eBay Watch: Mac Upgrade, Invoicing, Alternative Auctions

News and Announcements
This week eBay makes changes in its invoicing protocol and debuts a new utility called Bid Assistant while Discovery Communications decides to focus exclusively on its online stores.

EBay unveiled changes regarding how sellers will access their eBay seller invoices. The invoice e-mails sellers receive from eBay will now contain only a text summary, including the amount due and the payment method on file, according to Jeanette Longstreet of the eBay billing team. To view complete invoice details, sellers will have to log into eBay. Longstreet says the changes will help teach sellers to log into their eBay accounts from a "safe" URL. Sellers can also now download eBay invoices into HTML files. New reports, such as subtotals by fee or item, will also be added to help sellers better track the fees they have paid. These can be accessed from selling accounts in My eBay.

EBay also introduced a new tool called Bid Assistant, designed to help buyers win a wanted item. Using Bid Assistant, shoppers simply create a bid group from their Watch list and enter the maximum amount they want to pay. Once set up, Bid Assistant will place the maximum bid on the item that's ending soonest. If the auction is lost, Bid Assistant will automatically bid on the item ending next on the Watch List.

In other e-commerce news, this week Discovery Communications announced it will close its 103 brick-and-mortar storefronts, both the mall shops and stand-alone retail stores. The company plans to focus solely on its e-commerce platform instead.

David Zaslav, president/CEO of Discovery Communications, says Discovery's e-commerce operations posted a 144-percent increase in sales in 2006. The e-commerce venues used by Discovery Communications include DiscoveryStore.com, Amazon.com and eBay. Discovery Channel stores are expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year, with the exception of the Discovery Channel airport stores, which will continue operations.

Third-Party eBay Services and E-Commerce Tools Round-Up
iSale has upgraded its Mac OS X eBay selling software to version 4.1. iSale lets Mac users auction their products using a Mac-native interface in which they can create selling pages using various template layouts, track running auctions, manage sold auctions and more. The upgrade also includes Google's free, Mac-compatible Picasa Web Albums photo-sharing service for eBay auctions, which of course, can save sellers from extra eBay fees for image uploads. iSale 4.1. is a free upgrade for version 4.x users. For new users, iSale 4 can be purchased for $39.95.

Eye on the Little Guy: UBidRight.com Launches
Newly launched this past week is UBidRight.com, which lets sellers list an item in auction format and leave the listing online until the item sells. According to the fees page, UBidRight.com charges sellers a final value fee of 2 percent if the item listed sells through the site. Other fees, which are for optional upgrades, include a 2 cent bold highlight and a 5 cent fee for category featured. Right now there is a selection of 20 top categories in which to list and presently the site shows around 100 new listings.

When I first took a look at UBidRight.com the site itself seemed to be pretty standard off-the shelf auction software, offering features and a design similar to many of the smaller marketplaces we've profiled over the past year in eBay Watch. I did actually have some issues with creating a new account, due mostly to signing up and selecting regions outside the United States. Small auction sites are everywhere right now, and while eBay still ranks number one, it's interesting to watch the new sites and see how well they will perform after their debut, and how much trust they garner from sellers who are willing to file their credit cards with these smaller alternative sites.

Research Says...
According to eBay Pulse, this week Webkinz remains the most popular search on eBay.com, holding first place above both Wii and xBox 360. On the UK site, Apple iPod ranks number one, followed by McDonald's Monopoly and PS3. eBay.ca shows Lululemon as the most popular search, followed by Wii and xBox 360. Here is a snapshot of several eBay categories and the corresponding top three searches in each on eBay.com for May 24:

Specialty Services> Web & Computer Services: domain name, templates, and Web site design.
Specialty Services> Custom Clothing & Jewelry: jewelry, personalized and custom.
DVDs & Movies: DVD, Disney and "Night at the Museum."
DVDs & Movies> UMD: PSP, PSP games and umd.
DVDs & Movies> Wholesale Lots: DVD lot, DVD and Disney DVD.

Only on eBay...
Next to the game systems frenzy, the craze for Webkinz has taken eBay by storm. Not only has it surpassed Wii and xBox as a top keyword, the value of the auctions are increasing as well. This week seller blowoutauctions is offering a complete set of the 48 critters, including a couple of rare ones. With over 39 bids, the lot is up for a whopping $1,626, bringing in more than $33 a piece. Remember, when these come out in stores the retail price was about $12.99.

Of course there are some hits and misses as well. One seller has a rare Cheeky Dog listed at $1,250 but there are no takers yet. Still, others are selling this particular Webkinz at well over $400. With the Cheeky Cat and Cheeky Monkey added in, sellers could ask for over $900 like this seller, and possibly make a nice profit over the initial investment.

Vangie Beal is a frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com.

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