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Auctionbytes-Update, Number 177 - October 22, 2006 - ISSN 1528-6703     Contents | Next Story
	From the Editor By Ina Steiner AuctionBytes.com October 22, 2006
eBay released earnings on Wednesday. Gross profit was $1.132 billion in the third quarter, up from $905 million in the same quarter last year. And eBay did not spend one penny on bubble-wrap or packing tape - sellers do all the packing and shipping for them! eBay seemed to be managing expectations for eBay Express (http://digbig.com/4nkha), however I don't see this as a positive sign. You can read my summary of the financials on AuctionBytes Newsflash (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m10/i19/s01). Last week I wrote about a 23-year-old YouTube user who listed her painting on eBay. It's more evidence that Web 2.0 is making its presence felt and providing opportunities for online sellers: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m10/i17/s02 The fact that young people are so comfortable with web technologies was driven home to me at a recent conference I attended, which I blogged about here (http://digbig.com/4nkhk). MySpace, YouTube, Instant Messaging, blogs - we'll continue to monitor the "social networking" craze and bring you practical advice on how online sellers can use them to their best advantage. This month, we are celebrating our 7-year anniversary publishing AuctionBytes. Our very first issue was a print newsletter published in October 1999. (We still run across a box of those newsletters when we're looking for something in the basement.) We switched to the email format with the November 6, 1999 issue and have archived every article on our web site. You can see all of our archives on this page http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu (look in the lower left box called, "AuctionBytes-Update Archives" and click on a year to see all the issues from that year. We began publishing daily news stories (AuctionBytes Newsflash) in 2001, and we launched videos on AuctionBytes.TV and the official AuctionBytes Blog in 2005. We've covered every eBay Live conference since the first one in 2002, breaking ground each year with eBay Live blogs, podcasts and videos. But David and I don't publish AuctionBytes alone. A big thanks to the companies who support us through advertising, and to the writers who contribute content, and to the moderators and participants in our forums who answer questions about online selling, marketing, collectibles and more - stop in at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/index.php Thanks also to our behind-the-scenes colleagues who help out in various ways. And the biggest thank you of all goes to AuctionBytes readers for constant encouragement and for keeping us honest. We've met some amazing, hard-working and knowledgeable people in the past 7 years, and we plan to be right here serving you for the next 7 years! Thanks for reading.