I hope all is well for you and your families. Today at eBay, we're holding our monthly Community Town Hall event. If you aren't familiar with an eBay Town Hall don't fret. They are basically very much what you're probably thinking they are like. We invite everyone who trades on eBay to participate. You can do this by clicking on the Town Hall graphic on the eBay Town Hall page.
After that, you'll navigate to our partner who assists producing these events, www.wsRadio.com. They host the weekly eBay Radio program hosted by our very own Griff. He also moderates the questions, comments, and suggestions on various eBay and PayPal topics raised by Community members. Griff is regularly joined by a group of eBay leaders called the Town Hall panel. Each of the panel members are responsible for different areas with eBay. They provide answers to questions about their respective topics, explain the rationale for a variety of the decisions the company makes, and listen to comments and suggestions about ways to improve the eBay and PayPal experience. You can email your questions and suggestions to TownHall@eBay.com or call the toll free number, 877-474-3302.
You're invited to join us today at 3:30 PM Pacific Time to listen and submit any question, comment, or suggestion.
Just go to the Town Hall page (http://pages.ebay.com/townhall/) to participate. We've scheduled 90 minutes for this opportunity to interact with some of the leaders at eBay. If your schedule doesn't permit you to join, you will be able to listen to an audio archive recording or read a written transcript available generally a few days following the event. Bookmarking the Town Hall Archives page will allow you to access the archive information easily for future reference.
During and after the event, come back here to the Chatter blog to view photos. If you have comments or suggestions about today's Town Hall or about Town Hall events in general, please start a thread on the Chatter Blog Comments board and share your thoughts and opinions.
We hope this information is helpful and you learned more about our Community Town Hall events.
If you're an active eBay member, which I’m guessing you are if you're reading The Chatter, you're probably keenly aware of many of the changes planned for 2008. You may have read some posts here on The Chatter like Griff's thoughts on the Feedback changes or Laura's recent article with questions and answers about testing for a new item page. We plan to try to help everyone adapt to the changes as best as possible by providing tips, strategies, and other information that you may find useful for your eBay activity.
After a few weeks of contemplating all the upcoming changes and analyzing how they will impact their businesses, we know that sellers are beginning to adapt. Here's an email we received recently from an eBay Store owner -- PowerSeller, cleosuncat -- who describes how she is dealing with some of the changes with Feedback and DSRs.
We hope her letter gives our sellers more ideas about how you might adapt your business, too. Here's what she wrote:
"Dear eBay,
I wanted to send along my results in adapting to the changes on eBay. Once the announcements were made, I began looking at what I could do better/different to thrive in the new environment. It's been two weeks, and I wanted to share my changes & results so far:
1. Feedback: I used to leave it second or after 30 days if I heard nothing. I am now leaving it when I ship the item. The quality of the feedback I receive is better, much more positive almost effusive.
2. DSRs: I have reworded my packing invoice. Aside from my standard thank you for shopping with me & let me know when the package arrives, I have added if you need to leave me less than 5 stars, please let me know how I can improve my customer service for you & future buyers. I have empowered the buyers to help me, making them a "partner" in my business, my stars have gone up and not one has told me what I can do better
3. Shipping Charges: Always have been my weakest star, the one that will keep from the 15% discount. My shipping is flat rate, based on USPS zone 8, but my buyers did not know that. They also did not know before they bought that I routinely rebate shipping if they live closer or I can use FedEx. I have added that information to my TOS, letting them know the shipping listed is worse case scenario, and if possible, it will be less. I am now within .10 of the 4.8 on shipping charges
I have basically not changed how I do business, I am just doing a better job of letting the buyers KNOW how I do business.
I am in no way perfect and will face bumps along the way, but the clouds on the horizon don't seem as ominous. The carrots are making this bunny very happy
Thanks for reading, cleosuncat"
Thanks, cleosuncat!
Sellers -- If you'd like to share tips and strategies with other members of the Community, I encourage you to click on the comments link below to post to the Chatter Comments discussion board.
There have been a few questions about some of the changes around Safer Payments that were announced on January 29th at the eCommerce Forum. PayPal Director of eBay business in North America Monroe Labouisse -- who also participated in our last Town Hall -- helped to explain more about the goals for the Safer Payments initiatives on the PayPal Blog. Regarding item holds, Monroe says,
" Safer Payments, as Jim described, requires some sellers to offer safer payment options that we know buyers trust – such as PayPal or major credit cards. Second, sellers should understand that only a very small percentage of transactions – and I can’t emphasize enough the words very small – may result in funds being held by PayPal."
There's a lot of other good information in his article -- I encourage you to read it.
Faithful Chatter readers may know that our friend and guest blogger for the eBay Developer's Program, Delyn Simons, is out enjoying her new baby. Filling in for her while she's out is the very talented Gail Bower. She's using her first appearance on The Chatter to tell us about the new eBay Flyer. Enjoy!
What’s old is new again! With eBay Flyer, you can now quickly create the familiar “FOR SALE” paper flyers, complete with tear-strips along the bottom, so interested buyers can easily find you on eBay. eBay Flyer is fantastic for selling those large, awkward or locale-specific items like couches, TVs, cars, furniture, scuba gear and anything else you don’t want to or can’t haul to the post office.
Creating a flyer is super easy, free, and your listing information is even already in the flyer! Post flyers (legally, of course) all around town … college campuses, churches, stores, health clubs, the Laundromat – you get the idea. The potential buyer can take a tear-strip off the flyer and when they return home, they simply enter the URL on the tear-strip which will take them directly to your auction. It’s another great way to get the word out about items you have for sale on eBay.
Try it today and you may wind up selling more and selling faster. That’s money in your pocket!
Today, I'd like to draw your attention to a new variation of the Member Spotlight program at eBay. As you may know, the Member Spotlight program highlights a specific eBay member who has a unique or interesting eBay related story. However, there are also so many other interesting stories from members who make their own special communities within the larger eBay Community. To highlight these communities, enter a new variation of Member Spotlight. Instead of focusing on just one member, we'll shine the spotlight on groups of members, who make eBay special.
Today's Member Spotlight focuses on all the members who participate on the Bidding discussion forum also known as the "Bidding Board."
The Bidding Board features a dedicated, fun, and passionate group of eBay members, who proudly refer to themselves as "Biddies." The Biddies come from all walks of life with unique experiences, but one thing they usually share in common is buying items on eBay. Whether their purchases add to their favorite collections or were impulsively made while browsing ("I couldn't resist bidding on a new pair of my favorite shoes!"), the Biddies are among eBay's most active and loyal buyers. I don't know anyone here at eBay who would disagree with the Biddies' expertise on all things buying.
Biddies throw themselves with a passion into all aspects of bidding and buying on eBay. Some are quick to assist the "newbie" member still learning eBay's automatic bidding system (which many eBay veterans still call Proxy Bidding); another camp of Biddies is those who swear by the snipe. In fact, this thread, The Sniping Revival: Ye all come, is where many of the "Biddies" boast about their sniping prowess.
On this thread, resident Biddie and highly-respected member, tiptie, eagerly congratulates and awards his "Tiptie Sniper" ribbons, which are coveted by other members. However, tiptie is also a champion of the old-fashioned proxy bid. In true Community form to celebrate every buyer's experiences, tiptie created a thread to honor buyers whose winning bid was the earlier placed proxy bid, beating out all sniping attempts. You can read about those experiences here, Early Proxy Winners Versus The Snipers...The Testimonials and the Awards.
The Bidding board is also home to more serious and controversial discussions. One long-standing topic focuses on eBay's decision to make member IDs anonymous on the Bid History page (called Safeguarding Member IDs). You can read about the Biddies who have weighed in with their opinions and provided eBay with feedback on this thread, Bid History Changes including a***b user IDs. Other discussion topics include experiences with sellers, excessive shipping charges, Second Chance Offers, and Feedback.
Of course, the Biddies have their interests outside of eBay as well. Not everything discussed on the Bidding Board is about eBay. Usually, when they start discussing something not related to bidding on eBay, they'll type "OT" in the title, which means "Off Topic."
I hope that this spotlight on the Bidding forum has been educational for you. Now you know whom Bill Cobb is referring to when he talks about the Biddies during his regular Town Hall events. For me, reading the stories of items found and purchased on eBay in members' own words are what make my time reading the Bidding board enjoyable. So, if you haven't ever visited the Bidding board or stopped by in a while, be sure to check in soon and say hello to some of the Biddies.
Remember that Seinfeld episode where George concocts a fake charity, in order to wriggle out of buying holiday gifts for his co-workers? Instead of buying them gifts he claims that a donation has been made in their name to "The Human Fund" (with the slogan "Money for People"). The holiday season and the first few weeks of the new year might bring out the best in most people, but for fraudsters, it's a time to bring out their worst scams.
One such scam eBay members should watch out for is an offer to buy or sell listed items outside of the eBay website (instead of buying "on-eBay," which means bidding on or buying the item on eBay, and then paying through the eBay Checkout process). Going outside of eBay to buy or sell an item listed on eBay is worse than falling for an old, legendary scam like "Psst! Wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge?" It's like going down a dark alley to settle the transaction with your buyer or seller. You might find your money or item taken, with nothing to show in return. It's an unsafe and unprotected way of doing business.
On the other hand, completing the transaction on eBay (and with PayPal) is safe, because eBay has many buyer and seller protection programs, such as the Purchase Protection programs and Seller Protection programs to protect you if something goes wrong.
Fraudsters will attempt to lure you off the eBay site with Fake Second Chance Offers Recently one of our members (let's call him Robert) recently bid on an item that he really wanted, but didn't win. Shortly after the listing ended, he received an email in his personal email inbox that looked something like this:
"I am the seller of the item you recently placed a bid on: Hoover SteamVac F7425-900 Shampooer Steamer. The winner got rejected due to security reasons. Your last bid price is taken into consideration. If you are interested to buy it please email me at myemailaddress@aol.com and include your name, address and eBay ID. Please contact me at myemailaddress@aol.com with your response, either yes or no."
It seemed too good to be true, but Robert contacted the "seller" anyway. Robert thanked him, stated that he did still want the steamer and agreed to pay using the "seller's" preferred payment method, Western Union. He sent him $185 through Western Union.
You can guess where this story is going. Robert didn't get the steamer, and ended up losing his money.
Another common method a fraudster might use to lure people "off-eBay" is by including an email address in their listing, telling buyers to contact them directly for a "better deal."
If you're faced with a situation like Robert's here are some tips to avoid the errors of judgment that he made:
Do not use Western Union for eBay items. You will NOT be protected. Western Union is not an accepted payment method on eBay because it is unsafe when paying someone you don't know.
Check out a really creative page our friends in eBay Australia have come up with for tips on how to spot fraudsters using Western Union to lure you into an unsafe transaction.
Ask Seller a Question – Sellers, beware of buyers asking you to contact them about a transaction at a personal email address instead of using the Ask Seller a Question feature.
Report off-eBay offers to us – Lastly, if you receive an offer to to buy or sell a listed item outside of eBay, let us know about it! Here's how to contact us to:
Confirm all Second Chance Offers in My Messages – In fact, make sure you check My Messages for ALL communications from your buyer or seller. If it's a genuine email, you should see a copy of it in My Messages.
Lastly I encourage you to take the Buying Safely tutorial and spend some time in our newly revamped Security Center. There are some great tips in there for both new and experienced buyers alike.
My father collects glass candy containers -- popular during the 1940s, when he was a kid. I think they're pretty neat, too, so I've given him several throughout the years. It used to be easy to find containers he didn't have...always the perfect holiday gift. Today, the finding on eBay is still easy, but remembering what he has in his collection already is tough. For a while, I'd take a picture of his collection every time I'd go home for a visit. As you can imagine, that system has its flaws.
What to do? What to do?
eBay to the rescue! Now I can give my dad eBay Gift Cards! He'll still be able to get great deals on vintage candy containers on eBay, and I won't have a "data management" problem.
And get this...eBay Gift Cards are easy to find at my local grocery store! In fact, they're in several grocery chains like Safeway, Albertsons, Publix, Piggly Wiggly (I know there's no Piggly Wiggly here on the West Coast, but can you blame me for wanting to type "Piggly Wiggly"?), and many other places, too. I walk into Safeway, and walk out with candy for me (yes, chocolate!) and an eBay Gift Card good for a candy container for my dad.
Win. Win.
If you're at a point in your holiday shopping where you run out of gift ideas, I suggest eBay Gift Cards. Or you remember, just two days before Christmas, that you wanted to get a gift for someone and it's too late to mail it to them in time, just pop into one of these locations and get them an eBay Gift Card. They're available in $25 and $50 amounts.
They're very easy to find, unless you're Jeff, who gets easily distracted by all the goodies in a grocery store. Watch this video to see what I mean.
My wonderful colleague Delyn usually covers the eBay Developers beat on the Chatter, but she's taking some time off after becoming a mommy (for the second time!). So I've stepped in to give you a glimpse into what our intrepid band of developers are up to.
Delyn's previous post mentioned the eBay Marketplace for Facebook application, just one of the many ways our Developers program is trying to ride the popularity of social networking sites (like Facebook) in order to help eBay members find great deals or promote items they're selling.
But what does a social networking site like Facebook have to do with your items for sale on eBay or with that hard-to-find item you've been looking for? Here's Trisha Okubo from our Developers Program to tell you more:
Do you get frustrated trying to uncover the hidden treasures on eBay? It's OK -- it happens to the best of us. In eBay's crowded, bustling marketplace, it's often easy to miss the gems.
But now, if you're on Facebook, there's an easier way to find the cool stuff on eBay. Join the eBay community on Facebook, where you can see and share the best stuff on eBay with your other Facebook friends. Who might share it with their Facebook friends. Who, in turn, might share it with their Facebook friends. And so on. The business school gurus call it "viral marketing."
As you use the eBay Marketplace application, you'll find handpicked goods from your Facebook friends and the Community at large. You'll find stuff you and your friends care about -- anything and everything from the robin's egg blue 19th century teapot your BFF (Best Friends Forever in social networking lingo) has her eye on to your nephew's video game picks (Guitar Hero III, anyone?).
eBay Marketplace lets you share what you're doing on eBay with your friends on Facebook. Did you just list a gorgeous jewelry case for sale on eBay? Or are you itching to brag to your friends about the pair of Marc Jacobsround toe boots you just won? If you choose, eBay Marketplace can share the news with your friends on Facebook automatically.
But you can do more than just share your stuff with your friends. If you run across the perfect vintage midcentury modern lamps for your sister's redecorated living room, you can share them with her with the click of a button. Or -- you could scoop them up and get a jump on your Christmas shopping, if you haven't finished it already. :)
I'm back today to bring you the next installment of our popular series, the eBay Member Spotlight. Through the eBay Member Spotlight series, we share our members' unique and inspiring stories with the rest of the eBay Community. So if you want a shot at your "15 minutes of fame," be sure to send us your story! (Details below at the end of this blog post.)
eBay Member Spotlight: Thanks for taking time to answer our questions, let's get started. When and how did you learn about eBay?
Motoxrush: Thanks for letting me share my story. Some years ago, my husband and I had a brick-n-mortar Power-Sports retail store in Oklahoma, and we were doing everything we could just to keep our doors open every month. Then, in 2004, my dad came to visit me and asked if I had ever thought about trying to sell on eBay.
eBay Member Spotlight: That's great -- you have your father to thank for showing you the path to eBay. Can you tell us how you got started?
Motoxrush: We started out buying a few things on eBay and then decided to list some items for sale. Everything we listed sold! We were hooked and soon after we opened our eBay store, Rush Moto X. Eventually we closed our brick-n-mortar store to sell on eBay full time since it was much more cost efficient.
eBay Member Spotlight: Wow! That's some great success while getting started. Is there something that you did that especially helped you succeed on eBay?
Motoxrush: I researched everything I could about selling on eBay. One day I discovered eBay Groups and asked Groups members some questions. I found so many of the members were so helpful, that I absorbed everything in terms of knowledge I could and learned so much more than my research could ever give me! I couldn't believe how friendly the people were in the Groups and how willing everyone was to help and give me advice.
eBay Member Spotlight: Aren't eBay Groups amazing? What did you do next?
Motoxrush: Since I had such a wonderful experience with the eBay Groups, I started my own group. I wanted to give back to the eBay Community through teaching others what so many experienced members were willing to share with me. I'm very proud of my eBay Group and I named it "Getting Started on eBay & Improving"
eBay Member Spotlight: Please share with us one of your favorite experiences participating in eBay Groups.
Motoxrush: I've met some really great friends within eBay Groups. One member and I exchanged instant message screen names and began talking to each other every day. Eventually we exchanged phone numbers and after two years we talk on the phone at least once a week. She has become one of my best friends even though we have never met in person. She lives in Alabama and I live in Oklahoma. But, due to interactions in eBay Groups I have made a best friend, who I enjoy talking to and share everyday life experiences with.
eBay Member Spotlight: You mentioned friends with an "S" meaning not just one friend, so there must be more to this story. Care to expand?
Motoxrush: Absolutely! Another awesome friend I met online in eBay Groups lives in Florida. While vacationing in Florida, my father decided to settle down and build a home he can move to when he retires. Like many eBay buyers and sellers, Dad is always on the lookout for great collectors items or just finding a bargain at thrift shops. But he didn't know where any good thrift shops were located in that part of Florida since he was new to the area. I then remembered my eBay Groups friend from Florida and I emailed her to see if she lived close to where my father was moving and, of course, if she knew where to find the bargains around town.
We talked on the phone for nearly three hours and it turned out that she lives less than 20 minutes from where my father was building his new home! Of course she asked me to give him her phone number so they could connect. Before I knew it, Dad was at her house. She welcomed him in like he was a dear old friend and hooked him up with some great places to go shopping. She even suggested how to go about finding good builders in the area for his home, and invited him back anytime he was in Florida. I thought it was so awesome that someone I had never met in person was so kind and welcoming to my dad! You see, Dad is very special to me and this meant a lot to me!
eBay Member Spotlight: That's a fantastic story! We hope you'll be able to meet your two special eBay friends someday. Motoxrush: Well, actually, since eBay Live is in Chicago in 2008 and that's only a three hour drive from my Dad's house in Wisconsin, we're planning on heading to eBay Live! during our annual summer visits to dad's house. The best thing is, because of my success with my eBay business, my husband and I have offered to pay for my friend from Alabama to come to Chicago to attend Bay Live! along with our friend from Florida (who is already planning to be there). We are all so pumped up to finally meet in person and a lot of my success and friendships on eBay are a result of my participation in eBay Groups. I just can't say enough about how much I enjoy being part of them.
eBay Member Spotlight: So, before we wrap up do you have any last words about your experience being part of the eBay Community?
Motoxrush: Sure, in hopes of sharing the greatest thing I have ever done with my business life, I became an eBay Education Specialist so that I could teach people the wonderful opportunities that are possible. Before wrapping up every class, I tell my students about so many caring and wonderful people that are part of the eBay Community. I show them how to find their way to eBay Groups and explain that not only can you sell on eBay and earn a good income, you can also meet some really good friends along the way too!
Selling on eBay has changed my life in such a way that I can now spend more time with my husband and son. It also, gives me the flexibility of being able to take time off to see my dad every year & it has given me the best gift of all…the gift of friendship!
If you have a story you'd like us to consider for a future Member Spotlight, send it to us right away! You can also record your own video and host it on Youtube. Simply email the URL created on Youtube to us. For those who may be a bit shy and not quite ready to be spotlighted on camera, you can do it the old fashioned way by writing your unique eBay story. Submit your video or written stories directly to chatterblog@ebay.com (our team) or directly to me at gianni@ebay.com.
Also, don't forget to subscribe to our RSS Feed, so you can get updates each time a new post goes up. All right, that's all for now....now send in your videos!
If you haven't attended a workshop lately (they're free), take a peek at the workshop calendar to see what's in store for the current month. If you're too busy listing and bidding to attend a live session, check out the archives for some great late-night reading. Okay, don't list that novel just yet, but do give some thought to reading past workshops. They're great reference material and can be accessed 24/7. Plus, there is no note taking or tests!
Here's a great example of a not-to-be-missed workshop from the archives.
Recently, Jennifer Ibarra of eBay Giving Works and Ashley Gatewood from MissionFish, the non-profit organization that administers the eBay Giving Works program taught members how listing items with eBay Giving Works to support a charitable cause can help their businesses stand out from the crowd this season!
Cause marketing is one of the most important and powerful marketing tools in existence today. It is the partnership between for-profits and not-for-profits that help both organizations elevate awareness and revenues. So why are companies doing this? A number of recent studies have documented that consumers carefully consider a company's reputation when making purchasing decisions and that a company's community involvement boosts employee morale and loyalty.
"Can you see the similar benefits to your business from incorporating cause marketing into your own business?" asked Jennifer Ibarra while co-hosting the ‘Tis The Season For Cause Marketing workshop. "Many sellers have already started dabbling in cause marketing by using eBay Giving Works and we've heard about some of the positive results they've seen - including more bids, higher ASPs (Average Sale Price), and higher sell-through rates."
Special guest and Community Hall of Fame award winner africadirect, a PowerSeller with over 13,000 Feedback, shared her cause-marketing success with workshop attendees. "I list at least 20 auctions a day for eBay Giving Works, and cause marketing is a big part of the way I position my business on eBay." Jennifer suggested that members think about using cause marketing while listing items that are more likely to be "giftable" during the holiday season, and "...with the eBay Giving Works feature to boot, will be even more irresistible to buyers."
Member fragranceforacause wanted to know how buyers are driven to cause marketing auctions. Ashley, from MissionFish, outlined the various areas of the eBay Giving Works hub page like the large graphics on the right side that let shoppers know about the various Spotlight on a Cause events happening. Additionally, non-profits often drive their constituents to shop for listings that benefit them. "For instance, the American Red Cross sent out an email this year letting constituents know they could shop for Father's Day gifts on their MissionFish nonprofit homepage."
At the end of the Q&A part of the workshop, africadirect shared the following, "Thanks for this program. It's my favorite part of eBay."
Ah, 'tis the season of giving again. 'Tis also the season, though many of us might drag a coy foot about it, of re-gifting. The fine art of re-gifting has come a long way since the time it was famously scorned on an episode of Seinfeld ("He's a regifter!" yells Elaine on discovering that her thoughtful gift of a label maker -- the Label Baby Junior -- has been slyly re-purposed).
While re-gifting has become much more socially acceptable since Elaine chastised Tim Whatley, many people are using eBay as a smarter way of "gifting it forward." A recent study conducted by Harris Interactive found that 83 percent of U.S. adults receive unwanted gifts during the holidays. Of those, nearly half (47 percent) typically re-gift or resell these misfit holiday presents, many on eBay. Not that there's anything wrong with it, as Seinfeld would have said.
After all, where else but on eBay would your "white elephant" become someone else's treasure? One of my friends always gets several pug calendars for Christmas, because she has two adorable pugs. Inevitably she ends up getting more than one of the same kind of calendar. Naturally she quickly heads over to eBay to list her duplicate calendars.
But how do you know which gifts will be most appreciated (or re-appreciated) on eBay this season? One way is to turn to Marsha Collier, author of the popular Santa Shops on eBay and "for Dummies" series of books about eBay, and a familiar figure at previous eBay Live! events. She's planning an entire series on gifting and re-gifting suggestions on her blog, Marsha Collier's Blog, so check it out.
A word of caution, though. When recycling your presents, beware the Gift of Gaffe! A story in the New York Times lays out the delicate etiquette and the pitfalls of re-gifting. Like making sure to remove the card addressed to you while re-gifting your gift to someone. Now that could have been the basis of a great Seinfeld episode.
I can hardly believe there's only about a month left in this year -- how time flies! Well, tomorrow's Town Hall with Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, at the helm will be your last chance this year to ask live questions to our senior execs. So think about what's on your mind, and call in your questions.
Bill and the Town hall panel will be taking your questions from 2:00 pm -- 3:30 pm (Pacific Time) tomorrow, November 29th. During the event, dial toll free -- 1-877-474-3302 -- to talk to them LIVE on the air! You can even email your question in advance at TownHall@ebay.com. Check out the Town Hall page for more details.
As usual, I'll be updating this post with photos during the event, so come back tomorrow at 2:00 pm (Pacific Time). Hope to "see" you there!
And we're off!! Here's Griff and Bill Cobb conferring a few minutes before the Town Hall began:
Click on the link below to see more pictures from the Town Hall. And if you want to listen to a recording of the Town Hall or to read a transcript, keep an eye on the Town Hall Archives page -- it should be up there in a few days.
Okay, so I borrowed the title from the eBay Workhop on How to Increase Your Sales with Email Relationship Marketing that I attended last week. As I read through the workshop material presented by Lisa Suttora of whatdoisell.com, I came across a post from a member that reminded me of an auction that I recently won.
Member lingerieexposure4u posted, "My customers rarely take me up on my newsletter offers (both on eBay and off eBay). Sure, I get people to sign up, but they don't take me up on my offers (15% off next purchase, free shipping, etc.)."
Getting people to sign up for your newsletters is a good start, but maybe some buyers just need an extra personal touch to wow them and turn them into repeat customers. Which brings me to my own experience with relationship marketing -- as a buyer.
Wowed by the extra step and the thoughtfulness As I mentioned earlier, I recently won an auction on eBay, for a black and white blazer. When the package arrived, I could hardly wait to open it and try on my new blazer. WOW (and that's an understatement) was I pleasantly surprised when I finally removed the last piece of tape. First, I was delighted to find that the blazer I had bid on was just like it was described (and fit perfectly!). Then, adding to my delight was the fact that the seller had included a "Thank You" card. Inside the card was a free return shipping label to be used if the blazer didn't fit, a coupon for $10 off my next eBay purchase and a note from the seller, "Enjoy the $10 savings the next time you shop with us!" Can it get any better than this?
This was my first time bidding on an item from that seller, but let me tell you, I will definitely look at their auctions again when shopping on eBay. This seller's thoughtfulness and customer care will definitely turn me, the first time customer, into a repeat customer. So sellers, keep offering 15% off the next purchase (or whatever amount you the seller deem necessary), the free shipping, return postage and other customer care specialties you can think of. There's always a bidder just like me out there, expecting nothing more than the item they bid on, who will be wowed by the little extras and thoughtfulness that is packaged with their purchase.
OK, more later, I have some shopping to do so I can put my $10 coupon to good use!
I believe I can safely say the holiday shopping season is upon us! Even though the garland and tinsel was up at the local department store before the pumpkins were carved, now is the time when holiday shopping really kicks into high gear. Whether your holiday shopping list fills 8 notebook pages (both sides) or just a sticky note, you probably appreciate a good deal when filling stockings and wrapping packages.
So, here are some tidings of savings and joy: If you shop with the eBay MasterCard between November 15th and December 15th this year, you can get 10% off your eBay purchases where the seller accepts PayPal (up to $25 back). The eBay MasterCard has a quick approval process, and when approved it's linked directly to your PayPal account. This means you don't even have to wait for the physical card to arrive to start shopping and saving on eBay. (Another cool optional feature: you can include your eBay user ID on your card!)
Check out the eBay MasterCard page for all the details...I'm off to shop!
You’re filled with anticipation as you wait to
see whether you’re the winner. Looking good so far...
What's this? Some dastardly competitor is trying
to sneak in a last minute bid? “Take that!” you trumpet, as you enter a bid
with just one click.
The countdown hits 00:00:00—the listing has
ended and you’re the winner!
That eBay moment was made possible by eBay
Countdown. It’s a tool that works in conjunction with Internet Explorer or
Firefox to let you watch eBay auctions that are part of your My eBay activity.
For example, say you find that perfect Hot
Wheels Redline custom Corvette. You add it to your Watch list, where you eye it
over the next several days. After clearing a special spot for it in your
display case, you place a proxy bid. That’s the top price you’re willing to
pay. The current price is well under your proxy bid for now, but as others
nibble away at the listing, the price goes up. You’re not worried, because eBay
is placing bids for you on your behalf (and will continue to do so, as needed,
until your proxy bid price is met).
Days later, the listing is coming to an end. You’re
the high bidder. eBay Countdown shows you a timer that counts rapidly downward,
ticking off each second until the listing ends. While you’re waiting, you can
gaze at the bottom of the Countdown window to see pictures of other listings,
such as those in your Saved Searches. (I personally love that feature because I
can do some productive shopping while I’m waiting!) If you see that someone
places a bid that finally beats yours, you can quickly place another bid with
just one click: another great Countdown feature!
You should definitely give eBay Countdown a
whirl. If you’re into buying and love to win, I think you’ll really like it. Watch what Jeff Loui from our Buyer Experience team has to say about Countdown below.
As the guy in charge of Trust & Safety messaging, you might say my job is an uphill battle. Safety messages are, to be blunt, boring. (This is also one of the reasons why we're making our Security Center friendlier and more inviting.)
Most serious content on the vitally important subject of password security (including eBay's Help page, I'll admit) reads like mom's admonishment to "eat your vegetables" or "clean up your room." We roll our eyes and inwardly groan, "Not another litany about passwords...I know, mom! I KNOW!!"
We often feel like the messages are for someone else. We might even feel a bit patronized by them. "Of COURSE I use strong passwords, duh! My passwords are NOT my birthday, my pet's name, my favorite sports team, or the word 'password123,' so what could possibly go wrong?" we say.
Well, plenty.
We can thank the University of Wyoming for taking the subject of password security out of the realm of broccoli and room cleaning. Evidently someone there knows how to grab the attention of the notoriously capricious student mind. Heck, introduce underwear into the conversation – that time-honored, giggle-inducing topic we learn to love in kindergarten – and you make even the most apathetic of users sit up and read. We all are kids at heart, after all.
How fast can someone guess your password? We all know that the bad guys behind phishing and identity theft scams are out to steal our passwords, but thinking that they're hunched over their computers trying out different combinations manually to arrive at our passwords is wrong.
These crooks write software programs that can "guess" passwords far more easily and quickly than you might think. Even desktop personal computers have now become powerful enough that they can process 100,000 encryption operations per second. And here's a sobering statistic: according to the University of Wyoming, if your password has 5 characters and uses only lower-case letters, it can be cracked in under 2 minutes. If it's 6 characters, it takes a bit longer, but it can still be cracked in under an hour!
The good news is that the longer and more complex your password is, the harder it gets for these rogue software programs to even come close to cracking it.
For instance, if you have an 8-character password that uses a combination of upper and lower case, it will take 17 years of computer processing to crack that password. If you add just one more character to your password, you're significantly upping the ante – the University of Wyoming says that it will take over 800 years to crack a 9 character password made up of upper and lower case letters. And if you throw numerals into the mix as well, the rogue programs will have to grind away even longer.
Is your password strong?
eBay has technology that detects whether your password is "strong" or not. If you have a password that our technology identifies as prone to being cracked by known patterns used by password-guessing tools, we present an additional layer of authentication to prevent your password from being broken. Remember how sometimes you see a combination of squiggly letters and numbers when you're signing in to your account? A password-guessing program can't recognize those characters, but a person – i.e. you – can. Despite this additional layer of protection, I'd still say that everyone should change their passwords often, at least every 30 to 60 days.
So here are some tips I urge you to use:
Read the University of Wyoming page and chuckle over the underwear references (or frown and say "Tsk! tsk!", if you're a mom).
Carefully read the serious information about creating a strong password.
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