eBay In The News
Despite global protests over eBay's planned fee hikes, eBay still instituted the increases right on schedule. And sellers are still protesting. Organizers of the UK-based CORE (Campaign Of Rebuffed Ebayers) group are calling for a four-day "Clean Up eBay" (CUE) protest to run Sept. 14 to Sept. 18.

Originally, the complaints received by CORE stemmed from the eBay fee hikes, however, according to CORE organizers, the agenda has expanded to include additional seller issues. The general view is that eBay is not policing the site adequately for scam listings, provides poor customer support and is still tinkering with listings as eBay store items fail to show up in eBay searches. So far CORE has more than 1,160 petition signatures in eBay's discussion forums.

Similar expressions are being echoed elsewhere in the world as industry watchers claim that at least 800 Australian store owners have left eBay due to the increased fees. The Australian IT reported earlier this week that figures from the ListMy Store Web site show that the number of Australian shops fell from more than 14,000 to 13,244 within a week of the fee hikes. Much like the voice of CORE, some Australian eBay store sellers say the fee increases are a big issue, but their focus and attention is also on recent changes that see store inventory items less visible in eBay search results.

In more positive news for eBay PowerSellers, the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PeSA) has announced their Fall 2006 Summit will take place in San Francisco from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22. PeSA represents hundreds of the top high-volume eBay sellers who meet periodically to discuss best practices for eBay merchants. A number of companies are expected to participate during the summit, including Yahoo!, executive teams from Amazon and Google, Andale, BidPay, ChannelAdvisor, PayPal, uBid and other high profile e-commerce solution providers.

eBay News & Announcements
This week in eBay site news, Yahoo!, which has been out of the limelight recently, announced that the company will be displaying new graphical advertising banners through their partnership with eBay. On the eBay Motors home page, a new ad will be appearing on the right side of the page. On the eBay.com search results pages, the size of the graphical banner at the top of the page will be increased to a size of 728 x 90 from 468 x 60. The new size replaces the existing smaller banner as well as two small text ad placements. Also on the search results page, users will see a change in the size of the graphical banner on the lower left navigation of the page.

This week Scott Polhemus, the Category Manager for Tickets & Experiences, announced plans to test new features that are believed to improve the way you can find event tickets on eBay. A new interface will allow users to type the team name, game or event they interested in and see all scheduled events. On the announcement board Polhemus wrote, "For example, if you search for 'Red Sox tickets' you will be directed to a Boston Red Sox schedule page. The schedule page will display all Red Sox games where tickets are available, either for bid or Fixed Price purchase."

Third Party eBay Services & Integration Round-up
ProStores, an eBay company, has partnered with HostedSupport. The agreement will see ProStores distributing both HostedSupport's ezSupport Pro and ezSupport products. ezSupport Pro is a web-based hosted solution offering automated customer support that requires only a Web browser and an Internet connection. A set-up wizard asks a series of questions, and merchants provide the answers based on their business. When a customer submits a question, it is routed through the user's ezSupport knowledge-base to be analyzed and the correct answer is instantly sent back to the customer. ezSupport Pro is currently promoting a free 30-day trial offer, and following this trial period, eBay ProStores customers can purchase ezSupport Pro at a discount, plus save on customized and branded interfaces.

HostedSupport: Automated customer support. (Click for larger image.)

Microsoft announced the public beta for Microsoft Office Accounting 2007, which is capitalizing on the success of eBay and online sales. The new product includes several features for online marketplace integration, including built-in integration with eBay and PayPal, enabling businesses to run the online portion of their businesses directly from within Microsoft Office Accounting 2007. The upcoming product plans to offer the ability to select products from inventory, to list items for sale on eBay, view status of listings, as well as download transactions and fees. Additionally, PayPal integration will allow users of Microsoft Office Accounting 2007 to accept payment transactions with PayPal, either through e-mail or through direct credit card payments directly through the software. A final version is expected to debut in October.

Andale, Inc., a provider of listing tools and research services for eBay sellers, launched a new Web site, Honesty.com. It's a free service that provides a way for eBay shoppers to find bargain prices among items currently listed on eBay. When users search on Honesty.com, both the average selling price and a calculated bargain price (based on historical pricing) are displayed so buyers can immediately get an idea of whether or not it's a good deal.

Eye on The Little Guys: Biker Bid Profile
Biker Bids, an online marketplace for biker-oriented consumers, announced plans to continue work and focus on their online biker auction Web site. Biker Bids President Ryan Flynn describes the site as a great venue for bikers to buy and sell their products in a secure, fun and easy-to-use environment. Currently in its infancy stage, Biker Bids has less than 200 listings, but its niche market and well-designed and automated Web site is sure to draw attention over time from those interested in biker sales and purchases.

For buyers, feedback ratings are very important in building trust, and Biker Bids addresses this with a nice graphical layout under a "Meet the Seller" title. It shows user feedback on transactions, rated with a 5-check-mark system. This section also provides quick links to contact the seller, displays an ID verified logo where applicable and also imports and shows the sellers' eBay feedback score (if they have one) to boost buyer confidence.

Hog Heaven: Biker Bids, an online marketplace for biker enthusiasts, offers a unique way of presenting seller feedback ratings to boost buyer confidence. (Click for larger image.)

Biker Bids currently offers trial memberships for those wanting to test the auction site, allowing access to several buying and selling options. Trial members can pay a one- time fee of $5 to become an ID Verified Member. Item fees are also quite reasonable; basic listing fees and features are free, with small charges for advanced listing features such as highlight, bold and gallery. Sale fees are 3 percent up to a final sale price of $999, and a flat $35 fee above that. Currently Biker Bids is running a promotion which offers  sellers free advanced listing features as well.

The Biker Bids auction site also offers an eBay item-listing importer - something disgruntled eBay sellers with biker goods to sell will appreciate.

Research Says...
According to a new survey (conducted by Sweeney Research on behalf of eBay) 76 percent of the 1,600 Australian Internet users who were surveyed believe online shopping is becoming safer. Respondents also indicated that they think the industry is not doing enough to educate consumers about online shopping safety. According to the eBay survey, one in five online shoppers rarely or never read security information posted on a Web site.

If you've been considering eBay for that special diamond ring purchase, then you may want to consider this new report. Murray Nickel of "Diamonds Are Eternal" recently spent time analyzing diamond jewelry merchants on eBay. Judging the merchants on a base-set of criteria, he found that, not surprisingly, some diamond jewelry merchants on eBay are not at all customer-friendly in terms of trade and returns. In fact, within the report he calls most of the terms of trade "draconian." From the original list of merchants, the screening to find reliable merchants removed all but 45 merchants from the initial list of 467. You can view Nickel's report and his choice for eBay's top 10 diamond jewelry merchants, as well as some consumer tips to consider before buying on the Diamonds Are Eternal Web site.

Only on eBay...
Now here is one for the just plain "yuck" file. This past week saw Britney Spears' half-eaten egg sandwich fetching $500 (#280) in an eBay auction. According to a press release, the sandwich was auctioned off by the person who served Spears and husband Kevin Federline at a recent award ceremony. Forty-three bids were placed, and no surprise here, the Golden Palace Casino placed the winning bid. They also were the proud winners of Spears' pregnancy test (another yuck), which was auctioned off last year.

We certainly hope the egg sandwich was (and continues to be) kept well refrigerated or frozen. Actually a compost might be a better bet.

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