04.09.11. As Seen on the Gadget Show (Rather Devious Website)
Fans of the Gadget Show will have noticed Goofbay being mentioned in Friday’s episode. Admittedly, we only noticed through a huge spike in users as the episode aired. If you were one of those who decided to visit us for the first time, then welcome! Grab yourself a cuppa, make yourself at home and try out our eBay tools.
The show featured our eBay misspellings search, which allows users to discover misspelt items, or poorly listed items within eBay. The show featured a search for a Playstation 3; we’ve taken the liberty of posting a similar search below for those seeking Playstation 3 bargains.
http://www.goofbay.com/ebay_misspellings_search.html?gmis_cat=139971&gmis_keywords=playstation
If you are signed into Goofbay, you will also be able to save this search and receive updates on new listings (if you haven’t already subscribed to the RSS feed based on the search).
If you discovered Goofbay through the gadget show, feel free to introduce yourself in the comments section below, or contribute to our Forum. At the time of writing, its Sunday and its the busiest day of the week for bargain auctions ending, so make sure to check back every Sunday for new opportunities.
For those who missed the show, you can view it again online here. Goofbay is featured at precisely 35:36 – where we are described as a ‘rather devious website’ 
If you thought the misspelling tool was devious, have a look at our eBay Sniper.
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24.08.11. Tamebay Tools and Services Guide – Just Landed!
Tamebay Tools and Services Guide – Just Landed
The mail has just arrived in the office and although chocolate would have been a more welcome surprise, we got the next best thing; Tamebay’s eBay Tools and Services Guide 2011 (in a book
Now obviously, there’s a Goofbay undertone to this article and you’ve probably already guessed that its because we’re in it! If you can get your hands on a copy, then feel free to ignore everything else and skip to page 23 where you’ll see the Goofbay section indicated by our logo in glorious black and white!
Seriously, though, do try to get your hands on the book as it should be a useful companion for eBay buyers and sellers of any level. The guide also profiles the technologies available from other related businesses, so the advice should prove fruitful as your online business grows. The guide highlights all of Goofbay’s major Tools, with tips on where to find them and how to use them.
Tamebay itself is owned and updated by Chris Dawson and Sue Bailey, two British eCommerce Professionals – between them, they’ve traded on eBay for over two decades.
“As an eBay business grows there becomes a need to simplify and automate many of the day to day tasks you will be undertaking. Everything from listing an item on eBay, printing and posting your sales, managing your customer communications and expanding your eBay business onto other marketplaces, your own website, shopping comparison sites and using paid search can be done manually. However the use of appropriate tools to manage these processes can automate the functions, perform tasks more effectively and save time and costs freeing you up to manage your business.”
Tamebay itself was born out of their frustrations at eBay’s inability to keep users informed of new features and eCommerce based news. Tamebay has solved this requirements and is now widely reputed as eBay’s blog. Since launching in 2006, Tamebay has grown to a readership of over 50,000 per month.
You can download the book from Tamebay, or alternatively, and in a beautfully ironic twist, you can purchase it from…erm…Amazon and all good book stores.
18.08.11. Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Some surprising revelations have come to light with some of eBay’s latest announcements. Apparently the amount of businesses making £1 million plus in profits through eBay will increase by a quarter by the end of the year. Whilst the high street continues to limp along, those without their heads stuck fast in the sand have long since relocated to new hunting grounds – namely online.
Angus McCarey, Retail Director for eBay UK commented; “We’ve seen a surge of businesses starting up on eBay since the recession which shows the vital role online businesses play in supporting the fragile UK economy. Many eBay businesses including some of our millionaires are selling offline as well so their total contribution to the UK economy is even more substantial.”
It has come to light that it is in export where the biggest profits are being achieved, with many online retailers targeting Countries through multi channel opportunities. Multi channel, for those new to selling online has nothing to do with your Sky Box; instead it describes the ability to sell through various outlets, or routes to market.
Many of the successful online businesses will already be established with a multi channel approach. As opposed to just running a standalone eBay site, they will also be focusing on eBay and Amazon in various countries (not forgetting their own website, possibly focusing on multiple Countries).
Mc Crary continued; “Exports are helping to drive this success as UK SMEs benefit from the international audience that selling online gives them. There are considerable opportunities for SMEs willing to ship internationally to EU and global customers.”
With so many opportunities in online, it begs the question why so many companies are still neglecting a transition. With eBay, amongst others focusing largely on connecting up online to offline businesses, through the likes of Milo and their Mobile applications, surely those companies not willing to adapt are going to be left behind – for good. The facts are ominous; 750,000 jobs are expected to be created in online in the next four years, whilst 63% of companies have expanded their online workforce in the last year.
So, if you’re stuck for a business idea, here’s a tip. Have a look at the Goofbay Seller History Tool and see what other businesses are selling well. Who knows, you could be the next millionaire businessman to aid next year’s statistics!
11.08.11. Stop Rioting and Have a Nice Cup of Tea
For those out there waiting for eBay to turn into Lootbay – you might end up disappointed.
If you’ve been in a coma for the past week you may be excused for missing the brain dead (mostly youths) of this Nation destroying the businesses who could have offered them a route out of unemployment. Kind of like robbing the tiles off your own house and then complaining when there’s a draught this winter. Our personal favourite Twitter photo was that of the thief who bypassed the television section of his Supermarket to escape wielding a 10kg value bag of long grain rice.
With Cash Converters removed as an option to turn their loot into cash (they looted that in the first instance) you would have thought the natural next step would be eBay. As mentioned earlier, you’d be wasting your time trying to pick up their bounty there.
A spokesman for eBay said no unusual activity had happened on the site to date and that it would be working with the police to identify and remove any goods which had been obtained from criminal activity.
“Our thoughts are with the businesses and communities affected by recent events in London and around the UK. eBay will cooperate fully with the investigating authorities to identify and remove any listings which are linked to criminal activity.”
So far, so good it would appear – a search of eBay revealed no value bags of long grained rice, however, based on the seller’s past judgement, Autotrader may now feature said item. After reading this, if you’re still looking for a souvenir from the week British society fell into ruin, why not have a look at this t-shirt.
As usual, thoughts are welcome below…
05.08.11. eBay’s Shopping Spree Continues
It’s probably about time we gave up on original titles are just settled for ‘Google Acquires [insert name] every week. Well, here goes – Google have completed the acquisition of Zong. Zong provides payments through mobile carrier billing and it appears to have been bolted directly into PayPal as a complementary technology. Zong leverages connections with over 250 mobile operators, naturally allowing PayPal growth through acquisition of another established platform.
PayPal President Scott Thompson, who must be dizzy from more acquisitions than a Premiership club bankrolled by a Russian Billionaire, commented;
“Commerce is changing. With mobile phones, we walk around with a mall in our pockets. PayPal helps to make money work better for customers in this new commerce reality – no matter how they want to pay or what device they’re using,”
“We believe that Zong will strengthen this value by helping us reach the more than 4 billion people who have mobile phones, giving them more choice and security when they pay.”
Zong CEO David Marcus commented;
“Our customers love the convenience of paying with their mobile numbers – a number they know by heart, and a device that they always have with them.” We look forward to extending our services to PayPal’s more than 9 million merchants around the world. And we’re committed to working with carriers and merchants to help them drive more sales across devices.”
Perhaps its shrewd business; perhaps it’s like betting on every horse in the National, but eBay’s feverish acquisition strategy appears to be reaping quick rewards. After announcing fantastic growth in Q1, eBay has by all accounts ripped up its annual forecast and set itself new goals for the rest of the financial year.
Now if eBay would just let the dust settle, we may be able to report on more varied eBay matters before their next shopping spree.
22.07.11. eBay Q2 Revenue Growth Sees a Raised Full Year Forecast
eBay, who have significantly realigned and restructured their business model to facilitate rapidly progressing social commerce appear to be making the impact they have desperately wished for. Q2 Revenue Growth has jumped a huge 25%, making eBay reconsider its overall Forecast.
The reasons for this success appear to hinge around several key areas. The sale of Skype will certainly have been a weight off their mind, with the service proving to be a millstone around the neck of the Auction Giant. Secondly, mobile Commerce has far exceeded predictions with over $3 billion in mobile transactions set to be recorded this year.
The growth of PayPal has also significantly aided the growth of the company with the payment method being the primary choice for these increased sales. The uptake of PayPal in eCommerce has also been significant with many retailers seeing the gateway as a useful secondary, or impulse buying option behind card payments.
Not one to rest upon these successes, eBay plans a large marketing push in Q3 which could even see them step back into television advertising. The aim will be to entice users back to the online marketplace; especially those who’s heads may have been turned by Amazon in recent years.
“Our user experience is good enough now that we want people to be trying eBay again,” Chief Executive John Donahoe announced in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.
The future looks positive for eBay, entering Q3, with a lot of potential growth still to be realised. The past two years has seen eBay on something of a spending spree, buying up the likes of Magento, Milo, Red Laser and even its own mobile app developer, Critical Path. eBay is yet to fully integrate and exploit the full potential of these aquisitions although plans are in place to bring together online and offline shopping experiences.
In the Q2, eBay reported a profit of $283.4 million; revenue also increased 25% to $2.76 billion, beating expectations of $2.6 billion.
18.07.11. PayPal Announce Fee Changes
PayPal is set to modify its user agreement and reivse their fees; the first time they have done so since the payment gateway was established in the UK 8 years ago. As part of the changes, PayPal will be looking to close all dormant accounts, which have remained unused for longer than 3 years.
The changes ride on the back of significant realignment of eBay’s offering and healthy Q2 growth for the Auction Giant and PayPal alike. Changes to the fee structure include:
Transaction fees will be retained when a seller issues a refund. Also, there will be an increase in chargeback fees. There will be a new cross border fee based upon addresses of registered PayPal accounts. The new fees will take effect on 7th September 2011.
PayPal fees will depend on whether a user is making a personal, or commercial transaction. The PayPal user agreement will also be amended to introduce fixed fees for personal transaction payments and these will be based on the cross border fees. Currency conversion fees are set to be updated and a commercial transaction refund fee will be introduced. UK charity pricing will be updated and there will be updates to fee caps on eCheque payments. Fees will be introduced for PayPal Business Payments.
For a full breakdown of the new fee structure and changes to policies, visit; https://cms.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=ua/upcoming_policies_full
PayPal, as is evident in the linked article are promoting the security, speed and ease of use in its rollout of changes. Noticably, this is heavily aimed at incentivising buyers. For the time being, we’ll have to watch this space for the impact it will have on its sellers. One thing is for certain; the changes will prove to be positive for some sellers and negative to others.
From PayPal’s side, this is doubtless about establishing new ground rules before making its significant moves into more social commerce and further breaking away from the constraints of its own Auction platform.
As usual, if you have further thoughts on PayPal’s fee restructure, feel free to contribute in the comments section below.
11.07.11. eBay Invests in Shipwire Fulfilment Service
eBay has invested in logistics company Shipwire as the Auction giant’s feverish acquisition strategy continues. This latest move again highlights eBay’s determination to offer a shopping experience anywhere and at anytime. Newell Rubbermaid Inc also invested alongside eBay, although the actual financial details have not yet been disclosed.
Shipwire typically targets small ecommerce sellers who are integrating with shopping carts. These include merchant platforms and marketplaces such as eBay, Magento, PayPal and Amazon. In addition to traditional fulfilment services, Shipwire also offers a hosted order automation and management software to merchants at no cost.
EBay Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy Jean-Francois Van Kerckhove commented; “Shipwire built a logistics technology platform, that gives any seller access to storage and shipping tools in domestic and international markets, previously only available to the largest merchants.”
Again, this latest acquisition fits eBay’s current realignment strategy to fit closer to the business model of Amazon. The move also falls in line with Amazon’s unveiling of its new shipping service; endless.com. Overall, this new logistics to the eBay business arm should allow for greater reliability and traceability in fulfilment in eBay sellers. Working with Shipwire could also tie in closely to the xcommerce platform which should see eBay break away from the constraints of its own domain.
Shipwire has also announced that this funding will support the expansion of its global warehouse network into new countries. It will also accelerate feature development of its store logistics platform.
If you have further thoughts on this article, feel free to use the comments section below.
07.07.11. eBay Bargain Hunting Tips
Last week we provided an overview of hints and tips to get the most money for your eBay listings. In case you missed it, you can view it here. Now, we’re going to spin things around and look at some handy hints and tips which could bring you bargain hunting success. Obviously, with Goofbay being based around bargain hunting, we’re making no apologies for plugging our tools here. Let’s begin:
Is the Best Bargain on eBay?
This may seem a little odd, as you’d typically expect eBay to host most of the online bargains, but sometimes you need to look further afield. eBay sellers lose profit margins through listing fees, seller fees and PayPal fees. However, if they have a website, they are will negate these fees and may pass some of the saving onto the consumer. Also, have a look at the likes of Amazon which is a particularly price driven marketplace.
Search for Misspellings
Misspellings, as we all know by now mean that an item is hidden away from searches and this will result in few bids and a bargain waiting to be had. Use our eBay Misspellings Tool to discover the items nobody else can find.
Save Searches
Whether through eBay, or Goofbay, if there’s a particular item you are on the lookout for, get it saved as a search. This will prompt eBay to notify you of any new listings which may be of interest to you. This will save a lot of time, especially if your search is fairly specific.
Do your Research
Before bidding, or making an offer on an item look at similar auctions and see what the product has sold for previously. Again check this against other retailers on the web. Also, remember that buying used items is not always cheaper than buying new ones.
Pay Attention to Detail
eBay Sellers are looking to make money; some, in a more honest way than others. Remember to look at feedback before doing business with any seller and take the time to pick up on key points which may be swaying you towards a purchase. For example, if you’ve only found one seller who stocks a particular item, as its widely out of stock, check the feedback for anyone describing whether the product is in fact available. The same applies for promises of fast shipping and so on.
The not so Polished Listings
A good eBay seller will provide fantastic imagery, detailed descriptions and will essentially pitch the product to you through the listing. Always remember, however, that there are sellers out there offering the same product that have hurriedly taken a picture on their phone and uploaded a blurred mess to the listings page. There’s a good chance that it’s the same thing, but like the scruffy dog at the pound, it gets overlooked in favour of the perfect specimen. Again, it could be a bargain waiting to be had.
Night Time Listings
A lot of sellers will list their items after midnight. This means that their auction will end when most people are asleep. Try to identify these listings early, but don’t wait up; set a snipe and get a good night’s sleep.
Make a Best Offer
Again, we’ve touched on Best Offers previously. If there is an option to make a Best Offer on an item, take it. If you’re out and about and don’t have time to communicate at a desktop, download the eBay app to your phone and take it with you. Use our eBay Best Offers tool to calculate exactly how much you could save on an item.
Finally…don’t Bid, Snipe
Always avoid showing your hand by bidding early and attracting unwanted attention to an item. Decide what you would offer on an item and use our Free eBay Sniper. This gives you the last say in any auction.
Hopefully, this provides you with an overview of things to look at to get a bargain through eBay. However, there are lots more opportunities to identify a bargain and there are lots more tools within Goofbay to provide insight into them. Spend time experimenting with the tools and eventually you’ll develop methods to identify bargains quickly. If you have any other additional pointers feel free to list them in the comments section below. In the meantime; happy bidding!
27.06.11. Tool Intro – eBay Best Offers Tool
The eBay Best Offers Tool is one of the simplest to use within our library of eBay Tools. It allows users to determine what % discount a seller is likely to take on a Best Offer. The tool also displays results on a per item basis to accurately see how cheeky an offer is likely to be accepted. Below is a quick guide for beginners using the tool and some tips to hopefully help those more familair with Best Offers.
The eBay Seller History Tool is very simplistic to use. Type in the eBay Username you want to investigate and await the results. Please note that the Seller History Tool trawls eBay for between 30 and 90 days of results, so these will take a few minutes to compile.
The results tell you the overall percentage saving a seller has accepted on their items, as well as on a per item basis. If a seller accepts offers of 20% below a buy it now, you should be fairly confident in contacting the seller for a 22% discount.
There you have it - The eBay Best Offers Tool – simple to use and a great tool to refer to for instant savings.
Don’t forget, if you are doing research, or if you want to save the results for later, you can download all of your findings as a csv.
Its really that simple. Remember you can use the Best Offers tool in a variety of ways. For example – in setting a snipe for an auction, remember to look look Best Offers on similar items. This way, you might decide to buy the item, rather than ending up in a bidding war at a higher price.
If you see a Best Offer option on an item – don’t pay full price. Remember that to List it with an Offer available, a seller will have an acceptable offer in mind. Also, try to download the eBay App for your phone, then you can communicate your offers quickly if you’re out and about.
Finally, in a shameless plug of our Goofbay mobile version – if you have a smart phone, save it to the desktop for quick access to our eBay tools at any time.
