Ebay Secrets Blog

eBay Updates
eBay Debuts Reusable Green Shipping Boxes to Sellers
eBay gives away 100,000 boxes in three sizes and giving eBay: On Location participants and eBay Green Team members a limited chance to sign up to participate in the pilot. [via eBay Ink]

Top Stories
MasterCard and Borderlinx Collaborate to Enhance E‐Commerce Experience Around the World
By working together, MasterCard and Borderlinx are enabling an enhanced online commerce experience that allows shoppers from many markets around the world to make purchases initially at U.S. and U.K. retail websites using their MasterCard‐branded cards. [via InternetRetailer]

Back to school sales get an A
Retailers reported surprisingly strong August same-store sales as many consumers braved scorching summer temperatures to bag juicy discounts on school-related products. [via CNN Money]

Clarification regarding Google Checkout on eBay.com
Effective June 30, 2011, eBay Checkout will be the only checkout process on eBay. Sellers who use Certified third-party checkout solutions from providers like ChannelAdvisor, Auctiva, Vendio, Infopia and Kyozou, will transition to eBay Checkout. [via eBay Ink]

In Other News
+ Dan Butcher asks, “How secure are mobile payments?” [via Mobile Commerce Daily]
+ Vlingo Adds Voice Check-ins to Foursquare [via GigaOm]
+ Letting The Customer Lead [via MediaPost: emailinsider]

eBay Ink Weekend Roundup is a summary of news and updates around eBay, PayPal, Social Media, Technology and E-commerce. Let us know what interests you.

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eBay’s Sarah Brubacher, PayPal’s Colin Rule, and Griff took the stage as The eTones to bring our kick-off to eBay: On Location – San Jose to a close last night. They performed 3 songs… I was able to capture the second two. (If anyone managed to video their first song, I would love to add to this post – let me know).

Here is the first one… Cheers & enjoy!

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All,
I’m going to be publishing all the best photos from eBay: On Location – San Jose. The first wave of pics are already uploaded to the eBay Ink Flickr account. I’ll continue to update as they come in.

Remember, for those of you also attending, please send your photos to home23like@photos.flickr.com and I’ll make sure they get included in the eBay Ink Flickr feed.

Cheers,
RBH

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Bling My Bra folks are at it for the second year in a row. They will be auctioning off one-of-a-kind themed art bras through Giving Works auctions on eBay. Proceeds will benefit Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Look for eBay seller ID BlingMyBra or do a keyword search for “bling my bra”.

I’ve decided to get in on the action this year and will be designing my own eBay Ink Blog Bra. This could be interesting.

You can find out more about the Bling My Bra auctions and how you can help.

For those of you on Twitter, please remember to use the hashtag #BlingMyBra in your tweets.

Cheers,
RBH

Related Reads:
Auctiva: Organizers Seek Bras With ‘Bling’
ColderICE: Press Release: Bling My Bra Breast Cancer Charity Auctions

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Every year, eBay hosts an Innovation Expo that invites eBay employees, from every department and level of the organization, to develop prototypes for new products and breakthrough innovations that benefit our buyers and sellers. This year, more than 250 employees on nearly 80 teams competed for the top prize. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and CEO, John Donahoe kicked off the event.

This year’s grand prize winner was an idea called “simple green shipping.” (I was lucky enough to video the team behind the concept so I’ll try and dig up the footage for you guys as soon as eBay: On Location comes to a close). In a nutshell, it’s a durable box that’s been designed to be used over and over and over again.

Now, six months later, We’ve printed up 100,000 boxes in three sizes and giving eBay: On Location participants and eBay Green Team members a limited chance to sign up to participate in the pilot.

According to the eBay Green Team, if every box gets reused at least five times, we could protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.

What is the eBay Box pilot program?
At eBay, we want to help our buyers and sellers save money and make it as convenient as possible for them to ship items they sell on eBay. We also strive to make it easy for users to reduce their impact on the planet. The eBay Box program encourages eBay buyers and sellers to keep their shipping boxes traveling. The eBay Box is a durable, reusable box made from environmentally-friendly materials. Starting in October 2010, participants in the eBay Box pilot can track their box’s journey at thebox.ebay.com, simply by entering the unique code printed on the box. As a token of our appreciation, we’re also giving every unique eBay user who receives and registers a box up to $1 in eBay Bucks.

Why is eBay doing this?
The eBay Box was the winner of this year’s eBay Innovation Expo, a celebration of new products and breakthrough innovations coming from employees at every level of the organization. Initially called “simple green shipping,” we believe it has the potential to both improve the eBay customer experience and help reduce the environmental impact of the eBay marketplace.

Does this program cost anything?
During the pilot, the eBay Box program does not cost anything. In fact, eBay buyers who receive an eBay Box are eligible for an eBay Bucks reward.

You say this is a “pilot.” What does that mean?
At eBay, so much of what succeeds or fails does so because of its impact on our community. We think the eBay Box is a great idea, but we have to make sure our buyers and sellers agree. So, to start off, we are printing just 100,000 boxes and releasing them out into the world. We’ll track their progress, and talk to the people who touch them, through our website and social media channels. Once the boxes have had a few months to travel, we’ll check back in and see where we can take it from there.

I’m a seller, and I want to participate in the program. How do I get involved?
There are a few ways to get involved in the eBay Box pilot. If you are participating in the eBay: On Location event in San Jose on September 1 and 2, you can stop by the eBay Green Team booth, fill out a short form, and register to participate. For a limited time, sellers who are eBay Green Team members can also sign up on the eBay Green Team website. Participation will be determined on a first come, first serve basis. Once all 100,000 boxes have been distributed in October, eBay buyers who receive their purchase in an eBay Box can participate in the program by going to thebox.ebay.com and entering the box number and basic item information. We encourage everyone who gets an eBay Box to help us keep it traveling.

If you aren’t able to participate in the pilot but are interested in greener packaging options, check out our green selling hub, where you can access lots of great tips and resources on green packaging and shipping. You can also order free Priority Mail, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified boxes from eBay and the USPS through the eBay Shipping Hub.

What’s so environmentally-friendly about this box?
All of the eBay Boxes are made from FSC-certified, 100% recycled material and have been printed with water-based inks. They’re designed for durability and minimal taping, so they can withstand multiple uses. They’re also 100% recyclable.

For more information, check out the eBay Green Blog.

Cheers,
RBH

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Every year we produce a survey of online consumer behaviors that provides huge insights into how average consumers shop online.  If you sell online, regardless of channel (ebay, amazon, webstore, cse, search, all of the above), you should read this report as it gives you invaluable information on all parts of the consumer's buying cycle.

You can learn more at sister site CSE Strategies here.

Or download the report here: www.channeladvisor.com/consumersurvey.

Enjoy!

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All,
eBay: On Location kicks off today, in conjunction with our celebration of 15 years of eBay. I managed to get my hands on a celebratory video we’ll be showing at eBayOL – San Jose tonight and to our employees around the world.

I’ve only been a part of the eBay family and community for a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things but have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it – well… almost every minute of it… – and I look forward to seeing old friends and new ones this week and hopefully meeting many more as we head into the Next 15 of eBay Inc.

For those of you attending eBay: On Location, please send your photos to home23like@photos.flickr.com and I’ll make sure they get included in the eBay Ink Flickr feed.

In the meantime, here is the video…

Cheers!
RBH

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All,
We’ve seen a couple of stories recently regarding last week’s third party checkout announcement, that need clarification. Specifically, stories running this morning state that, as part of last week’s third-party checkout announcement, eBay has prohibited Google Checkout. In fact, Google Checkout is not an accepted payment method today and last week’s announcement was completely separate from that. The announcement actually noted that effective June 30, 2011, eBay Checkout will be the only checkout process on eBay. Sellers who use Certified third-party checkout solutions from providers like ChannelAdvisor, Auctiva, Vendio, Infopia and Kyozou, will transition to eBay Checkout. For more information, please see eBay’s Accepted Payments Policy.
Cheers,
RBH

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When eBay launched the DSR system, we were always concerned with the fact that sellers that offer free shipping generally received 4.8 on the shipping and handling cost DSR.  It proved that the system sets up unrealistic expectations with consumers.

Last week, 8/24/10, eBay somewhat quietly (no AB post, just a tweet+post from their blogger?) rolled out a significant improvement to the system.

If a seller offers free shipping, and the buyer chooses that option, then the seller automatically gets a 5 star on the shipping and handling cost DSR.

You can see a screen shot below of how this will work:

Kudos to eBay to listening to sellers and patching a hole in the system.

SeekingAlpha disclosure- I am long Amazon and Google. eBay is an investor in ChannelAdvisor.

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eBay Updates
PayPal to Develop Micropayments Product
PayPal President Scott Thompson recently announced that the company will be delivering a micropayments product before the end of the year as part of the company’s goal in simplifying the purchase of low-cost virtual goods. [via eBay Inc]

eBay Announces the End of Third Party Checkouts
eBay will no longer be supporting third party checkouts after June 30, 2011. This change will allow users to experience a speedy and consistent checkout experience. [via eBay]

eBay Implements Automatic 5-star DSR for Free Shipping This Week
Effective August 24, shipping cost DSR will be automatically defaulted to 5 stars when it is verified that a buyer did not pay for shipping. [via eBay Ink]

Other Top Stories
PayPal’s vice president of global product strategy, Sam Shrauger, expects PayPal to be available on gaming consoles in the near future. [via Forbes]

MasterCard’s acquisition of Datacash is the first in credit card companies move into the e-commerce and mobile technology space, other companies are reportedly to soon follow. [via TheStreet]

Location based services has the ability to become the next big thing in m-commerce but still needs time to fully develop. [via Internet Retailer]

Further News
+ E-commerce in Korea exceeds over $170 Billion and has grown more than 20% in just 3 months
+ Digg rolls out with new redesign, making it a true social networking site
+Alibaba purchases Auctiva, a developer of software tools for eBay sellers
+ Social Media marketing needs scale, distribution, targeting and format in order to increase ad spending

eBay Ink Weekend Roundup is a summary of news and updates around eBay, PayPal, Social Media, Technology and E-commerce. Let us know what interests you.

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