Mobile Giving
The Android and iPhone PayPal app allow users to donate to popular and reputable charities in an instant. Currently there are 5 million users using PayPal Mobile and the average donation is $11.72. [via New York Times]

Opinion: Exempt small online retailers from sales tax requirements
With 70 percent of new jobs in the U.S. over the past decade created by small businesses, we need small business to lead the way — and small businesses need our support. John Donahoe is president and CEO of eBay Inc. He wrote this article for this newspaper. [via San Jose Mercury News]

eBay Launches LookBook
eBay rolled out its newest e-commerce endeavor, eBay LookBook, this week. Users can upload snapshots of their outfit to LookBook, where other users then vote the look and are also able to find similar pieces on eBay. The site will also have one grand winner chosen by a celebrity panel who will receive a shopping spree, photo shoot and fashion consultation. [ via Los Angeles Times]

eBay Announces User Friendly Site for Visually Impaired
eBay is now offering safe online shopping to its visually impaired users. eBay sites in the U.S. are now compatible with screen access reader technology, which allows a program to interpret text on a web page as speech. [via Shopsafe]

Further News
+ TwitterMoms providing social media seal of approval on store products
+ Social media greatly influential in the purchasing decisions of U.S. consumers
+ Ultimate business goal for social media efforts is brand awareness, according to recent survey of U.S. marketers

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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The eBay Classifieds Pets iPhone app has recently been modified to ensure the best user experience. Version 1.0.1 includes the following:

* Retina display optimization throughout the app
* Recommend app to a friend via email, Facebook, and Twitter
* Minor bug fixes

The eBay Classifieds iPhone app had a more extensive update. The latest version, 1.1.0, was made available a couple weeks ago and includes the following:

* Full Retina display optimization
* Browse “Free Stuff” category and sub-categories from home screen
* Distance search
* Speed improvements throughout app
* Get directions to ads from View Ad on Map screen
* Responsible Pet Ownership & Re-homing tips button on all pets ads and in About Us
* More prominent “Find Closest Area” button for setting your location
* New ebayc.us short URLs for Twitter sharing
* Minor bug fixes

For more information coming out of the eBay Classifieds group, be sure to check out and subscribe to their blog: http://blog.ebayclassifieds.com/. You can also follow them on Twitter: @eBayClassifieds.

Cheers,
RBH

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There’s a new kid on the blogging block…
The eBay Tech Blog (http://ebaytechblog.com) was launched earlier this week and I for one am very excited at the possibilities. Partner this with our eBay Developer Blog and I think we’ve got some pretty cool information on cutting edge innovation coming out of our company.

I realize that “speeds and feeds” aren’t for everyone but this could end up being a great resource for those that are…

About:
eBay is the world’s largest internet marketplace, with hundreds of millions of listings live at any given moment. To support that marketplace, eBay has tackled technical challenges at a scale that few others have. With the eBay Tech Blog, we want to share our experiences working on those challenges with the technical community. We’ll talk less about eBay’s business (there are plenty of blogs already for that) and more about the internal workings of eBay’s search engine, data, and architecture.

If the first blog post (from Hugh E. Williams – Vice President, Buyer Experience Development) is anything to go by, we could be in for some great behind-the-scenes, under-the-hood reports:

Site Speed for eBay Search Results

First, welcome to the eBay technical blog! Each month, we will publish one or two entries describing technical challenges at eBay, and how we go about solving them. We look forward to your comments, and we welcome your suggestions for articles.

It’s my pleasure to write the first entry in our new blog. In two parts, I’m going to introduce you to how we’ve worked on site speed over the past year, and the results that has delivered. The bottom line is that improving site speed has helped our customers and driven our business. With improvements in site speed, sellers have sold more, buyers have bought more, and eBay’s business has grown as a result. Site speed matters, and we continue to drive improvements.

Read the full blog post on Site Speed for eBay Search Results.

They’re also up and running on Twitter so be sure to follow @ebaytechblog for updates and conversation moving forward. I’ve added them to our comprehensive directory of official eBay Twitter handles too.

Cheers,
RBH

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“Lorrie has led eBay Marketplaces through significant fundamental change as we drive a multiyear turnaround strategy to enhance the shopping experience for buyers and sellers and evolve eBay as a global ecommerce and mobile commerce leader,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “For personal family reasons, Lorrie made a decision to do what’s best for eBay and for her family, and I respect that. I wish her the very best and thank her for many contributions to our company and our nearly 92 million active eBay users.”

Lorrie has led eBay Marketplaces since July 2008 and has been with the company since 2005. I have had the opportunity and very great pleasure of working with Lorrie a lot over the past 3 years and I will be sad to say goodbye but wish her all the best.

In addition to announcing this management change, the company said it expects its third quarter 2010 results to be near the high end of the guidance provided on July 21. The company expects to report third quarter 2010 results on October 20. I plan on live-blogging our quarterly earnings call as usual.

-RBH

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1. Enhancements to Feedback & Buyer Protection to Help Sellers
2. New Policy to Improve Search for Buyers and Boost Exposure for Sellers.

There is a third AB post too:
3. New Ways to Shop for DVDs, GPS, and iPod MP3 players Available Now.

It looks like there are a lot of good things coming out of the news but given that we had our third and final seller release of the year back in July (we have articulated on more than one occasion that we are committed to making only 2-3 seller releases a year to help sellers plan their businesses accordingly), I tracked down Todd Lutwak, vp of seller experience, to get his thoughts on the news and what buyers and sellers should be focused on with this particular announcement. First though, I wanted to find out why this isn’t considered the fourth seller release of 2010…

eBay will be answering questions all day today on a special discussion board regarding the news.

Cheers,
RBH

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HotelTravel.com Signs Agreement with PayPal
Starting October PayPal will be an official payment option for HotelTravel.com customers. HotelTravel.com CTO Graham Johnson believes the new PayPal payment option will provide customers with a safer and easier way to book and pay for hotels online. [via Breaking Travel News]

Twitter Launches Redesign
Twitter rolled out with its new redesign this week. The site now has a two-panel view; on the left is the stream of tweets and on the right is a dashboard which includes recent activity from your followers, trending topics and a recommended list of people you may want to follow. [via WIRED]

Further News
+ A Pennsylvania College disconnects from social media for a week
+ Consumers would like more payment options other than credit card when shopping online
+ Yahoo to release new search features and functions this fall
+ Just because your brand is “Liked” on Facebook, doesn’t meant your message is being heard

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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Joining Jones will be Michael Mosser and Sam Shaffer, who will focus on eBay Fashion, directly engaging industry designers, brands and retailers to participate in Fashion Vault, eBay’s destination for limited-time flash sales, and launching branded outlet storefronts. Mosser previously served as vice president, business development, for Home Shopping Network (HSN). Shaffer joins eBay from the New York office of IMG Worldwide, Inc., where he was director, business development, for the designers and brands category.

Completing the team are Fredrick Crosby, Theresa Casey, Steve Dueck and Greg Snodgrass, who will focus on eBay’s Electronics, Home & Garden and Sporting Goods categories.

I thought it would be worthwhile to sit down with Michael Jones and members of his team to talk about their vision, goals and objectives over the coming months. However, rather than conduct my standard “5 Minutes With…” interview format I thought it would be a great opportunity to solicit questions from you, the Ink readers.

So… please take the time to ask a question you’d love me to pose to the team and I’ll do my best to get it answered in a upcoming blog post.

Cheers!
RBH

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In addition to the $1,000 a day giveaway promotion, every customer who has never used a MoneyPak to add money to their PayPal account is eligible for a $10 offer. In order to receive the $10 offer, you must first register your PayPal email address, then purchase a MoneyPak and transfer the money to your PayPal account by 11/14/2010.

The concept behind MoneyPak seems fairly simple. It allows customers to use PayPal and shop on eBay without using a credit card or bank account. It basically works as a “cash top-up card.” First, you purchase and load a MoneyPak with cash at one of the retail locations (50,000 nationwide including Walmart, Walgreens and 7-Eleven). Then you go online to the PayPal Add Funds page, click the MoneyPak option and provide your unique MoneyPak number located on the back of the card.

One of the primary customer benefits I can see from using a MoneyPak card is speed. Unlike funding my PayPal account from my bank account (where I have to wait anywhere from 3-5 days for the money to be available for shopping), MoneyPak funded accounts are instantly available. Granted, there is the added step of adding funds at a retail store.

For more information check out the dedicated PayPal / MoneyPak promotion site and the separate MoneyPak FAQ page.

Cheers,
RBH

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The relaunch of The Inside Source leverages synergies between eBay and the publication in brand new ways, according to Editorial Director Meredith Barnett. “When it comes to publishing a digital style magazine like The Inside Source, unlike traditional retailers which are trying to push out inventory, eBay has a unique, unbiased perspective — much like your favorite blogs — regarding the merchandise it chooses to highlight,” she said. “But what’s really exciting is that because The Inside Source has access to data on what eBay’s 90 million users are shopping for, it has insights into trends that are compelling and one-of-a-kind.”

Did you visit the last iteration of the site? Have you checked out the new one? What do you think?

I’ve made the joke on more than one occasion, but I’m not really the best person to be directing folks to a style and fashion-focused site. My obvious penchant for red t-shirts and sneakers is matched only by the fact that my belly exposes my equal penchant for beer. That said, the site looks pretty slick and for those folks interested in all things style and fashion, it looks like a must visit to me.

Cheers,
RBH

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eBay’s Sebastian Rupley sat down with Jonas Klink, Sr. Product Manager of Accessibility for eBay, to talk about the partnership:

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 70% of blind Americans are either unemployed or underemployed and job creation is critical to tackle the employment challenges facing the blind.

The NFB and eBay aim to provide additional tools and support to the blind community to enable their success on eBay such as:
** Providing seed funding for promising blind entrepreneurs
** Recruiting members of the blind community to become eBay Trainers to educate other blind individuals in selling on eBay
** Creating an NFB ecommerce store on the eBay platform

You can visit the website to find out about all the features available to eBay users with special access needs.

Cheers,
RBH

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