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Rather than talking about the possible marriage between eBay and MySpace, I would like to take the time talk about two things: Why this is good for eCommerce and why this is a bad thing for eCommerce. It’s known around my circle of friends that I highly dislike MySpace with a passion. I don’t know why that is and I have no reasoning behind it but that’s the way the ball bounces; off the cliff and away from Myspace. Anyways, enough with that and on with giving the good and the bad of this relationship.

The Good:

Creating a social network for eBay would be great for not only eBay but for the users as well. I can see MySpace having a special section for all of the users to sell and buy various items from both pools of users. Combining two of the biggest sites on the internet would benefit both parties not only in terms of user numbers but financial numbers as well. If eBay doesn’t create a social community for their users, someone will. Mainly this would just be good for both parties involved and not so much the end user because MySpace, for lack of a better word, sucks.

The Bad:

Competition is what drives innovation. I really want to see someone else create a social network of sorts before eBay gets that ball rolling because I want to see something new. Granted, MySpace is ok at what it does but everything behind the monster is hideous. There’s no secret that MySpace is a very sloopy site when it comes to the code and implementaion. I would love to see someone create an awesome eCommerce/eBay social network in which eBay and MySpace would have to compete with. This may never happen but I can dream can’t I?

In conclusion, I hope this marriage never happens because I really want to see MySpace wiped from the face of the Earth but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.

eBay has been fighting a long standing war with scammers, those of us who have been heavy users of the eBay platform know this firsthand.

One casual seller’s story

The question is, what can eBay do to really fix this?  Well, Bill Cobb had addressed this in his eCommerce keynote last week.  Here’s one excerpt:

First, times have changed since the early eBay days — the internet has evolved a lot, and so, too, have the fraudsters.   (Think the internet equivalent of an arms race, where as sites get smarter about security, the fraudsters do too.)  Bill made it clear that eBay is taking a more proactive approach to Trust & Safety, which sometimes means sacrificing transparency in favor of increased security.  He mentioned projects like Safeguarding Member Ids, as an example, as well as behind-the-scenes efforts to step up protections against counterfeits.

ProBargainHunter.com is one of those gems of the eCommerce blogosphere that becomes “required reading” over time. He does great reviews of products and shares his insights on finding bargains online.

Earlier this month he began a list that tracks the popularity of price comparisons sites. Below are the top 10 from that list, check out his site for the rest.

If you like this, you might also want to check out his “Social Bargain Hunting Roundup“.

Slate has a great article about pricing and marketing.

According to Varian, retailers who vary their prices over time—increasing them one week, then discounting the next—create the kind of price instability that encourages consumers to shop around. The end result is that shoppers visit several sites before making a purchase, which is exactly what retailers want us to do.

The article goes on to discuss why Apple iPods are never discounted, and the reasoning behind it. Overall, a very informative read.

The lessons learned here can be transferred over to an eCommerce store’s strategy at any time. Chief among them being that you should fluctuate your pricing.

We’ve been quietly working on some new features for the last couple of months, and we are finally ready to unveil them.

New Premium eBay Templates!
We have added a new section to the template area. You can now choose from our “premium” templates area for 14 amazing new designs that each has multiple color choices. We have also added 3 new FREE templates!

For 50 cents, List’d users can choose from 14 “premium” templates, each with multiple color choices, in themes ranging from technology to baby clothes. Users can also choose to pay $5.00 for 30-day unlimited use of any of the premium templates. They also have three new free templates to choose from.

As always, all of the features that you’ve grown to love about List’d are still free to use. Premium templates are our first stab at creating a value added feature that we think you would be willing to pay for. These payment will be made through PayPal, since 85% of you have that capability. Thanks for giving them a try!

Default Your Favorite Settings
You can now go into your profile page to save your favorite settings. We had a lot of heavy users asking us for this ability, and we think it will really make your lives easier. All you need to do is login and click on the “Profile” link where you can:

• Add a default “boilerplate” text area into each listing
• Change your password
• Set your shipping options
• Pick a default template

Login and try out the new features. Tell us what you think, that’s how we’ve been able to get List’d to where it is already. Your feedback is what made this tool great

While looking for some more RAM for my MacBook, a co-worker of mind stumbled across a great new way for me to search through items for sale on the internet. The website is called TheFind.com and it’s a new service that basically finds what you want on the internet.

“TheFind.com currently searches over 500,000 stores on the Web and finds over 150 million products – that is 5 times larger than most comparison shopping sites. We rank results by the best matches right on the first page, along with the top brands and stores for your search. With one click you can view sale or new items, easily save your favorites in a personalized list called “MyFinds”, or quickly e-mail products to friends.”

Searching for what you want couldn’t be easier. Just type in the item you are looking for, click find, sit back and wait for the searches to populate your screen. If what you start to type is common, a short list of items already used will pop-up allowing you to choose from this list. After you search, you even have the ability to filter your results by price, sale items, and/or new items. The site is still in beta but so far, so good.

I haven’t written about Etsy before here, mostly because what we do is centered around the eBay universe. However, I’ve always really liked Etsy, and think it fills a niche that eBay’s size has made it not viable in – crafts. Etsy’s incredibly dynamic team has built an amazing platform for the buying and selling of handmade goods. They’ve build a great community and I think they’re one of the highlights of eCommerce on the web.

Anyway, they’re off and running on a Version 2 of Etsy, with a new tweak on the look and feel of everything. Check it out below, or go to their blog and see a few more screenshots.

The Current Homepage (version 1):

The New Etsy Homepage (version 2)

BuildV1 is a blog about entrepreneurship, and a lot can be learned there for budding eMerchants. Below are 3 of his 6 ingredients for successful eCommerce:

1. Make it as easy as possible for customers to checkout. Make sure the process is clear and streamlined. Only require the information you need to process an order and don’t force customers to create an account, especially not at the beginning of the checkout process.
2. If you offer special services or promotions, such as free shipping or free return shipping, make sure that customers are aware of these offerings.
3. If products you sell logically require other products or can be complemented with other products, make sure customers are aware of each product’s complementary products.

Read the other 3 at the BuildV1 blog.

eBay has jumped into emerging web technology even further with their launch of eBay MyWorld. Basically, it’s an eBay knockoff of MySpace. More importantly, it’s a serious upgrade for sellers over their current “About Me” page.

After a quick review of the service, I’ve found it pretty easy to use. MyWorld links in well with individuals current profile, listed items, reviews and eBay blogs. What I’d like to see them do is open it up even further and allow people to create links out to their own personal blogs and stores.

If you are a consistent seller on eBay, it would probably be worth trying MyWord out. Test it out and see if you are able to create a network of other sellers and buyers who are interested what you do.

The Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, also known as PESA, is having it\’s Fall summit in San Francisco September 20-22.

It does look like an interesting conference with some big names in it. What I find most interesting though, is the fact that the organization grew up in and around eBay, but is looking at multi-channel selling solutions now. So, they\’re going beyond eBay.

An exerpt from the email they sent me:

PESA has brought top level executive decision makers from eBay, Amazon, Google, Yahoo!, Overstock and other major marketplaces to San Francisco on Sept. 20th and 21st for two days that could very well signify an important eCommerce milestone. These two days will become known in history as a first of its kind event.

Now, I don\’t know if it will be a \”first of its kind event\”, so if you go to it you\’ll have to tell me. However, I do think it looks very interesting.