Ebay Secrets Blog

Archive for the ‘eBay Ink’ Category

eBay CEO, John Donahoe, joined Michel Gelobter, the founder of Cooler and Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, on a panel discussion at the National Press Club earlier today. The topic of discussion? A report released by Michel Gelobter of carbon-footprint consulting firm, Cooler. Commissioned by eBay, the report highlights the environmental value of enabling consumer-to-consumer online selling and supporting online entrepreneurs and small businesses to compete globally against larger retailers.

One of my favorite talking points about eBay when I get into discussions with folks outside of the office is that technically, eBay is the world’s largest recycler of used goods. This report takes the time to quantify and qualify other “green” aspects of consumer activity online vs. brick-and-mortar.

Some highlights:
“Without the need for an actual store… the peer-to-peer retailer saves everything from the carbon cost of making bricks and other building materials to the ongoing costs of heating, lighting, and otherwise maintaining a retail space.”

“By minimizing infrastructure, reducing the need for warehousing, and maximizing transportation efficiency, small online retailers have created a climate-friendly way to buy and sell.”

It’s pretty incredible when one breaks down the numbers. For example, compared to a single big box retail store grossing $100 million per year, new data reveals that the day-to-day operations of $100 million in sales through small, Web-based businesses generate approximately 1,400 tons fewer CO2-equivalent emissions per year than their offline counterparts: that’s the same amount of energy it takes to power 108 homes for a year. The impact of an individual shopper is equally dramatic – a consumer who spends $100 at a brick-and-mortar retail store is paying to release about 53 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the same as nearly three gallons of gas from a mid-sized vehicle.

You can download a full PDF of the Cooler Research – 2010: The Small Business Advantage.

Cheers,
RBH

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The WorldofGood.com by eBay team is at it again (i.e. rewarding folks while promoting good causes). This time they’re taking a group of their friends, partners and customers to Guatemala in spring 2011 on a 10-day educational adventure across the Latin American country. They need your help in reaching out and inviting people to join their delegation to learn about foreign policy and trade with Guatemala and beyond.

To design the itinerary for this trip, they hooked up with Global Exchange, an international, human rights advocacy organization that’s been taking groups on such educational trips around the globe since 1989. The WorldofGood.com “Journey for Good” trip is designed for participants to explore Guatemala’s history, culture and political landscape, including the Fair Trade issues that are critical to WorldofGood.com and its sellers. As a group, you’ll meet with local artisan groups, political figures, and NGO leaders, leaving plenty of time for tourist exploration.

The delegation will include a couple of dozen of participants, including one contest winner who gets to come on the trip completely for free and bring a guest. That could be you… here’s how:

Trip dates: March 24 – April 2, 2011
Contest dates: September 13 – October 15, 2010
Contest Entry: Just enter your e-mail and they’ll randomly select the winner
Trip / Contest Website: http://www.worldofgood.com/journeyforgood

Enter to win the Journey for Good.

Cheers,
RBH

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eBay Mobile Apps Providing New Features
eBay mobile apps will be undergoing several updates in the near future, including selling capabilities through the iPhone, a “motors app” that will allow people to use a built-in barcode-reader feature to scan the Vehicle Identification Number and the ability to scan gift cards and coupons. [via PC World]

PayPal Finds Growing Market in China
PayPal transactions in China are proving to be one of the fastest growing markets for the company. During the first half of this year, PayPal processed more than $2 billion in transactions between Chinese merchants and overseas buyers. [via Wall Street Journal]

PayPal Senior Director Believes Every Company Needs a Mobile Commerce Strategy
Bill Zielke, senior director of Merchant Services at PayPal, recently wrote a piece for Mashable in which he discussed the growing industry of m-commerce. Consumers are no longer just browsing on their mobile devices, shoppers are making purchases through their smart phones and the usage of mobile apps is making the process much more simpler and efficient. [via Mashable]

PayPal Expecting to See Huge Growth By the End of the Year
Given the shift towards consumers spending via m-commerce this year, PayPal is expecting to close out the year with $500 Million in mobile payments. [ via InToMobile]

Further News
+ Google Instant Search will have mixed impacts on E-Commerce
+ New shopping sites aim to combine online shopping with social media

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 Delaware Court of Chancery has ruled in eBay’s favor in the shareholder suit filed against Craigslist. According to a press release issued by eBay today, “the ruling overturns a series of unlawful transactions undertaken by Craigslist’s majority shareholders to dilute eBay’s minority share in the company.”

Chancellor William B. Chandler found that “Jim [Buckmaster] and Craig [Newmark] breached their fiduciary duty of loyalty by using their power as directors and controlling stockholders to implement an interested transaction that was not entirely fair to eBay, the minority stockholder.”

“We are very pleased that the Court gave eBay what it sought from the lawsuit,” said Michael R. Jacobson, eBay general counsel. “eBay brought this suit to protect its own shareholders and preserve its valuable investment in Craigslist. The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that the actions were taken by Mr. Buckmaster and Mr. Newmark to benefit themselves at the expense of eBay, and we are gratified that the Court recognized these actions were both unfair and unlawful and rectified the situation.”

I’ll update this post with any information if and when it becomes available.

Cheers,
RBH

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Stand Up To Cancer and eBay Giving Works are working together again to offer charity auction experience packages in Film, Television, Music, Broadway and Sports that will raise funds for innovative cancer research.

The Stand Up To Cancer eBay Charity Auction opened yesterday afternoon and will run until Friday, September 17, 2010 at 7pm EST.

The charity auction leads into the second landmark Stand Up To Cancer One-Hour Event that will broadcast simultaneously across ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and a host of cable channels on September 10, 2010 (8PM EST & PST / 7PM CT).

The featured items on the Stand Up To Cancer eBay Charity Auction include:

* Two Tickets to opening night of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark on Broadway, as well as tickets to the after party and a meet-and-greet with Bono, The Edge, and Julie Taymor.
* Spend a day on the set of one of the most highly anticipated films, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. First Class travel included from Virgin America!
* A walk-on role on the new Spider-Man film, which includes a set visit and meet-and-greet with the stars of the film
* Take to the sky with Sir Richard Branson as you christen a new Virgin destination.
* A rare 8ft replica of Marvel’s iconic Silver Surfer on his legendary surfboard and striking a classic pose.
* Having yourself written and drawn into a DC comic book or Mad Magazine issue.
* An incredible NBA Orlando Magic experience including a game of “horse” with NBA star Dwight Howard.
* Sit alongside MLB Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig in his private skybox for the 82nd MLB All-Star Game.
* One of a kind opportunity to co-host a Fox Sports Radio show.
* Two tickets to the Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway, with a meet and greet with Pee-wee and signed memorabilia
* Two front row tickets to Western Metal Concert Series at PETCO PARK, San Diego to see Jewel and Colbie Caillat.
* Two front row tickets to Western Metal Concert Series at PETCO PARK, San Diego to see John Legend and Macy Gray.
* Tickets to So You Think You Can Dance and a meet-and-greet with host Cat Deeley.
* An Ultimate VIP Tony Hawk action-sports experience and meet-and-greet in Las Vegas at the Stand Up For Skateparks benefit.

I realize that the hot auction is most likely the opportunity to spend a day on the set of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn movie (currently up to $8,400) but I’d love nothing more than 5 minutes with MLB Commissioner Bud Selig in his “private skybox” (now over $1,000 last time I checked). We’d start with Pete Rose and move on to Roger Clemens. He’d want to bid his way out of that conversation I think.

Cheers,
RBH

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We celebrated our 15th anniversary as a company last week and it really got me thinking about what an individual human being means to the success of any venture.

There is a long-standing ritual at eBay events in which all the attendees stand-up and remain standing until a number is announced that exceeds their eBay Feedback Score on eBay.com. It’s an exercise we’ve continued at the four eBay: On Location Events this year and, with a Feedback score of 86, admittedly I’m typically one of the first to sit down. We got to 391 last week before CEO, John Donahoe, had to take a seat on the stage…

Invariably the exercise takes about 20-30 minutes to complete because there is always a handful of sellers present (as there was last week) that have Feedback scores exceeding 100,000. Never ceases to amaze me.

“I Am Not A Number!”
There is a similar phenomenon happening over on Twitter where individuals are really trying to boost their number of followers, and talk about that number with pride; a conversation at a social event here in Silicon Valley inevitably gets to the “how many followers do you have on Twitter?” discussion sooner rather than later.

It’s something I’ve never really been too preoccupied with. Granted, given that I represent the leading global online marketplace, I have a relatively low follower count with @ebayinkblog but, as I’m about to cross the 5,000 follower mark, it got me thinking about stats and numbers and followers and Feedback score, etc.

I’ve noticed that when we start talking in stats and numbers, we have a tendency to briefly forget about the individual people that make up each follower or FB score or whatever it is people are tracking today. I confess that I’ve said the following things to myself on more than one occasion:

“I wonder if I’ll hit 10,000 followers on Twitter by the end of the year.”

“I’m only 14 away from hitting a 100 Feedback on eBay.”

This really hit home for me last week when we were doing the Feedback score ritual at eBayOL San Jose. Every single point that makes up Jack Sheng’s 2,000,000+ Feedback score is a human being making a single transaction with a specific business/seller. A connection has been made. When you think about it in those terms, no matter how insignificant the unique transaction may be, that’s hundreds of thousands of people’s lives that Jack Sheng has changed in some way by a single transaction on eBay.com. It is the true definition of the word “awesome.” And, when thought about in those terms, as a seller it doesn’t matter whether you’re Feedback score is 10 or 10,000 – that’s a number of people that you’ve made a difference in their life.

The same can be said for Twitter. Each follower is an individual; a human being (for the most part – I’m not counting Twitter users such as @commonsquirrel). One retweet, one response and that’s the equivalent of a transaction on eBay; a connection between one human and another that may have otherwise never met.

Know Where You Came From to Know Where You’re Going
I have been with eBay for almost 3 years now and in that time I’ve welcomed a lot of new colleagues and friends and I’ve had to say goodbye to some too. Every cube at eBay HQ has a name plate of the employee that sits there and, when they leave, (for those that know that I collect them), they give me their name plate as they move on to the next phase in their career/life. It’s not a morbid tradition that I’ve perpetuated over time, on the contrary, it is a reminder that without those people eBay wouldn’t be where it is today. Each name plate represents a human being that made a difference at our company.

Whenever I’m down or frustrated or daydreaming about being at the pub enjoying a nice cold beer rather than sitting in my cube here at work, I take a look at those name plates and I look at the folks that sit around me now; I look at the connections I’ve made on Twitter and I think about the number of transactions (read “connections”) that happen on eBay every day and I’m inspired to snap out of it and get back to working.

This blog post may only be read by a few hundred folks and, in the grand scheme of things, that may seem pretty insignificant. However, when I break it down out of stats and pageviews, I realize that each individual took time out of their day to read this sentence and that is a) pretty humbling and b) inspiring for me to write something worthwhile.

Take a look at your Feedback score, remember the individual transactions that are represented, and be inspired to continue to make a difference in individual’s lives – rather than simply hitting the next milestone or stat (as you already know, if you focus on the former, the latter will sort itself out).

And, with that in mind, I’m going to get back to it.

Cheers!
RBH

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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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