For racing fans, the new app update also includes, for the first time ever from eBay, live streamed content of behind-the-scenes action from the Rolex 24 at Daytona racing event. Former Le Mans winner Justin Bell will host the “under the hood” live look into the pit crews at the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 this weekend, January 26-29. The coverage will complement the live broadcast on SPEED, ongoing updates on GRAND-AM.com, and “after-hours” coverage on SPEED.com.

Other new app features include:
** More winning – receive notifications for when you are outbid, when items you are watching are ending, and updates on the current Best Offer
** Stock your Garage – stock images for vehicles are now available for quick and easy profile updates to users’ personal eBay Motors “Garage,” providing simple search for parts that fit your car, and simple sharing options
** Tweet it out – easily share the parts and vehicles you are buying or selling with your followers on Twitter (currently for iOS 5 only).

Cheers,
RBH

You’ve never been shy about expressing your opinions on your favorite cars, parts and accessories. So let the world know what you already know by voting for your favorites. The winning brands will be announced at this year’s SEMA in Las Vegas.

Vote for your favorite brands and you’ll be entered to win the Grand Prize, a VIP trip to SEMA plus $10,000. And hundreds will win other awesome prizes.

You can also learn more on the eBay Announcement Board.

Here’s a TV spot currently running on SPEED Network…

Cheers,
RBH

eBay Motors iPhone App Key Features

· My Garage feature saves shoppers’ car collection and dream vehicles.

· VIN scanning quickly adds any vehicle to My Garage, using scanning technology powered by RedLaser. The car’s year, make and model will populate – simply hit “edit” to add additional photos and details.

· Part Finder will surface the parts and accessories that match cars listed in My Garage.

· Integrated with eBayMotors.com My Vehicles for a seamless My Garage experience online and on the iPhone.

· Access vehicle history information with free Experian AutoCheck Vehicle History Reports.

· Customized home screen slideshow surfaces eBay Motors listings. Simply input keywords, categories, models or a price range and the slideshow will match shoppers’ preferences – whether it is sports cars, classic hot rods or even minivans!

· Save searches tailored to vehicles interested in or owned – any eBay listing can be saved to My Garage Dream Vehicles.

· Ask Seller Question option in every listing to contact the car owner or dealer directly.

· Photo galleries in each listing allow users to view dozens of seller photos to see cars inside and out.

· Advanced search for cars & trucks or parts helps users to find just what they are looking for.

· My eBay instant access to stay current on all your buying and selling activities.

· Share listings with your social network through Facebook, Twitter or email.

eBay and Triad will collaborate on an innovative approach to display ads that takes customers “beyond the banner” and engages them with new brand experiences that are complementary to the eBay experience:

• Banner advertising will be more customized, with category-specific content embedded directly into the ad so customers can view content without clicking off the site.

• eBay and Triad will also integrate new experiences from popular brands and cross-category “content centers” – sponsored landing pages on eBay that will highlight seasonally relevant and interactive content, and inspire new purchases through integrated merchandising with eBay listings.

You can read more about it in today’s Wall Street Journal article: “EBay Moves To Boost Display Advertising Business” or in the press release.

Cheers,
RBH

I was fortunate enough to have time to walk around some of the other booths at CES last week and made it a point to stop by the Panasonic area on the show floor. I knew that eBay manager of platform business solutions, Rob Harris, would be demoing a new technology (still unavailable publicly and still in its prototype phase) called eBay Flick2TV.

The eBay Motors app is due out in the first quarter of 2011 and the eBay Flick2TV experience will be a new app available later this year with Panasonic’s new connected TV platform called Viera Connect. The Flick2TV functionality on the iPhone would be part of an update release to the eBay Motors app.

Again, it’s all very much in its infancy but CES is all about showing new technology so I thought I’d share with you folks now. I look forward to getting a more thorough demo later this year when we’re closer to launch.

For more info and video specific to the new Panasonic Viera Connect, check out the PCWorld First Look.

Cheers,
RBH

CNET has already posted their review of the app:

The app allows you to set up a custom home-screen search, which displays a sort of slideshow of the top results when the app opens. You can also simply perform individual searches for vehicles by make, model, year, etc. Once a vehicle is selected, the app gives access to all of the specs and details available on eBay’s full site, as well as access to vehicle history reports and photo galleries. At the touch of a button, users can share the vehicle with friends and social networks or send the seller a question… Full CNET review

Also, check out this pretty cool video demo taken at the conference.

Cheers!
RBH

As anticipated an AB post just went up over on the eBay General Announcement board.

Parts compatibility is a more efficient way for you to list parts that fit many vehicles. You no longer have to create and manage many listings, or include the names of all compatible vehicles in the listing title to help buyers find a part that fits. Instead, just create one listing describing a single part and add an extensive list of compatible vehicles under the new Compatibility tab in the listing description. The information you add to the Compatibility tab is searchable.

You can read about it over on the eBay Developer Blog too.

You can check out the site here: http://apps.motors.ebay.com/compatibility/

The Certified Provider link is here: http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/compatibility.html

Parts compatibility can help you:

* Save on listing time and Insertion Fees. With parts compatibility, you don’t have to list one part multiple times to ensure all compatible vehicles appear in search—a huge savings in Insertion Fees and time spent managing and creating listings.
* Get a boost in search results. Listings with parts compatibility information will get an extra boost in search results. Since eBay uses information from both the Compatibility tab and your title to match the buyer’s search, you can now dedicate all 55 characters in your title for popular keywords like brand name and part number. Your listing will show up in more—and more relevant—buyer searches.
* Gain more satisfied buyers. Parts compatibility helps increase buyers’ confidence that they’re purchasing parts that will fit their vehicles, and also helps reduce questions and returned items.

Cheers,
RBH

I particularly liked this “green” idea from Danny Chang. Essentially, eBay sellers would get a boost in search & a badge in search results if they opt to buy CO2 offset credits for their cars. Buyers could apply “Green Sort” to rank results by miles per gallon (MPG) and CO2 offset availability. MPG info would also be included and displayed in the search results page. The tag line for this proposal is “Saving the Earth, four wheels at a time.”

Cheers,
RBH

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.

I just played around with the new interface and it’s incredibly intuitive and easy-to-use. I was able to look for both used and new cars – breaking down to color, make, model, etc. – in less than a minute.

The news is good for dealers too because they can now choose from a number of new car selling options including auction, fixed price, best offer or an online classified ad to drive leads.

Currently, new cars make up about 13% of all vehicles sold on eBay Motors.

You can read the full press release here.

Cheers,
RBH

Here’s a look at what’s new for sellers and buyers:

New standard rates
…
For sellers who list items occasionally, new “eBay Everyday” rates are available. Auction-style listings with a start price of 99 cents or less will be free (with no insertion fees for up to 100 listings per month). When an item sells, the seller will pay a flat final value fee of 9% of the sale price — and never more than $50. If an item doesn’t sell, the seller pays nothing.

New Stores subscription packages…
For sellers who list often, new “eBay Stores” subscription rates offer insertion fees as low as 3 cents per listing for 30 days — a 90% reduction over current rates. Larger volume sellers with this “3-cent store” premium rate can move thousands of items at high velocity with full search exposure.

Subscription rates offer basic, anchor and premium store pricing options, depending on the size of a seller’s business. With the new pricing a seller with 250 listings per month would save $80 or $960 a year in insertion fees. With these changes eBay’s current store inventory format will no longer have separate search functionality from core fixed-price listings.

With the new eBay Stores rate package, all fixed priced inventory on eBay will have exposure through eBay’s core search functionality, increasing visibility for sellers and improving the search experience for buyers.

“Moving to one Fixed-Price listing format is another benefit sellers will soon experience,” said Dinesh Lathi, vice president, Seller and Buyer Experience. “Store Inventory Format listings automatically will become regular Fixed-Price listings, with the same duration. They’ll also renew at the new rates, and appear in ‘Search results’ with all other listings.”

Sellers who want to determine which pricing option will work best for their listings when the changes take place in March can use eBay’s Fee Illustrator: http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/news/FeeIllustrator2010.html.

Buyer Protection Program…

“We’re also making a big move to bring buyers and keep them with us through our new eBay Buyer Protection Program,” Lathi explains. “All over eBay, the message to buyers will be loud and clear: buy on eBay with the confidence, satisfaction, and quick response you expect from a trusted retailer.”

Boosting seller efficiency…

*** Sellers in eBay Motors Parts & Accessories will be able to create one listing with a complete list of compatible vehicles.

*** The ability to list multiple variations of a product in one Fixed Price listing in many more categories.

*** Return policy and handling time will be required for new listings and re-listings in eBay Motors Parts & Accessories in June — editing tools make updating listings easy.

***Category and Item Specifics changes are also coming with the rest of these updates.

Additional Resources…

*** A dedicated website regarding the Seller Release.
*** Take part in the upcoming webinar on Thursday, Jan. 28.
*** Join Dinesh and other leaders from eBay and PayPal in a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29. Check the Announcement Board for more details.
***Talk with eBay staff members during the next two days on a special discussion board set up for this purpose.

Twitter…

For those of you on Twitter, follow the #eBaySR (eBay Seller Release) hashtag for all discussion around today’s news.

I’ll be updating this post and providing video interviews with additional background information in the near future.

Cheers,
RBH