eBay News: Analysts More Bullish on eBay
Thursday July 9, 2009
The eBay turnaround may be just coming into sight, according to analysts at Jeffries & Co. and Collins Stewart, reflecting this week on eBay's recent positive stock performance and changes to eBay's core marketplace business that appear to have slowed march away from eBay and toward competitors like Amazon.com. Though it doesn't sound as though they're ready to proclaim that eBay is back in all its glory, clear optimism about eBay's future isn't something we've seen for some time. More details at:
The Motley Fool
The Wall Street Journal
Barron's
The Motley Fool
The Wall Street Journal
Barron's
Name Your Own Price on eBay
Friday July 3, 2009

Image:
kmit /
Fotolia
Don't fret. Many eBay sellers are willing to entertain offers from eBay shoppers using a simple, convenient eBay tool, and naming your own price for an item can turn an "I think I'll pass" moment into a great deal. Read on to learn how to find haggle-friendly items and offer sellers a price that's reasonable to you.
See Also
Find Hidden Deals
Avoid Bidding Wars
Post a Wanted Item Listing
eBay News: eBay Awash in Jackson Memorabilia, Real and Fake
Wednesday July 1, 2009
eBay listings selling Michael Jackson memorabilia have surged in the days following the pop icon's death, with clearly authentic items being far outnumbered by items whose relation to Jackson is tenuous at best or whose authenticity can't easily be verified.
In hard numbers, listings mentioning Jackson were up from just a few hundred weekly to a few hundred thousand immediately after his passing, settling down to the better part of a hundred thousand over the last day or two.
Experts are warning buyers to be wary about listings that imply or make claims about direct links to the entertainer himself. More details at:
L.A. Weekly
The Los Angeles Times
The Vancouver Sun
The Baltimore Business Journal
In hard numbers, listings mentioning Jackson were up from just a few hundred weekly to a few hundred thousand immediately after his passing, settling down to the better part of a hundred thousand over the last day or two.
Experts are warning buyers to be wary about listings that imply or make claims about direct links to the entertainer himself. More details at:
L.A. Weekly
The Los Angeles Times
The Vancouver Sun
The Baltimore Business Journal
More Weird eBay Auction Fun
Thursday June 25, 2009

Image:
U.S. Gov't. /
Public Domain
Preparation
Start the holiday right on the 4th by donning your American flag tie, your flag hat, your flag boxers and/or flag bikini top. Of course, there's more to be decorated than just yourself—there's also the yard! So hang your flag windsock and cover your mailbox with your flag mailbox cover. Then, outline your windows and doors with red, white, and blue string lights. An inflatable Uncle Sam provides the finishing touch.
Festivities
With the mood set, you're ready for the evening's revelry to begin. Pick up your 3-D fireworks glasses and don't forget to begin twirling the requisite glow sticks. Pour yourself and your guests drinks in your flag tumblers and start barbecuing wearing your flag apron. Fill everyone's flag paper plates with food as the patriotic favorites music CD plays in the background.
Late Night
As the night settles down play war of independence chess or play card games using patriotic playing cards. Enjoy some Trivial Pursuit, All American Edition. When it's time to call it a night, make your announcement the American way, by playing Taps on your vintage bugle as the sun comes up behind your 25-foot flagpole and giant American flag.
Sniping on eBay: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Wednesday June 24, 2009

Photo: Forgiss / Dreamstime
Just how is auction sniping supposed to work and why doesn't everyone on eBay do it all the time? Read on to learn more about the good, the bad, and the ugly of eBay auction sniping.
See Also
Understanding eBay's Proxy Bidding
What is Proxy Bidding?
How are eBay auctions different?
eBay News: Notes from Developers Conference, Internet Retailer Conference
Monday June 22, 2009
With the absence of eBay Live! this year (it'll return in Orlando in 2010), eBay Developers Conference 2009 was held at the San Jose headquarters last week. Highlights from the conference include additional details about the selling manager applications platform, the new "Finding API" which replaces the old search API for developers, upcoming website tweaks, and enhancements to Large Merchant Services like Best Match transparency and auction format support.
Meanwhile, at the Internet Retailer 2009 Conference & Exhibition, Stephanie Tilenius, senior vice president and general manager of eBay North America, gave the Boston crowd a concise picture of eBay's strategy and sense of the market for the next year or two: in short, once again, a shift in emphasis toward large sellers and along with major coming changes to the eBay website and selling tools. More details at:
AuctionBytes DevCon Summary
Developers Conference Blog
InternetRetailer.com
Meanwhile, at the Internet Retailer 2009 Conference & Exhibition, Stephanie Tilenius, senior vice president and general manager of eBay North America, gave the Boston crowd a concise picture of eBay's strategy and sense of the market for the next year or two: in short, once again, a shift in emphasis toward large sellers and along with major coming changes to the eBay website and selling tools. More details at:
AuctionBytes DevCon Summary
Developers Conference Blog
InternetRetailer.com
Alternatives to eBay Selling
Wednesday June 17, 2009

Image:
Matthiashaas /
Dreamstime
See Also
Open New Channels with Auction Managers
Drive Offline Sales
Promote Better
eBay News: The $25k Sellers Challenge and June Changes
Wednesday June 10, 2009
Seeking to revitalize its selling community and generate excitement about the evolutionary steps that eBay has taken over the last year or two, eBay has announced a $25,000 "Sellers Challenge" entrepreneurship contest. The contest will award $25,000 to each of four winners who present a business plan and video detailing how they will use $25,000 and eBay's tools to either start a new business or grow an existing business on eBay.
The contest begins now and runs through August. Adult residents of the United States are eligible. Entries will be judged by a closed panel in July that will select contest finalists. These business plans and matching videos will then appear on eBay.com in late July and early August where eBay members will vote to select the winners. Only one entry is allowed per eBay member. Think you have a winning eBay business idea? More details can be found at:
Business Wire via SYS-CON UK
Ecommerce Guide
Sellers Challenge Contest Home Page
Meanwhile, the set of feature and policy changes announced by eBay in April are scheduled to take effect in the coming week, including more broad rollouts of new item and product pages (including variations pages that allow for one listing to cover multiple item variations), required return policy and handling time details, and the new dispute resolution procedure handled by eBay rather than by PayPal. More details at:
April 2009 Seller Update Announcement
The contest begins now and runs through August. Adult residents of the United States are eligible. Entries will be judged by a closed panel in July that will select contest finalists. These business plans and matching videos will then appear on eBay.com in late July and early August where eBay members will vote to select the winners. Only one entry is allowed per eBay member. Think you have a winning eBay business idea? More details can be found at:
Business Wire via SYS-CON UK
Ecommerce Guide
Sellers Challenge Contest Home Page
Meanwhile, the set of feature and policy changes announced by eBay in April are scheduled to take effect in the coming week, including more broad rollouts of new item and product pages (including variations pages that allow for one listing to cover multiple item variations), required return policy and handling time details, and the new dispute resolution procedure handled by eBay rather than by PayPal. More details at:
April 2009 Seller Update Announcement
Get eBay U.S. Sellers to Ship Abroad
Saturday June 6, 2009

Photo: Chaoss / Dreamstime
Though you can't always convince sellers to change their minds, there are ways to entice U.S. sellers to sell and ship to international customers like you. Here are some tips that can help international buyers to make successful purchases on eBay's U.S. site.
See Also
Sell Internationally on eBay
Shop the World with eBay
Tips for Trade Across Borders
eBay News: Facebook to Become an eBay Competitor?
Wednesday June 3, 2009
As eBay turns toward social networking features via the OpenSocial platform and an increasing accumulation of community-oriented features, Facebook may be making a matching turn toward ecommerce. Social networking sites have long struggled to monetize their core businesses, but the latest plan at Facebook is to implement a payments system similar in many ways to eBay's relationship with PayPal. In the short term, this will enable Facebook members to buy from and sell virtual items to another on-site, but in the long term, given Facebook's structure and user interface, there's no reason why it couldn't become a classified ads or trading platform similar to eBay or to Craigslist, with a ready-made userbase in the hundreds of millions.
Does 2009 mark the beginning of a convergence trend between social networking and ecommerce, especially in the user-to-user space? If so, eBay's new direction—away from user-to-user emphases—may make a kind of sense, given the much more exciting and loyalty-inspiring platforms that social networking sites offer. More at:
Newser
Equimedia
NBC Dallas-Forth Worth
Brand Republic
Does 2009 mark the beginning of a convergence trend between social networking and ecommerce, especially in the user-to-user space? If so, eBay's new direction—away from user-to-user emphases—may make a kind of sense, given the much more exciting and loyalty-inspiring platforms that social networking sites offer. More at:
Newser
Equimedia
NBC Dallas-Forth Worth
Brand Republic

