The 6th annual eBay Live conference in Boston may be missing the giddy aura of last year's event in Vegas — the only eBayer we saw donning a rainbow-colored wig sells them and there's no trapeze act — but it's not lacking in what counts: networking, strategy planning, product developments and, of course, eBay news.
About 10,000 loyal auctioneers are here in Boston attending the show, and while the vibe is clearly more colonial than casino, as demonstrated by the line of eBay enthusiasts lining up early to catch CEO Meg Whitman keynote address last night. While Whitman may have received top billing it was Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, who managed to put some shazam in the cha-ching by announcing a temporary fee reduction at the end of his speech.
| “"It's not like last year, where there was a big gala, and confetti and they surprised us with Davy Jones to go with the daydream believer theme. [But] I'm still impressed with the news from the keynote speeches.”
—Kris Gale
eBay Live Attendee |
Cobb's summer relief fee cut runs from today to Aug. 5, and involves lowering the first tier of core final-value fees from 5.25 percent to 4.5 percent. During his presentation, Cobb also said, "There will be no fee increase this July," leaving some to speculate whether that leaves the door open for more rate increases.
Despite what may happen in regard to fees, Cobb outlined several initiatives that should make sellers happy, with the goal of "reigniting the core," including design and search changes at the site and Power Seller perks.
On the search front, Cobb said eBay is working on a way to give Power Sellers an advantage in "best match" search results as a way to reward them for having solid reputations.
In the fall, he said, eBay will change the eligibility criteria for Power Sellers to allow for seasonal sellers and those who sell a high volume of low-cost items, such as beads, and Bronze Power Sellers will join Silver and other levels in having phone access to eBay support staff.
Other highlights from Cobb's speech include the following:
- Adding eBay Stores on the re-designed header that goes on top of every page
- A new, less cluttered and more organized home page design to be rolled out within next two months
- More visual navigation features, meaning you can see product images within search results
- An auction count-down clock with a price ticker, currently in beta, is slated for fall release
- More My World features, including guestbooks
- The introduction of a "one-click" bid feature that doesn't require shoppers to refresh the listing
- The creation of a micro-site, windorphin.com, that is built around eBay s marketing campaign focusing on colorful commerce, described by Cobb as the thrill of winning auctions on unique items.
Cobb also reported that in September eBay will attempt to spur sales by providing phone support to top buyers, who purchase 50 percent of the merchandise listed, in an effort to pamper them.
In regard to the Feedback 2.0, also called detailed feedback, Cobb said, "Some sellers say it's unfair, but you'll find in the end, the truth will emerge, and good sellers will get a better rating and bad sellers will get a worse rating."
Of course it wouldn't be eBay Live without some feedback of its own. Kris Gale, who runs Montana-based wildhorseboutique.com with her mother, said despite the subdued mood of the conference, she isn't disappointed.
"It's not like last year, where there was a big gala and confetti, and they surprised us with Davy Jones to go with the daydream believer theme," said Gale, but "I'm still impressed with the news from the keynote speeches. There was some grumbling in the line for the taxi that they had to bring the fees down because they're losing people, they're just opening up their own stores, but I think it's a nice gift and I appreciate it. Plus, you just don't get the traffic with your own store.
Before Cobb, Rajiv Dutta, president of PayPal, highlighted developments on the transaction front, namely that the digital security key formerly in beta will now be available to all PayPal and eBay sellers. The key is linked to customers' accounts, whose security code changes every 30 seconds.
He also reported that a new review feature will be coming out soon that screens potentially risky transactions and effectively puts shipping on hold until payment clears, therefore protecting sellers. Finally, he said PayPal's goal is to confirm all of the addresses in its database to help prevent fraudulent transactions.
Prior to presentations by Dutta and Cobb, Whitman addressed the crowd after a band called Twisted Lister, which is comprised of eBay employees, played cover songs such as My Sharona.
Whitman primarily focused on highlighting the achievements of eBay's Giving Works program and provided a big-picture vision for the company, which involves "social commerce."
She emphasized that eBay will focus on community, and the ability to allow people to "connect, discover and interact as opposed to technology per se."
"Social commerce is rooted in the fundamental human truth that we all have an innate desire to connect," said Whitman. "We add utility to that, commerce, and we provide community."
Michelle Megna is managing editor or ECommerce-Guide.com.
IE 7
Firefox 2.0
