Jingle Auction
July 21, 2008
eBay seller Kamichi Jackson is auctioning a jingle. The seller who claims to be too old, fat and ugly to become successful in the music industry will sing the song of your choice or background music to promote your product.
The auction aims to raise money for her ‘literary goals’ and she claims to have a decent voice.
eBay Intellectual Property Meeting
July 21, 2008
Lawyers from eBay are holding talks with British luxury goods industry representatives. The meeting follows several high-profile cases involving perfume and fashion brands, which have called into doubt eBay’s commitment to protecting intellectual property.
The meeting will discuss any uncertainty in the intellectual property legislation on the Internet, and who should take responsibility for policing the black-online-market.
eBay’s lawyers believe that US law favours retailers rather than intellectual property owners. This was demonstrated in last weeks ruling which stated eBay had not broken any laws by allowing counterfeit Tiffany jewellery to be sold on the auction site as it acted appropriately once the items had been identified as counterfeit.
Womans thoughts for sale on eBay
July 20, 2008
A woman from Northumberland is selling her thoughts on eBay to raise money for her rent. Claire Wesley, 21 came up with the idea after discussing with a friend what she could sell. Claire is not the first person from the north of England to put an aspect of her life for sale on eBay. Ian usher put his whole life up for sale last month after a break-up with his wife.
Popcorn Skull Auction
July 19, 2008
eBay seller ryglvn2000 has put a piece of popcorn which he claims looks like a human skull for auction on eBay. The man’s wife found the popcorn during a trip to the cinema. Unsurprisingly although the auction has attracted a lot of attention there are no bids.
Sword sold on eBay
July 19, 2008
The BBC is reporting that the samurai sword which was swung at an officer was purchased on eBay. The court heard that the man threatened the police officer and had to draw his gun. This follows my article on the sale of knives on eBay. Richard Hartin from Country Antrim was charged with GBH amongst other offenses but released on bail.
Name a rat on eBay
July 19, 2008
eBay seller styior is offering the chance to name his pet rat. Styior was unable to think of a name for his new pet so thought he’d let someone else choose it. The winning bidder will receive a certificate proving the rat has been named. As usual with these weird auctions it has attracted a lot of attention, however no one has bid.
eBay and Buy.com
July 18, 2008
eBay and online retailer Buy.com have announced a deal which will allow Buy.com products including books and DVDs to be listed on the auction website without paying the normal eBay fees. The move comes after research showed people are more interested in fixed-price listings rather than online auctions.
This move is likely to upset smaller sellers, and could potentially cause irreparable damage to the eBay community
Public Toilets for Sale
July 18, 2008
American city, Seattle has put five of its self-cleaning toilets on eBay starting at $89,000 each. Reasons cited for the sale include that they have been used by drug dealers and prostitutes. The cost-effectiveness has also been called into question.
The toilets were installed in 2004 and cost around $5m. Features include an emergency services button, automatic doors and graffiti resistant walls. As of yet the luxurious toilets have received no bids.
eBay profits rise 20%
July 17, 2008
Despite the much-hyped credit crunch eBay still managed a 20% increase in profits for the quarter ending 30th June 2008 (Q2). The worlds largest and most popular online auction site made $568m (approx £285m) profit with revenues up from $1.8bn (£900m) to $2.2bn (£1.1bn).
The profits will come as a surprise to most sellers who staged a protest at the auction giants recent actions; attempting to force PayPal in Australia, banning negative feedback for buyers and a change in their search.
Recently appointed CEO John Donahoe was unsurprisingly happy with the results and admitted not everyone was happy with the changes he had made stating “When you have 84 million active users, anytime you make a change, someone is going to be upsetâ€.
Insolvency firms to sell on eBay
July 17, 2008
BDO Stoy Hayward have announced they may consider selling off company assets on eBay. The worlds fifth biggest accountancy network may use troubled F1 team Super Aguri’s assets as a trial. Administrators were hoping to sell Super Aguri as a going concern (that the business will continue operating in the future) however the creditors chose the option of liquidation and BDO were called in.
