Here are three that you should be interested today in if you're serious about selling or improving your selling on eBay.
fflap
The service called fflap finds itself branded with a slightly generic and somewhat unfortunate name. Its features, however, promise to add to the set of viral tools and techniques that eBay sellers are increasingly using to leverage social networking in order to drive sales.What fflap offers is a way to automatically promote eBay auctions through your social networking accounts at Twitter and Facebook, and to do so in automatic yet managed ways that publicize and encourage virality while minimizing the potential to annoy social network members. Features on offer include:
- Staggered "drips" of your listings with a selectable daily limit
- Inclusion in hash-tagged twitterstreams to drive messaging and traffic
- Participation in giveaway contests that drive virality
- Automatic inclusion in online classifieds to drive search rankings
- Metrics to measure click-throughs, sales, and "flapps" going out across your network
While the service is modest at the moment, a few more complex management and reporting features and the addition of one or two more social networking services could make flap into a real gem of a tool for those that want to automate their social selling.
eBay Radio Party
The eBay Radio Party reminds eBay sellers that useful "social networking" can also include things that don't happen on a computer. After two years of on-again, off-again cancellations by eBay, it's true that eBay Live, the one-time be all and end all of eBay conferences, is no longer with us. Old timers will bemoan the loss of a reservoir of knowledge and community, certainly, but today's eBay sellers can still get a taste of good old fashioned eBay community.Co-hosted by Jim Griff of and Lee Mirabal of eBay Radio fame, amongst others, the program and sponsors list of the "party" looks like something you'd expect from a small, informal, yet productive eBay conference.
Two days worth of guest experts speaking on everything from sourcing to photography, with arranged time for networking and meet-and-greet style events offer a great opportunity for sellers looking to gain expertise and make contacts in the eBay selling community.
eBay "On Location"
As was the case with eBay Live, eBay University has also recently become extinct, leaving a bit of a hole in new sellers' hearts. This hole has been filled, however, with eBay's "On Location" series of gatherings, which present the "curriculum" of eBay selling in a more personal way than eBay University ever could have done.On Location attendees are treated to two days' worth of guest expert speakers, workshops and classes on various aspects of eBay selling best practices, and of course lots of social networking.
There are two remaining "On Location" events in 2010, one in the eastern half of the United States (Chicago) and one in the western half (San Jose). If you're an aspiring or growing eBay seller that hasn't yet had a chance to enjoy the social side of eBay selling and learning, these events can be a great way to begin.
