PayPal transactions reversed without warning

September 21, 2008

I’ve had a bizarre problem with PayPal payments over the last week or so. Certain payments have been – apparently at random – reversed in my PayPal account and the money returned to the buyer, without any action from me or from the buyer. They’ve… Read more

eBay UK’s average seller qualifies for a discount

September 21, 2008

When eBay introduced seller discounts one of the qualifications was to “initially be set at a ‘good service’ minimum DSR score of 4.6″. Now DSRs have improved and the average eBay seller now qualifies for a discount if they meet all other… Read more

Half-price listings on eBay.be 21st & 22nd September

September 20, 2008

eBay Belgium are offering half price listings on both auctions and BIN listings on Sunday 21st and Monday 22nd September. Prices for the lowest two tranches (which would work out to 2.5c and 7.5c respectively) will be rounded up. Other fees apply as… Read more

eBay Ireland appoint new MD

September 20, 2008

eBay Ireland have announced the appointment of a new Managing Director. Gareth Davis joins eBay.ie from management consultants McKinsey & Co, New Jersey, where he worked as an Engagement Manager, leading a number of high profile business strategy… Read more

Skype look back on the first five years

September 19, 2008

Scott Durchslag & Josh Silverman@ Skype’s 5th Birthday PartySkype held a party at the Absolut Ice Bar in London last night to mark their fifth birthday. Josh Silverman, Skype CEO, and Scott Durchslag, Skype COO, were both in London for the… Read more

“eBay – the stuff Dilbert cartoons are made of”

September 19, 2008

There’s trouble and dissent at eBay. And for once, I’m not talking about sellers. Wired points out that eBay’s CEO John Donahoe has been voted the twelfth least popular CEO on glassdoor.com, a site where employees can review their employers. JD’s… Read more

Sarah Palin’s toast

September 19, 2008

A bit of silly for Friday afternoon: inevitably, the image of US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has appeared on a piece of toast, on eBay. The likeness is uncanny. Bidding currently stands at $12,100.00, with more than a day left to go…. Read more

eBay to dump StumbleUpon, expand classifieds

September 19, 2008

TechCrunch are reporting that eBay are to sell StumbleUpon, the website discovery service they bought in May 2007 for $75million. According to TechCrunch’s source, eBay have hired Deutsche Bank to find a buyer for the site. Whether they’ll make… Read more

3: Three times as much Skype for free

September 19, 2008

3 Mobile have increased the free Skype calls on PAYG Skypephones as I discovered yesterday with my latest top up. Previously a £10 top up would get you a months free usage of Skype, but that has been increased to 90 days so I’m good to go until the… Read more

PayPal launch ‘unwelcome’ campaign

September 18, 2008

File this one under ‘horrible negative marketing’: PayPal are launching an advertising campaign to ask online retailers if they are sending customers away by not offering PayPal as a payment method, reports Marketing Week. The “unwelcome” campaign… Read more

eBay request EU investigate pushchair distributors

September 18, 2008

Tod Cohen, eBay Vice President, has asked Neelie Kroes, EU Competition Commissioner, to investigate restrictive trade practices and distribution agreements in Europe. The request includes investigation into the pushchair market restrictions by… Read more

Lehman Bros. memorabilia sold off on eBay

September 17, 2008

Ex-employees of bankrupt Lehman Bros. are looking to liquidate a few assets of their own, selling off branded memorabilia on eBay. eBay.com can offer a Lehman Bros. stress ball or golf club to fill your newly-extended leisure time, or a 150th… Read more

Scheduled maintenance…

September 17, 2008

If you can see this message, you’re looking at the new server. Both the domain name and the site may be a little erratic today, as we are moving servers. I apologise for any inconvenience this causes anyone. I’m also aware that avatars are not… Read more

Lewes Pound: don’t spend it, sell it.

September 16, 2008

In these times of economic doom and gloom, it’s good to be able to report a currency success story. Lewes, the county town of East Sussex well known for annual extravagant Guy Fawkes celebrations on November 5th, launched its own currency last week…. Read more

Understanding eBay changes workshop 22nd Sept

September 16, 2008

ChannelAdvisor are hosting a webinar in conjunction with eBay aimed at understanding the changes to eBay.co.uk Buy it Now and Shops coming this month. The webinar will take place on the 22nd September at 1pm (BST) and will be hosted by Rafael… Read more

eBay.ie introduce Best Match and DSRs in search

September 16, 2008

eBay Ireland have announced some changes today which they say are designed to make the site an easier and safer place to shop. Most of these reflect changes made on other eBay sites earlier in the year. DSRs under 4.3 disadvantaged in search The… Read more

Parcel2Go makes importing easy

September 15, 2008

Parcel2Go have introduced a new service ideal for eBay sellers who wish to import from the Far East. They can now offer a sea freight import service for full or part container loads from Asia. The service is available from Australia, China or… Read more

10c listing weekend for Irish sellers

September 15, 2008

For Saturday and Sunday, 20th and 21st Sept 2008 Irish sellers can list auctions and Buy it Now listings for just 10 cents. This promo is just days before the fee changes on the 25th, which will see multiple item Buy It Now listings available on… Read more

Amazon, eBay and finding

September 15, 2008

Amazon and eBay have two quite different solutions to assist buyers to find the product they’re looking for. Up until now eBay have relied on ending soonest, a lottery of which product happens to be at the top of search results at the time the buyer… Read more

‘Naivity’ no defence for selling fakes

September 14, 2008

An East Sussex woman has been sentenced to 100 hours unpaid community work, given a 12 month community order and ordered to pay £1530 costs for selling fake branded goods on eBay, reports the Rye & Battle Observer. The mother of three from… Read more

The Normal Person’s Guide to WordPress Plugins

September 14, 2008

We’ve looked at how to install WordPress and how to make it pretty; today I want to look at making WP do more. Plugins are additions to the basic WordPress functionality, which allow you make it do just about anything you can imagine, from… Read more

Video for your eBay listings in less than 5 minutes

September 12, 2008

Is it really only a year since vzaar launched? Many happy returns to Ken, the big boss, and his super-talented, super-lovely team. They really are great news for anyone who wants to add video to their listings. But vzaar’s greatest asset – as I’m… Read more

Google Chrome comic book sold on eBay Aus

September 12, 2008

Google Chrome appears to be taking market share from Firefox and Safari, although that’s not entirely surprising. IE is holding its own but it’s Firefox which is the tech browser of choice and users of Chrome are likely to be more browser aware than… Read more

eBay Switzerland launch free auctions, stores in search

September 12, 2008

eBay Switzerland have announced some changes to prices, effective 25th September 2008. I’ll keep this short because I may be the only person round here selling on eBay.ch ;-) Auctions with a start price of CHF1,00 have free insertion fees and free… Read more

Small Business 2.0 announces new speakers

September 11, 2008

Small Business 2.0 has announced an updated programme including speakers from eBay, Microsoft, Get Safe Online and Easily.co.uk. The London event on 11th October 2008 is for small businesses, including eBay sellers, that want to get more from the… Read more