A Seller's Top 5 New Year's Resolutions for eBay in 2011

We're coming up on another year, and I wanted to put my thoughts out there for changes I'd like to see eBay make in 2011, that would spur me to list more and dare I say sell more on the site. And also one resolution as a buyer -- yes, I buy a lot of stuff there too!

1. Give us back a way to see what keywords people are using to find our auctions.

There used to be a way to do this with the Sellathon tool. But when I last checked, eBay had taken away Sellathon's ability to provide this info. (This was why I canceled Sellathon, though I did also like seeing where in the world people were who were watching and bidding on my auctions too). If eBay won't let a third party get the info, it would be nice if they'd give it to sellers themselves. I'd even pay extra (a modest amount, not an arm and a leg) to get this info..like $4.95 a month.

2. Make a faster way to list items, with more stock images and the ability to list items with "condition notes" only, a la amazon.

One reason I've been listing more on amazon is I rarely need to monkey with a photo..if anyone else is selling the same thing, I simply piggyback on their photo and add condition notes. This works for books, cds, games, dvds, and probably a lot of other stuff. They need a bigger database of these photos. And they have some stock shipping fees, so we don't need to monkey with that either. This obviously will not work for all the unique items out there that make eBay eBay, but it could work in a lot of categories and would incentivize me to list more,

3. Give us more free listing promotions.

On amazon you don't pay when it doesn't sell. This is another good incentive to list on amazon. eBay could offer us more of these promotions, or even just introduce no listing fees (selling fees only) in certain categories like books and music, where the stuff may need to sit there a length of time before it sells.

4. Make the checkout process faster.

This will get more buyers and also help sellers. Amazon's got a beautiful thing with their "one-click checkout," and while they have that patented, I should think eBay could speed up the whole checkout process, if only to get rid of the need to login to PayPal when you pay. Make it so when you login to eBay, you're also logged into PayPal. They're owned by the same company, aren't they?

None of this OK, you've bought it, now checkout with PayPal, now login to your PayPal account, wait for PayPal to load, click the PayPal checkout, yaddi yaddi yadda. Just "pay with PayPal," confirm payment, and you're done.

Resolutions as a Buyer:

5. See 4) above, Make the checkout process faster.

What are your resolutions for eBay? Have any you care to share?

PayPal's Got a Faster New Checkout

It's about time, is what I say. I've been spoiled by amazon's one-click checkout. PayPal's got a new, faster checkout coming..here's the scoop from the site:

"Click. Pay. Bam – you’re done!

Why the new checkout?

You told us that our checkout experience needed to be more consistent – wherever PayPal is offered as a payment option. Plus, you wanted more information about your purchase every step of the way. Our new checkout gives you all this – and more.

When does the new checkout go live?

We’ll be rolling it out in phases. You’ll begin noticing the new checkout in May 2010, as a growing number of your favorite online stores make the switch. Since literally thousands of shopping destinations are affected, it’s going to take some time before every checkout experience resembles the one in the demo above. We expect most online stores that currently offer PayPal as a way to pay will feature the new checkout by next year.

How will the new checkout affect you?

It’s faster to use and much more seamless, with purchase details included on one page, making it a much more streamlined experience."

Earn Cash Back on Buy It Now When You Can't Snipe

As many of you know if you read my yard salers newsletter, I snipe a lot when buying on eBay. I just got this email from AuctionSniper.com, the sniping service I use, that now their search will list Buy-It-Now items as well, and they will redirect the BIN items thru KickItBack so you can get cash back on those items.   If you want to sign up for KickItBack so you an get cash back too (and I'm sure you want to use my referral link if you do :) ), it's at: KickItBack

 Here are the details:


"Earn cash back on items you can't snipe using Auction Sniper Search!

Auction Sniper has always had great search functionality for auctions.

For some items though, there may be good Buy It Now deals too.

Now our Search will list those BIN items along with the items available for sniping to give you the best chance to get what you want and to earn cash-back rewards.

Buy It Now items redirect through KickItBack on their way to eBay. Just log in if you have a KickItBack account or quickly create a free account to get cash back for your purchase on eBay.

You can create searches from the Search tab or on the My Snipes page at the bottom of the snipes window. You can choose to run searches manually or we can search eBay automatically and email you at regular intervals."

Auction Sniper App for iPhone, iPad is Live

Hey all you snipers! (And as many of us know, the only way we can win an item with a lot of bidders on eBay is by sniping)...the AuctionSniper iPhone/iPad/iPad Touch app is live. Details below, from the co.:

--
It's here! The Auction Sniper app for iOS is live and ready for download.

Auction Sniper for iOS provides a streamlined, mobile experience for placing snipes and winning eBay auctions.

Using your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch you can import eBay watches, and place, edit and delete snipes. You can also receive notifications via e-mail or SMS directly on the iPhone.

The Auction Sniper app is free to download - download it in iTunes today.
If you are already using it, please leave us a review.

Happy Sniping!
The Auction Sniper Team

iPhones & Other Electronics Dominate eBay's Cyber Monday This Year

Below is some data that came to me about eBay's cyber Monday stats. Cell phones/PDAs and computers were the two biggest categories:

eBay Cyber Monday 2010 United States Fact Sheet

SAN JOSE, California – November 30^th, 2010

---

Shopping data results from Cyber Monday 2010 (November 29^th) on eBay.com in the United States included:

·         On eBay.com, shoppers snapped up hot Daily Deals with great discounts in minutes:

·         Sold 400 units of Apple iPads at $449.99 each in approximately 20 minutes, saving consumers $50 off the MSRP.

·         Sold 600 units of Apple Macbook Airs at $884.99 each in approximately 2.5 hours, saving consumers $115 off the MSRP.

·         Sold 500 units of Apple TV at $79.99 each in just under one hour, saving consumers $20 off the MSRP.

·         Sold out 800 units of Donkey Kong Country Returns Wii Game at $39.99 each in 2 hours and 40 minutes, saving consumers $10 off the MSRP.

Through the rest of the holiday season (until December 20) eBay is featuring 25 Days of Deals with daily Deal Blasts – limited-time-only deals each day featuring hot holiday gifts for him and her. Consumers can sign up for email alerts at http://deals.ebay.com, or follow @ebaydailydeals on Twitter.

·         eBay.com peak buying hours on Cyber Monday were between 7pm - 9pm EST (8pm EST was the peak).

·         Computers & Networking and Cell Phones & PDAs were the highest performing categories in terms of sales compared to last year Cyber Monday, experiencing an 11 percent and 8 percent increase respectively. Of the Computers & Networking category, Apple Laptops & Notebooks sales on Cyber Monday were 201% higher than last year. Of the Cell Phones & PDAs category, cell phone and PDA accessories sales were 23% higher than Cyber Monday 2009.

·         The top 10 leading search terms on eBay.com on Cyber Monday include: Apple iPhone 4; Apple iPad; Apple iPod Touch; Sony PlayStation 3; Xbox 360; Laptop; Boots; Nintendo Wii; Men’s watches and Apple Macbook.

·         The top five zip codes by total of sales through eBay.com on Cyber Monday were from Miami, FL (33166); San Antonio, TX (78240); Montrose, MO (64770); Carson, CA (90746); and Miami, FL (33126).

Shopping data results from Cyber Monday 2010 (November 29^th) on eBay Mobile in the United States included:

·         eBay mobile sales increased 146 percent over Cyber Monday 2009. Globally, eBay mobile is on track to generate more than $1.5 billion in sales in 2010, nearly triple its $600 million in mobile sales in 2009.

All trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

About eBay

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) connects hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers globally through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, and PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and our global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

Forward Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of eBay’s businesses that are based on its current expectations, forecasts and assumptions.  These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding plans for eBay’s mobile applications and future growth in mobile commerce.  Those statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those discussed.  Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, consumer acceptance and use of eBay’s mobile applications.