An update to the eBay Announcement Board went up yesterday afternoon that I wanted to share with folks:
Improvements to the process when you open an unpaid item claim manually
* If a buyer doesn’t pay and you cancel the transaction, the buyer will no longer be able to pay for the item.
* If you open an unpaid item case, it will be closed automatically when the buyer pays using a safe electronic payment method such as PayPal or Moneybookers.
The new Unpaid Item Assistant is expected to be available to all sellers by the end of March. (More …)
The eBay Android app is now available for free at the Android Market and can be downloaded by searching “eBay” from the Android Market on your handset. In addition to traditional type search, the eBay application – like most Android apps – comes enabled with speech-to-text voice search. Simply tap the microphone button near the search bar and say what you’re searching for. The app will then automatically search for that item… (More …)
Even though I am married to the true love of my life, I have to confess that I’ve actually been engaged twice in my lifetime. Obviously that fact has become irrelevant over time, however, it does mean that I had to learn and act upon the “four Cs” when buying a diamond ring, not once but twice! Believe it or not, I designed my wife’s ring myself (with obvious input from my much better half) and am still quite proud of the results – even if I do say so myself. Well, on eBay this week more than 15,000 people are having their say with the eBay “Build Your Bling” contest, a nationwide competition that calls on women to create the diamond ring of their dreams for a chance to win the one-of-a-kind rock worth up to $25,000.
Contest participants register at diamonds.ebay.com, and customize and upload their unique ring design in three simple steps. Through the Share function, which houses more than 50 social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and MySpace, entrants are able to spread the news about their gems and encourage voting, since the winner of “Build Your Bling” will be determined by public poll. America is asked to vote on its favorite sparkler, with the designer of the most popular ring winning their customized carat. Voting is open for two weeks, culminating February 19.
The contest kicked off earlier this week and with almost 7,000 submissions already entered to the “American Idol” of engagement rings at http://www.diamonds.ebay.com, currently the most popular cuts are Cushion, Round and Princess.
You can find out more about the contest by checking out the press release HERE.
As I first reported here on Ink back in September, designer Narciso Rodriguez and eBay are introducing the Narciso Rodriguez for eBay Collection, available for purchase starting February 15 at 9:00AM PST (to make sure people are aware of the launch date… there’s even a countdown clock right there on the site).
The eight-piece limited-edition collection is made from imported Italian fabrics, and bears Rodriguez’s signature streamlined look and sophisticated color blocking created in a red, black and white color palette. The collection will be offered at accessible, fixed price points ranging from $65 – $350, in sizes 0 to 14, or extra small to large, and available for purchase exclusively through the Narciso Rodriguez eBay Store.
Stop laughing. Although my traditional dress includes multi-colored sneakers and overly, almost trying-to-hard-to-be-funny T-shirts, I’m still going to check this out when it goes live on Monday. Maybe I can score some points with Allie if I can find something cool for my wife post-Valentine’s day.
“I am extremely excited by the possibilities that this new online sales channel brings to my business long term,” says Rodriguez. “For me it’s always been about dressing many women of all ages, all types, all sizes, and this special collection on eBay is a unique opportunity to reach a broad global audience.”
The capsule collection, designed for the spring/summer season, includes a Denim Jacket; Denim Slim Skirt; Sleeveless Matte Jersey Dress with asymmetrical seam detail; Cap Sleeve Matte Jersey Dress with shoulder drape detail; Scoop Neck Matte Jersey Dress with a three quarter sleeve and exposed back zipper; Jersey Top with asymmetrical seam detail; Python Printed T-Shirt; and water-resistant Reversible Trench with a multi-stitch self-belt. Additionally, the designer’s canvas and grosgrain espadrilles will be sold through the Narciso Rodriguez eBay Store.
eBay Motors today launched an online shopping experience for new vehicles, giving auto dealers and manufacturers an alternative channel to market inventory to local buyers.
This new car option, powered by online auto-buying platform Zag, allows franchise dealers to target a highly-qualified group of local consumers ready to purchase a new vehicle in a no-haggle environment. Through this new car offering, more than 2,600 certified Zag dealers join the eBay Motors family. With the addition of this offering, eBay Motors modifies its homepage to offer shoppers the option to either choose new cars or used cars.
Given the opportunity to spend some time with the entire team behind the eBay Garden project, I thought it would be great to capture some candid conversations about their time together, the project they’ve been working on, and what it means for them to be working at eBay. What I got was an incredibly refreshing, candid take on team project work here at eBay. Enjoy!
The eBay Garden team talks about their working environment, the Agile process and the “Negativity Chair”…
The eBay Garden team discuss technical innovation at eBay and what it means to work here…
eBay has launched a new initiative to help “sow the seeds of innovation” with community input on new products and features before they go live on the site. The “Garden by eBay” is a new area on eBay.com that allows community members to try out new products and features and give the team working on the initiative feedback on suggested improvements and changes. The experimental space was designed to encourage eBay users to contribute to the growth of initial concepts to fully “grown,” ready-to-launch products and features. (More …)
eBay today announced the dates and locations for its new program, eBay: On Location — a series of events aimed at helping eBay sellers accelerate their businesses on the platform.
eBay: On Location, which kicks off March 19-20 in Atlanta, will bring small-business and part-time eBay sellers together to network and gain practical knowledge about building and growing their businesses on eBay.
Event attendees will hear from national speakers, as well as eBay experts, on timely business topics and will participate in a series of classes designed to help sellers be more successful on eBay. After Atlanta, the event will travel to three other U.S. cities: Dallas (May 7-8); Chicago (July 9-10); and San Jose (Sept. 1-2). (More …)
eBay has teamed up with RecycleBank, the country’s premier recycling and loyalty program, to reward consumers for recycling and reusing what already exists in the world today.
RecycleBank rewards people for positive green actions (currently the recycling of trash and electronics) and seeks to create a greener economy with key partners across the U.S. In just five years, the model has proven its success; on average, recycling volumes increase two-to-five times and members across the country earn hundreds of dollars in reward value. RecycleBank has programs in hundreds of cities around the country, reaching over one million consumers.
By teaming up with eBay, the RecycleBank program brings consumers online, offering 50 RecycleBank Points for joining eBay’s Green Team. Additionally, RecycleBank members will be able to use their RecycleBank Points for discounts on eBay purchases. (More …)
All,
I’m still answering specific questions through email and comments here on Ink but in the meantime, I wanted to share a little sneak peak into what is happening behind the scenes. In addition to our usual Customer Service call center and PR efforts around news like this, we have also established two dedicated Communications rooms to allow for real-time collaboration across social media platforms and chat rooms to ensure we could get answers out to folks as quickly as possible. These have been staffed since 6am PT yesterday morning and include folks, such as myself, focused on communicating through a specific channel (forums, blogs, Twitter, email, etc.).
I took a quick video of our Comms Room here in San Jose HQ to give folks a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re working together to communicate information in real-time. The desks are set up in a horseshoe so we can easily ask questions to anyone in the room (representatives from the Buyer & Seller team, Corp Comms, Social Media, Engineering, eBay Annnouncements, etc. are all in here) for quick response…
Out in Salt Lake City, in addition to the Customer Service center, we have another comms room devoted to social media outreach and response. What follows is a sequence of photos taken out of that room where you can see folks on Twitter, Facebook, etc…
Personally, it has been great to see so many people involved in proactively communicating information – regardless of channel or platform. As a global organization, I am hoping we can build on this for the future.
