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EcommerceBytes-Update, Number 161 - February 19, 2006 - ISSN 1528-6703
This & That: Online Auction Roundup
1) Comparison Shopping Blog
By Ina Steiner
Reminder: AuctionBytes does not endorse the products and services featured in the "This & That" column, which often features new Web sites. (Anyone can set up a Web site.) Fraud has become widespread in the online auction world, and you should think twice before giving private information or User IDs and passwords to any third party.
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Comparison shopping engines like Shopzilla and eBay's Shopping.com are hot. If you follow this space, Brian Smith's Comparison Engines blog is a must-read.
http://www.comparisonengines.com
2) eBay Strategy Blogs
By Ina Steiner
Jane Hatton, Director of International Expansion at ChannelAdvisor, and Pascal Finette, both former employees of eBay, have set up blogs for eBay sellers. Jane said, "We are both writing about our eBay experience after amassing nearly 6 years of experience working at eBay together at eBay UK and eBay DE. The site is aimed only at helping eBay sellers sell more - giving them all the tips and tricks we have learned whilst being part of this industry." They post news and tips almost daily, and once a week post a downloadable PDF document containing a useful strategy tip for selling on eBay.
http://www.strategies-for-ebay.com
http://www.strategies-for-ebay.co.uk
http://www.strategien-fuer-ebay.de
3) Iza-Biza Auction Reminder
By Ina Steiner
Iza-Biza has added a new feature to its service, which lets you call and get the status of an eBay auction. The new feature allows you to set up a reminder, so you get a phone call before an auction ends with auction details reminding you to bid. The toll-free number is 888-IZA-BIZA (492-2492).
http://www.izabiza.com
4) Processing Payments for Digital Downloads
By Ina Steiner
PayLoadz.com is a service that facilitates the download of digital products via PayPal and ties in with PayPal's shopping cart. PayLoadz hosts the downloadable product on their servers and gives the buyer a "download now" button on the page following the PayPal shopping cart pages. PayLoadz is worth exploring now that eBay offers the ability to sell digital products on its site.
http://www.payloadz.com
5) Operations: Becoming More Efficient
By Ina Steiner
Thanks to longtime reader Sun for sending a link to this page that shows how one company set up their operations. While this is on a scale most of us don't aspire to, there is something to be learned about how to set up a processing center. As Sun said, "Here's a company that's thought about automation, and I think eBay sellers can apply some concepts from the article to their procedures with receiving, storage layout, and shipping processes. I know I appreciated learning about "velocity" in the article and do keep fast-selling items closer to the packing table than non-sellers." It's always good to think about how you can set up your photo station, packing station, mailing station and office - it can save you time and aggravation by being organized and efficient.
http://www.anandtech.com/IT/showdoc.aspx?i=2694&p=2
6) High Tech Tools for Dumpster Diving
By Ina Steiner
Thanks to Brian Cohen for sending me this link to Garbage Scout: . As it says on the FAQs page, "New York City's streets are full of interesting and potentially useful things that have been thrown out. If you see something good, snap a picture of it with your camera phone, and email it to GarbageScout. It will go up on the home page and others can go and get it. This will reduce landfill, save people money, and clean up the streets."
http://www.garbagescout.com/FAQ.php
7) Complying with eBay's Safe Payments Policy
By Ina Steiner
eBay has begun enforcing its Safe Payments Policy, which bans mentioning certain payment methods in listing descriptions. (You can read more reaction to this policy in today's "Letters from Readers" section.) Reader and eBay seller Martha wrote in with a tip: "For all of the sellers out there who are going crazy trying to figure out how to make the changes easier, please tell them that if they are an SAPRo user it can be done easier." She had over 9,000 listings to change, so going into each one would be time-consuming, to say the least.
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