NEWS FROM EBAY LIVE! 2007
eBay Live
Monday, June 18, 2007
eBay: We Are Not Captive to Google
eBay Marketplaces North America President Bill Cobb told AuctionBytes he didn't understand
the media frenzy over the eBay - Google situation that cropped up prior to this month's
eBay Live conference. Google had cancelled a party meant to attract attendees of eBay's
annual conference and designed in part to protest eBay's ban of Google Checkout. eBay
pulled its US advertising on Google, though eBay called the move part of its routine
marketing tests. Bill Cobb spoke to AuctionBytes on June 16th in an interview now
available on AuctionBytes.TV.
eBay CEO Meg Whitman: Lower Fees May Be
Extended Beyond Summer
AuctionBytes Editor Ina Steiner interviewed eBay CEO Meg Whitman at the company's annual
conference to talk about seller issues such as VeRO, customer support, and eBay's recent
Trust & Safety initiatives. Whitman discussed the "Store versus Core" issue
that inflamed users last summer, and said she would like to see more auction business on
eBay. "Auction is our heritage," Whitman said.
PayPal Launches Payment Review for
Riskiest Transactions
PayPal is launching Payment Review later this summer in order to reduce fraudulent
transactions. PayPal will identify those transactions it believes may pose a risk and will
keep those transactions pending while it investigates them. Once PayPal completes the
transaction, sellers will be protected 100 percent - on those transactions. (All other
transactions will be covered under the seller protection policy, as they currently are.)
eBay Live Town Hall Meeting:
Will We Have Fees with That?
Fees and Feedback star ratings were two of the most talked-about issues at the Town Hall
meeting held on Saturday, June 16, the last day of the eBay Live conference in Boston, as
eBay sellers lined up at the mics to get their chance to talk one-one with eBay's top
executives.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
eBay Motors Holds $1 Listing Promotion
eBay Motors is holding a 2-day listing promotion June 16-17, 2007. Sellers may list a
vehicle on eBay Motors using any format (auction-style listing, Fixed Price, or Best
Offer) for a discounted listing fee of $1. The promotion applies to vehicles listed on
eBay Motors in the Cars & Trucks, Motorcycles, Powersports, or Other Vehicles &
Trailers categories. All other fees apply, see website for details and restrictions.
AuctionBytes Interviews eBay CEO Meg
Whitman, 1 Day of Live Left
The AuctionBytes news team has been in Boston this week covering the annual eBay Live
Convention and the eBay Developers Conference. Ina Steiner, Julia Wilkinson, Phil Davies,
Jim Whittaker, and Tom Shaughnessy have been interviewing attendees and eBay and PayPal
executives to learn about the state of the industry and find out what is new at the show.
AuctionBytes has also been doing video interviews of vendors and sellers to learn about
useful products and services available to online sellers and find out what sellers are
thinking.
PayPal Launches Payment
Review for Riskiest Transactions
PayPal is launching Payment Review later this summer in order to reduce fraudulent
transactions. PayPal will identify those transactions it believes may pose a risk and will
keep those transactions pending while it investigates them. Once PayPal completes the
transaction, sellers will be protected 100 percent - on those transactions. (All other
transactions will be covered under the seller protection policy, as they currently are.)
Friday, June 15, 2007
eBay Throws Changes at Sellers During
eBay Live Keynote
The keynote address of eBay Live 2007 was held in the Boston Convention Center Thursday
evening, and the venue had the feeling of a high school auditorium. It may have been a pep
rally, but there was less excitement at the 2007 meeting than in previous years, despite
the presence of company founder Pierre Omidyar in the stands.
uBid Does Deal to Acquire Yahoo Auction
Sellers
uBid has entered into a deal with Yahoo to accept its auction sellers onto the uBid site
with no pre-qualifications. The agreement is expected to be officially announced by Monday
at the latest, according to a source familiar with the deal. Yahoo recently announced it
was closing its US and Canadian auction businesses - the last day to bid or buy on Yahoo
Auctions is June 16, 2007. Yahoo Auctions had stopped charging fees to sellers in June
2005.
Tell a Good Story to Be the Best: Seth
Godin at eBay Live
The world's 20th most popular blogger and also one of its bestselling authors, Seth Godin,
kept a packed room rapt with attention on the first day of eBay Live, Thursday, June 14,
2007. With his trademark bald head and catchy, funny slides (the first one was an image of
the giant words THE FINE PRINT), there was never a dull moment. Godin urged eBay sellers
to break free from the pack and differentiate themselves in some way; to be excellent and
become an expert, so they could stand apart from the legions of other products and sellers
out there.
Monster Announces Targeted
Recruitment Resource for eBay PowerSellers
MAYNARD, Mass. - June 14, 2007 - Monster® today announced plans to launch a Seller Hiring
Center, providing targeted recruitment services to eBay sellers, especially eBay
PowerSellers. The online recruitment resource will offer eBay sellers a user-friendly,
affordable and effective way to identify and hire quality employees. Monster is the
leading global online careers and recruitment resource and flagship brand of Monster
Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST).
PESA Publishes Critical Statement of
eBay Marketplace
The Executive Director of PESA Jonathan Garriss has issued a position statement about the
health of the eBay marketplace. "Unhealthy eBay Marketplace Dynamics: Is it the
finding (search), or is it buyer confidence?" outlines complaints about eBay's
website and management decisions.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
eBay CEO Presents Growth Plans at Annual
Shareholders Meeting
eBay shareholders, board members and executives gathered at the Back Bay Events Center in
Boston for the company's annual shareholders meeting. Over 125 people, including
executives, board members employees and members of the media were on hand to vote on
business matters and listen to eBay's CEO present the company's plans for future growth
for its three major businesses.
Google Cancels eBay Live Party, Yahoo in
the Mix?
Google cancelled a party meant to attract attendees of eBay's annual conference and
designed in part to protest eBay's ban of Google Checkout. eBay had expressed its
displeasure over Google's decision to host the party to an IDG reporter on Wednesday and
pulled its US advertising on Google. Later in the day, Google sent an email to party
registrants informing them it had cancelled the event, but gave no reason.
Terapeak Launches Free Market Research
Service for eBay Sellers
VICTORIA, British Columbia - June 14, 2007 - Terapeak.com, an industry leader for eBay
market research, today announced a free eBay research package, which offers members
complete reports on keywords or products, including information on the best times to sell,
pricing, listing formats and features that maximize sales, and keyword and title
recommendations to help online auction sellers increase profits for their businesses.
eBay Coffee Talk: Pierre Omidyar and Bob
Kagle on Spreading Global Good
eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Bob Kagle, one of eBay's first venture capitalists to
invest in the company, reminisced about the early days of eBay and also speculated about
the promise of global trading on eBay in the future in this morning's "Coffee
Talk" session on June 13, the last day of the eBay Developer's conference.
Infopia Partners With Onstream Media to
Deliver Video Services to eBay PowerSellers
SALT LAKE CITY, June 13 - Infopia, the leader in multi-channel, online selling solutions,
announced today the company has signed a joint marketing, platform integration, and
cooperation agreement with Onstream Media (Nasdaq: ONSM) to seamlessly integrate
Onstream's Auction Video web services application with Infopia's eCommerce platform.
Onstream's Auction Video(TM) is a professional video transcoding and hosting solution
recently added to the list of eBay-approved video hosting providers.
TheFind.com Announces New 'PayPal'
Shopping Search Engine
Mountain View, Calif. – June 12, 2007 – TheFind, Inc. (www.thefind.com) today
announced the launch of paypal.thefind.com, a new shopping search engine built
specifically to enable consumers to browse products exclusively from merchants who accept
PayPal payments.
Everest Software Announces
eAuction Pro Integration with eBay
June 12, 2007 (Boston, MA, eBay Live Booth #561) - Everest Software, Inc. (Everest), a
leading provider of award-winning business management software for small and medium sized
businesses (SMBs), today introduced eAuction Pro - a new eBay integration for its recently
launched Everest Advanced 4.0 offering. The enhanced solution, previewed at eBay Live!,
enables SMBs to rapidly deploy and efficiently manage their eBay stores by seamlessly
integrating both online and offline distribution channels.
Infopia and buySAFE Partner
to Enhance eCommerce Trust
Salt Lake City, UT and Arlington, VA – June 12, 2007 – Infopia, the leader in
multi-channel online selling solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with
buySAFE, the leading trust and safety company for eCommerce transactions, to boost
consumer confidence in eCommerce sites. By integrating Infopia’s Marketplace Manager
platform with buySAFE’s trust seal and bonding services, merchants can offer their
customers third-party assurance that they are trustworthy and reliable, easing
consumers’ concerns and facilitating more sales and revenue.
MerchantAdvantage Launches
Solution for eBay Stores and ProStores Web Stores
MIAMI, FL - June 11, 2007 - MerchantAdvantage, LLC is proud to offer a web-based,
"Lite" version of its market proven Channel Management with Chanalytics solution
to all eBay Stores and ProStores Web Stores. This tool is integrated into the eBay and
ProStores platforms and allows eBay Stores and ProStores Web Stores to instantly expand
their marketing reach to dozens of new marketing channels without significant IT set up,
no set up fees, and no transaction or revenue share fees. MerchantAdvantage joined the
eBay and ProStores Developers Network in 2006 as a software developer creating innovative,
ProStores-compatible solutions to help online merchants further maximize their ProStores
Web Stores.
Developer's Conference
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
eBay and Google: The Gloves Are Off,
It's Getting Ugly
It's eBay Live, it must be time for Google Checkout to steal the spotlight from eBay's
annual conference yet again. In previous years, it was the rumor of a Google payment
service that had eBay sellers' tongues wagging during eBay's conference. This year, eBay
and Google may need the services of a British super-nanny to stop the squabbling that has
erupted this week.
eBay's PayPal Service to
Roll out 'Advanced Risk Predictors'
eBay wrapped up day two of its Developers Conference in Boston with a keynote session
featuring a talk by several speakers, including PayPal CTO Scott Thompson. Thompson said
fraud has slowed the growth of ecommerce, and he said PayPal wants to help merchants make
more informed decisions about transaction payments.
Opinion: Facebook Fertile
Ground for eBay Apps
eBay DevCon 2007 is all about "eBay Anywhere." (See my podcast interview with
eBay's Max Mancini and John Donahoe.) This includes eBay on the desktop, mobile device,
sites like Facebook and MySpace, blogs, etc. So what does this look? Here's a look at a
few eBay-oriented Facebook apps (you may have to join Facebook to view the apps).
PayPal to Upgrade Its
Data Center
eBay announced that the PayPal site will undergo a scheduled data center upgrade on June
18, 2007, beginning at 9 p.m. Pacific time and scheduled to last for approximately two
hours. During the upgrade, the PayPal site and a majority of its features will be
unavailable.
AuctionTNT.com To Give
Away $25,000 In Prizes At eBay LIVE
Swansea, MA - AuctionTNT.com, a Web site focused on tools for eBay sellers, announces its
upcoming launch. This Web site features photo, audio, and video hosting. Also provided by
the service are photo galleries and slideshows, a way to monetize seller feedback ratings,
a dropshipper of the week, a product sourcing search engine, live auction announcements,
seller resource discounts, a weekly free resource, and html/audio/video editors.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
eBay Honors Developers at Annual
Conference
eBay announced the winners of its Star Developer Awards today at a luncheon on the second
day of its annual Developers Conference. Six developers won recognition for their eBay and
PayPal applications.
eBay UK Holds 10-Cent Promo for Auction
Listings
eBay UK is holding a promotion for sellers on June 14, 2007. Sellers may list any item in
certain eligible categories using the Auction-style format to qualify for a reduced 10p
listing fee during the promotion period. Only items listed in British Pounds Sterling on
eBay.co.uk using the Auction-style format are included. All other fees apply, see website
for details and restrictions.
Data Bytes: Analyzing Summer
Blockbusters on eBay
Summer arrives and we enter the season of the blockbuster. In anticipation of the main
events, sales of movie memorabilia are on the rise. In this week's issue of Data Bytes, we
look at sales related to the first few summer blockbusters, along with the movie
memorabilia category as a whole, so you'll know what to expect for your movie memorabilia
sales during the coming months.
eBay Auto-Extender Ban Leads
to Duration Limits
eBay.com has joined eBay UK in limiting sellers from manually changing the duration of
their listings. Two hours after the start time of a listing, sellers will lose the ability
to change the duration of the listing using the Sell Your Item form, Turbo Lister, and any
third-party tools that use eBay's API
Monday, June 11, 2007
eBay Kicks Off Developers
Conference in Boston
eBay is holding its annual Developers Conference in Boston June 11-13 for developers,
affiliates and entrepreneurs. The conference will feature Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay
and CEO of Omidyar Network, John Donahoe, President of eBay Marketplaces, Kevin Lynch,
Chief Software Architect at Adobe, Scott Thompson, CTO of PayPal, and other executives
from eBay, PayPal, Skype, ProStores and Shopping.com. Keynote speakers will discuss
technology innovations happening on the eBay Inc. platforms and across the Web that will
allow developers to help shape the future of commerce.
eBay Unveils Major
Platform Extensions
Today at the eBay Developers Conference in Boston, eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) (www.ebay.com)
released a series of new services and platform enhancements to help developers, affiliates
and entrepreneurs extend eBay content anywhere that people are connected.
AuctionBytes Editor to
Moderate Ecommerce Panel at BuySafe Luncheon
AuctionBytes Editor Ina Steiner will moderate a panel at a luncheon for eBay PowerSellers
and multi-channel ecommerce merchants on June 15, 2007. BuySafe has invited a select group
of PowerSellers and merchants to a lunch coinciding with eBay's sixth annual user
conference in Boston. "Discovering the Secret Sauce of Multi-Channel Selling
Success" will discuss best practices in the areas of marketing, infrastructure and
conversion, providing attendees with the insight they need to be successful in today's
multi-channel ecommerce environment. |
