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This Texas father decided to put his family up for auction on eBay. Cute idea? Signs of the times? It is more idiotic for me. He should have just placed himself up for auction and not include the kids. Watch the video. Even his son thinks he’s crazy.
But who knows, maybe I’m the one who does not get it.
What does it feel like to have one million people tell you how well you’re doing your job? What about four million? One successful eBay entrepreneur knows the answer to these questions first-hand. Jack Sheng, Founder and CEO of Eforcity, Inc., recently had all four of his eBay ID’s (everydaysource, itrimming , accstation and eforcity) surpass the one million Feedback milestone, marking the first time any single eBay User IDs have reached this volume of Feedback from transactions completed on the site.
To celebrate Sheng’s groundbreaking achievement, eBay is adding a new Feedback star to the site. Sheng will be the first seller to have the newly unveiled silver shooting star, denoting a Feedback score of 1,000,000 or more, appear next to his four user ID’s on eBay.com. [Read more…]
eBay Inc. has acquired Den Bla Avis and BilBasen, providers of leading online classifieds sites in Denmark for approximately $390 million. The addition of Den Bla Avis and BilBasen to eBay’s global classifieds portfolio positions the company as a leader in the online classifieds market in Denmark and further strengthens the company’s world-leading portfolio of online classifieds sites. eBay’s online classifieds business now has a presence in more than 20 countries and 1,000 cities.
Larry Illg, general manager with eBay global classifieds, will head eBay’s business in Denmark and will lead the integration of Den Bla Avis and BilBasen into the global classifieds portfolio. eBay plans to use its experience in building online communities around the world to grow user traffic to dba.dk and bilbasen.dk. Den Bla Avis and BilBasen will maintain offices in Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark.
eBay is dramatically lowering by more than 70 percent the cost to list an item in eBay’s Buy It Now fixed price format. Sellers will now enjoy a flat rate of 35 cents for a 30-day listing period, up from the previous seven-day standard. Sellers also can now list multiple quantities of the same item for a single 35 cent listing fee; previously, multiple quantities resulted in higher listing fees. This pricing change significantly reduces the upfront cost of listing fixed price items on eBay and bases fees primarily on the successful sale of items.
The change, which takes effect September 16, 2008, is the most competitive pricing eBay has ever offered sellers. Final value fees also have been rebalanced on a category-by-category basis. In most cases, the combined listing and final value fees paid by sellers will be lower, and during this holiday season eBay PowerSellers can benefit from an additional discount by offering buyers free shipping.
This move is seen as eBay trying to move on a different direction– from auction to fixed price format.
eBay Inc. praised a federal judge’s ruling in the Tiffany vs. eBay trademark case, affirming the company’s leading efforts to fight counterfeits and to support consumer choice to buy and sell authentic merchandise online.
Richard Sullivan, judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled that Tiffany, and not eBay, is responsible for monitoring the eBay website for counterfeit Tiffany goods and for bringing the counterfeit goods to the online auctioner’s attention.
The court also declared that eBay takes appropriate steps to remove suspected counterfeit listings as part of the company’s additional efforts to provide a safe and trusted marketplace. Furthermore, the court also found that Tiffany was responsible for policing its own trademark on eBay.