Two-thirds of etailers “confident” about future, says eBay survey

February 28, 2010

Online businesses are meeting their sales targets and are confident about the year ahead, despite concerns about lack of consumer demand and the high cost of supply. So says the latest edition of eBay UK’s latest round of their Online Business… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | 18 Comments 

Cold War spy bunker for sale on eBay UK

February 28, 2010

Looking for a country pad? Something unusual, maybe even historical? Are you, perhaps, a survivalist, or even a crazed Bond villain looking for a new base? Look no further, eBay has your solution. , complete with panoramic view over the… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | 2 Comments 

First ads start to appear on private sellers’ listings

February 28, 2010

eBay are now running adverts at the foot of private sellers’ listings. I’ve only managed to spot a couple so far, but they’re the usual suspects for eBay credit cards and laser eye surgery. Of course being eBay not only are they plugging ads for… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk | 19 Comments 

Most expensive Nintendo NES game ever, sold on eBay

February 28, 2010

Someone in the US is having a good weekend, their new, factory sealed sold for $41,300.00 on Friday. A copy of Stadium Events, which was briefly launched in the US and then recalled to be re-branded World Class Track Meet is apparently the rarest… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 7 Comments 

Kijiji offer to adjudicate you and your partners clutter

February 27, 2010

Do you have arguments with your partner over clutter in your house? If so (and if you’re in the US) Kijiji is offering the chance to sort it out once and for all. They’re running a “Clutter Court” giving you the opportunity to have a consultation… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Events | 5 Comments 

Volume “private” sellers forced to register as businesses

February 27, 2010

It seems that eBay UK is finally cracking down on some users who claim to be private sellers but who list in business-like quantities. Q&A board this weekend have sellers complaining that they are unable to list any more items, and have been told… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk | 9 Comments 

eBay.de’s compulsory PayPal policy under investigation

February 27, 2010

eBay is under investigation in Germany to test whether its new rule requiring new sellers to accept payments by PayPal online breaks competition law. As of Thursday, German sellers with fewer than 50 feedbacks are required to offer PayPal as a… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.de, Paypal | 1 Comment 

Using voucher codes to bring shoppers to your website

February 25, 2010

I was shopping online this morning. I got to the checkout, quite happy with the €30 total of my shopping basket, and then I stopped: there, just above the “pay us now” button, was a small box labelled “discount voucher?” It hadn’t occurred… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Ecommerce, Marketing | 31 Comments 

Apple iPad pre-sales restrictions on eBay

February 24, 2010

Well ahead of the release of the Apple iPad, eBay have already announced selling restrictions on the site, designed to protect buyers. In the pre-sale period prior to the launch date of March 27th most sellers will be restricted to listing just one… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Selling Tips | 6 Comments 

ChannelAdvisor from a user’s point of view

February 24, 2010

A few months back we were asked about ChannelAdvisor and what a ChannelAdvisor customer thought of their service – both the good points and the bad points. Jonny, from Global Technology Resource Ltd, runs a refurbishing computer business and uses… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Selling Tips | 29 Comments 

eBay officially announce expansion in Europe

February 23, 2010

eBay have just officially announced their expansion into the 6 new European territories revealed last November. Around 180 million shoppers in Russia, Czech Republic, Greece, Denmark, Sweden and Norway are now able to use an eBay site tailored for… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 14 Comments 

How likely are you to be a Top Rated Seller in your category?

February 21, 2010

Across all categories on eBay 21.73% of listings are from Top Rated Sellers (TRS), but that’s not the whole story. The number of TRS listings varies enormously with categories such as Art (50.57%) at one end of the scale and Mobile and Home Phones… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Featured, Selling Tips | 27 Comments 

eBay to demote all standard sellers in search

February 20, 2010

Today is the 20th of the month and sellers will once again discover if they’ve been promoted to Top Rated Seller status, are an Above Standard Seller, or a Standard seller. That’s all due to change on the 1st April though, Top Rated and Above… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk | 48 Comments 

eBay to run ads on private sellers’ listing pages

February 20, 2010

eBay UK has announced that, as of Monday, they will start testing advertising on the view item pages of “a small percentage” of listings belonging to private sellers. that these are eBay listings for which the seller has not paid an insertion fee -… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk, eBay.fr | 3 Comments 

eBay UK test removal of eBay shops module from search

February 18, 2010

eBay UK are testing the removal of the Matching eBay Shops module from search results. If you’re in the test group you’ll be seeing a text link which reads “See all matching eBay shops” instead of the module which previously carried the same link… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under eBay.co.uk | 7 Comments 

Amazon best practices & how to win the Buy Box

February 18, 2010

Everyone that I speak to about selling online are singing the praises of Amazon in comparison to eBay, and if you’re supplying new goods with barcodes in a relevant Amazon category you should be listing there as well as on eBay. Much of Amazon’s… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Selling Tips | 2 Comments 

Stephanie Tilenius joins Google as VP of Commerce

February 16, 2010

Ex-eBay executive Stephanie Tilenius is joining Google as vice-president of commerce, according to the LA Times. This is a new position at Google and is sure to fuel speculation that Google is to set up some rival to eBay. An insider told the LA… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | 1 Comment 

Free listing days for private sellers on eBay France & Germany

February 16, 2010

eBay France and eBay Germany have both announced free listing days for private sellers for later this week following the eBay UK one we already know about. on 18th February. Private sellers will be charged no insertion fees for auction… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under CLD, eBay.de, eBay.fr | Comments Off 

eBay roll ROI out to all AdCommerce users

February 16, 2010

Good news for eBay AdCommerce users – eBay are rolling out Return on Investment (ROI) data for all users as of today. ROI was released as a trial back in October with a limited number of users invited to join the program, but as of today everyone… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News, Selling Tips | 10 Comments 

Why I’m quitting my eBay business

February 15, 2010

Within the next few weeks I’ll be shutting one of my eBay shops for good and withdrawing from the marketplace. It’s not because I haven’t made good profits, it’s because eBay has forced me out of the marketplace. As many of you know I’ve traded… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Featured, Soapbox | 96 Comments 

[Updated] Free listing for private seller auctions 18th & 19th February

February 15, 2010

On Thursday 18th and Friday 19th February, private sellers will be able to list auctions on eBay UK with no insertion fees. All other normal fees will still apply. ; the usual category exclusions apply, and sellers will need to list using the Sell… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under CLD | 11 Comments 

eBay UK Motors fees increased

February 14, 2010

From 30th March 2010, there are some changes to fees for selling on eBay UK Motors: FeeOldNew Add BIN to auction listing£0.99£2.99 Reserve fee£4.00£7.99 Classified ad£12.99£14.99 Picture pack£1.25Free All other fees The… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk | 1 Comment 

PayPal disputes and US mail redirection policy

February 12, 2010

Logging into PayPal this morning I was greeted with a splash screen offering advice on PayPal disputes. I’m not sure why this was presented to me as I’ve no open disputes either as a buyer nor as a seller, and the last thing I want is buyers getting… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Paypal | 10 Comments 

eBay fined €200k over Louis Vuitton keywords

February 11, 2010

photo credit: geishaboy500eBay has been fined again in its ongoing legal dispute in France with LVMH. Reuters is reporting that a Parisian court has fined the company €200,00 (approx. US$274,000 or £175,000) for using misspelt versions of the… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under News | 4 Comments 

eBay, eBay, how does your Garden grow?

February 11, 2010

eBay has launched a new program to let users give feedback on site features as they are being worked on. The Garden lets users see proposed changes as a mock-up highlighting the new features, or opt in to use them on the live site. Likes,… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.com | 14 Comments