In this article I just fist want to mention what the differences between these three entities are. A lot of my clients get confused between these three formats, which causes misinterpretation of what functionality is available to them. Firstly, an eBay shop: This is part of the eBay marketplace where all of your listings on eBay can be collectively viewed. You can make this look very much like a website (like the guys from creativebay.co.uk) but it is definitely NOT a website. You have 2 ‘marketplaces’ under the eBay umbrella. Core Listings which get a larger proportion of traffic and seemingly cheaper ‘shop’ listings which do not form part of the eBay main search and depend very much on core… Read more »
Google & Yahoo collaborate in Sitemaps.org
Incase you haven’t yet heard, Google & Yahoo have launched a collaborative site www.sitemaps.org. Sitemaps provide webmasters and content providers to submit new and existing content to search engines. Unified As any webmaster will know, publishing content to multiple search engines can be a somewhat tedious task, so this unified approach will bring a new standard, and a more efficient approach to submitting your website(s), and the search engine industry as a whole. Just because a level playing field has been agreed in the form of www.sitemaps.org, don’t expect to see the exact same result rankings when searching Yahoo or Google, as each of these companies still have their own search algorhythms and ranking criteria. However, submitting content to all… Read more »
Will Google Take Over the World?
Recently Google has made a number of acquisitions that have made headline news. The most obvious recent purchase was the high profile takeover of YouTube for $1.65 Billion in stock. However this merger is just one in a long line of Google purchases. Google’s latest procurement includes the purchase of the WIKI based site JotSpot. JotSpot was founded by the co founders of the former search engine site Excite; one of the first search engine home pages to feature customizable home pages which Google users have come to know and love. The current trend to move towards new web 2.0 technology (such as WIKI technology AJAX and my space type sites) is being vastly adopted by many big players in… Read more »
eBay and Myspace.com
The massive optimisation of myspace of late means that in around 2 days, your myspace account is optimised within google and showing up within search listings! Just search for frooition in google and two myspace accounts will appear where two employees have marked frooition as where they work. That happened in 2 days! What else gets into googles search index in a mere two days? Many sellers are now promoting their auctions through myspace and adding ‘freinds’ from relevent groups of people. The primary age for myspace is between 16 and 34. So if your product hits that age range then a bit of free myspace advertising can’t go a miss can it? Whaaaaat? I hear you say? Well companies… Read more »
eBay Express WE NEED BUYERS!
eBay express is everywhere, on myspace.com, pretty email and literature to exsiting eBayers…..eBay express in the UK is attracting the cream of the sellers. Only one problem is the lack of buyers. The states suffered the same downfall. One seller quoted only 3 sales in about 300 were from the eBay express marketplace. I personally fail to see why. Ebay express is a potentially great marketplace for buyers! Why? -All items must have a returns policy -Sellers must have a 98% or more feedback on eBay -Be genuine business sellers bound by distance selling regulations ( no fakes as well guys!) -Items must be shipped within 3 days (no pre-ordering here) -Payment by credit/debit card is taken by eBays Express… Read more »
Check some eBay vitals, gather some data about your eBay business!
Check your Gross Merchandise Sales each Week Total Listing Fees for that week? Are they too high? Payment System Fees Is your average selling price increasing or decreasing? (GMS/ No. Itms Sold) Then with this simple calculation work out your Conversion Rate for that Month Number of Items Sold/Number of Items Listed= Conversion Rate This will give you a percentage of how many successful items you had close in relation to how many listings. The average CR (conversion rate) on eBay is 50%, go below this and you need to re-jig your listing strategy as you are listing too many items, or listing them to the wrong category, in the wrong format or at the wrong times. There are so… Read more »
E-commerce is the cheapest way to trade!
E-Commerce is one of the most important aspects of the Internet. Under this umbrella we have websites with shopping carts, marketplaces and shopping comparison sites. Ecommerce lets you sell without the restraint of time or location. A website can serve anywhere in the world. Cost per sale is reduced when you’re talking about e-commerce. No human interaction is needed, and errors are reduced as the customer provides all the information. Customers can search for niche products in an instant, and if you are a seller of niche product, reaching out to the world can increase your sales volumes thus decreasing the cost of the item for you. The customers experience can be streamlined, they will spend less time over order… Read more »
eBay Search Updates – video interview with eBays Eric Billingsley
I hear on the grapevine eBay are working on a few additions to the standard search functionality, and they’re calling it ‘Best Match’. This had a short release earlier this week for testing, and has now been removed again as far as I can tell. The below picture shows how it would have looked: Basically this feature allows for potential buyers to search against key factors, like best performing item based on hits, price, and a whole other list of factors.. Ultimately pushing for relevancy (I’m sure you all know the feeling of searching for an iPod and finding nothing but accessories?) For anyone interested in seeing this and other eBay features in action, go view this video demo from… Read more »
eBay Express UK – Merchant Feedback So Far…
Just over a week after eBay officially released eBay Express (A Fixed-Price Marketplace for buying new items from multiple sellers through a single checkout), we’ve had a reasonable amount of positive feedback so far. Like a lot of people, I’m really excited about eBay Express here in the UK – Mainly due to the look and feel of the Express site. The AJAX interface makes for a pleasant user experience, and the intelligent search interface is such an improvement. (i.e., when searching for an item using keywords for manufacturer, size, colour, material (etc etc), it breaks the search phrase into separate attributes, enabling you to modify each in turn.) Ultimately this makes any product a lot easier to find for… Read more »
Frooition – An Introduction
WHO ARE FROOITION?Frooition are the UK’s leading specialists in online marketplaces. Working with industry leading market makers: eBay, eBay Express, Amazon and with several established strategic partnerships including ChannelAdvisor and Paypal, Frooition utilizes long-standing eBay expertise and world-leading technologies and services to advise and partner its’ retail and manufacturing customers to exploit the new online marketplace opportunities. Through our CreativeBay division, customers can acquire world leading eBay store design and branding. With our ServiceBay division, we offer a comprehensive range of services to suit your specific circumstances. These range from establishing an online marketplace presence, to implementing and supporting volume e-tail solutions (run by the client themselves, or managed on an outsourced basis by Frooition), and increasing visitor pull and… Read more »
