NEWS FROM EBAY LIVE! 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Today's blog:
Both Sides Get Emotional at
eBay Live Powerseller Panel
It was, as moderator eBay's Uncle Griff put it, like a "dysfunctional
relationship" trying to recover at the PowerSeller Panel with Executives at a
Saturday session at the eBay Live conference. There were acknowledgements of affection
from both sides, but lingering grievances from sellers and an appeal from Lorrie
Norrington to "give us a fair shot."
eBay Responds to E-Payment
Requirements in Amended Bill
eBay responded to amendments to proposed legislation (H.R. 3221) that would require
electronic payment systems to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to
the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include any payment card
transaction and any third party network transaction.
eBay Rolling Out New View
Item Page
eBay said it would roll out a new Item page because the page has suffered from
"improvement overload" as more and more options and information have been added
over the years. "The result is that today's page is cluttered and less efficient than
it should be from both a buyer and seller perspective," according to eBay's
announcement about the change.
eBay Fee Changes and Recap
of Other Changes
Stephanie Tilenius, Senior Vice President and General Manager of eBay North America said
eBay will announce fee changes before the holidays, saying, "We want to be the most
price competitive marketplace on the web."
Friday, June 20, 2008
Today's blog:
eBay Reports Changes Are Having
Positive Effects
eBay is starting to see the benefits of the changes announced in January, according to
Stephanie Tilenius, Senior Vice President and General Manager of eBay North America. The
percentage of PowerSellers who qualify for fee discounts based on high performing DSRs
(ratings received by buyers) have increased since the announcements.
eBay Moving to New Finding Platform
eBay is moving to a new finding platform worldwide, Jamie Iannone, Vice President of
Global Search, told AuctionBytes on Thursday. It is rolling out the new platform this week
in the UK.
Dating Your Prospects?
Seth Godin Shows eBayers How to Get Clicks for Free
"How not to get married" may seem a strange piece of advice to be giving at an
eBay session, but top blogger, author, and Squidoo.com founder Seth Godin found a way to
tie it in to promoting your eBay business. You can either go to bars and hope those random
series of hookups work out, or you can do it by dating. (He recommended "waiting
until the third date 'til you tell them you're out on parole," which got one of many
laughs from the audience).
DSI Releases Electronic
Reporting Application for Endicia Dazzle Users
DSI Insurance, a leading provider of private shipping insurance, has announced the third
release of their eReport suite of software reporting applications; DSI eReport for Endicia
Dazzle. This application allows Dazzle users to electronically report insured shipment
information to DSI.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Today's blog:
eBay Phasing Out Third Party Checkout
eBay announced it would phase out third-party checkout by this time next year. Third-party
vendors help sellers list on eBay, and some offer sellers use of checkout systems to
up-sell and cross-sell items to buyers. For example, a buyer who purchases a laptop
computer from a seller and is taken to Checkout to pay for the item might be exposed to
offers to buy a laptop case or other accessories to increase the size of the order.
eBay Announces Expanded
Protection and Seller Incentives
eBay and PayPal will protect buyers for 100 percent of an item's purchase price for
eligible transactions paid with PayPal. eBay made the announcement at its seventh eBay
Live conference kicking off in Chicago today.
eBay Holds 2008 Annual
Shareholders Meeting
The Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel was the gathering place for eBay's Board of Directors and
investors this morning at the company's annual shareholders meeting. Former President and
CEO Meg Whitman was in attendance and was recognized by John Donahoe after the meeting.
Meanwhile in another part of Chicago, thousands of eBay members were congregating at the
company's annual 3-day user conference taking place at the McCormick Place West convention
center.
Alibaba Honors e-Business
Champion Contest Winners
Alibaba merchants gathered at the Gleacher Center at the University of Chicago on
Wednesday evening for a reception to honor winners of its e-Business Champion contest.
Merchants in attendance included those in town for the eBay conference taking place at the
McCormick Place convention center beginning on Thursday.
eBay Rolls out New Search in UK
eBay is rolling out new search on the UK site. Rather than bringing back results solely
for matching keywords, search will now look at the category an item is listed in and any
item specifics the seller provides so that buyers are more likely to find what they want.
Users will be able to switch to and from the old and new systems from within the search
results pages, but the old search system will be retired in 4 weeks.
Gangstas and Flappers Gear up for the
Conference at eBay Live Meet 'n' Greet '08
Sellers decked out in 1920s-style fedoras and flapper dresses mingled and buzzed with
anticipation about the upcoming eBay Live conference at the 2008 Meet 'n' Greet
conference, held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
RedRoller Introduces
One-Stop Shipping(tm) Service to Ship Packages for Businesses
RedRoller Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: RROL), today announced the introduction of its One-Stop
Shipping software service for shipping packages. RedRoller's new service dramatically
transforms package-shipping logistics for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs),
helping them save time and money when they ship packages.
iwascoding releases
GarageSale 5, GarageSale Basic, and GaragePay
Mac software developer iwascoding releases GarageSale 5.0, GarageSale Basic, and GaragePay
at the eBay Live! 2008 trade show.
_________________________
Developer's Conference
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Today's blog:
eBay Product Roadmap Leads to More
Seller Requirements
Seller Requirements, such as specifying at least one domestic shipping service, including
a handling time and return policy; as well as new PayPal rules for international sites,
and Trust & Safety changes such as anonymizing email addresses were discussed by eBay
Director of Product Management in his "eBay Product Roadmap" session Wednesday,
June 18 - a repeat of the Monday session.
eBay Cans Buyer Widgets in
Favor of Seller Solutions
Last year, the eBay Developer's Conference was about motivating developers to drive buyers
to the site, enticing them to build buy-side applications with the promise of eBay
affiliate revenue. As one developer said, last year it was "all about widgets."
This year, eBay has a new goal: to inspire developers to innovate to help solve problems
for merchants.
Developments in eBay Australia Plan to
Go PayPal-Only
eBay Australia rolled out the increased buyer protection plan it had promised users when
it initially announced it was moving to a PayPal-only marketplace. It had planned to roll
out the ban on all payment methods except for PayPal on June 17, but Australian government
regulators told eBay last week to hold off on implementing the policy.
Wrapping up eBay DevCon
eBay developers have half a day left to attend sessions like "Building Scalable &
Robust Applications using eBay Web Services," and "Delivering Immersive Shopping
Experiences to Buyers." The DevCon wraps up at 12:20 today in Chicago, with the big
news all about eBay's decision to open its platform with Project Echo.
AuctionBytes Newsflash: Auction News,
June 17, 2008
eBay settles over patent lawsuit, signs deal with Vietnamese startup, and more in today's
AuctionBytes online-auction news roundup.
Infopia Launches New eCommerce Platform
Infopia, the leading SaaS eCommerce platform provider, announced today that it has
launched its new Infopia Transact eCommerce solution. The platform includes both software
and service components for small- to mid-sized merchants--enabling rapid growth in online
revenues.
DSI Insurance Adds PayPal as Payment
Option
DSI Insurance, a leading provider of private shipping insurance, has added PayPal as a
payment method for their online, instant coverage program. The addition of PayPal allows
the millions of PayPal users' access to purchasing discounted shipping insurance in
real-time via the DSI website
FreightCenter.com Releases Shipping
Widget
After many months of work, FreightCenter.com, a leader in online freight shipping
solutions, announces the release of their shipping widget. This tool allows users to
create an easy to use shipping calculator and place it directly on their website or eBay
listing.
New Uship Tool Eases Shipping Friction
For Ebay Users
As eBay Live, the annual celebration of all things eBay (EBAY), lands in Chicago on June
19-21, uShip (www.uShip.com) is announcing the launch of the eBay Shipping Center.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Today's blog: eBay
DevCon in the Home of 'Da Bears'
eBay Star Developer Award
Winners Recognized for Innovation
AuctionBytes caught up with a few of the Star Developer Awards winners, announced Monday
at eBay's Developers' Conference, to get their impressions and find out more about these
products that were found to be worthy by the panels of judges.
SalesForce.com's Adam
Gross Keynotes at eBay DevCon
Adam Gross, Vice President of Platform and Developer Marketing for SalesForce.com, gave a
keynote address at the eBay Developer's Conference on Monday on the importance of
platform-as-a-service to the ecommerce industry. In an interview after the talk, Gross
shared his thoughts with AuctionBytes about eBay's announcement made during the keynote
sessions.
PayPal Clarifies Language
in New Policy Update
PayPal amended its policy update that goes into effect on July 9 to be clearer about
requirements for eBay sellers who ship internationally. PayPal made the change after an
AuctionBytes article reported the original update, which had read, "Section 4.3 is
amended so that eBay sellers must accept international PayPal transactions if the eBay
listing offers shipping outside the US."
eBay Adds Pre-Filled Item
Information to Multiple Categories
eBay announced it is introducing Pre-Filled Item Information in multiple categories,
including Consumer Electronics, Computers and Networking, Cameras and Photo, Business
& Industrial, and Home and Garden. Pre-filled Item Information, which is optional for
sellers, provides an easy way to add standard information to listing, such as brands,
models, colors, and stock photos, and it draws on UPC, ISBN, Title or Manufacturer Part
Number. eBay uses Pre-Filled Item Information to provide buyers with helpful information
when searching for items to purchase.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Today's blog: eBay
Live 2008 Extracurricular Events Roundup
eBay Officially Announces
Open Platform, More News on the Way
Developers gathered in Chicago are hearing more about eBay's plans to allow third parties
to integrate applications directly onto its site. The eBay Developers Conference kicked
off this morning, with a keynote address at 9:30 am central.
eBay Announces Star
Developer Awards
A tool for accessing eBay on a Nintendo wii gaming system has won eBay's developer award
for "Most Innovative Application." The Jaast for Wii from a Germany developer
was one of seven applications winning eBay and PayPal developer awards today. eBay
announced the awards during its Developers Conference taking place in Chicago this week,
immediately preceding its annual eBay Live conference.
Big News Expected at Today's eBay
Developers Conference
eBay is kicking off its 3-day Developer's Conference on Monday for eBay, PayPal, Skype,
Shopping.com and ProStores. eBay DevCon speakers will be addressing the importance of open
platforms in improving user experiences, boosting customer loyalty and engagement, and
helping entrepreneurial developers monetize their applications by taking advantage of
leading ecommerce API platforms on the Web. eBay will reveal its hush-hush "Project
Echo" for the eBay platform today during the keynote address that kicks off at 9:30
am Central time.
eBay Mandates US Sellers
Take PayPal if They Ship Internationally
eBay sellers around the world are being increasingly forced to accept the company's PayPal
payment service. In the US, eBay is requiring that sellers who ship internationally accept
international PayPal transactions - Section 4.3 of the PayPal user agreement goes into
effect on July 9, 2008.
Alibaba Event Coincides
with eBay Live
Alibaba is inviting online sellers to attend its e-Business Champion Awards Reception in
Chicago next week, taking place on the eve of eBay Live. The event honors successful
online sellers, and Alibaba will send one winner to the global Alifest contest to be held
in China on August 2nd where they will compete with winners from other parts of the world.
AuctionBytes Newsflash:
Other Online Auction News, June 16, 2008
Here is today's AuctionBytes online-auction news roundup. |
