Image: Dolgachov / Dreamstime

If you're not already a mobile web junkie, you may think that your phone isn't feature-packed enough to eBay on the go, or that eBay on smaller displays like those of most mobile phones is an implausible proposal at best. In fact, most mobile phone users have some kind of eBay capability on the go, and some have it in spades. Read on for quick tips on bringing eBay to your mobile.

See Also

     • Get Mobile Notifications
     • eBay Services and Tools

eBay's free iPhone app is a small player in a big pond (the iPhone itself only has a 15 percent share of the mobile market), but it's paying solid dividends for eBay. The app has generated over $400 million in sales for eBay thus far, with iPhone shoppers having bought everything from clothing and books to cars and boats using their iPhones. More at:

     • TechCrunch
     • Mobile Marketer

In more controversial news, a group of anti-abortion activists is planning to use an eBay auction to generate funding for the defense of accused abortion doctor killer Scott Roeder. On auction will be a host of anti-abortion mementos and memorabilia. eBay hasn't yet taken a public position on the proposed listing or its policy compliance. More at:

     • First Coast News, Florida
     • The Wall Street Journal

  Image:
  Hkuchera /
  Dreamstime

From time to time as an eBay seller you may find that someone else is hanging on to money that you feel belongs to you. At times, you may even feel as if you're being dealt with unfairly. You're sure you've held up your end of the bargain, and now you're not getting paid. What gives? What are these holds and chargebacks, and why do they happen, and what can you do to avoid them? Read on to find out.

See Also

     • Dealing with Buyer Fraud
     • Dealing with Refund Requests
     • Don't Avoid Filing Disputes

Los Angeles based Stamps.com has announced a new, lower price point—free—for the integration of its shipping and postage services with eBay as a selling platform, with some caveats. The formerly $15.99-per-month service competes with PayPal's own offering by supporting a host of selling platforms. More at:

     • AuctionBytes
     • SocialTech.com

In the meantime, eBay has announced a small round of layoffs as a "fine tuning" measure ahead of what is expected to be a positive earnings report for the third quarters. More at:

     • The Los Angeles Times
     • AuctionBytes
     • The Wall Street Journal

Image: Tumanyan / Dreamstime

If you're not already using eBay's RSS feeds, it's probably because you don't think they have much to offer you as a buyer or seller. If this sounds like you, the possibilities of RSS might surprise you. If you're an eBay shopper, RSS helps you monitor and manage collections of your favorite items, sellers, or stores in real time; if you're an eBay seller, RSS can take your item listings into the blogosphere and even into Twitterspace.

If you've been meaning to try RSS but haven't yet found time to get started, read on for a crash course in taking your eBay trading to the RSS level.

See Also

     • Monitoring eBay Listings
     • eBay Community and Social Networking

eBay has recently announced several pending changes that may be of interest to eBay buyers, sellers, and community members. eBay Blogs will be closed on October 31st, 2009 due to lack of interest. Bill Me Later will be rolled out on eBay in the weeks to come in what is supposed to be a transparent transition for sellers. Finally, the new Top-Rated Seller status is now appearing in listings. More at:

     • eBay's General Announcements Board
     • eBay's Developers Program Blog

In other news, the upcoming test of Google's new Wave service has eBay traders actively buying and selling Wave invitations. If past experiences with Google's Gmail service are any indication, there is indeed good money to be made in the Google invitations market. More at:

     • MediaPost News
     • The Christian Science Monitor
     • The Voice of Network Convergence

  Image:
  Kenneystudios /
  Dreamstime

Not all sellers experience PayPal fees equally. Fees that are just a nuisance to some eBay sellers can mean the difference between profit and loss for others. You're especially likely to fall into this latter category if you're a high-volume seller of low value goods or are considering becoming one.

If this is new, do have you already switched to using PayPal Micropayments? If not, now may be the time to consider doing so.

See Also

     • Control Your eBay Fees
     • How to Choose an eBay Business Model
     • Supply and Demand on eBay

Sarah Palin may be out of office, but she can still draw crowds—including crowds of bidders. Friday night, an Alabama woman paid $63,500 on eBay for a chance to have dinner with the former governor of Alaska. More at:

     • New York Daily News
     • The Huntsville Times

Meanwhile, the founders of Skype filed suit against eBay on Friday, alleging that eBay violated copyright by engaging in modification and sharing of source code still held by Skype's founders and peer-to-peer software company Joltid. eBay licensed the peer-to-peer technology after buying Skype in 2005.

It's unclear how this will affect the agreement between eBay and a consortium of investors set to acquire a 65 percent stake in Skype. What is clear is that eBay has agreed to foot any legal bills that arise in the process. More at:

     • The New York Times
     • CNET News
     • Business Week

Image: Tumanyan / Dreamstime

With this fall's eBay changes come a couple of important changes to Selling Manger. First change: it's now free. Second change: the introduction of a new Selling Manager app store similar in concept to the app stores we've become familiar with in mobile phones—only this one is full of apps to help sellers.

The store is small so far, but already boasts a number of useful third-party applications that will no doubt multiply in the weeks and months to come. If you're not already using Selling Manager, now may be the time to start.

See Also

     • Get Ahead with Selling Manager
     • Develop eBay Applications
     • Useful eBay Selling Tools

eBay announced this week that it has sold a 65 percent share in VOIP communications giant Skype to a group of private equity and venture capital funds. Sale price was some 2 billion in cash, a reasonable chunk of the 2.8 billion that eBay believes Skype to be worth. More at:

     • The Economist
     • Computerworld
     • NewsFactor

In other eBay news, GM has extended its west coast eBay partnership after a summer of mixed results. Car buying experts are warning consumers that the prices found on eBay through the program may not actually represent the best deals possible. More at:

     • The New York Times
     • Automobile Magazine
     • Autoblog