PayPal think I’m not a real person

August 31, 2010

Following on from last week’s request from PayPal for additional verification, to comply with EU law, they’ve now decided my name is not my name. Addressing me by email with my PayPal registered name “Chris Dawson”, they say “After reviewing your… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Paypal | 43 Comments 

5 things to think about before you buy a domain name

August 31, 2010

Previously on 24 TameBay: How not to pick a domain name How to pick a domain name .com or .co.uk? People will argue about this, but here are my thoughts: .co.uk is fine if all your customers are UK based, and always will be…. Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Ecommerce, Internet, Marketing, SEO | 5 Comments 

Off-eBay sales to eBay buyers – would you?

August 30, 2010

. If you don’t have PowerSeller Board access, here’s the jist of the story: Buyer buys an item, buyer asks seller to add other items to order, seller says “go click BIN in my shop”, buyer doesn’t pay, seller files UID, buyer pays for original… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Customer Service, Ecommerce | 22 Comments 

How to pick a domain name

August 30, 2010

Yesterday we looked at how not to pick a domain name; today, I’d like to be a bit more positive. Before we start, let me say that this post will have some examples of things that I consider to be bad ideas. Some of them will resemble the branding of… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Ecommerce, Internet, Marketing, SEO | 2 Comments 

“Your item should arrive…”

August 30, 2010

eBay are now telling buyers when their items should be expected to arrive, based on delivery time estimates and the shipping service they’ve selected. Here’s what I just got on checkout: A couple of people have mentioned this, but I hadn’t… Read more

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

eBay to push fashion outlets for Christmas

August 30, 2010

The Guardian reports that eBay UK will be pushing harder than ever in the run up to Christmas. As well as the current billboard campaign, adverts will appear in glossy women’s magazines including Vogue, OK!, Grazia, Look and Elle. Angus… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk | 6 Comments 

How not to choose a domain name

August 29, 2010

If you were anywhere near the internet last week, you probably saw the admirable Messrs. Ferreth and Jobs, and their website… ferrethandjobs.com. Ahem. They join a venerable tradition on the net: who can forget whorepresents.com, penisland.net… Read more

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

eBay.com announces automatic 5* DSR for free shipping

August 28, 2010

eBay’s official blog, eBay Ink announced yesterday that on eBay.com, transactions with free shipping will automatically receive a 5-star score for the shipping DSR. The change takes place with immediate effect. For transactions where eBay can see… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.ca, eBay.com | 25 Comments 

Additional PayPal verification requirements

August 25, 2010

If you’re running a business and use PayPal it’s likely that they’ll be contacting you to request further business and personal information. This could include amongst others: photo id; proof of address (e.g. bank statements, utility bills); proof… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under eBay, Paypal | 22 Comments 

Webinar: Optimal items to convert to Amazon FBA

August 25, 2010

If you sell on Amazon you may be interested in a webinar to be held on Wednesday 8th September at 10am BST. The session will discuss how to identify products most suited to FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). The seminar will discuss how to analyse your… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Events | Comments Off 

eBay to restructure discussion boards and community hub

August 25, 2010

eBay have announced a total revamp of the eBay community pages to include new discussion boards, videos, social media integration and updated answer center and groups. The new community hub will go live on the 8th September for eBay UK and… Read more

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

Alibaba purchases Auctiva

August 24, 2010

Alibaba has announced it has purchased Auctiva, the developer of third-party tools for eBay sellers and ecommerce merchants. Auctiva provides a variety of listing, marketing and management tools as well as image hosting and online storefronts, and… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Ecommerce, News | 7 Comments 

myHermes 0-1kg parcel £2.75+VAT price promo

August 24, 2010

myHermes have introduced a new 0-1kg parcel price of £2.75+Vat (£3.23 inc VAT) for the summer. Running for the next two months it offers a 3-5 day door to door collection and delivery service. The pricing is competitive with Royal Mail prices… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | Comments Off 

eBay to scrap all 3rd party checkouts

August 24, 2010

eBay have announced that as of the 30th June 2011 they will be closing all 3rd party checkouts and the only checkout available on eBay will be eBay’s own checkout. This will impact 3rd party solution provides such as ChannelAdvisor, eSellerPro… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk, Featured | 12 Comments 

iTunes hack charges victims PayPal accounts

August 23, 2010

If you use iTunes and have linked it to your PayPal account you might want to revoke the payment authorisation. There are reports on the Internet that there’s a security hole in iTunes and hackers have figured out how to charge thousands of pounds… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 1 Comment 

FAQs: I’ve had enough of eBay. Where else can I sell?

August 23, 2010

We get this a lot. The question goes something like: “I’ve had enough of buyers holding me to ransom over DSRs. eBay charge me too much money for the amount of grief. I’d like to quit selling, but I need the money. Where else can I sell?” The… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, Ecommerce, Marketplaces, Selling Tips | 157 Comments 

Facebook make changes to fan pages

August 22, 2010

If you’ve built a fan page for your business (or anything else) on Facebook, you may notice some changes happening this week. Facebook has announced that boxes and the Boxes tab will be disappearing, and that page width will now be limited to 520… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Ecommerce, Facebook | 1 Comment 

“Used” on eBay UK is “Like New” on eBay.com

August 21, 2010

There’s a thread on the UK PowerSeller board (log in required) where a seller of media, , is complaining about Item Condition mapping between the UK and US. Items listed as “Used” are showing up as “Like New” .   This isn’t the first time… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under eBay.co.uk, eBay.com | 6 Comments 

eBay Shopping Basket FAQs: how long does stuff stay in my basket?

August 21, 2010

Since eBay UK’s shopping basket was introduced, a number of people have wondered about the longevity of items added to it. How long do they stay put? Might they just disappear if you’re shopping over a number of days? eBay gave us an answer: The… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, eBay.co.uk, Ecommerce, Web Design | 7 Comments 

Open Thread : Your craziest question from a buyer

August 21, 2010

Something about eBay brings out the silly questions in people. I don’t know if it’s eBay themselves encouraging buyers, as they used to do, to ask a question, any question, just to prove the seller is actually responsive – or if there’s something… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under eBay, Selling Tips | 38 Comments 

Free listings for specifically invited eBayers

August 20, 2010

There’s a free listing weekend on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August 2010, but only for sellers specifically invited by email to take part.. The free listings only apply to auction listings at any start price listed on the 21st-22nd with the… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under CLD | 5 Comments 

Royal Mail Tracked service to be enhanced

August 20, 2010

I’m hearing rumours that in the near future Royal Mail will be expanding the Royal Mail Tracked service to include greater weights and new service enhancements. Coming soon will be a next day service (although it’s not guaranteed, almost all… Read more

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

Recession drives millionaires to shop on eBay

August 20, 2010

According to eBay residents of some of the most wealthy areas of the country are being driven to eBay to buy big name brands at knock down prices. Affluent area of London including Fulham, Wandsworth, Clapham, and Putney are flocking to eBay to… Read more

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under News | 22 Comments 

Fair Weather Fans

August 17, 2010

Spotted on Facebook: It doesn’t work like that. Some people only buy the product when it’s on promotion; some people only want to enter the competition; some people are going to take your freebie and run. It’s the *other* people you’re… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Ecommerce, Marketing, Social Media | 14 Comments 

PayPal Virtual Terminal and rolling reserves: what’s really happening

August 17, 2010

We heard from several sellers at the weekend that they’d had 50%, 60 day rolling reserves slapped on their entire PayPal Pro accounts after applying for Virtual Terminal. PayPal support staff had a few different versions of what the policy is, so we… Read more

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Paypal | 2 Comments