eBay On Location Around Corner
A quick reminder for those looking to join us in Denver May 24-25, 2012 for eBay OnLocation. Register now for your chance to find out what works best from eBay experts, business gurus and your fellow eBay sellers.

Further News
+ Will your Klout score get you hired?
+ Infographic showing five things we’ve learned about social sites, Pinterest and Facebook.
+ How to use social media for powerselling
+ Is the online shopping checkout harming or helping you?

Looking Back on eBay Ink
May 11, 2011: From The PayPal Blog: “PayPal leads, others follow”. You may have heard that Visa announced plans to launch a digital wallet in the US and Canada later this year. As the lines between online and offline commerce continue to blur, this is yet another sign that the payment industry’s model for success in our new digital world is looking more and more like PayPal’s.
While other companies are following PayPal’s business model, we’re already light years ahead. More than 98 million people around the world have already trusted us with their digital wallets. PayPal was built 12 years ago, because traditional payment methods weren’t designed for the digital world. We’ve offered mobile payments since 2006 and expect to do more than $2 billion in mobile this year. We’ve offered micropayments since 2005 and launched our solution for digital goods last year. We plan to be at retail point of sale by the end of this year. You can read the full blog post: PayPal leads, others follow.

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

We’re just a couple of weeks away from the first eBay: On Location of 2012 (in Denver, CO) and today is the last day for the Early Bird Registration of $59 ($79 after today). I’m excited to be attending this one for a number of reasons. eBayOL gives all of us an opportunity to meet eBay sellers face-to-face and the networking opportunities provided by the 2-day conference cannot be overstated enough. However, I’m also particularly excited at the formal agenda this time around. In addition to moderating a panel focused on Social Mobile Commerce, I’m also looking forward to being part of the audience for a number of social-focused presentations and to the opportunity to see our CEO, John Donahoe, and our president of eBay Global Marketplaces, Devin Wenig, speak to attendees.

Check out the full list of speakers at eBay: On Location.

Check out the full list of sessions at eBay: On Location.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Denver later this month!

Cheers!
RBH

Further News
+ Are men online shopping more than women?
+ 39 million Americans purchased over their mobile devices last year.
+ Mobile isn’t just changing how we shop, it’s changing who is shopping

Posts From the Week
+ eBay unveils all new iPad App 2.0; 5 minutes with eBay Mobile VP, Steve Yankovich
+ eBay Technology Center of Excellence Coming to the Big Apple #ebaynews

Looking Back on eBay Ink
May 2, 2011: eBay has acquired MissionFish – the innovative technology and team that powers the eBay Giving Works program – from the Points of Light Institute. Since 2003, MissionFish has provided eBay with the back-end tech to power the eBay Giving Works program in the US (they’ve powered eBay for Charity – the same program in the UK – since 2005). I’ve written about them many times here on Ink and in the more than 8 years they’ve been an eBay partner, they’ve helped raise nearly a quarter of a billion dollars for the nonprofit sector by connecting consumers with nonprofit causes.

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

The office will be led by Hunch co-founder Chris Dixon and is expected to be an amazing open, bright space when it opens in fall 2012. It will also feature:
* Large public event area
* Dedicated space for start-up and entrepreneur incubation
* A permanent installation of the PayPal Shopping Showcase, which highlights the new digital payments evolution that PayPal is powering

If you’ve been following eBay Ink over the past couple of years you’d be hard pressed to miss the technology updates and new products that have been taking center stage. Whether it’s a brand-new homepage, dedication to a new search engine, mobile leadership, or commerce innovation, eBay is truly a tech company, and it definitely doesn’t seem to be shifting that focus anytime soon.

This tech focus has not been isolated to Silicon Valley and the expansion doesn’t start and end in NYC either. For instance, in January, eBay opened a new technology center of excellence in the Seattle area. Led by Ken Moss, this team is at the cutting edge of data mining, Hadoop, machine learning and more.

Located in the Flatiron District, the historic 625 6th Avenue was built in the late 1870s and once housed the B. Altman & Co. department store.

The NYC office will be eBay’s latest center of excellence, one of several prestigious hubs for eBay Inc. that focus on technical development and engineering as well as customer service, shipping and other disciplines that are crucial to the way eBay operates and innovates. There are several centers all over the world in cities including Seattle, Austin, and Tel Aviv, Portland as eBay expands its presence to acquire, recruit and retain technology talent.

This investment allows us to build a long-term presence in NYC and is the latest in our commitment to advancing technologists and technology in centers around the world.

I’ll keep you posted on grand opening plans – maybe we can grab a beer together on that new roof deck in the Fall?

Cheers,
RBH

eBay has unveiled it’s all new eBay for iPad App 2.0 in the Apple iTunes store this morning and I’m already playing with it. Building on the impressive mobile commerce legacy that eBay has already carved out for itself in just a few years- including creating one of the very first apps for the first generation iPad – eBay has built the new app from the ground up and really focused on the unique shopping experience that the tablet provides. I sat down with Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile, to chat about the new app and how far we’ve come in just three and a half years:

With the first signs of personalization and new search functionality, the app caters to all kinds of buyers – from the shopper who knows exactly what they want to the buyer who wants to get lost in the immersive experience and browse any number of images and categories.

Key Features:
• Customizable home screen – Easily access items for watching, buying, or selling and instantly search from favorite categories
• Stunning images – Double resolution optimized for the new iPad
• Quick listings – Create a listing in under a minute
• Multiple views – Seamlessly switch between three views of search results – ranging from highly visual to very detailed
• Photo browsing – Flip through multiple images with the swipe of your finger for easy browsing
• Barcode scanner – Research items and import details right into the listing
• Photo upload – Effortlessly upload photos from your iPad 2 camera or photo library for iPad and iPad 2
• Advanced search – Target your results to listings that fit your budget, category, condition, size, color, or style
• Customer service on the go – See how items are performing, reply to questions promptly, and provide speedy response to Best Offers
• Effortless navigation – Buy and sell in “My eBay” without ever clicking away from the search screen – products are always in view. Users can now also view “More Like This” from sellers and easily transition back and forth between search results
• Watch with eBay – Quickly access the Watch with eBay™ app to browse items relevant to the shows on TV
• Availability – Download for free all over the globe in the following iTunes stores: AU, AT, BE, BE-FR, CA, CA-FR, FR, DE, IE, IT, NL, ES, CH, UK, US

I also got a first-look demo of the app itself:

It’s not just for buyers either. Sellers can quickly research sale trends, list items, and make sales from virtually anywhere. They can scan an item using the barcode scanner to easily pre-populate a listing and sellers can now revise their listings directly from the iPad app.

Like I said, I’m a big fan. I’ve become a pretty addicted mobile shopper over the past few months and even bought my first big ticket item via eBay for iPad – our new family TV – just a couple of weeks ago. I look forward to really getting under the hood

Cheers,
RBH

Related Reads:
eBay Adds Barcode Scanning, Personalization, Better Image Quality To New Version Of iPad App
eBay Mobile Fast Facts

Enter eBay Green Driving Contest
Who doesn’t love the smell of a new car? Enter for your chance to win a Toyota Prius, and learn how to save money at the pump with the wide variety of unique, green vehicles available on eBay Green Driving. eBay Green Driving is the latest in a series of programs and experiences designed to help eBay buyers and sellers make more sustainable shopping decisions. It offers user-friendly tools and resources, as well as eBay’s unique green vehicle and parts inventory, in a single location, to help people determine the best ways to “green” their daily driving routines – including information on electric vehicles, hybrids, clean diesels, compressed natural gas and ethanol vehicles, as well as high-MPG gasoline vehicles.

Further News
+ Take a look at this music video and get shopping.
+ Does mobile commerce encourage laziness?
+ A winning social commerce strategy: Don’t ask how, ask why
+ Ten habits of global online shoppers.

Posts From the Week
+ eBay Sellers Go To Washington
+ The Magento Imagine eCommerce Conference Kicks off in Las Vegas

Looking Back on eBay Ink
April 28, 2011: eBay sponsor Shazam App for Android giving users unlimited tagging. Shazam updated its Android App today bringing unlimited tagging sponsored by eBay for all “Shazamers” using the Shazam Free App and “Shazam Friends”, a real-time feed with the App of songs that Facebook friends have tagged. This essentially creates a continuously updating list for Shazamers to discover and share new music with their friends. The deal with eBay means that instead of just five free tags in a month, users can now tag as much music as they want between now and January 1st, 2012. This is the first exclusive App sponsorship deal agreed by eBay anywhere in the world, and the first time Shazam has selected a partner to provide free services to their customers.

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

The 2012 U.S. of eBay Fly-In event wrapped up today with highly successful meetings on Capitol Hill. eBay Sellers from across the country met with many of their members of Congress in both the House and Senate. As expected, members of Congress were very welcoming to their constituents and receptive to working on the current issues affecting small businesses, primarily Internet sales tax. (Full post).

Great to see eBay sellers representing the face of eCommerce first-hand on the steps of Washington D.C.

Be sure to follow @ebaygr on Twitter for future updates.

Cheers,
RBH

Imagine is where merchants, partners, developers and Magento enthusiasts from around the world come together for three days in an engaging and exciting environment for collaboration, learning, networking, inspiration… and of course – Imagination!

Don’t worry if you weren’t able to make it down there (unfortunately, neither was I). There are a number of ways to stay up to speed on news and happenings down in Las Vegas:

* Subscribe to the Magento Blog.
* Follow @MagentoImagine on Twitter.
* Follow all tweets coming out of the conference, using the #MagentoImagine Hashtag.

To follow all content in real-time, check out the Imagine eCommmerce LIVE page.

Cheers,
RBH

Further News
+ Tips to closing the deal on abandoned online shopping carts.
+ Mobile commerce offers consumers significant convenience over e-commerce.
+ A study shows, the iPad is driving American mobile commerce.

Posts From the Week
+ The World’s Fastest Car Show has been Nominated for a 2012 Webby Award… Please vote!
+ Social Resources for eBay Sellers: Pinterest and Facebook Timeline
+ Planned PayPal Site Outage for April 19
+ eBay Inc. Reports Strong Q1 2012 Results; Increases full-year guidance for 2012
+ eBay Earnings Twitter Recap via Storify; John Donahoe on CNBC

Looking Back on eBay Ink
April 20, 2011: eBay launches “Every Mom’s a Hero!” campaign and social media contest. Now here’s a promotion I can get behind… In addition to featuring products for Mum and special Mother’s Day Daily Deals, eBay is launching an integrated social media contest for customers and employees today called “Every Mom’s a Hero.” Utilizing Twitter and Facebook, eBay will feature stories and sentiments about special mothers shared through those channels. Facebook contest winners will be announced on May 10th and participants will be asked to post a photo of their mom “hero” along with a short story on eBay’s Facebook page about why this mom is so special. Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mums (and Moms) out there and I wish all of them could win these cool prizes! Good luck!

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

eBay Earnings Q1 2012

A Summary of Tweets Around $eBay’s Q1 2012 Earnings Call

Storified by Perrine V. Crampton · Thu, Apr 19 2012 19:21:51

eBay Inc. CEO, John Donahoe, spoke on CNBC earlier today in response to the company’s Q1, 2012 earnings. Here you go: