Posts From: July, 2011

0 Permanent link to Learn all about @X_commerce and Register for the Innovate Developer Conference Learn all about @X_commerce and Register for the Innovate Developer Conference

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Saturday, July 30th, 2011

Learn all about @X_commerce and Register for the Innovate Developer Conference

Registration is now open for the X.Commerce Innovate Developer Conference scheduled for October 12 & 13, 2011.

From the X.Commerce Blog:
A cloud-based commerce platform using an open environment, the X.commerce platform will enable developers, merchants and service providers to create innovative solutions in the commerce space, helping retailers of all sizes keep up with the pace of consumer demands.

We are lining up tons of great keynotes and sessions on a range of topics and technology trends that are transforming commerce today such as mobile, social, digital and local – alongside session tracks from X.commerce, PayPal, eBay and Magento, to demonstrate how you, the developers, along with systems integrators, agencies, consultants and service providers can grow your business by offering your technology and services to merchants through X.commerce.

More information will be available soon on speakers and session tracks and you can follow the X.Commerce team on Twitter @X_commerce. Also, check out my blog post from June this year when I posted a video message from eBay CEO, John Donahoe.

Cheers!
RBH

Related Read:
TechCrunch: eBay, PayPal Reveal More Details On X.Commerce Platform For Developers, Partners With Kenshoo
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4 Permanent link to eBay Sellers taking over the Ink blog; Introducing 3 new social media sellers eBay Sellers taking over the Ink blog; Introducing 3 new social media sellers

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, July 29th, 2011

eBay Sellers taking over the Ink blog; Introducing 3 new social media sellers

All,
I am about to head out of the office for two weeks for a family vacation. Given the role I play here at eBay, I have always found it difficult to disconnect completely during time off. However, now that we have the eBay Ink Social Media Seller program, we have a built-in base of contributing authors that can jump in and provide interesting and informative content with relative ease (although I must thank everyone once again for taking the time to put together stories for Ink readers while also dealing with their busy daily personal and professional schedules). As a result, I have been soliciting contributed articles from our Social Media Sellers over the past couple of weeks and you’ll start seeing them published here early next week.

It also seemed like a great opportunity to introduce three new sellers to the group:
** Danni Ackerman
** Scott Henshaw
** Cindy Sorley

I’ve spent a lot of time with all of our social media sellers over the past 4 years and they each bring something new and refreshing to the conversation each time. I can’t wait to showcase Scott’s pretty incredible personal back story on Ink and we have a few Back-to-School blog posts coming your way too.

Looking forward to recharging the batteries and coming back in August ready to do some great new things here with the eBay Ink network.

Cheers!
RBH
- sm sellers
- social media sellers
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0 Permanent link to eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – July 29 #InkRoundup eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – July 29 #InkRoundup

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, July 29th, 2011

eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – July 29 #InkRoundup

American Apparel Partners with eBay
Clothing company American Apparel Inc. is teaming up with eBay Inc. to create an online store within eBay’s auction web site due to strong demand for its products there. American Apparel CEO and founder, Dov Charney said that eBay gets more than 30,000 searches for American Apparel each month. American Apparel will use eBay’s marketing features, such as targeted e-mail, affiliate programs and personalization to help promote American Apparel to a new audience of eBay shoppers. [via Forbes]

PayPal Exec Comments on Competition
In an interview with CNET, PayPal’s Sam Shrauger, vice president of global product and design, commented that services seeking to mimic or compete with PayPal, will face a slew of challenges, “Being in the payments business is harder than saying you’re in the payments business.” As most of the industry is focusing on a technology called near-field communications, PayPal PayPal isn’t going to mandate the use of any specific technology. [via CNET]

Further News
+ A new study finds, social media can be as addictive as drugs
+ Econsultancy.com rounds up ten new e-commerce infographics
+ Over half of tablet owners say that they use it for shopping

Looking Back on eBay Ink
August 3, 2010: eBay Announces First-Ever Free Rewards Program with eBay Bucks. The program is free and open to all US eBay users. In a nutshell, eBay Bucks offers consumers 2% back on most items purchased through the eBay Marketplace with PayPal. I sat down with Marc Steffens, Sr. Manager of eBay Bucks Rewards Program, to discuss the launch and what it means for buyers and sellers. (You can also read more in his eBay Announcement Board post).

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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3 Permanent link to The 2002 eBay Cafe Quilt The 2002 eBay Cafe Quilt

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

The 2002 eBay Cafe Quilt

With a history as rich as eBay’s, even in the relatively short time the marketplace has been around, it is always great to see reflections of the eBay Community across all the many offices of the company. I am attending an internal Global Communications Summit for the next 48 hours that is being held in the North Campus (PayPal) and saw this hanging in the entrance to our meeting hall and had to share.

I love finding these amazing pieces of our community’s history and try to share whenever I can. The quilt came with the following description. Enjoy!

Cheers,
RBH
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1 Permanent link to [VIDEO] eBay CEO, John Donahoe, on CNBC Closing Bell [VIDEO] eBay CEO, John Donahoe, on CNBC Closing Bell

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, July 22nd, 2011

[VIDEO] eBay CEO, John Donahoe, on CNBC Closing Bell

It has been a busy week here at eBay HQ, San Jose. I was fortunate enough to spend time with a number of visitors in just a 5-day span… the eBay Partner Network TV crew were here interviewing a number of folks (yours truly included); Cindy Sorley and other eBay Voices members were in the house for eBay Customer Connect; I started a regular Thursday appearance on eBay Radio; eBay announced Q2 earnings for 2011 that we covered – for the first time ever – using automated disclosure links in short form posts via StockTwits; and our new eBay Stories blog launched from ebay.com. And, if that weren’t enough, CNBC joined us in the house yesterday to interview CEO John Donahoe. Here is that video interview direct from CNBC.

Have a great weekend everyone. See you Monday!

Cheers,
RBH
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0 Permanent link to eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – July 22 #InkRoundup eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – July 22 #InkRoundup

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, July 22nd, 2011

eBay Ink Weekly Roundup – July 22 #InkRoundup

eBay Inc. Reports Strong Q2 2011 Results
On Wednesday eBay Inc. reported revenue for Q2FY2011 increased 25% to $2.8 billion, compared to the same period in 2010. Spearheading eBay’s change, Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe, has made at least nine acquisitions in the past year to expand into new businesses. The year-over-year increase in second quarter non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven by solid top-line growth and productivity. [via eBay Ink]

eBay’s PayPal Payments Going Offline With Point of Sale Product
John Donahoe, eBay CEO, recently spoke with analysts regarding the new change in the global commerce landscape. In the new retail world, Donahoe believes physical stores will become just another point of access for shoppers, and PayPal will extend payment capability to point-of-sale in the offline world. In 2012, PayPal expects up to 20 national retailers using its point of sale service. [via Forbes]

Further News
+ Online shopping has increased this year (January-June 2011) by 19%, compared to 2010
+ An infographic covering the past two years of Facebook commerce shows 67% of shoppers are influenced by their social media community
+ Mobile payments are expected to jump 76% this year to almost $86 billion worldwide
+ Facebook’s consumer satisfaction ranked lowest in study by American Consumer Satisfaction Index

Looking Back on eBay Ink
July 20, 2010: In what can only be described as remarkable, the eBay community has surpassed the $200 million mark for cumulative funds raised with eBay Giving Works since 2003. This represents year-over-year double digit growth. It goes without saying that the fact that $50 million was raised in 2009 alone, coupled with the unbelievable final auction price of the lunch with Warren Buffett (the highest value charity auction ever sold on eBay at $2.63 million), greatly contributed to this superb achievement.

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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0 Permanent link to Introducing The eBay stories Blog; 5 Minutes with… Joe MacFarland Introducing The eBay stories Blog; 5 Minutes with… Joe MacFarland

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Introducing The eBay stories Blog; 5 Minutes with… Joe MacFarland

It is my great pleasure to announce the newest addition to the official eBay blogging family. Authored by Joe MacFarland, the eBay stories Blog‘s charter is to inform eBay Marketplace members of eBay.com product and features, surface “remarkable listings,” and to highlight weekly search trends. You can read more in his eBay stories Welcome post.

I have been following the development of the blog closely and have met regularly with Joe as he ramps up towards today’s launch. I am looking forward to collaborating with him on posts where appropriate and having another resource for eBay users to get information… this time with a link directly from ebay.com! (Don’t worry… I’m trying to find out what I have to do to make that happen for Ink). ;)

I sat down with Joe earlier this week to chat about the blog, his vision for the editorial content, and how he sees this will differ from our focus here on Ink…

Full Name: Joe MacFarland
Nickname: Joe
Official Title: I don’t have one, I am a “non-employee: ☺
What you really do: Write a blog
Education: BA in Sociology from Dartmouth College
Interests: Travelling, reading, cycling, playing with my kids, soccer
Favorite Quote: We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. – Vonegut
Most Memorable eBay experience: Selling my 2006 World Cup tickets (soccer) to someone once my team (Brazil) was eliminated…
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: A set of six Pokemon Black and White Figures with Light (for my son’s 6th birthday in August… shhhhhhh)
Favorite Album(s): Too many to mention, who listens to albums anymore – bring me Pandora or Spotify! But anything from the Café del Mar series would work in a pinch.
Favorite Movie(s): Again, to many to mention, but I was intrigued by Before Sunrise
What you wanted to be growing up: A paperback writer (like the Beatles song)

Fill in the blanks:
I should have gone to the beach yesterday
I wish that I could visit my family in Brazil.
The first thing I do when I get to work is check to see what the most popular items are being sold on eBay.

RBH: What is your vision of eBay stories?
Joe: 1. To be the place folks come to learn about the amazing product features the entire team at eBay works on every day to make the life of the eBay shopper better. 2. To be the reference point for people interested in finding out more about the amazing products that are being sold via eBay; 3. To keep a casual “history through commerce” view of any given week.

RBH: How does this differ from existing official eBay blogs? Like eBay Ink for example?
Joe: The blog focuses specifically on ebay.com, not on eBay, the company, as a whole. And within this focus on ebay.com, the blog further focuses on eBay product features, the stories behind the remarkable listings that are not surfaced anywhere else on eBay itself, and what people are searching for when they come to the site.

RBH: Who is your target audience?
Joe: eBay shoppers who are interested in, and want to learn more about our products and features, and are interested in the stories behind the remarkable items being sold on the site.

RBH: What do you consider success to be with eBay stories?
Joe: If people enjoy what they are reading.

RBH: What are you most looking forward to with the blog?
Joe: Finally launching it and having a conversation with our readers about the things written on the blog.

RBH: What does it take to get some link love on the ebay.com homepage?
Joe: I don’t know what this question means, and if I did, I wouldn’t answer it. ;)

So with that, please join me in welcoming Joe and the eBay stories blog to the blogging family. Looking forward to reading future posts!

Cheers,
RBH
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3 Permanent link to eBay Inc. Reports Strong Q2 2011 Results eBay Inc. Reports Strong Q2 2011 Results

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

eBay Inc. Reports Strong Q2 2011 Results

eBay Inc. today reported that revenue for Q2FY2011, increased 25% to $2.8 billion, compared to the same period of 2010. We recorded Q2 net income on a GAAP basis of $283.4 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $630.9 million, or $0.48 per diluted share. In the second quarter GAAP net income decreased year over year compared to the second quarter of 2010 due to charges related to the GSI Commerce (GSI) transaction. The year-over-year increase in second quarter non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven by solid top-line growth and productivity.

“Second quarter revenue and earnings were strong, as PayPal surpassed 100 million active accounts and reporting its first billion-dollar revenue quarter, and eBay growth in the U.S. accelerated,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “We also strengthened our portfolio in Q2 with acquisitions that we believe will more broadly position us to enable the future of commerce and partner with retailers of all sizes in a rapidly shifting, technology-driven multichannel global commerce environment. We are focused on helping consumers shop and pay anytime, anywhere, any way.”

PayPal
PayPal ended the quarter with 100.3 million active registered accounts, a 15% increase year over year. PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 34% to $28.7 billion in the second quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of last year. PayPal delivered its first-ever billion dollar revenue quarter, driven by strong performance in its Merchant Services business as well as increased penetration on eBay. PayPal continued to demonstrate strength in mobile payments and now expects more than $3 billion in mobile TPV this year, compared to $750 million in 2010.

eBay Marketplaces
eBay Marketplaces’ business also delivered strong Q2 performance. Gross merchandise volume excluding vehicles (GMV), increased by 17% year over year to $14.7 billion. GMV in the U.S. increased 14% year over year, the third consecutive quarter of acceleration, driven by improved customer experiences in search and navigation. International GMV increased 19% year over year, resulting from stable growth in Europe and improved performance in Korea, as well as positive impacts from foreign currency movements.

eBay Mobile
Downloads of eBay’s mobile apps surpassed 45 million globally since the launch of mobile in the third quarter of 2008. The company remains on track to double eBay’s mobile GMV including vehicles to $4 billion in 2011.

GSI Commerce
The company completed the acquisition of GSI, a leading provider of ecommerce and interactive marketing services, on June 17, 2011. GSI will operate as a stand-alone business unit. The GSI segment contributed $23.8 million to revenue for the period from June 17, 2011, to June 30, 2011.

Business Outlook
** Q3 2011 – eBay expects net revenues in the range of $2.850 to $2.950 billion with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.37 to $0.38 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.46 to $0.47.
** Full year 2011 – eBay now expects net revenues in the range of $11.300 to $11.600 billion with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.41 to $2.44 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.97 to $2.00.

eBay Earnings Call / Live-blogging via StockTwits
As usual, there are a number of options for you to get more information around today’s earnings announcement. You can listen along to the live eBay earnings call. You can follow along with my tweets in real-time, beginning at 2pm PT.

You can access the full Q2 eBay earnings announcement.

For folks interested in following the entire conversation on StockTwits, go to http://stocktwits.com/symbol/EBAY.

Cheers,
RBH
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5 Permanent link to Check out eBay Partner Network TV Check out eBay Partner Network TV

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Monday, July 18th, 2011

Check out eBay Partner Network TV

I had the good fortune to welcome Scott Parent to the eBay Partner Network blog at the beginning of May and now I have the even better fortune of getting to hang out with him tomorrow and chatting about social. It has been far too long. I’ve been asked to join him as an interviewee for eBay Partner Network TV. I wanted to check out some of the interviews ahead of time and have to confess that I can’t believe I haven’t shared this resource with you sooner. There is some really compelling content here for folks and I wanted to make sure people were aware of it.

Check out some of the past interviews they’re profiling on their site:

Catching up with eBay Motors

Chatting with ePN: Let’s Talk eBay Motors! from eBay Partner Network TV on Vimeo.

eBay Daily Deals

Chatting with ePN: The Scoop on Daily Deals at eBay from eBay Partner Network TV on Vimeo.

I’ll be sure to share our interview with folks as soon as it is available.

Cheers,
RBH
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3 Permanent link to The new eBay for iPad App now includes selling functionality for the first time The new eBay for iPad App now includes selling functionality for the first time

FEATURED POSTRichard Brewer-Hay / Friday, July 15th, 2011

The new eBay for iPad App now includes selling functionality for the first time

Earlier this week, the eBay for iPad app was upgraded in the Apple App store to version 1.6. This milestone release includes selling on the iPad for the first time. Within the first 24 hours, approximately 250+ items posted with eBay for iPad and the numbers continue to grow.

I just downloaded the updated app and will use the selling tool this weekend to see how it goes. I have the first generation iPad – not equipped with a camera like the iPad 2 – so I’ll need to have photos already loaded onto my iPad in order to add images to the listing directly from the app. iPad 2 users can simply take photos as they create their listing – just as I’ve done in the past using my eBay for iPhone app when selling.

For sellers: list an item, turn on bid notifications, and hear your bids roll in!
✔ sell your item with an iPad-optimized selling flow including full camera support for iPad 2
✔ add tracking data to your sold items, keeping your buyers in the loop
✔ contact your buyers via an easy-to-use interface
✔ new push notifications for receiving messages: completed checkout, bids, item sold, and more!

For buyers: eBay on the iPad has never been better.
✔ share what you love, or what you want on Twitter and Facebook
✔ jump to relisted items from closed auctions
✔ review Giving Works information on charity listings
✔ keep tabs on your favorite saved searches and saved sellers
✔ more goodies you’ll love

Cheers!
RBH
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Posts From: July, 2011

Learn all about @X_commerce and Register for the Innovate Developer Conference

The 2002 eBay Cafe Quilt

[VIDEO] eBay CEO, John Donahoe, on CNBC Closing Bell

Introducing The eBay stories Blog; 5 Minutes with… Joe MacFarland

eBay Inc. Reports Strong Q2 2011 Results

Check out eBay Partner Network TV

The new eBay for iPad App now includes selling functionality for the first time

Get to know our featured sellers

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