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HONG KONG, August 24, 2010 – Alibaba.com (HKSE: 1688.HK) (HK.1688), the world’s leading e-commerce company for small business, has entered into an agreement to acquire Auctiva, the leading third-party developer of tools for eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) sellers. With more than 170,000 active users, Auctiva provides a variety of listing, marketing and management tools as well as image hosting and online storefronts that make it easy for small businesses to sell successfully via e-commerce on sites like eBay.

The acquisition of Auctiva, as well as Alibaba.com’s purchase of Vendio in June, combined with Alibaba.com’s strength in sourcing, will create a significant source of tools and resources for U.S. small businesses looking to leverage e-commerce. The combination of both the Auctiva and Vendio acquisitions brings more than 250,000 new customers to the Alibaba.com family of products, and significantly expands the size of Alibaba.com’s U.S. operations.

Through its recent acquisitions, Alibaba.com is building the world’s first global e-commerce supply chain. This end-to-end network connecting manufacturers and wholesalers with e-tailers and consumers will allow small businesses to easily source from suppliers all over the world, then conveniently manage and sell those products through popular online channels like eBay, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), their own online storefronts and more. 

“Time and money are the two most important things to me as a small business owner,” said Don Pinard, owner of www.peggsbargains.net, an Auctiva and AliExpress customer. “I spend a lot of time online looking for products I can sell. I used to use liquidation sites, but AliExpress is much better, and more reliable. If I can trim the cost of purchasing items by just 7% that will cover all store fees and shipping costs, which will really increase my profit.”

The online merchants who use both Auctiva and Vendio will have direct access to almost 1.5 million supplier storefronts on Alibaba.com’s sourcing platform andAliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a wholesale transaction platform operated by Alibaba.com. This new connection from supplier to online merchant represents significant potential cost savings to customers. By sourcing their products directly from the manufacturer, reducing travel and taking advantage of global markets, Alibaba.com hopes to help small merchants increase their profit margin in the long term. For example, a jewelry retailer can sell a silver bracelet with black agate stones for US$12 on eBay and make a profit of US$7.09 if he/she originally purchased their inventory on AliExpress for US$4.91 per piece. These savings combined with the additional efficiencies of sourcing online will represent significant savings for the average online merchant.

With the acquisition, Auctiva’s platform will be integrated with AliExpress, allowing Auctiva users to connect to AliExpress via a tab on the Auctiva Web-based platform. This will enable customers to easily search for suppliers, acquire merchandise and list those products on eBay through their Auctiva accounts. Exclusive promotions and special deals on AliExpress products will be available to Auctiva users.

“Small online retailers are just starting to see how they can use international sourcing to their advantage, and we have seen the significant opportunity through customer reaction to our initial integration with Vendio,” said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com. “Many small business owners never even thought that they would be able to source their products from overseas, as they didn’t have the staff or technological resources to do so. We are bringing both sides of the equation together to make international sourcing as easy as possible for any business.”

“Our mission has always been to help users sell more successfully online, particularly through the eBay channel,” said Jeff Schlicht, founder and CEO of Auctiva. “With more than 10,000 new users joining Auctiva each month, we are constantly looking for new ways to serve our customers and drive value for them. Joining Alibaba.com and connecting our buyers to the vast supplier base on Alibaba.com and AliExpress.com is the perfect way to help them grow and thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.”

The acquisition closed on Aug. 18, 2010, and is part of the US$100 million investment plan for AliExpress that Alibaba.com announced in April 2010. Auctiva will operate as a new business unit within Alibaba.com and will retain its own brand name and operations.

Rothschild was the financial adviser to Alibaba.com for this transaction and Morgan Joseph was the adviser to Auctiva for this transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Today Twitter has announced a new "daily deal" called @earlybird Exclusive Offers, this will be time-sensitive deals on products and events that will appear on the @earlybird Twitter account. People can follow that account to get access to the deals.

The idea borrows from private and limited-time sale sites, like Gilt, Groupon and Woot (which Amazon.com recently acquired), a recent trend in online shopping. It also takes advantage of what companies like eBay, which attributes volumes in sales to posting deals on the Daily Deals, are already doing.

The deals could be on products, like iPods or diapers, or on events, like concert tickets or travel. In a post on a company blog, Twitter hinted that it could filter deals by category, like apparel or gadgets, in the future. Twitter stressed that it would be selective about which deals were offered and “try and make these deals interesting and of value to you.”

The retailers will determine the price of the items and how many are available. Twitter will earn money from the sales. It is experimenting with different models, like a cut of each sale or a fixed price per deal, said Sean Garrett, a Twitter spokesman. The retailers will collect shoppers’ credit card numbers and otherwise fulfill the transaction.

Many of you use Twitter to stay on top of timely, relevant information, and lots of businesses are already sharing special offers on Twitter. We believe that surfacing deals through the @earlybird account will help you discover the best of those deals, as well as find and follow accounts that consistently provide exceptional value.

Twitter @earlybird Exclusive Offers are special time-bound deals, sneak-peeks, and events that are promoted by the official Twitter @earlybird account. We partner with select advertisers and retweet offers that they have crafted only for the Twitter community. Our advertising partners determine the terms of the offer, including availability, amount, and price. As with other forms of advertising from Twitter, we are focused on bringing value to our users and will keep your interests in mind as we develop this program.

How does @earlybird choose these deals?

Every couple days, our Earlybird at Twitter HQ lays a golden egg. Inside this wondrous egg is a piece of parchment with the day’s magical deal.

Seriously… how do you get these deals?

Ok, ok, we partner with advertisers to choose exciting deals we think our users (that’s you!) will like. If you have suggestions of a product/event you want to see featured on this account, feel free to @reply to @earlybird.

Does Twitter make money from this?

Yes, we earn revenue through our relationships with advertisers. Our focus will be to try and make these deals interesting and of value to you. We take pride in being selective about the type of deals we highlight and hope they will be an exciting way to start your day.

Last week I was in Vegas giving away money to poker bandits and drink servers. I was there for the eBay Radio Party which was to celebrate 7 years of Griff as host of eBay Radio. This was the first time I attended and had a personal agenda. Back in 2006 I went to Vegas for my first and only eBay LIVE event. Unfortunately my partner got extremely ill, to the point where we had to go to the emergency room and the entire trip was spent doing beside manner. What was to be a cool event with other eBay’ers for us turned out to be a complete nightmare.

Fast-forward to the eBay Radio Party last week. The folks at eBay Radio threw an event at the Paris Hotel in Vegas and it was a lot of fun. No, it was not an where close to the size and scale of the old eBay LIVE, but it had the same spirit. Everyone was an eBay "fan" an the atmosphere was light. The agenda was 2 days of sessions from speakers:

Marsha Collier – Why Customer Service Online is the New Marketing
Lynn Dralle – Product Sourcing & Sales Strategies
Janelle Elms – Making Best Match Work for You
Cliff Ennico – Tax & Legal Answers for your Business on eBay
Debbie Levitt – Stores & Listings that Make the Sales
Cindy Shebley – Facebook for Business

and of course yours truly…

John "colderICE" Lawson – How to Make Your Business on eBay Bigger, Badder, and Better

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I woke up this morning to a story that caught my eye from Dave White of eBay and Beyond when he said the following:

Recently, I submitted a press release regarding the combined ECMTA Chicago Chapter/Chicagoland eBay Sellers dinner meeting coinciding with Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition to Auctionbytes.com free service for Press Releases.

The event is open to all internet marketers, and will feature John ColderIce Lawson, CEO of 3Rd Power Outlet, Randy K. Smythe, Merchant Advocate for Buy.com, Richard Brewer-Hay editor of eBayInkBlog.com, and Scot Wingo, CEO of Channeladvisor and editor of ebaystratagies blog as guest panelists in a roundtable townhall discussion format.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from David Steiner President of Auctionbytes denying my submission. As there was no reason for the denial given I decided to seek an answer.

I emailed David requesting a reason for the denial and this is the response I received:

It’s our policy not to accept PESA/ECMTA press releases.

OK, so I must step in here and say that yes I am personally on this press release (for disclosure purpose) so I may be a little biased…ok, more than a little.

OUCH! I had no idea that AuctionBytes has a blanket policy in place that it would not accept press release news affiliated with the eBay PowerSeller organization PeSA or the eCommerce Seller organization of ECMTA.

Personally, everyone with a blog has a right to have a “pissing contest” with anyone they want, but I do feel it is unfortunate that people like Dave and the eBay and Beyond folks have to chose sides or they will NOT be treated fairly. The AuctionBytes folks now have this blanket DOS (denial of service) based on simple “sponsorship association”. I dunno, just was shocked to see that response so open and out there about it.

I must quote the great incite of  Mr. King…No silly, not Martin Luther King…Rodney King! “Can we all get along?”

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comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released findings from a study of the impact of holiday promotions on PayPal’s use at major online retailers during the 2008 holiday season. As merchants and payment services prepare for a competitive 2009 holiday season, understanding the lifts from prior promotions is critical in assembling marketing programs that positively impact consumer preferences and drive share.

The results of the comScore study show that PayPal promotions launched in Q4 2008 caused a significant increase in the payment method’s share of dollars spent at major retailer sites, including Overstock.com, Walmart.com and others, as consumers capitalized on attractive online deals. These and other relevant findings are covered in detail in the comScore report, Alternative Payment Types Online: The Rise and Maturity of PayPal and Others Across the e-Commerce Landscape, which is currently available for purchase.

Holiday Promotions Drive Increase in PayPal Dollar Share

During Q4 2008, PayPal announced attractive promotions at several online retailer sites resulting in significant increases in its dollar share among partner retailer sites. Overstock.com customers were presented with 15 percent cash back on a $100 purchase when using PayPal, which helped push its dollar share up 3.6 percentage points to 18.6 percent. Walmart.com, which launched its partnership with PayPal in early October 2008, offered $20 off a purchase of $50 or greater when customers used a PayPal account to checkout, resulting in a 9.0 percent dollar share during Q4. Dell.com gave PayPal preferential treatment, positioning the payment option right under Dell’s payment plan and above all other credit card options, helping to boost PayPal’s share to 7.0 percent in Q4 2008, an increase of 5.1 percentage points from the previous quarter.

  PayPal Share of Dollars at Online Retailer Site
  Q4 2008 vs. Q3 2008
  Total U.S. Home/Work/University Locations
  Source: comScore, Inc.
  ----------------------
                           Dollar Share
                           ------------
                                              Point
                       Q3 2008   Q4 2008     Change
                       -------   -------     ------
  Overstock.com           15.0%     18.6%       3.6
  ------------            ----      ----        ---
  Walmart.com              N/A*      9.0%       N/A
  -----------              ---       ---        ---
  Dell.com                 1.9%      7.0%       5.1
  --------                 ---       ---        ---
  AE.com                   3.0%      8.0%       5.0
  ------                   ---       ---        ---

  *PayPal payment option was not implemented until October 2008 at
   Walmart.com

"PayPal’s aggressive promotion strategy during the 2008 holiday season helped the popular online payment method carve out a significantly higher share of wallet at several major retailer sites," said Matt Archer, comScore senior manager, financial services. "Despite the limited duration of the promotions, PayPal has managed to retain a notable share of wallet at most of these retailer sites in subsequent time periods.

As merchants and payment services make decisions related to 2009 holiday promotions, the positive impact of prior programs in growing share of dollars and transactions represents critical information."

You got to give credit where credit is due (even if it is OVERDUE). But the decision by eBay to launch a webinar to aid its sellers on the Best Match changes is pretty AWESOME!

Best Match: Best Practices
Wednesday, November 4, 11:00 AM, Pacific Time
Space is limited so register now!

Now I have no idea what the actual content is going to be, but my hope is that these guys will FINALLY champion an effort to really "educate" it’s seller base and not bore them with time wasting fluff ala eBay Town Hall or eBay Radio …. Zzz Zzz Zzz – Ooops, sorry I dozed off there just thinking about em, LMAO.

What is NEEDED is some strategy, tactics and techniques and if that is what we are in for, then this is a FANTASTIC move on the part of Gene Cook and his team on Global Search. Space is limited so register now!

Attention sellers:  As you know, changes to Best Match, originally announced in July, launched earlier this month. You’re invited to participate in a free live webinar with eBay experts to learn how to get the best possible exposure for your listings since the changes:

Best Match: Best Practices
Wednesday, November 4, 11:00 AM, Pacific Time
Space is limited so register now!

In this 90-minute session you’ll find out what listing practices are working for other sellers, and how to determine the right strategy for your business:

• What’s different in Best Match today?
• Key factors influencing your position
• Tips for improving your listing performance score (sales-to-impressions ratio)
• How to use the new Search Visibility tool to evaluate your listings
• How to write relevant titles
• How some sellers are now using Featured First
• And much more

This will be a great opportunity to put your own questions to the experts and hear what other sellers are doing. Don’t miss it! Again, space is limited so register now!

Gene Cook
Director
Global Search

P.S. If you can’t make the webinar in person, check out these best practices available now in the Seller Information Center.

Step #1 — Bend Over

Step #2 — Repeat Step #1

Step #3 — See Steps #1 & #2

Ok, that is admittedly a RANT. Here is the communication I got from a buyer on eBay to my sweet, young, female assistant. Let me set up the scenario for you please. This customer ordered a single $8.00 hat on Saturday, October 24th.

This email came on the following day Sunday October 25th (note, the USPS does not pickup mail on Sunday’s). This order has not shipped yet and of course it is less than 23 hours old from the weekend.

I have removed SOME of the expletives…

Email #1: WHAT THE F**K HAVE YOU DONE????????????????????????????? YOU SHIP TO THE F**KING WRONG ADDRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Email #2: I TOLD YOU NOT TO SHIP TO MY PAYPAL ADDRESS!!!!!! DONT YOU READ YOUR MESSGES???????????????

Email #3: IF YOU HAVE SHIP THIS ITEM?????????? WE ALL ARE MESSED UP HEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Email #4: UPDATE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE WHEN YOU READ MY ALL THESE F**KING MESSAGES……

After this series of emails, my CSR agent escalate the emails to me. The item had the proper address on it, and emails were sent to the customer, but the customer admittedly did NOT read his emails! She (our CSR rep) was a little distraught cause she is a new rep and is not aware of some of bullish brutality that all of our eBay CSR’s have to endure weekly with the anonymous eBay email systems.

Editor NOTE: eBay has a system where buyers can anonymously send emails with no return email address included. Our research and pretty much all web based research data shows that people have a much different tonality when they can do things anonymously. So we believe the antiquated eBay email system from the 1900′s actually facilitates this poor uncivilized behavior.

eBay buyer emails are FULL of this, we get about 1000 eBay customer interfaces weekly versus the customer interfaces on other platforms (Amazon, Yahoo, Webstore etc.) and eBay emails are overwhelming different and often more "uncivilized".

I am personally lead to believe this is due to the anonymous nature of the "old school" eBay system that has NO ACCOUNTABILITY built in for the senders.

Email #5 (my response):

Here is your update:

Your order is CANCELLED. I do not know how they act in your home, but that language is NOT ACCEPTABLE in my business. Have a nice day.

Email #6: hy! i am really sorry for me language. i am really asshole. didn’t check my email. just saw your messages. thanks alot. and im very sorry once again. will buy another from you soon.

Now I want you guys to understand… eBay’s Top Rated Seller System would allow for ONLY 2 negative DSR (Detailed Seller Ratings) a MONTH out of the nearly 5000 we do monthly. So lets take a step back.

Pretend that this same guy came into your physical store, leaned over the counter and started to curse-out your young female counter help. What would you DO? … Yep, me too, I would tell them to GET OUT OF MY STORE.

Except in theses cases, my counter is the email box and that customer is IN MY store and I will NOT subject my employees to that type of behavior even though EBAY says they will give me a cute badge if I do.

I could be a Top Rated Seller if I was just willing to be a "Top BeRated Seller"…Unfortunately I was not built (by the Creator and the parents that raised me) to bend over for this type of abuse, I guess.

The integrity of my employees has to come into account and I simply am not going to allow anyone to speak to them in that manner. Its not civil and not acceptable under ANY circumstance. I simply can not "bend over" to satisfy a customer like this just to be included in that program. I do have some morals and they are NOT FOR SALE. I think I should have that RIGHT…Dammit eBay

This case is NOT UNIQUE, we get these types of hot head eBay communications all the time. Welcome to our world, I just needed to vent

Less than 2 weeks into the new eBay rollouts and the backlash is here. The rumble is starting and the opposition is strategizing. I too have some issue with the eBay Top Rated Seller qualifications, but that is between ME and eBAY and not the sellers who qualify for it.

I do and don’t spend time on the eBay chat boards (both on and off of eBay). Mostly I am a lurker since I contribute so much during the week on this blog, my weekly eBay radio show broadcast and my bi-weekly ecommerce video podcast, most of the times I enjoy listening to others. But over the last two weeks I have heard some disturbing conversations from some would be "eBay terrorists" and that is NOT cool!

Check out the video man…

Please Rate My Video with 5-Stars DSR’s

An eBaybe from Texas! Yep, that is how I would best describe Ms. Jackson. She so reminds me of my roots from when I was growing up in a small town in Texas called Irving. There is something about a Texan that is very uniquely engaging. I had a chance to meet Melinda in June when she traveled to Atlanta as the winner of the Chest To Save Breast (Breast Cancer Charity) auction.

Now I got a chance to sit down and hear about her PowerSeller selling success on eBay. Galleria Gifts is her eBay Store. I guarantee she will charm you with her sweet southern voice, and knock you out with her vision and wisdom. Melinda is

an eBay PowerSeller & Education Specialist, Podcaster, and eCommerce Coach. She is a co-hosts with Beth Cherkowsky on RRBRadio.com & she also does double duty on eBay and Beyond radio with Dave White

So kick back and let’s talk eCommerce with Melinda Jackson…

Listen to the Interview NOW!
(press play button and be patient, it takes a minute to buffer)

OR Click to Download

OR Subscribe to the series via iTunes 

Press "Play" to listen now

Be sure to subscribe so you do not miss an episode.

Yesterday, Brian Burke (bburke@eBay.com) and Dawn Sullivan attempted to hold a discussion to answer some seller questions on the eBay discussion forums. They kinda address some issues and of course made sure to address speculation provided by stories written on AuctionBytes by name.  Which BTW I thought was rather interesting, but that is a whole other topic (I will save for a later post).

So without further ado, I am going to post ONLY a few selective responses (I edited out the obvious duplicate content and all emphasis is MINE) in the "conversation" from the eBay personnel.

I really want to hear what you think about these comments! I have labeled them numerically so if you want to respond to a specific one, you can simply use the number to refer to that comment.

On this weeks podcast program of B.S. Walks When Money Talks I will give you my comments on what was actually communicated both by eBay and by you guys! So do NOT miss this weeks show (every Wednesday at 1:14 est and you can get replays of past episodes by going to http://www.Wednesday114.com)

# 1 – All sellers who currently qualify for Top-rated seller are being treated as a Top-rated seller. We are expanding the definition to include sellers who currently do not meet PS status. Our commitment to the community was that we would do this in October. The invites will be sent the week of October 11th.

With major change we stagger the release to ensure a smooth release. By lowering the sales threshold from $12k per year to $3k per year we will add over 50k sellers to the Top-rated seller program.

#2 - Yes, sellers need to first be a PowerSeller to become a Top-rated seller. Once a seller qualifies to become a PowerSeller and joins the PowerSeller program, they will be evaluated for Top-rated seller status on the 20th of each month. Those qualifying for Top-rated at that time will become a Top-rated seller automatically.

Concerning qualifying as PowerSeller, please refer to the current requirements, noting that, as a way to reward our high quality small sellers sooner, starting mid-October until April, we will inviting new PowerSellers into the PowerSeller program that are performing at Top-rated level, have 100 transactions, but a lower level of sales that currently required for PowerSellers: $3,000 in annual sales. In April, the new sales level will be for all sellers, not just those that also qualify for Top-rated seller status.

#3 – The option on the left hand navigation is a buyer option. If the buyer chooses this option they are choosing to reduce their search results to that population, just like if they chose Buy it Now only listings.

Our intent is to promote our best performing sellers. And the program is designed to do just that. Sellers who are not currently PowerSellers will be invited to join the PS program the week of October 11 and if they accept the invitation will be eligible for Top-rated with the October 20th cycle.

#4 – In order for us to be confident in identifying a seller as Top-rated, the seller must sell at least 100 items per year and sell at least $3k in merchandise.  There are many great sellers who sell less than that, eBay can’t be confident enough to promote them, badge them, etc.

#5 – We have been collecting Net Promoter Score information for over a year to help provide additional insight on customer satisfaction and it helps us to learn how Detailed Seller Ratings ties to overall customer satisfaction.

These insights helped us, for example, to transition from the former focus on Average DSR scores to today’s focus on 1′s and 2′s on DSR as criteria for the current Top-rated seller status. Outside of the insights, the Net Promoter Scores are not associated with the Top-rated seller status and the expanded use should be considered as additional information to help us learn as opposed to criteria to for Top-rated or any other seller status on eBay.

#6 – If you are only receiving 0.1% low DSRs, you are well within eBay’s thresholds for Top-rated. Sometimes a buyer can’t be pleased, sometimes a buyer’s expectations are not the same as the marketplace. If you are at 0.1%, I wouldn’t worry about your Item Description – you are performing at a very high level and chasing the 0.1% may actually lead you down the wrong path.

#7 – No, Net Promoter Score is not something else you need to aspire to. It was referred to by a posting by XXXX regarding purely speculative information in Auctionbytes.

#8 – A competing seller who buys from you (using a buying ID) and then leaves you low DSRs will be suspended – both the buying ID and their selling ID. This just occurred with a Silver PS.

We have multiple low DSR referral reports (e.g. buyer always leaves positive and low DSRs) that identify potential abuse. We have been taking action against abusive buyers since we made the changes in May 2008 and will continue to do so.

Your reports to us from this page Link in addition to our internal referrals will help keep the site clean from abusive buyers. A single low DSR does not equal abuse and anonymity, though at times frustrating for sellers provides eBay with more accurate data.

#9 - We will continue to provide incentives for sellers to improve performance. High levels of performance ensure buyers return to the marketplace. Increasing the probability that a buyer will have a great experience through promotion of Top-rated sellers in search further supports a healthy marketplace and all sellers, not just Top-rated sellers, will benefit from returning buyers.

Keep in mind that although sellers may all be paying the same in fees, in order to provide great experiences to buyers often requires sellers to invest additional customer support or better shipping services, increasing their overall cost despite paying the same fees as sellers who do not incur the added costs.

This is a tradeoff that sellers must weigh: lower costs of operations with lower sales, or high costs of operations with increased sales.

#10 – … We (eBay) discovered that low DSRs were more closely aligned with a bad buying experience.  eBay is evaluated by our users using a subjective measure – subjectivity doesn’t make it less valuable or accurate.

For this very reason we changed our focus to avoiding 1′s and 2′s as opposed to trying to get all 5′s. We’ve found that when buyers leave a 1 or 2, they are clearly indicating that something went wrong while we could not differentiate between a buyer’s satisfaction with leaving either a 4 or a 5.

#11 – Only eBay may use the Top-rated seller badge. Sellers should never use it in their listings, Store, About Me, etc. Please see the selling practices policy for rules sellers should follow.

I really want to hear what you think about these comments dudes and dudettes! Put your responses in the comments and remember to RETWEET this story on Twitter for your eBay friends to see it.

On this weeks podcast program of B.S. Walks When Money Talks I will give you my comments on what was actually communicated both by eBay and by you guys! So do NOT miss this weeks show (every Wednesday at 1:14 est and you can get replays of past episodes by going to http://www.Wednesday114.com)

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