry experts. It is expected that 10 finalists will be announced in January 2007 and the 10 businesses will start trading shortly afterwards. The competition is supported by Sage (UK) Ltd, eBay, The bgroup, Platform One ltd and BT.

The deadline for entries is the 8th January 2007. For more details please visit www.n-e-life.com/forbusiness/article2.php?id=79570.

http://bdaily.info/story/view/3155

Posted by eBay Guru at 12:24 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Skype Invites eBay Users to Sign Up for New Calling Plan
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
December 14, 2006

"eBay's Skype service introduced a new plan on Wednesday that gives users unlimited SkypeOut calling to any phone within the U.S. and Canada for $29.95 for the year. Skype announced the new calling plan on the eBay Announcement Board in the U.S., and invited users to sign up at an introductory rate of $14.95 for users who subscribe by January 31. Additionally, users who subscribe before January 31 will get an extra free hour of inter