No time for pleasantries today, folks, so let's get rolling!
Buy It...Quick
eBay started this week off with the announcement that its new site — eBay Express — is now live.
Bill Cobb, eBay North America president, posted the news on the company's announcement page.
"eBay Express offers a completely new buying experience for eBay inventory. You'll notice right away that eBay Express has a unique feel to it — the overall presentation of eBay Express is rich in photography with a clean look and feel. Buyers on eBay Express will be able to purchase only Fixed Price and Store Inventory Format items, and will benefit from an easy, yet intelligent new way to find products — and, at last, a true shopping cart!," said Cobb.
"As I've said before, we think eBay Express will encourage more shopping among our existing buyers and will attract new buyers to eBay who prefer a more convenience-oriented shopping experience. This makes a better marketplace for all of us," he added.
"The best part of eBay Express is that it's still part of the eBay marketplace. This means that qualifying sellers whose eBay listings meet the criteria for eBay Express will automatically get the additional exposure. To learn if you meet the seller criteria, or to opt-out if you do not wish to have your listings shown on eBay Express, sellers should refer to your Selling Preferences within My eBay," Cobb said.
Our short experience using the site shows that it's fast and is already populated with plenty of items. We'll wait and see if it catches on with e-shoppers, however.
eBay's Family Gets Bigger
Contrary to eBay CEO Meg Whitman's comments earlier this year, eBay has been doing some shopping of its own lately. On Monday, the company announced it had acquired Tradera.com, an online auction-style marketplace in Sweden. Together, the companies plan to expand online trading in Sweden and bring more opportunities to Swedish buyers and sellers, a company statement said.
The acquisition cost approximately $48 million.
"Launched in 1999, Tradera.com enables auction-style trading for buyers and sellers throughout Sweden. Tradera.com has more than 750,000 listings at any given time and offers a venue where buyers and sellers can trade across an array of categories, from collectibles and home decor to antiques and electronics. eBay Sweden, focused on both auction-style and fixed-price trading, launched in April 2005," said eBay.
"Tradera.com has built an impressive business in Sweden," said Philipp Justus, senior vice-president and general manager of eBay Europe, in a written statement. "An e-commerce pioneer with a strong community focus, Tradera is a natural fit with eBay."
Business-to-consumer e-commerce in Sweden reached $4.8 billion in 2005, and that number is expected to grow to $15.7 billion in 2009, according to IDC's Internet Commerce Market Model, January 2006, according to the company.
Do It Right
Our resident eBay expert Frank Fortunado gave us his review of one of the more popular eBay solution providers today — Andale.
"The first road bump on the path to selling on eBay is the selection of auction management software. Whether the software is server hosted or downloadable, auction sellers need this 'middle man' to transfer their sales listings and images to eBay, Amazon, Yahoo! or any other auction venue's server. While eBay offers its own auction management tools, many, if not most sellers prefer third party products."
You can read the full review here. Next week, Frank will give us an in-depth overview of other auction management tools.
Another Way to Make Some Dough
In case you missed it on Monday, our own James Maguire told us about a different way of making money on eBay — becoming an eBay Trading Assistant. A trading assistant, or TA, is someone who sells other peoples' goods on eBay.
"A TA's clients bring them all manner of items — jewelry, sporting goods, clothes, toys — and he or she handles the eBay sale. Trading assistants earn a percentage of the final auction price; the more inventory a TA handles, the more money he makes."
"The beauty of being a TA is that it requires little upfront investment — the clients supply the inventory. So there's minimal financial risk. In a sense, being a trading assistant is the American dream. With just a business card, a place to store merchandise, and a willingness to hustle, someone of modest means can build a lucrative career."
Interested in reading more? Check out the full story here.
Devin Comiskey is the Managing Editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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