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Meg Whitman Governor Memorabilia For Sale On eBay November 3rd

Meg Whitman Governor Campaign Memorabilia For Sale On eBay November 3rd
31 October 2010 
Halloween Edition
EventHorizon1984

 

With the Meg Whitman for California Governor campaign spending over $160 million, most of it hers all from eBay seller fees, one might think the milk from the cash cow stops flowing when the voting concludes on November 2 2010.  Except for the extensive after campaign clean up spending, that would be the case for most elections.  But we are talking about the loved or despised ex-CEO of eBay Margaret Whitman.  With a small army of eBay sellers who know opportunity is knocking.

Think of it.  Tens of millions of dollars spent on signs, buttons, stickers, leaflets, notepads, pens, clothing, ballons, napkins, identification badges, tickets, photos, autographs, and other campaign trinkets.  Given away FREE by the Meg Whitman for Governor organization. Free memorabilia, sometimes carted away in bulk after campaign events by eBay sellers.  Free memorabilia that can be listed for free on eBay.

And did we forget to mention the potential millions in illegal sales of rips from Meg Whitman campaign television ads?

If you're an eBay seller, don't you miss this golden multi-million dollar sales opportunity.

November 3rd, eBay.  Be there, Aloha.

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"called me a whore, they've called me a liar, they've called me a Nazi"
Meg Whitman, 26 October 2010

"a monkey could drive this train"
Meg Whitman, as train driving eBay CEO, circa 1998-2008

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eBay INC 2010 Third Quarter Earnings Numbers Of Interest To Small Business Sellers

eBay INC 2010 Third Quarter Earnings Numbers Of Interest To Small Business Sellers
21 October 2010
EventHorizon1984

eBay INC posted strong number for the third quarter of 2010.  But like last time, we look again this quarter into what many small businesses on eBay ponder, 'How did the Marketplaces section eBay.com do?'.

Well.

Numbers from eBay's 10/20/2010 SEC 8-K filing, show net total Marketplaces revenue growth is up an anemic "1%" from the previous quarter.  Two consecutive quarters of "1%" growth.

Revenue generated principally through fees paid by users of eBay.com.  The more a seller lists, the more a seller sells, the more Marketplaces revenue eBay.com generates.  Of course when sellers slow down, so does eBay.com.

According to Medved.net eBay started the third quarter with about 130,400,000 listings per day. 

The number of listings peaked at 142 million.  Up 8.9% from the beginning of the quarter.

Then settled back to 140,300,000 listings.  Up 7.6% from the beginning of the quarter.

There are strong increases in the number of products available for sale, yet total Marketplaces (principally eBay.com) revenue increased only "1%".

Now take a look at just the Marketplaces revenue.  That is revenue derived from fees on seller sales.

That's "0%" current quarter versus prior quarter.  Down from the "1%" increase of the second quarter.  Abet up from the -4% decrease of the first quarter.

That "0%" means in aggregate, sellers are experiencing virtually no increase (or decrease) in sales on eBay.com.

Perhaps this point is not missed by The Wall Street Journal.

• "on the back of a 0.5% increase in revenue"
• "Some industry insiders were quick to note eBay's marketplace performance continues to lag the overall U.S. e-commerce market, where retail sales are expected to rise almost 13% to $152 billion this year, according to research group eMarketer."                                 

And a point definitely not missed by eBay INC, as shortly before the the end of the third quarter President of eBay Marketplaces Lorrie Norrington was terminated.

If you were selling on eBay.com, were you using PayPal?

The number of PayPal payments made and the amount of those PayPal payments, increased 7% and 5% respectively.

With this increase in PayPal activity, some eBay.com sellers have reported increases in fraudulent transactions.

According the eBay.com's numbers, the "Transaction revenue rate" has remained stable for the past year.  The current quarter Marketplace loss rate, part of which includes fraud, stands at 3.57%.

Compared to VISA, who reported a fraud rate of "$5 per $10,000" in 2005.  Which is 0.05%.

eBay.com sellers considering Bill Me Later payments, should look closely at those numbers.

What about seller and buyer claims that there is less merchandise on eBay.com.  That is, have products moved off eBay.com?

The hemorrhaging of sellers inventory appears to have slowed to "0%", compared to last quarters -6% decrease.  However car sellers have "-1%" less inventory on eBay.com than the previous quarter.

Auction seller inventory now represents 40% of eBay.com's GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume).  A decrease of 1% from the previous quarter.

With the start of the Christmas shopping quarter, we're anticipating PayPal eBay INC to set new revenue records.  It remains to be seen if small business or eBay.com can exceed the pace of last season.

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"I'm still looking for evidence the turnaround is taking hold. I haven't seen that yet."
Scot Wing, CEO ChannelAdvisor INC

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