CP Workshop: Research to sell the right stuff 9/10

Long-Term Profits with Market Research & Product Sourcing
This workshop will be held on Monday, September 10th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.

Please join Jen Cano, from HammerTap, a Certified Solution Provider, as she discusses how to build the basis for a durable, thriving business in a constantly changing market. Based on concepts in her book “eBay Performance: Selling Success with Market Research and Product Sourcing,” Jen outlines a method that will help you focus your attention on executing a flexible sales plan, rather than on reacting to unanticipated challenges.

CP Workshop: Research for Selling Strategies 9/4

Increase your eBay Sales by Discovering the Best Time to List
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, September 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.

This month the Terapeak marketing team will be hosting a workshop to introduce some tools that you can use to find the best times to end your auctions. There are a variety of free and paid tools that eBay Sellers can use to find out how long to list an item, what time of the day or week to end an auction, or what times of year see big spikes in demand. We will even show you a few cool trends that illustrate the huge spikes in sales that occur over the upcoming holiday season! Join us as we review some great examples and stick around for the hour to answer any questions you may have about market research!

CP Workshop: Sourcing for the Holidays 8/21

Successful Product Sourcing for the Holidays
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 21st from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m Pacific time.

The holiday selling season is just around the corner and buyers are heading online to shop earlier than you think! But will you have the products they want? Creating the right product line mix is essential to your successful holiday sales. Without a correctly balanced product assortment, you'll be unable to offer your buyers the products that excite them, attract buyers to your listings, or increase your final sales tickets through cross-selling or up-selling. Please join Lisa Suttora Founder/CEO of Certified Provider WhatDoISell.com and featured speaker on the eBay Live 2007 Product Sourcing Panel as she discusses how to put together a winning product line for the holiday season and make this your best holiday selling season ever!

CP Workshop: Get Organized & Save Time 8/15

Getting organized will give you more time to sell on eBay!
This workshop will be held on Wednesday, August 15th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time.

You were suppose to call a supplier yesterday and forgot because you misplaced your paper reminder! You have a bill to pay but you have lost the invoice! You have lots of little receipts for your purchases at garage sales, but you have lost some of them! Getting your records organized will save your hours every week. Hours that you can spend doing the thing you like best – generating income from your eBay sales. Join Phyllis Wischer of Certified Provider KeepMore.net as she discusses methods and procedures to get your paper work (and your life) more organized and productive.

CP Workshop: Improving Customer Relationships 8/14

Customer Relationships to Grow Your Business
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 14th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. Tuesday, August 14th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.

In this workshop, Steve Yeich, CEO of Certified Solution Provider HostedSupport, will discuss why happy customers are your best sales force, and how customer support can help make them happy. Learn from real-world examples showing how word of mouth can increase sales.

CP Workshop: Liquidations Closeouts & Surplus 8/7

What is the difference between Liquidation, Closeouts, and Surplus?
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, August 7th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time.Using liquidation products is a great way to enhance customer experience and find great unique ways to increase your profit margins. Product Sourcing Experts, WorldwideBrands.com, and leading industry experts, Liquidation.com, will explain the basics of the key elements to liquidation and how to use it appropriately with your listings.

CP Workshop: Outperforming Competition 8/6

Your Listings Can Beat Up Their Listings with Market Research
This workshop will be held on Monday, August 6th from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. Please join Jen Cano, from HammerTap, a Certified Solution Provider, as she delivers a formula for outperforming your competition. When it comes to market research, you can always imitate your best competition. But how do you surpass them? Come find out how to build perfect listings based on solid market research, not guesswork.

Colbert Nation Bids on eBay

Ok, so we didn't get 'the ball', but we got 'the cast'. All I can afford is the WristStrong bracelet.

Buy Your Own Island

Here's a nice little pad for your fantasy vacation...it's cheaper than my place here in the Bay Area. Check the gallery below, buy some Fiji water with the island, and they'll cut you a deal on the shipping.

Intelligent Life in the eBay Universe

Just to show you how intelligent our eBay sellers are, check out this listing:
EQUATION FOR THE CREATION OF ENERGY "WHY E=MC^2"PICASSO.

It's a graphical representation of, as I'm told, "a visual representation of a mathematical breakthrough in the field of relativistic physics". I'd pretend I know what that means, but you'd all know better.

CP Workshop: International Sales 8/3

Launching International Sales Using Market Research
This workshop will be held on Friday, August 3rd from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time. This month Denise and Sara from Terapeak Marketplace Research will be on hand to explore how you can increase your eBay sales by expanding into the international marketplace on eBay! With a few simple research tips, sellers can learn about international markets and target other countries. With many sellers reporting increasing success in selling internationally (especially in Germany and Australia), the enterprising eBay seller will want to adjust their sales to include other countries as well.

CP Workshop: Building Supplier Relationships 7/24

Building Supplier Relationships
This workshop will be held on Tuesday, July 24th from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific time. Building Supplier Relationships is very important for growing your business, increasing your profit margins, and especially for preparing for the Holiday Season. Colette Marshall, Business Development Manager for Product Sourcing Experts WorldwideBrands.com, will explain the key elements in improving your supplier communications and using those skills to prepare for the holiday season with your supplier.

CP Workshop: Fine Tuning Listing Strategies 7/23

Capturing Shoppers by Fine Tuning Listing Strategies
This workshop will be held on Monday, July 23rd from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. In this workshop, Debbie Levitt, President of Certified Provider As Was, will discuss how to use data to fine tune your listings strategies. Better decisions about listing strategies can lead to more sales, higher bids, and lower fees. This workshop will also include general strategy suggestions such as Store vs. Core and Auctions vs. Fixed Price.

New 4-Cent Feature: eBay CP Workshops

For those of you here because of my overindulgent keyword spamming of the word eBay, you're in luck. I'll start posting upcoming eBay workshops from Certified Providers, who will discuss topics & provide education related to their area of expertise. Click "CP Workshops" under the Labels list in the lower right to get a full list.

Enjoy!

30 Second Bunnies

This site mixes two of the things I love: bunnies and hit movies. They're flash movies of theatrical releases, in 30 seconds, re-enacted by, what else, bunnies. Don't miss Office Space, Titanic, or their latest - Napoleon Dynabun. Also check out their "request for bunnification" list. Here's a sample:

Flying the Unfriendly Skies

Warning US Airways Travelers: Luggage bags may not be closer than they appear. My colleague Ginger came to visit headquarters from her office in Salt Lake, and instead of sending the luggage on her flight to San Jose CA, they sent it on a flight to San Jose Del Cabo...Mexico. Here's the saga. Fly any other airline, and she would've gotten it in California same day - but she's STILL awaiting her luggage several weeks later, and customer satisfaction didn't seem to be a priority. Lesson learned: fly with folks who passed geography.

I've Flown the Coop - CPP Moves to Seller Experience

The longest running active Developers Program team member has left the group...me. This is good for Certified Providers. No, that doesn't mean I'll pester them less. I'm not leaving. We (the program and I) are now part of the Seller Experience team at eBay. This is great news for CPs. Over the last four years, eBay has increasingly embraced third parties, as evidenced by having them teach at eBay Live, build eBay functionality, and train our staff. Being closely aligned with the Seller Experience team allows a greater visibility to CPs and the solutions they offer... both to eBay and our seller community. Great plans are already brewing, more on that when we're ready. The team threw me a "goodbye, but not so long" lunch, here are some photos.

Grab a Bite for Women's Rights: Dinner with Buffy's Joss Whedon

Have a bite with Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for charity. Joss is auctioning dinner with him (perhaps with some red wine? - the bad jokes here are endless). Proceeds benefit Equality Now, an organization dedicated to women's rights around the world.

He's also auctioning off some Buffy and Serenity memorabilia. I was hoping for the yummy sushi pajamas.

Colorful Commerce - iPhone

iPhones went on sale last week, many of which are showing up on eBay. We at eBay couldn't be happier. Here is a slightly more colorful merchandising experience than some of the others.

eBay Live 2007 - Whew!

By the look of the pictures others have posted, there's no proof that I was at either eBay Developers Conference nor eBay Live! this month in Boston. Not so! Seriously, I was working every day, all day.

At DevCon, I help our Certified Providers and Data Licensees get the recognition they deserve. At eBay Live, my goal is to help pair the right seller with the right solution. We had a banner year, with Certified Providers leading 15 classes at our user conference, providing ribbons to all CPs on the show floor, including a CP handout at relevant classes and as part of the Seller Scalability lounge, and helping with CP recommendations at the Seller Tools booth.

It's as exhasting as it is energizing, and always a pleasure to see my Certified Providers. See y'all next year in Chicago!