Hello All,
For those of you that missed eBay live! in Chicago this year - I've put together a small video of our trip to give you a taste of what you missed.
...Dan says it looks like a holiday video - but I promise I was working extremely hard and I thought it important to give a taste of Chicago too!
We’ve all dreamt of chucking it all in and building a whole new better life at some time or other (haven’t we?) and Ian User is doing just that. He’s selling his life on eBay: a sort of Reggie Perrin 2.0. You’ve probably seen it in the press (see the coverage on the BBC and in the Telegraph and Metro by clicking the links). When the sale concludes he’ll walk away with the money, the clothes he’s wearing and his passport. At the airport, he’ll get the first ticket to anywhere and head off in to the wild blue yonder.
The bidding has been frantic and it looks like Ian is well on his way to getting the price he wants for his ‘life’. Check out the lovely vzaar videos to get a real sense of what he’s flogging.
The sale includes his three-bedroom home in the Western Australian city of Perth and everything in it, including a car, motorcycle, jet ski and computer equipment. You can also win Ian’s job… although you’ll have to pass an initial trail. It all seems a bit crazy. But on this grey and rainy day, with doom and gloom on the news, escaping to the sunny beachlife of Perth seems rather attractive.
It’s day three and we’re back on the eBay Live Exhibition floor for more meeting and greeting and getting the word out about vzaar. Last night we had a lovely shindig at Chicago’s premier English theme pub, the Elephant and Castle.
With our friends from Frooition, Channel Advisor and Tamebay, we welcomed dozens of chums from all over the world to raise a pint and celebrate in the time-honoured British manner: by having a few drinks. And, it must be said, that a splendid time was had by all. Thanks for coming. How was your head this morning? I was still scratching mine and wondering why any English theme pub thinks it’s typical to have a huge picture of Mrs T. on the wall.
As the exhibition closes in less than an hour, we’re still signing up punters and selling vzaar. We’ve had a good day. There seem to be a lot of day delegates making the trip in for Saturday only and our stand has been brisk. Sometimes working a stand and talking to dozens of people a day can be a gruesome trial. You can be rebuffed by negativity or dispirited by a lack of interest. But that hasn’t been our experience at all in Chicago. There is an easy, American enthusiasm for experimentation and taking on new things that is great news for vzaar. Most people are sold on the notion of video and keen to give it a try.
eBay Live! draws to a close this evening with the Gala (apparently pronounced 'gay-la') and a star performance from Chris Isaak (does it get any cooler?). And, needless to say, Team vzaar will be tucked up in bed long before the witching hour. Adieu.
So here we are, team vzaar loaded on caffeine and colourful looking doughnuts, at the eBay keynote address, and its not even 9am!
This is the pivital moment for the eBay management. A golden opportunity to set the mood, not only for the remainder of the event, but the year ahead as they layout their roadmap for success. It's what the seller particularly will go away ringing in their ears and what will define in part how much inventory they commit to the site.
So with one eye on video and it's future adoption on eBay what did we learn?
- Feedback is still very much the currency of eBay. Sellers are driven by it and we need to ensure that video is seen as an emerging tactic that helps to improve a seller's feedback DSRs.
- $60bn worth of goods were traded in 2007, three times their nearest competitor. eBay remains the right marketplace to launch vzaar on. Phew!
- Trust remains at the heart of all eBay transactions. Seller Protection is now expanded to all US sellers (will inevitably roll out internationally). We're confident that video helps inspire trust in one another. It eliminates doubt.
- eBay wants more of your inventory. To that end we need to continue to work hard on ensuring that video integration is as seamless and easy as possible. In part, that is why we are here in Chicago, to meet with the 3rd parties that help sellers manage their inventory.
And so that was pretty much it. You can read a more thorough update here on the eBayink but it leaves me to tell you that the doughnuts have been eaten, I have sugar all over my laptop and now its time to get back to the vzaar stand for day two!
I write with my laptop perched on my knees on a bench as a small crowd starts to gather for PayPal’s pizza party at 5pm. I have chosen the worst ‘quiet spot’ in the whole building. But I’ll be first in line for a slice of nice.
The first day of eBay Live began with a flurry of activity at 9am on the dot, as the doors of the Solution Center were opened and thousands of eager eBayers flocked to the various exhibitors, stalls and attractions housed in one of the cavernous halls in McCormick Place.
As always, the scale of eBay Live is staggering. They choose venues on a grand scale and quite unlike anything in Britain. There is an eagerness to learn and a willingness to succeed and there are just so many people. Hundreds of eBay staff, hundreds of members and eBay sellers and buyers from all over.
Although Chicago lacks some of the dizzying excitement of eBay Live in previous years (are there really 10k people here?), and there certainly seem to be fewer exhibitors, the expo (that runs alongside the classes and speakers) was brisk and bustling.
It’s really valuable to meet sellers face to face and pitch them vzaar and, delightfully, it’s not much of a hard sell. Old hands and newbies alike were positive about video in general and vzaar in particular. We’ve already spoken to hundreds of people and look forward to meeting hundreds more. If you’re in the Windy City, look us up. Booth 224.
vzaar's all about showing off eBay items at their best. In particular, if it moves or makes a noise, vzaar brings an item to life much more than a picture and text. Here's my pick of the pops.
Check out this muck spreader, doing what it does best!
Move on up with this glorious union flag Lambretta. Ideal for all you mods out there.
From Swinging London to Greendale. It's Postman Pat!
We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when we discovered last week that vzaar’s eBay trading account had been prevented from selling and buying for 30 days under eBay’s new seller non-performance (SNP) rules.
We sell a few bits and bobs on the account, often for charity, but one of our buyers wasn’t happy. To their credit they got in touch and conversed but, nevertheless, left 1 positive, 1 negative and 2 neutral feedbacks. We’re not angry with the buyer: it’s their right to do this and it’s justified. Equally, we understand what eBay’s trying to do and support efforts to improve the buyer experience. We can also afford to be phlegmatic because we don’t depend on eBay sales for our bread and butter.
And so we’ve become what many eBayers are calling ‘dolphins’: sometimes a dolphin is unintentionally caught in a net that’s trawling for tuna. In an eBay context it refers to an essentially good seller who falls foul of rules to kick out bad sellers. If you make quite a small number of sales in a month, even one dissatisfied buyer can blot your copybook. Tamebay blogged it here.
We hold our hands up: one of our buyers wasn’t happy and left justified feedback. But it’s obvious from the Tamebay debate that lots of sellers are afraid they’ll become a dolphin too. For full time sellers, 30 days without sales could be disastrous.
We're gearing up for the Bank Holiday and inevitable downpours and when it's wet outside you want something to watch indoors. Here are some great vzaar videos on eBay right now that have caught our eye.
Andy Burrows, the drummer with popular beat combo Razorlight, is auctioning his drum kit for charity. He seems like a very nice man indeed.
Need a new spoiler for your Lotus Elise? Of, course you do. Who doesn't? Spoilers. We've got spoilers.
A bit of DIY on a bank holiday is traditional. But what if you need heavy duty equipment? You know the drill.
Usability guru Jakob Nielsen has recently published evidence that demonstrates “that users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.” And the more writing there is, the less people read. You can read his article in full here. Amusingly he explains his findings with reams and reams of text, most of which I haven’t read, which just shows how right it is.
Of course, to the average eBay seller this is hardly a surprise. And if truth be told, my first reaction was “as much as that?” But it does reinforce the need to trim down the text and ensure that your eBay listings are as lean as possible. For some great tips on how you can ensure that less is more, check out Sue’s post on Tamebay.
Bullet points, pithy prose and intuitive formatting are the order of the day. But it does also reinforce our firmly held belief at vzaar, that the written word and still images are not always the right way for sellers to get their message across. Buyers, at best, consume a third of the text on a listing. Is video more efficient? We think so.
People absorb information in different ways and providing people with moving pictures and audio with a video might be the way to get more of your message across. Rather like when you’re in a pub and your eyes are drawn to the TV playing in the corner, a video can be a more alluring and addictive information source.
One of the major gripes from the eBay sellers who are striking regards the removal of their right to leave negative feedback for buyers. If truth be told, very few sellers leave negative feedback for buyers and even fewer sellers use feedback as a way of assessing the suitability of their buyers. For most busy, professional sellers this change is not important (the changes to DSRs are, though) but a small, vocal group of (typically) small time sellers are up in arms at what they perceive to be an unfair change.
Until the last week or so, I haven’t really understood the rationale for removing the right for sellers to leave negative feedback for buyers. It didn’t seem like a fight worth having. That is until I encountered a seller who changed my mind. I bought three things from this seller in an order totalling about £25. It wasn’t a flawless transaction and although I left positive feedback, I was quite stingy with my DSRs and referred to the seller’s poor communication and unprofessional manner in the feedback comments.
The seller was furious. Not only did he retaliate with aggressive responses to my feedback, he sent several abusive emails. The experience wasn’t pleasant and I certainly won’t be going back to that seller again. But my experience was the tip of the iceberg. I noticed that the seller has nearly 200 mutually withdrawn feedback and responds to every neutral and negative feedback he receives with an automatic negative. Some of the comments he’s left are offensive and personal.
I contacted some of the buyers who had received negative feedback in the past month or so. They had left negative or neutral feedback for the seller and had all received negatives in return. The seller had also asked all of them to go through the mutual feedback withdrawal process to have the feedback nulled.
But most worrying of all, of the five people I communicated with, all say that their experiences have changed their view of eBay. Three say that they will never use eBay again. Two say that they will be wary of using eBay again but might. A quick trawl through the negative feedback that the seller has left shows that lot of people who received a negative feedback haven’t shopped on eBay again: he has personally alienated dozens of buyers.
Every eBay seller should be cross about the way this seller behaves: he is chasing away your future customers. And how many other sellers are there out there who practice the same principles? Not many, in the grand scheme of things, but enough to warrant action. Those who are striking need to decide whether the right to leave negative feedback for buyers is worth the inevitable misuse by some dubious sellers who are driving buyers away with their unprofessional behaviour.
If you'd told me a few months ago that clocks would be one of the items we would see a using vzaar on eBay a lot, I'd have given you a ticking off. But in the past month or two we've seen loads of sellers chiming in with videos of beautiful and exotic timepieces and chronometers.
And it does make sense. Clocks have moving parts (hands and mechanisms) and they usually make a noise (bells, cuckoos and ticking) and when you consider that some of them reach handsome prices, it's a no brainer.
Don't take my word for it, check out these videos. Guaranteed to impress even the most hard-nosed horologist. (Tip: Play all the videos at the same time and it's like that bit on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, or the scene at the start of Back to the Future in Dr Brown's lab.)
Of all the changes that eBay have unveiled in the last few months (and make no mistake, we’ve seen the biggest slew of significant developments in the marketplace’s history) those that affect feedback and Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) are the ones that impact sellers the most. Those little orange stars can now determine the prominence of your wares in search results and, critically for PowerSellers, they also influence whether or not you get final value fee discounts.
Like it or loathe it, every eBay seller needs to keep an eye on their DSRs and, where necessary, concentrate on improving them. There’s plenty of sage advice out there from Scot Wingo and Tamebay, to name but two. We reckon that video has a part to play. Here are some ideas about how you can use vzaar in your eBay listings to help keep your DSRs high.
Describing your Items
There are marks for describing your items accurately. So it’s more important than ever to be full, frank and honest. There’s no better way of giving buyers a complete idea of what you’re selling than with video. Explain the item, expose the flaws and elaborate the details with sound and vision.
Talk Shipping
Are you concerned that your buyers don’t understand your P&P terms? Consider including a video in all your listings to manage expectations. You can produce one video that’s good across all your listings so getting the message across needed take you much time.
Communication Counts
You want 5 star communications, so don’t forget that different folks like different strokes. Some people will happily read reams of text, others will barely read a word and rely on your images. Others will respond favourably to the immediacy of video. It may not immediately appeal to you. But think of the buyers who will love it and reward you for taking the trouble.
Not only, but also.
Video isn’t meant to replace anything you offer already. It’s about taking a ‘belts and braces’ approach to ensure you are giving yourself every change to get the best DSRs. Adding a video to your eBay listings can be part of your efforts to be a five star eBay seller.
Rather than us telling you how wonderful we think video is for your eBay listings we thought we’d let you know what YOU'VE been saying about us:
“There has been a marked improvement in sales”
“It [vzaar video] definitely did make me more interested in buying it [DVD] ... I wish other sellers would do the same as you and include a video in their listings”
“There were several other sellers with similar items [motorbike] for sale. My
auction attracted a higher bids early in the auction and sustained
this higher price throughout.”
“I think it is the future way of using eBay for both buyers and sellers. Now I've tried
it, I'll always use vzaar for my auctions.”
“It [vzaar] should enhance most peoples chances of a sell. Especially in the case with the listings I have done that are with sound... Photographs are brilliant to show what your item looks like, but a video shows the potential purchaser exactly what the item does.”
“Brilliant. Thumbs up from me... I will be recommending your site to my friends and family.”
“It [vzaar video] helps to check out the [books] condition.”
“I'm sure once everyone starts using it it could largely replace stills pics.”
“So far a great experience that allows me to project my honesty and integrity whilst promoting my item. Plus it’s a bit more fun.”
“More important is a reduction in ASQ when a video is used, suggesting the importance of video to enhance the description.”
“It just gave me a new lease on life for my ebay business.”
So there it is. Thank you for saying all these lovely things. It only inspires us to try harder and make vzaar a better and better service. Lots of you have also given us advice and suggestions on how to make the service better which we are hugely appreciative of.
If you do have any comments or suggestions we’d be keen to hear them. Contact us and we’ll do what we can to make it happen (unless your suggestion is completely mad...)
Mashable caught my eye this morning. At vzaar we're passionate about helping eBay sellers succeed by making it easy to add videos to their listings. And Mashable have published a list of services that help eBay sellers just like vzaar does.
It's a comprehensive list and some of these services are better than others. You can't beat a recommendation and I talk to a lot of eBay sellers. Here are some services from the list that we've heard good things about.
Toolhaus - For those nosey parkers who like looking at other people's feedback.
Zoovy - A service that takes the strain and pain out of inventory management, shipping and billing.
ChannelAdvisor - An eBay and ecommerce consultancy who help sellers expand.
Using videos on eBay means that you can show off what you’re selling in an engaging way with greater detail than is possible even with a clutch of brilliant images.
But as I discovered the other day when I was making some vzaar videos to sell some CDs, it’s easy to give away more than you intend. As I flipped over the reflective disc I not only showed off my scratch-free CD, I also inadvertently provided my viewers with a fleeting glimpse of my flat’s interior and a good look at my boat race.
Thankfully, I was fully clothed and had nothing to hide. If I had been nude, it would be called reflectoporn and for some of the great examples and a giggle, check out this page on snopes.
The most famous incident was the portly gentleman selling a copper kettle that had been burnished to a gleaming sheen. His nude body was clearly visible in the shiny surface of the kettle.
So as vzaar starts getting the world talking about and using videos in their eBay listings, I do wonder whether we’re about to embark upon a golden age of reflectoporn. Intentional and unintentional. We’ll see and we’ll be keeping an eye out for anything that crosses the boundaries of decency: we don't want anything on vzaar that breaks the eBay rules!
I recently sold another DVD on vzaar. I got this back from the buyer.
Hi.Thanks for that. I am trying to get all the Coens films, yours makes 6 now.
The video idea is excellent it should negate any chance of bad feedback. The camera video is great I felt like buying it myself but I have just bought one on eBay (a duff one at that !!). V.G feedback will be left.
All the best J___
Continue reading "Negating feedback, less likely with video" »
I recently sold a book on vzaar. Actually, I'm selling quite a few books and DVDs
With books I find I can show the inner pages and the state it is in more easily with a video. When selling DVDs (where I am competing with lots of other sellers and Amazon), by editing a trailer into the video listing, I perhaps can get a buyer to convert more easily.
I got this email back from the buyer of the book I just sold.
G'day Adrian.Thanks for the email. I found the video quite interesting, I think primarily because it was so novel. It was great seeing the item exhibited in this fashion. Much like a TV commercial.
My wife on the other hand didn't like it because she felt that it personalised the item too much. By this she means that she sees the item as belonging to someone else. I wouldn't worry about her concerns, she gets a little oversensitive at times! I thought it was great.
What's interesting here is how different eBay is too other online commerce. That connection with the people you sell to and buy from does make a difference. And I think video can only serve to enhance that connection.
Here at vzaar we're paying close attention to how people react and what behavioural changes might come by the introduction of video. What everyone forgets about the net is it's more about people than anything else. That's why we pay attention to people, as it makes a difference to getting the end result right.
I listed a broken suitcase on eBay yesterday. Not thinking it would go for much or quickly I am pleasantly surprised that is has now sold as with Buy It Now
If you look at the listing you'll see the buyer asked about how the handle was and if he could repair it. I answered using a video, and whilst I couldn't insert the second video or put it in the email reply I did find a way to do this. Essentially a big fat link in the middle of the listing of the page. If this issue becomes something other users need, well certainly look at better ways we can implement this.
I got a reply back from the (soon to be) buyer shortly after I posted the video response saying
Hi,Thanks for the video it really helped me in deciding to buy this suitcase. I think I can definitely repairs the handle. I've already bidded on the item to prevent anyone else from buying it now, ...
It's great to see how video is really helping people make buying decision and to see the concept of vzaar validated.