Rumblings and rumors always abound in a industry such as this, but recently changes made at the top levels of some of the most prominent 3rd party providers seems to predict a consolidation and possibly belt tightening within the firms who revolve around and depend upon the eBay brand.

It is true that some new players are entering the market with interesting solutions, software and services yet at the same time, are the executives at older and more established companies making what could be considered exit strategy moves?

From the announcement of a new CEO at Infopia, Coleman Barney, which in and of itself is seen as a move towards new blood and not a barometer an industry crumbling, to the recent departure of the managing director of Frooition, a UK based eBay stores and template design company, changes at the top of several eBay centric service providers seem to be occurring at a faster rate than normal.

I was quite surprised when I noted earlier today that Grenville Wheland had left Frooition and is now seeking new opportunities through LinkedIn (see Below). Grenville had been purported to be one of the financial backers of Frooition and while his skills as a start up entrepreneur were also touted, on the outside we can only wonder if his reasons for departing may have included deeper financial concerns for the future of the business model.

No Longer With Frooition

Frooition grew very quickly into a multinational marketing powerhouse for eBay based design work and is still strong today yet they have relied upon eBay as the basis of the business strategy for what seems to be too long when branching out into eCommerce was an available avenue for expansion. My readers will know that I have worked with Frooition as a representative in the States since mid 2007, My dealing with Mr Whelan have always been cordial and above board.  I am sure Frooition will notice his departure.

eBay Live 2008 - Karl, Ciz, Grenville Whelan, David Sullivan of Frooition

Channel Adviser, while not changing the steadfast leader of the pack Scot Wingo, has had some major personnel cuts in recent months. As eBay has itself,  a Rolodex or Blackberry full of contacts at eBay in 2007 would be suspiciously empty today.

The industry that has based itself on the largess of this giant we call eBay is morphing into a new animal. Eventually changes beget changes.  While we all wish the likes of Grenville Whelan and Bjorn Espenes of Infopia the best (Bjorn is now the COB), we only have to wonder... who is next?

While riding the gravy train of eBay can be a sound business decicion (at least many of us thought it was), the hard crash at the end of the tracks can be just as abrupt. Other have noted that eBay may be on a uncontrollable death spiral (i.e. Scot Wingo) into the abyss that some great companies (AOL) fall into.

Is it possible that some of these highly placed executives see a bad wind a blowin and have chosen to diversify before the end comes?

I know that even though my heart will always have a place for eBay and I still promote the site and services surrounding its capabailities, I myself have diversified and are very glad that I did.  I no longer depend completely upon eBay as a seller or a service provider.  Having options for myself and my clients is what I am all about now.

Some other service oriented eBay centric companies could take a note...

It seems that every year about this time eBay chooses to make announcements which had heretofore been cloaked in secrecy.  Just recently the announcement was about a change to the eBay Stores format.  The eBay Stores format is becoming the eBay Stores "Experience".

I say Halleluah! - It is about time the standard (off the ebay shelf) issue eBay store was updated to look like something designed post 1995.

I have no argument with eBay for this change or its implementation.  Everyone who owns an eBay Store has 45 days to make whatever changes are necessary to update their custom templates or 3rd party providers store design.  This seems like plenty of time in most cases and in the cases of the large third party certified eBay stores designers, the work has already been done.  eBay actually worked with these designers and developers to be sure that they were aware of the new standard (yeah, I know - now THAT'S a change, right?).  In any case the look will be new but there is absolutely no need to panic.

Yet Panic is what some want to instill...

The Sky Is Not Falling

The announcement from eBay had not yet made its way around the world when certain individuals and companies began to use it for their own purposes.  These marketers know that any announcement from eBay causes a certain amount of anxiety among eBay sellers even before they have had a chance to read its contents.  Voila - This is the time to strike and get peoples attention, grab them when the announcement has not yet been explained or analyzed (The virtual ink is not yet dry).  Once they have the attention of the sellers who are already on the edge of their seats from last years constant changes and announcements from eBay, they offer a way to solve "problems" that may not have ever existed or if they do exist, can be solved in relatively short order by the sellers current developer.

This is called Fear Marketing and it depends on the Chicken Little effect.

The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling!

Fear is a powerful emotion, it causes us humans to immediately seek an action to prevent injury. Fight or flight is the usual response to fear many psychologists will tell you, others say fear causes depression, doubt, anxiety.  One thing we know for sure is that fear gets peoples attention and when it is used in a marketing sense fear can be a useful tool.  Yet if used without the most deft hand in marketing, fear becomes a threat.

Do you buy from people who threaten you?

In the eBay world, lets be honest... a lot of the sellers who are successful on the platform do not have Harvard or even Community college business degrees.  eBay Sellers are generally honest, hard working, yet interesting people who for the most part simply started out making a few extra dollars on the site. With some added perseverance and maybe a little luck, a lot of these good people then made eBay selling a career or a secondary small business, others grew this start into a small empire.  This is what has been great about eBay and eCommerce in general, you don't have to have a marketing degree or an MBA to make it out here, no one checks your resume when you are selling tie dye jeans.

The fact that the eBay community is a group of "regular folk" also makes it a target for unscrupulous and invasive marketers.  People who may have a bit more education or who have been taught tactics by those who have.  eBay sellers make for a very ripe audience for these people and the annual array of eBay announcements becomes a marketing smorgasbord for fear tactic marketers. We have all witnessed the discussion boards come alive when these announcements appear with motivated, worried, and sometimes desperate sellers looking for information and reassurance. This type of reaction, whether based upon fact or fiction leaves the door wide open for fear marketers.

Don't fall for the fear tactics, don't become a Chicken Little - The Sky, is not Falling

Do your own evaluation, check the facts, run your own business.  Don't let an unsolicited email from a supposedly reputable source cause you to make a quick decision.  In the case of the eBay Stores Experience announcement, call your present designer or developer or call eBay before you jump into the unscrupulous fear mongering marketing spin of doubt and distrust.  In most cases these emails or letters or even podcasts will sound very authentic, as marketing spiels often do, but when you check the facts for yourself, you may find that no truth was contained in the statements.

Buyer Beware

Always check out what is said, drill down to the basic truth of every marketing message.  It all boils down to need and value, if you are reading a message about a service you did not need or have already paid for then there is little value is buying a similar service from a new source. Be sure you need help before you make the call to the fear marketer, because once you are on the line with them you will then be led down a trail of constant doubt until you sign the contract to get yourself out of trouble.  Trouble you never really knew you had, and maybe didn't...

eBay Stores Experience - Things to Know

• If you have a basic eBay store that was not custom designed by anyone, then you have nothing at all to fear, eBay has you covered.
• If you have a custom designed eBay store by a company like Frooition or Diztinct - call them or check the website to find out what they have done to make you ready to go.
• The new format looks fine, better than ever in fact - so go with the flow, your buyers will like this!
• Check out Janelle Elms article about this topic.
• Check out Dave White's similar article on ECMRN
• Don't fall for fear tactics, not for this announcement or any other.  And let the company who sends them out know you do not appreciate the basic premise that you are too darn dumb to figure any of this out for yourself.
• Full Disclosure - I am an eBay Stores Designer.  I am affiliated with Frooition in the UK and offer my clients the advantage of my services with their extraordinary technology.  I do not now, nor have I ever, used outright fear and intimidation to coax a client away from another provider.  I really don't have the need for such tactics, we are too busy making our own clients happy!

My most recent sojourn into the world outside of eBay took me to the very interesting, yet almost unknown, industry of automotive recycling.

Yes, I know... most of us non-recyclers call it by a different name and frankly we rarely think about the positive impact on our environment and economy that auto recycling, or what we call  "Junkyards" (bad word inside the industry) has in America.

At first I did not "get" why the term "Junkyards" was considered not-PC (Politically Correct), but after attending the 65th annual Automotive Recyclers Association convention and expo in Kansas City, Missouri, I have a much better understanding.

Automotive recycling as an industry has come a long way in technology, in standards and most importantly in environmental protection since this national organization was formed in 1943.

From systems designed to extract every ounce of fluid from a wrecked vehicle to machines which automatically extract copper from the miles of wires in every car while saving the plastic insulation for re-use, the technology changes have been enormous.  I personally was amazed at the live demonstrations held at Midway Auto Parts in Kansas City on chilly evening during the exposition.

The yard was clean and extraordinarily well organized, all of the wrecked vehicles had been sorted and were laid out in various stages of the recycling process. No huge stacks of rusty hulks in this yard, most all of the cars I saw represented recent model years, they even had a used car lot in the front of the operation with some very clean looking late model automobiles. This place looked more like a new car dealership than what previously ill-informed outsiders like myself might have called it. This was a recycling facility, not a "Junk yard"

I have to agree with the new terminology, there was no presence of "Junk" here. This was pure recycling, down to the last ounce of steel. I was told this is not uncommon in the new era of auto recycling.  It seems that with the right combination of technology and training more of an automobile or truck can be recycled than ever before.  The industry as a whole has seen, both from a profit and from the environmental impact perspective, modernizing is the only way to excel.

By now my regular readers are wondering where eBay enters into all of this?

I was invited to this convention by a client who also happens to be an eBay Powerseller.

Taia Cesana - East Coast eCommerce Manager

The eBay connection starts with Taia Cesana of East Coast Auto Salvage. Taia hired my company iBusinessLogic to build a new website for their family owned auto recycling facility in Higganum, Connecticut. I met Taia at the Channel Adviser Catalyst conference in North Carolina. We have worked together on a plan to upgrade both East Coast's eBay sales operations and their website since Catalyst.

Taia and her dad Bill are very active members of both the ARA and CAR (Connecticut Auto Recyclers Association)associations. iBusinessLogic is now building a new website for CAR as a direct result of our work on the East Coast site.

Taia and Bill of East Coast Auto Salvage believe in finding the best solutions for industry challenges.

One of the challenges in the auto recycling industry is perception.  The best way to combat problems with perception is with information. Today's information leader is the Internet and building an information rich website is no longer a luxury for any business, it is a necessity.

Many of the websites auto recycling yards present to the public are developed by the industry leading inventory solutions providers. These include Hollander, Car-Parts.com and Inventory Technology Systems among others.

The original East Coast Auto Salvage site was provided by ITS.  Taia Cesana wanted to provide a more modern look and offer much more information on the East Coast Auto Salvage website than a parts search and location engine. Yet without the parts location and inventory searches provided by ITS and Car-Part, her website would not hold much value to her customers.

We solved the problem by simply taking the information served by ITS and inserting it within the new website and we also added an important feature by importing all of the East Coast Auto Salvage's eBay listings directly into their new website.

The new website we developed for East Coast Auto Salvage is designed to not only provide easy access to parts information but also give the public a more comprehensive view of their business in an attractive and straightforward package.  I am very honored Taia and Bill thought enough of the job we did for them to ask us to share our ideas with the rest of the industry.

Back at the convention in Kansas City

I did not expect to find much eBay related news at an Auto Recycling exposition. In fact, it seemed when I mentioned eBay to any of the attendees or exhibitors on the expo floor, the tone of the conversations almost immediately became suspicious.  I was not selling eBay, I simply was asking how or if any of these businesses were integrating eBay as a sales venue for the massive amount of used automotive, truck and motorcycle parts they had on hand.

The overall impression seemed to be that eBay was a mysterious and unknown quantity. These business people, all of whom seem to be looking at Internet sales and ecommerce in a new light, were not really sure if eBay could help them sell parts.

As an Industry, I would say that Auto Recyclers could use eBay to a great advantage, if they could just figure out how.

To be honest, many of these cutting edge (in their industry) business people have not yet totally grasped the power of Internet marketing.  Most auto recycling yard websites provide simple location information and a parts location search with very little or no additional information or ecommerce capabilities.  This is a missed marketing opportunity on a massive scale.

It seems that I am not the only person at the exposition who believes eBay could help auto recyclers move used auto parts.

Terry Lindell - VINterchange

Terry Lindell of Inventory Technology Systems announced what could be an incredible tool for auto recyclers worldwide in a presentation explaining his new VINterchange inventory system.  VINterchange aims to turn the auto recycling inventory process upside down (or right-side up - depending on your point of view) with a new way to automatically evaluate and inventory the parts from wrecked vehicles.

It is a long story but it seems that the auto recyclers and the auto industry have been working with two entirely different numbering systems and ways of inventorying parts. The VINterchange system is designed to bring the auto recycling industry more in line with OEM manufactures VIN system, providing actual OEM part numbers to the public.

The presentation was jam packed full of information, I will say that as an industry outsider, the new system seemed to make incredible sense from the perspective of an Internet marketer such as myself.  When these recycling yards provide OEM auto part numbers to the public, on the Internet, finding the parts will become much easier for the consumer. Selling those same parts to the world via the Internet will become a vital part of every recyclers business.

My ears really perked up When Terry Lindell transitioned into the eBay portion of his presentation. I have not seen how it works, but apparently ITS's VINterchange system has the capability of automatically populating eBay listings with all of the OEM parts information needed to sell these parts to the public in a fast and efficient manner.  This could revolutionize the used auto parts industry on eBay motors.

I have a net meeting scheduled with ITS to get a first hand look at how this new system will handle uploading parts data to eBay, to tell the truth I am very excited about the possibilities.  I know first hand from East Coast Auto Salvage that these parts move well on eBay yet the time it takes to process the eBay listings is a pain point for Taia Cesana at East Coast.

If ITS has come up with a solution which not only catalogs all of the profitable parts from a wrecked vehicle and assigns those parts the proper OEM part numbers but can also feed eBay and/or eCommerce that same catalog of inventory, I think the used auto parts business will find a much easier path to ecommerce than ever before.

In Summary

• eBay still suffers a problem of perception, in that it is a painful process to utilize eBay as a sales venue, from established industries such as auto recycling.
• eCommerce is the next logical step for the Auto Recycling industry
• It all starts with information and the proper aggregation and display of that information for both eBay and outside industries like auto recycling.
• If the auto recycling industry continues to develop methods of standardizing information the industry and consumers will both win. In effect parts will become worth more than the price of steel and consumers will buy those parts when they have a clear path to finding them on either Google or eBay.

Thanks to the following sources:

• Parts Locator
• Invetory Technology
• Car-Part.com
• ARA

We all know eBay has been testing a new look and feel for the view item page. I agree the format should be changed a bit to freshen up the entire eBay site. But take a look at the changed design and then read the rest of the story....

New View Item Page in Sandbox

Posted by Laurel Kline in Product News & Sandbox
Wednesday, Sep.10.2008, 5:43 PM PT

 

Want to see how your listing will look in the new View Item page? Head on over to http://sandbox.ebay.com!

The new View Item page is now live in the Sandbox for all listings. This lets you test your listing templates to make sure they'll look good in the new page.

The domain split for the item description is also live. We suggest that all developers and template creators list in the Sandbox so you can test how your template works. You'll be able to catch any unexpected interactions with the iFrame.

The new View Item is being displayed to a small number of users now, but is scheduled to roll to the entire site before the holiday season.

You heard it direct from eBay - this switch is going to occur site wide prior to the Holiday Season!

I know many merchants are already in holiday season mode, my clients have been getting ready for months, so what exactly do the eBay developers mean by "before the holiday season"?

By December 10th?

Seriously eBay - why do you insist on making major changes in the middle of peak selling season?  We agree it is the best time to look good to consumers, but if the new view item page is not ready now - in Mid September, it should wait for implementation until after December 25th...  We are in the Holiday Season right now... just get out of your developer chair and drive down to Walmart, where you will see Christmas decorations overpowering Halloween decorations on every aisle.    

Merchants do not have the time to implement new listing templates to accommodate a change by eBay in the 4th quarter. As a result, many will have hundreds if not thousands of listings which could or will have display problems. 

Placing a small notice on the eBay developer blog to check your listings on the eBay Sandbox may be effective for those who read the eBay developer blog... But many real time merchants don't even know what the eBay Developer Blog is, or have time to look for it.

Please eBay - Re-evaluate your timing for major changes like this... Speaking from the perspective of a Certified eBay Stores Designer, I am asking in the name of my clients for some sense that you know what the stress and pressure of peak season is all about.

Give your merchants a break, move this back to January, please....

UPDATE: From eBay

Clarification on New View Item Page Rollout

Posted by Laurel Kline in Business News
Friday, Sep.12.2008, 5:37 PM PT

 

There were some questions about the rollout plan I mentioned for the new View Item page, and I wanted to answer them.

We're very excited about the new View Item page, and think it's really going to improve the shopping experience.

We're starting by showing the new page to only a limited number of buyers. If the results are positive, we'll gradually increase the number of buyers who see it.

It would be great to roll it out completely in time for the holidays, but we're committed to not releasing it until it's ready.

Meanwhile, to make sure that  your listings look their best, follow these best practices:
Developer Impact: View Item
Developer Impact: Domain Split

The idea is to create a data feed from your eBay or Yahoo store, directly to Google shopping.  All of the information to populate a listing in Google is scraped from your eBay store or yahoo stores listings - automatically.

The only problem being that the Google Base Store connector mysteriously stopped working.  I can't speculate on the cause of this mysterious failure (possible re-kindling of the eBay/Google feud?) but in any case this connection is a vital part of eBay stores marketing and I have been searching for a way to get it up and running.

It seems the only way to use Google Base at this time is manually and I have had trouble with that at times.  It may be a bit of a bother, but if you put it in your schedule once a week or so, it should help you to put your eBay stores products in front of more shoppers.  (This is a feature which should be built in to eBay Stores accounts with an automatic feed, but....)

So, I found this great step by step instruction guideline posted by a Google Base help board user "Collectorgirl".   Thanks Collectorgirl, I hope your time and effort in creating these well written instructions helps many eBay & Yahoo stores owners!

-------------------------
By collectorgirl:
JUST UPDATED THESE INSTRUCTIONS....JUNE 18, 2008 - 1:38pm
I don't work for Google, but I have an eBay store on eBay. My seller
name on eBay is snifflesmouse.

I am sharing how I successfully scheduled eBay store items for upload
to Google Base because I want to help other people like me, but any
use of this information is your responsibility. Only store items will
be uploaded, not fixed price or auction items.

How to Schedule your eBay Store Items for automatic upload to Google
Base:
1. Go to eBay and click "My eBay"
2. Click "Manage My Store" on the left side of the page
3. Click on "Listing Distribution" under promotional tools
4. Click "Activate your Store listings via RSS. (not sure if this
is needed for Google)
5. Click "Make a file of your Store Inventory listings available"
6. May need to wait at least 12 hours before you continue with
these instructions
7. When eBay provides you with a URL of your Google Base-specific
file, COPY THE URL - looks something like: http://esssl.ebay.com/GetListings/yourstorename?fmt=g
8. Login to Google Base
9. Click the "Settings" tab
10. Change your Website URL to match the Google Base URL provided by
eBay - again, looks something like: http://esssl.ebay.com/GetListings/yourstorename?fmt=g
11. Click the "My Items" tab
12. Click on the "Data Feeds" link
13. Click the "New Data Feed" button
14. Type a file name with the .xml extention - should be the name of
your store with no spaces - for example, "mystorename.xml"
15. Change the item type in the drop down menu to "Products"
16. Click the button that says: "Register data feed and continue to
formatting instructions"
17. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the button that
says: "I'm done formatting my file. Continue to upload"
18. If you need to, click the "My Items" tab, then click on the "Data
Feeds" link (or continue to step 19 below)
19. Click the "create" link next to Schedule
20. Choose when and how often you would like Google to upload your
file
21. Type the URL of the file - should match the URL provided by eBay
- the same one used in step 10 above
22. CLICK THE SCHEDULE BUTTON
23. Come back and check to see if your products have been uploaded as
scheduled - login to Google Base, click the "my items" tab, click the
"active items" link. You should see all of your store items listed
(they will not upload auction or fixed price listings)
HOPE THIS HELPS!!

Readers - Let us know if you have found a quicker, easier, or automatic solution which works....

(Click the link above to see one of my most recent press releases on PRWeb)

Image above links to story about a yahoo news article on iBusinessLogic blog

See the resulting Yahoo News Article Below

PRWeb - eCommWire - WebWire - Internet News Bureau - prlog - prnewswire

All of these names are essentially the same type of service offered with different features and exposure levels, but there is a difference in what you may think a press release is and what it is today.

In the past a press release was a very labor-intensive and expensive project. Writing a press release was only the first step along a very long road towards the media. First a company would produce an internal memo or pre-press release. This document would then be adjusted and massaged by various departments within a company, including legal, and then be ready for distribution. Distribution to a PR firm that is...

Once the PR firm had a press release from a company it would then try to reintroduce the pizazz that the internal departments from the prior round of edits had taken out of it. After that the PR firm would distribute the release to its contacts in media.  Not all PR firms had the same contacts and not all press releases were paid attention to from some PR firms. For a company, it was a hit or miss affair.

Before the advent of online newswires, journalists served as the gatekeepers between organizations and the public. The only way for organizations to get publicity was to send their press releases to journalists, spend hours with follow-up calls, and hope that the information would be published eventually.

Those days are over. Today, your press releases can reach the masses without being filtered through the media. With Internet-based press releases, you can easily get each of your information releases viewed by 25,000 to 100,000+ Internet readers. The included links and information lives on forever on the web.

In today's Internet world, press releases are a self-service commodity - simply paste in your information, pay your bill and let it rip... but is it that simple?

A well-crafted press release can generate enormous, free publicity that you could not otherwise afford to buy.

What is a well-crafted press release and how does a entrepreneur or small business owner create one?

The first step is to determine what is actually newsworthy in your business information. If your press release is nothing more than marketing hype, it will never get picked up by the news agencies or local newspapers. Creating a story with all of the facts and a human interest or business interest component is essential.

Remember the old adages of the journalism classes you may have teen in high school?

Who - What - Where and When

Tell the public who you are, what you're doing that is different or newsworthy, when it will happen and where they can find your business.

Integrate a little human interest in the form of a successful customer or client story, or how your product will help save the environment or feed starving children in New Jersey...stuff like that. Then take a deep breath and read what you wrote.

Did your Press Release answer the questions above? Did you include some sort of hook or interest component?  Were you succinct and to the point without looking like a legal brief?

If not, rewrite or get some help. Copywriters can be found locally on Craigslist or you can call me if you're really in need. The point is to try a press release and to first try to write one yourself.

The online submission forms are very simple and fast and some Internet press release sites are free, like eCommWire. They just require one thing: Quality Content.

Yahoo News, CNN, Google News and the New York Times...

Most press releases distributed through newswire services are now picked up by online news aggregators such as Google News and Yahoo News. Don't underestimate the power of such a listing. Millions of people use these sites for their news.

According to Hitwise, Yahoo News now ranks ahead of CNN.com and MSNBC.com, while Google News ranks before USAToday.com and NYTimes.com. Additionally, Internet readers may receive your press releases directly through content-syndication feeds.

The statement above could not be more truthful. Today I finished a press release about a recent client Extreme Halloween Inc. and the iBusinesslogic powered by Frooition eBay Stores design we completed for them. The link is in the header of this article and the press release went live at 3AM PST on Tuesday June 17, 2008. Within 3 hours it was rebroadcast as a story on Yahoo News.

See the screen shot of the Yahoo News article below or read more here iBusinessLogic blog.

Logos and graphics can be tough to find when you need them and since everyone will need something like this 5 Star Customer Service logo in their eBay listings...

Our friends at All Business Auctions and iBusinessLogic.com have generously provided this eBay five star service logo for all of our readers free of charge.

Suggestions for use

• Insert this eBay 5 star service logo with standard text about return policies
• Include this eBay five star service logo with your invoices and email lists
• Insert this eBay five star service logo in your eBay me page
• Make it your mantra to give good service (as if it was not already your mantra)

Just follow the link (click the logo itself) to get the code for several sizes of the eBay five star service logo.

Enjoy! Courtesy - All Business Auctions, the Design Team at iBusinessLogic.com and us here at the Trading Assistant Journal!

And Listed on ONLINEAUCTION.COM

Obviously this is a very attractive, high quality diamond ring. We have the original appraisal and paperwork; it is owned by a long term and dear client - it was her wedding ring stone and has since been reset in this stunning dinner ring setting. Total weight is now 2.8 carats of fine diamonds and as you can see, this is no knock-off.

I had it appraised by a local gemologist in Clearwater, Florida, who I have known personally for 20 years and who has been a part of a family business in fine jewelery locally for over 40 years. His appraisal of this diamond and setting together is included in the description, but his official opinion places the value in the $35,000.00 range.

Our client is ready to sell for $22,500...

Will it Sell as an eBay Stores Item? Or Will it sell as an OnlineAuction.com Listing

Lets see..

This ring has been listed on eBay and on OnlineAuction.com

I will let everyone know where I get the most traffic, if it sells and from which site the buyer contacts us. It is possible this item could sell from this listing in my blog, and if that is the case, I will tell you here first...

I think this will be an interesting - if not scientific - test of traffic generation from the two sites.  Since this will be listed as an eBay Store Item, I have no idea if there will be an advantage for eBay or not. Everyone is welcome to submit an opinion in a comment below.

Stunning Evening / Cocktail Ring 2.0 ct Near Colorless Magnificent Diamond

• 2.85 (TCW) carat of Diamonds Set in a Custom Made 18Kt White Gold Ring
• Ring Size 6
• 2.0 Carat Round Brilliant cut Near Colorless Solitaire Diamond Set in a 18kt Cast White Gold Ring (Stamped and tested) w/ 81 (0.85 ct) single cut Round Diamonds equaling 2.85 carats total.

Selling Real Estate on eBay has also been proven successful and is effective as a lead  and sales generation tool.  Therefore it seems quite interesting, almost unbelievable, that these two powerful eBay marketing tactics have yet to be joined with the creation of a well designed eBay Store for Real Estate.  Until Now...

Jason Chalkley, a Realtor with Watson Realty Corp, has commissioned an eBay Store crafted by: DesignLogic

The unique design of this eBay Stores real estate site is expected to create an influx of interest for the Realtor's Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach real estate listings.  Each property listed on eBay will gain worldwide exposure, not only within eBay but also through increased exposure to worldwide search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.  "This brings a whole new dimension of value to my advertising budget," said Jason Chalkley.

The image above is a "mock up" of the soon-to-be installed Jason Chalkley/Watson Real Estate eBay Store.  When the actual store is installed it will feature a cross advertising design powered by a unique Frooition software and control panel.  "Each real estate listing will interactively display similar listings from within the brokers store and it will do so on every listing through the eBay store website.  This is a crucial feature not available through any other design package to our knowledge," according to Scott Pooler (me) of iBusinessLogic & AllBusinessAuctions.com. "No matter how a visitor enters the site, they will view more than one property listing on a page. The design will encourage all visitors to surf all of the listings the realtor has available rather than simply click back to eBay or the search engine they came from when they are finished looking at the landing page." This feature is dynamically updated via the eBay API and does not need to be maintained. Simply launching new or additional listings will populate the cross selling engine that is a DesignLogic store powered by Frooition.

Jason Chalkley is a visionary when it comes to advertising real estate for his clients. He has invested in this custom designed eBay store with the express intention to draw new leads from the worldwide exposure eBay can provide.  "With the weak dollar and strong Euro, I hope to draw some European investors to my beautiful Florida beach properties through eBay," Jason Chalkley said. "Local Florida buyers will find our properties in the eBay store just as easily as foreign investors, so I see it as a win-win situation for my listings."

After the new store is installed Jason does not plan to stop with this initial phase of his real estate Internet marketing plan. Jason will call upon All Business Auctions to help him with inserting video tours of his listings as an added feature.  Jason has also started his first real estate WordPress blog with our help.  He plans on expanding his eBay listings with local area guides through digital download and possibly other real estate related merchandise in the future.