Rayo Oil Co Inc was founded in 1967. The company's line of business includes the retail sale of fuel oil.

eBay Inc. operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers worldwide. The company's Marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com and the eBay suite of mobile apps. Its platforms enable users to list, buy, sell, and pay for items through various online, mobile, and offline channels that include retailers, distributors, liquidators, import and export companies, auctioneers, catalog and mail-order companies, classifieds, directories, search engines, commerce participants, shopping channels, and networks. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

eBay

ebay

For Lenovo M710q M720q M910q M920q M910x M920x Tiny Antenna Wifi Cable kit | Computers/Tablets &amp; Networking, Computer Components &amp; Parts, Laptop Replacement Parts | eBay!

For Lenovo M710q M720q M910q M920q M910x M920x Tiny Antenna Wifi Cable kit | eBay

Briers Bamboo Grip Blush Gardening Gloves,Work Gloves All Sizes Ladies, Mens | Garden &amp; Patio, Garden Clothing &amp; Protective Gear, Gardening Gloves &amp; Knee Pads | eBay!

Briers Bamboo Grip Blush Gardening Gloves,Work Gloves All Sizes Ladies, Mens | eBay

925 Solid Sterling Silver Plated Women NEW Fashion Earring Gift Wholesale EW043 | Jewelry &amp; Watches, Fashion Jewelry, Earrings | eBay!

925 Solid Sterling Silver Plated Women NEW Fashion Earring Gift Wholesale EW043 | eBay

At the onset of the COVID pandemic, Americans faced a new kind of uncertainty that we had not experienced before. Although we’ve settled into our “new normal” for the most part, the losses we’ve gone through in the past year have been enormous and transformative in many different aspects of life, not the least of which is our employment and all the ways we bring in an income. Among the most affected workers, women are near the top of the list. in industries that were hit hardest by lockdowns and loss of profits, and subsequent layoffs, such as hospitality, food service, and in-store retail. Women are more likely to work Women have faced job losses, childcare losses, and reduced hours, all while also taking on the brunt of additional household responsibilities. With all of these increased burdens and the continued need for an inflow of finances, many women began, or increased, selling items on eBay and other online stores. According to one survey, who increased their eBay presence did so due to hardships brought on by the COVID pandemic, and 69% say they benefited from eBay sales during the height of the pandemic. 82% of women Within the first 6 months of the COVID pandemic, the number of US-based small businesses on eBay increased by 34%, and sales by these businesses grew by 38%. While only 58% of men cite the flexibility of working from home as one of the best benefits of selling on eBay, 74% of women sellers on eBay say this is one of the best perks. Seventy-three percent of these women also list household income as one of the main benefits, and 50% also enjoy the benefit of being their own boss. Selling goods on eBay has given women great opportunities, particularly during the COVID pandemic. They have opportunities to continue to make an income regardless of loss of employment, loss of childcare, or having to care for sick loved ones. Women eBay business owners also further their reach by being able to sell internationally, reaching an average of 16 countries per year. eBay has helped to ease the financial burdens brought on by the COVID pandemic and to empower women to work in their own way. Infographic sourced from here

Women That Run eBay and eCommerce Businesses are Thriving

Ever since the pandemic began, and workforces went home to begin a long period of remote work (which has yet to fully end), we’ve been inundated with think-pieces discussing the “New Ways of Working”. Supposedly, the Old World is never coming back, and we all have to adapt to the reality forced upon use by COVID, or be left behind. . I tend to agree Much like most other “thought-leaders” out there, I however don’t have much of a clue about specifics; what’s a “New Way of Working”, exactly? What skills do we need to thrive in this new environment? What comes next? I thus put on my fanciest journalistic hat and asked these questions, and many more, to three people who ought to be particularly in the know with regards to these matters. a training platform with over 5,000 corporate clients and 2.5 million users, an XR training company working with some of the largest employers in the world, and , managing a large team of engineers. Laura Baldwin is President of O’Reilly Media , Kyle Jackson is CEO of Talespin , Lakshimi Duraivenkatesh is VP of Buyer Experience Engineering at eBay If anyone knows about the future of work, it’s them. Why the buzz around New Ways of Working ? , you’ll see attention for the concept peaked in September 2020. But why now? Don’t we always slowly adapt our ways to whatever reality presents itself? “New ways of working” is indeed a bit of a tautology; Fax, printers, Minitel, internet, Cloud, IoT… With a little technological help, we’re constantly changing the very nature of what it means to work. Even the concept of , thanks to new tools and solutions. If you type “New ways of working” in Google trends remote work has changed drastically since 1979 Over the past few decades (if not centuries), change has been incremental. First, major multinational companies adopt a technology and bend to it to the will of the social and economical requirements of its time. Then come the large national companies, then the SMEs, and so on. . Firstly, because of sudden national lockdowns, most (if not all) . Secondly, unlike previous transformation, this transition was neither thoughtful, nor brought about by technology. Thirdly, remote work has lasted much, much longer than anyone thought it would. Laura doesn’t mince her words on the matter. “ she argues. ” But 2020 was different non-essential companies had to adapt to remote work from one day to the next This concept of remote work was forced on many companies” “It wasn’t a thoughtful decision. Cities locked down all of sudden and employees weren’t allowed to come to work. Kyle tends to agree with this analysis. Many of the changes we see today would have probably become reality one day. But he wonders if we would have made the necessary investments had we not had the shock to the system the pandemic brought about. “ , he told me; ” there seems to be a real opening of the mindset” “We need to be more accepting of things that seem hard, but now appear to be more obvious. From my perspective, it became a whole new and different conversation as of this summer. This explains why we hear so much about new ways of working and see so many think-pieces being written : ( ). the unprecedented immediacy and unparalleled investments are what created the buzz with a little help from McKinsey New Ways of Working definition As with every buzzword, a clear definition is hard to come by. When we think of 2020’s New Ways of Working, we obviously think about efficiently and empathically : ensuring workers are healthy, happy, and have the tools to carry out their daily tasks. managing a remote workforce This was particularly important for all companies during the first few months of the pandemic, to better understand what needed to be provided to employees at a time when a fog of war was descending over many households. Lakshimi recalls spring being a challenging time : “ ” empathy People are in very different situations. There is no childcare, people are maybe caring for loved ones at home, there are people who are alone at home… There is also no outlet for people to break the monotony, places where they can hang out with others. There is an emotional toll to not getting out of one’s house and chatting with people. To find solutions quickly, she and her team put in place regular top-down / bottom-up meetings, supplemented by focused group works to find the best possible solutions to a worrying situation. One initiative that came from these discussions is the creation of dedicated “coding-days” across all geo-locations. During these days, meetings are heavily reduced to allow engineers to concentrate on “ ”, which does not require collaboration. . Other such policies include ending meetings 5 minutes earlier to give everyone time for a breather before the next one begins. Lakshimi insists that those small changes made a huge difference. deep work As many of us can attest, time boundaries were the first thing to fly out the window when our bedroom became our office . Mental health, work life balance, and a new way of approaching time might very well be the keywords of the New Way of Working The same could be said for adapting ways of working to specific teams within organisations, to ensure any medication prescribed fits the ailment. . Workers are looking for empowerment and meaning specific to their history, beliefs and role. And why shouldn’t we have it, now that our professional and personal life are so intimately intertwined? Company-wide policies worked in the 90s and 00s during the McDonaldisation of work, but it will not cut it over the next decade While caring for employees is obviously important, Laura also insists that there is more to it. “ ”. In 2020, the focus has been on remote work and the individuals versus the importance of taking care of customers no matter their location . (…) We read a lot about managing a remote workforce, but the key questions we should be asking is how do you still meet company goals and satisfy customer needs with a remote workforce. Indeed, it can be easy to forget during a deadly pandemic that one’s customers still come first. New ways of working have to adapt to their wishes, too. Forgetting this is costly : some great SMEs thrive by putting their employees ahead, but no market leader has ever gotten to where it is without a psychopathic attention to its clients’ needs. What are the skills needed in this new reality ? As many of us will attest, some key skills are needed to survive in the remote environment. Laura, Lakshimi and Kyle all agree that , in particular, are absolutely critical to this transition, both for individuals and organisations. , , , , , , , … all these concepts make remote work easier, and are skills needed to succeed regardless of the position or the hard skills acquired in the past. soft skills Communication self-motivation adaptability resilience time-management collaboration transparency rigour Why do we need these skills today more than ever ? According to Kyle, it’s because “ soft skills . ” we’re going to continue to go through a pace of change at a higher rate than we are used to. For a lot of people it’s super uncomfortable unless you have [ ] built into how you operate everyday There’s a lot of friction there for bigger organisations. People don’t like change at this pace One soft skill is more specific to 2020 than the others : managing egos is particularly key during remote work, wherein collaboration is more important than ever. Laura puts it best : “ ” In the New Ways of Working world, going solo is nearly impossible. Gone are many of the after-work drinks people would use to get ahead. Gone are the self-serving sociopaths back-stabbing their colleagues during a coffee break. And gone are holiday parties, where promotions are handed out at the back of a taxi. We are also more conscious about people’s absence in meetings, as their presence is the path of least resistance, and more willing to accommodate differences in working schedules. I don’t believe in the nature of the individual contributor because I don’t see a single product that comes out of my own organisation where one individual did something completely by themselves. If anything, the pandemic levelled the playing field for many; we may very well be more of a meritocracy than a year ago. Can leaving one’s ego behind be learnt, though? Can we learn to communicate better, collaborate better, be more rigorous, more transparent? We tend to think of soft skills as concepts acquired through years of experience, not webinars, seminars and online courses! More on that below. Regardless, companies have to do to train workers who will thrive in today’s very specific work environment. says Laura. . something “It’s one of the things that has come up from our customers” “When they’re hiring kids out of college now, they see that these kids may have computer science skills, but they don’t know how to work collaboratively, and in a team format” Soft skills are not everything, though. ? Do we need any to survive in the New Way of Working world ? Apparently, not really. Laura believes that hard skills are specific to a role, and are thus not transferable. Kyle doubles down on that idea, arguing that the deeper we get into , the more we can ask yourselves the question “ ”? What about hard skills XR (mixed reality) what do we actually need to know Indeed, one can imagine wearing a glasses-like mixed reality headset in a few year’s time, allowing the users to pull up blue-prints to assist them with many hard-skill tasks. With the right mode of operating, an employee can be parachuted into many new situations with this type of technology and be pretty proficient. “ ” ensures Kyle, which is exactly what you want to hear when a technician is installing your WIFI. You’re not gonna blow things up How can companies train their employees ? In early 2020, the World economic Forum released . The path ahead is long and winding, but some of the comments made below give us a hint of the arduous roadmap that needs to be developed to train all the people that wish to be a part of the New Ways of Working an article arguing for the re-skilling of a billion people by 2025 It would appear a mixed approach is necessary : training, mentorship and technology. “ ”, says Laura. “ ” It’s also about listening to current needs, adds Lakshimi. “ ”. Whatever works Every company operates differently and everyone learns differently. (…) Some people like reading long form, while others prefer snippets, while others prefer videos, or sit in a class. The choice needs to be the individual’s choice . Through the mechanism of listening to people (…) around the world, we are able to understand what are some of the things that we need to provide for our employees . Technology, as per usual, can be both a catalyst of change, and a solution to best face it XR, in particular, now seems like an obvious technology : by providing virtual trainings, companies can fully validate both hard and soft skills through series of realistic situations, instead of barely knowing who completed what module, or who passed what coding test. Employees can train over and over with a virtual human until they’ve learnt the right lessons, providing a safe space to fail around a topic. This gives workers a chance to experience a variety of situations that they would otherwise have to find in real life before they’re prepared. These insights are incredibly valuable for companies. Armed with the right stats about their talent pool, they can better strategize their next moves to meet customer needs, safe in the knowledge that their workforce will be able to handle coming changes, says Kyle. “ ”. It allows them to look at their talent based with a more verified lens He adds that the use of this technology is now a lot closer than we thought it would be just a few months back : “ ”. There’s a passage in Ernest Hemingway’s novel in which a character named Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. “ ,” he answers. “ .” Clearly, what applies to bankruptcy also applies to technology adoption. If you talk to the largest companies in the world about XR back in November 2019, the conversation was very different than it was starting in march [2020]. It went from something that was two to four years away from becoming more broadly accepted to not even having to sell the conversation anymore The Sun Also Rises Two ways Gradually, then suddenly Interestingly, Lakshimi and her colleagues stress the fact that . These goes back to what we mentioned above : adapting to the new way of working is useless if clients are left behind. Huge corporations can pay McKinsey a wheelbarrow of money for their annual reports, but most of the world is not made up of those huge conglomerates. It’s made up of SMEs that need to know what’s coming so they’re not left behind. And a lot of things are coming their way, at unprecedented speed. it’s important to train not only employees, but also clients through classes and programs Finally, we also have to remember that we don’t train front-line workers and managers the same way. , from Kyle’s experience (sounds unfair? Trust your instincts). Hard skills AND soft skills for the front line, soft skills for management What will be the New Way of Working post-Covid? We’ve been in the middle of this damn pandemic for months now, and are all getting used to it ( ). And so, as per our nature, we look to the future. What will work look like when we go back to the office? isn’t the human spirit fantastic? Do we even ever go back to the office? And if we do, what changes? What stays the same? As Kyle says, “ ”. He and Lakshimi argue that we will go back to the office on certain days of the week, and be remote on others days, as we simply can’t fully do without face-to-face interactions. A hybrid solution indeed seems to be best, and will allow a lot of people to achieve a healthier balance : people caring for loved ones and young mothers might no longer be left to the side in the corporate world, as management will be much more willing and able to accommodate their specific situation. we are going to be working differently going forward, regardless of what happens and how quickly we can get back to the office As mentioned above, there is a chance for us to level the playing field over the coming months, so that we may come back to a fairer office. For Laura, we will definitely go back to the office, but that won’t be such a difficult change from working from home, as old habits die hard, and in-person skills will not have disappeared. What will however be notable is the fact that technology assistance (or worker augmentation, as she calls it) will be bigger than ever, as its development thrived in 2020. This change will need to be well managed : many fear that A.I and robots will replace workers. We’re nonetheless hearing more and more executives agree that AI will merely assist decision-making, hence slowing down the bleeding of worker redundancy. . Having acquired the soft skills necessary to better cooperate, employees will use tools and technologies to innovate at a rate never before seen. Laura explained what this means : “ ”. Fundamentally, what it means to work is changing that’s critical for people to understand. Right now, moving remote, those soft skills are critical, but the next level is going to be augmented workers. The challenge will be making people accept these many changes : innovation fatigue is indeed very real So… The … New Way of Working is soft-skills-based But the … New New Way of Working is technology-based And so the cycle goes on and on, Corona or not. TL;DR I know, the above is a lot to take in. To help, below are the key take-away from the article : The phrase “New Ways of working” is making the rounds because the pandemic was so sudden New ways of Working means adapting to employee needs in a remote environment, while continuing to serve clients efficiently Soft skills training is key to thriving in this new world, and the playing field is more even within corporations than it’s ever been Hard skills might become increasingly irrelevant Training needs to be tailored to a corporation’s needs, using the relevant technology The New Way of Working post-corona will mean going back to the office in a hybrid fashion It also means a greater emphasis on worker augmentation Good luck out there. This article was originally made for The Pourquoi Pas , a blog providing in-depth analyses of today’s technological challenges. Click here to access it .

How Leaders at O'Reilly Media, Ebay, and Talespin See the New Way of Working

eBay is a multinational e-commerce platform. It facilitates consumer to consumer and business to consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. It has operations in more than 23 countries. It is a free-to-use platform for buyers, but sellers pay a fee after a limited number of free listings. Today we will review the changes to the eBay homepage in the past 21 years and see how the website evolved over time. 2000 In 2000, the website was not very well organized. Honestly, it was cluttered. The web design heavily relied on buttons. The website was colorful but the overall schema was not pleasing to the eyes. 2001 In 2001, the website stayed pretty much the same. A few changes included a visual division of the page and a refined search bar. 2002 In 2002, the design looked much better due to the clear divisions and columns on the page. However, the design still had too much information. 2003 In 2003, the overall design remained the same. 2004 2004 was a significant change in the design elements of the website. The website removed the list of category-wise buttons and introduced a refined search. 2005 In 2005, the design remained the same but the color scheme majorly involved shades of yellow. 2006 In 2006, the space of the search bar decreased and again category-wise buttons were introduced on the homepage. 2007 In 2007, the design remained the same. 2008 In 2008, the overall design sense remained the same, however, it became more pleasing to the eyes. eBay focused more on increasing the member base which is reflected in the design as well. Also, the website started featuring fewer images but made them more prominent. 2009 In 2009, the design did not change. 2010 In 2010, the design remained the same, however, eBay tried colorful texts instead of images to feature products. Honesty, it did not look good. 2011 In 2011, eBay made major changes to the structure of the design. It introduced a compact version of the category list, which provided more space for a welcome, security guidance, and sign-in. The overall color scheme also changed to a grey tone. 2012 In 2012, no major changes were made except a few colors here and there. 2013 In 2013, eBay continued on creating a more refined design and optimized the community navigation bar. 2014 In 2014, eBay optimized the category navigation panel and moved it to the top of the page. It also optimized buttons on other navigation panels. The rest of the design remained the same. 2015 In 2015, the design was optimized to follow consumer behavior, however, the overall theme and design remained the same. 2016 In 2016, the design remained the same, however, eBay played around with aesthetic elements to make it visually pleasing. 2017 In 2017, eBay optimized the navigation panels. The overall design remained the same. However, eBay did start using images as banners and slideshows. 2018 In 2018, the design remained the same, however, eBay kept changing elements according to consumer trends. 2019 No changes were made in 2019. 2020 No changes were made in 2020.

How the eBay Homepage has Changed Over the Past 21 Years

Selling your products on Amazon and eBay seems like an irresistible deal at first. You have their entire customer base at your disposal, and these sites get a hell lot of traffic; what could be a more profitable way to start an eCommerce business? I mean, Amazon is the world’s largest eCommerce platform and an example of one of the best online marketplace software –both in terms of features and technology stack. It’s a 25 years old brand. Each month, at least around the world purchase their favorite stuff from Amazon. Who would not like to do business with a giant that holds share in the US eCommerce market? 197 million shoppers a 49% On the other hand, everybody knows eBay. Founded in 1995, eBay is the most popular C2C eCommerce giant. E-bay is still one of the biggest eCommerce giants in the US with a market cap of , as of September 2019. Can anyone overlook a platform that made and still growing? $33.5 billion $10.7 billion in 2018 You might now ask, how not is everyone selling products online on Amazon and eBay then? Why 46% of the eCommerce business owners in a survey in the UK preferred their own sites to sell on a third-party marketplace? Is the Mutual Benefit a Thing While Selling on a Marketplace? Like I said earlier, selling your products on marketplaces seems quite beneficial. You can, in fact, without worrying about product-warehousing, shipping, packaging, managing a website, or fussing about the SEO and website traffic. However, if you take a closer look, you would still find the benefits, but the actuality of profits for the sellers experiences a bit of change their definition. create an online store Nevertheless, should you be selling your products on Amazon and eBay, or not? The answer varies from person to person and business to business. While marketplaces may be a profitable way to start with the eCommerce business for many, some of us might just overlook the potentials for massive growth with a proprietary business, and behave just like a frog in the well. There are N numbers of aspects that a merchant must analyze beforehand: types of products you sell, their demand, competition in the general market, competition on the marketplace itself, the revenue you share with the marketplace, restrictions, and scope beyond the marketplace to name a few. Based on these aspects and many others, you should makes this decision by yourself. That’s why I have talked in detail about the Pros and Cons of Selling on Amazon and eBay in this article, so you can make a well-informed decision after comprehending the fluctuations in all the alternatives. The Pros of Selling on Amazon, eBay, or Any Marketplace Selling on a popular marketplace would have its own perquisites. One of the biggest examples would be the ease at with anyone can set up an Amazon or eBay account to start selling on the go. These are some very big corporations backed by fortunes, you can’t just overlook the local as well as international recognition they have already secured in the market. One of the Biggest Traffic Channels at Your Disposal from the First Day As we talked earlier, Amazon and eBay are two of the biggest traffic generators on the internet. Each second millions of online shoppers purchase something from these platforms. Having a storefront on one of the busiest streets in the town has its own rewards. You will have instant access and would be selling products online to over 184 million monthly visitors on Amazon and at least 164 million active shoppers on eBay. Whether you are selling on Amazon, eBay, or on your very own platform, you should be looking for such serious eyeballs to do business. We can’t deny the fact that many merchants have admitted getting a in their sales after joining Amazon as a seller. 50% boost Generate Sales through Inherited Trust Factors in the Brand by Default Even if shoppers don’t visit Amazon or eBay looking specifically for your store, the people who trust these platforms already trust your listings by default. They know that Amazon and eBay care for customer experience and they collaborate with only genuine businesses. Once, a customer is there on the site, your listing as trustworthy for them as the platform itself. So even without your unique brand identity, you work in an environment where you get new customers every day. You may further intrigue the customers into your unique identity as a trustworthy seller via quality services and excellent order fulfillment experiences. Amazon uses its FBA service to take away shipping and storage hassles from sellers and encourages them to focus on customer experience. It is something that a small seller or one-man army merchant cannot deny. Many People Just Love the All-In-One Nature of the Online Marketplaces The reason why supermarkets and hypermarkets exist is their ease of finding everything under one roof. If I can purchase everything of my needs with just a single checkout, why would I prefer to visit tens of individual sites to purchase them separately? The strength of eBay and Amazon lies in the variety of products they offer on a single platform. Considering Amazon and eBay combined, they sell everything from pin to an airplane. Seamless one-stop shopping is what many people love about online marketplaces and visit these sites very often. The Cons of Selling on Amazon, eBay, or Any Third-Party Platform It’s no brainer; sellers on Amazon and eBay enjoy a plethora of benefits, which play a significant role in the early development of their businesses. They take away many hassles and offer a range of B2B services that otherwise are not easily accessible to independent merchants who are looking to create an online store of their own However, like every good thing, the benefits from marketplaces come at some price. . Marketplaces Take Huge Fee from Sellers It hurts to lose even a minute percentage of your hard-earned revenue; Amazon and eBay take away a significant percentage of it from you. There is a complex list of different types of fees and commissions these platforms take from sellers in lieu of letting them use their platforms. If you are willing to take your storefront in the premises set by Amazon and eBay, be ready to lose a significant portion of the revenue you generate during your stay. The range of fee and commissions differ from product to product and categories to categories. Be ready to do some homework about the charges before you take your products to these marketplaces for selling. Source: salehoo.com Besides, sellers can opt for various premium services like sponsored listing, featured listing, , and others to secure a better chance of visibility on the platform. Yes, despite you are ready to give away a portion of your revenue you still cannot make sales unless you are visible to the customers. FBA You need to opt for premium services to gain good visibility. FYI, Amazon takes 26.7%-60.6% of the sales revenue for the products listed under-advertised categories. This fee is in addition to the regular 6–15% selling fees per-sale. You Have No Control over Your Business While you pay the extra premium to get all those infrastructure benefits, you still are not the actual boss of your own business. All that a marketplace cares about is its own benefits. They focus on promoting and selling products online, not the sellers. Despite spending so much on the platform, you cannot call them your own. All the customers you get while on Amazon or eBay are the marketplace’s customers, not yours. You are just a third-party seller whom they can easily replace with some other seller. Besides, you cannot just upload a product you like. All your listings first go through an inspection and approval process before they are live on the site. They can take your listings down if they don’t find them viable for their business. In short, even after spending fortunes to compete on Amazon or eBay, you don’t own anything on the platform. They reserve the right to control everything about you, including your product listings, storefront information, and communication with customers; they regulate everything that identifies you as a brand. Competition Is Insane and Expensive Apart from all these, you have to compete with the in-house products from Amazon and the giant sellers who capture the listings in almost every category. Hence, selling products online on a marketplace might seem like a seamless way to start with no investment in technology, but you would find it difficult to stand unless your products are really out of this world, or you pay fortunes for premium services and get better visibility. Therefore, not just the is inevitable, but also many other overhead costs are involved, which somehow marketplaces present as optional, but a seller is not good without opting for them. If you don’t opt, your rival sellers will opt for sure, and gain an upper hand. commission-per-sale To conclude Nothing is easily accessible in the eCommerce market. Anything with a benefit comes with a corresponding price. If marketplaces offer the easiest way to start your eCommerce business, they also encompass the cruelest ways to claim a part of your revenue. There is a cost involved in every opportunity. I don’t say starting your own eCommerce site is an easier alternative, but that also gives you absolute control and ownership of your business. These days, it’s so easier to set up and launch a proprietary eCommerce store. All that you need a good eCommerce script or an online marketplace software, which you can set up, customize, and host on a server of your choice. Of course, setting up a site is a big commitment and requires some groundwork, but don’t you think it’s worth it, considering all the revenue you can claim for yourself? Even if you are a one-man army, there are simple yet competent eCommerce solutions in the market that you can use to create an online store and manage the same without any help. You don’t have to compete with the likes of Amazon or eBay. Just be a little creative and start something very niche, which can stand out from the rest of the competitors. Now that you know the pros and cons, analyze your case, and you will have an idea of where to start and how to start selling products online using different ways.

The Pros and Cons of Selling on Amazon and eBay

There has always been a fight in convincing mainstream giants to accept cryptocurrencies and openly support blockchain. This fight is seemingly turning towards a victory for the blockchain world. In a recent article I published a with almost 1,000 companies in the list. Check out to see if your favourite companies are there! list of enterprises partnering up with blockchain in 2019 But now, through some photos shared from Consensus 2019 in New York, it seems like Ebay is seeking partnerships within the blockchain industry, specifically mentioning their wide ‘customer base of 179 million buyers’ & ‘digital collectibles’ in paid ads throughout the event. Source: @ImNotTheWolf — https://twitter.com/mappopk_crypto/status/1127835349256769537 Ebay is one of the joining other companies such as: Tata, Deloitte, IBM, Microsoft, Australian Federal Government, Citi, AWS, and Accenture. This shows clear support for the blockchain industry as a whole by many of the commercial giants making up a trillion dollar conglomerate. sponsors for Consensus 2019 Paypal has taken a slightly different approach stating that they are not interested in cryptocurrencies as much as they are in the blockchain technology. These rumours, although unconfirmed, do fit with the general sentiment this year, with other companies and governments being very proactive in supporting and partnering with blockchain. aelf is aiming to further the progress of blockchain adoption with their new platform making it very easy for enterprises to build a customized blockchain with ease, requiring very little time and resources. Have a look at their enterprise Beta 0.7.0 release

Leaked from Consensus 2019: Speculation that Ebay will soon support Cryptocurrencies

The number of marketplaces to sell items on other than Amazon and eBay are becoming more and more extreme. After doing some research we found a few Amazon and eBay alternatives that are worth selling your items on. I took the time to compile my research to all of the Amazon and eBay alternatives and compare them. After comparing the marketplaces other than Amazon and eBay, Forra seems to be the most impressive to sell on due to its low fees and potential upside. Shopify is also a good amazon or ebay alternative. Let’s dig a bit further into the other places to sell your items than Amazon and ebay. Forra.io A New Marketplace To Help You Grow Your Ecommerce Business came as an idea after being banned from another large marketplace. Forra has many strengths and is a platform for selling your goods that uses cryptocurrency for its transactional efficiencies. Forra is a great method to build a business on top of. I wanted to take the time to compare our new marketplace to existing marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay. We strongly feel that giving back to the seller is at the core of Forra. Forra as a whole wants to help sellers succeed and start a profitable ecommerce business. Most people who sell online already know about eBay and Amazon so I wanted to touch on marketplaces other than Amazon and eBay in comparison to one another. Forra Comparing ecommerce Solutions Other Than Amazon And eBay These ecommerce solutions are compared with one another in a multitude of ways. They are compared to forra, but are also geared toward whatever makes you the most money. Marketplaces and selling platforms all have super high fees. There is a way to avoid eBay, and Amazon fees. Stop selling on Amazon and eBay. I know that sounds obvious, but there are a ton of ecommerce sellers who want to understand where their fees are going toward and how they can increase their business. This article is to serve as a comparison between marketplaces other than eBay and Amazon. IF you are looking for a place to sell online other than Amazon or eBay this is for you. If you are building an ecommerce business in 2018 and beyond you need to know what platform to be on. We need to look into the future, cryptocurrency and blockchain will affect ecommerce in a number of ways. These are the best marketplaces to sell on besides amazon and eBay. I threw in a couple other methods and alternatives to selling items as a whole. Anything that allows you to start an ecommerce business other than Amazon and eBay. Etsy The Handcrafted Marketplace Etsy is a made for people who make their own goods. It is for the passionate do it yourself-er who wants to create a business around the passion or hobby. The majority of people who sell on Etsy do not have the time to do their own marketing. Creating your own product is hard enough. Etsy has a network of buyers interested in buying niche, handcrafted or neat unique objects. You should sell on Etsy if you have something that is handmade, or are a unique boutique style business. Etsy Fees When you sell on Etsy you do not pay much in fees compared to Amazon and eBay. Etsy allows users to have a store and only charge 5% per item in fees. This is much better than 15% in fees on Amazon, and still far better than the 13% in eBay fees. Making it one of the prefered alternatives to Amazon and eBay. This is a breakdown of , a much lower fee alternative to eBay and Amazon. Etsys fees Shopify — Owning Your Own Site And Store Shopify is a great platform for the person who just wants to put up a website and go to work on their own. The low transaction fees make Shopify very appealing. If you are selling on just Shopify you need to rethink how you are growing your business. The majority of people who are on Shopify are experienced pros or are willing to work long hours just to get people to their stores. Shopify Fees Shopify does have fees. Shopify has very high “maintenance” and site fees. Shopify Fees. The number of people coming to your site depends on you. This can be harder to create transactions. Marketplaces are easier to build a business on top of in general because the store owners draw traffic from one another. Shopify fees are lower than Amazon and eBay and make a great alternative for the seasoned business owner. This is an in-depth guide on . Shopify fees Craigslist — The Local Marketplace Alternative An obvious American favorite. Craigslist has been a staple almost since the dawn of the internet. It has endured its title as the go to local marketplace in the united states and is a great marketplace to sell on besides amazon and eBay. Craigslist has a few massive advantages. Ease of use, Super low fee, and fast and “secure” transactions. Craigslist is a great marketplace to sell on. Unlike Amazon and eBay, Craiglist is a super easy to use service that only takes a few seconds to get set up on. Craigslist works on a local basis. If you have heavy unshippable products then craigslist is the better marketplace compared to Amazon and eBay for you. The security involved in meeting up with people is safe so long as you do in a safe way. If you are selling on a local marketplace as an alternative to Amazon Craigslist Fees The fees are zero when selling an item on craigslist. The only cost is your time. The time spent meeting up with someone when selling an item. Craigslist is the only marketplace that requires you to meet up with the person buy your goods. This is a very different marketplace than Amazon and eBay. So are the next few. Craigslist makes money by charging fees in order to post certain advertisements with them. Craigslist is a great alternative to Amazon and eBay. This is . how Craigslist makes money Offer up — The Craigslist Alternative Offer up is a very similar business to craigslist. Its main focus is on locality. Expect to physically meet up with people if you are selling on offerup as an alternative to Amazon and eBay. Offer up is great to use if you dislike craigslist or if you feel you need some type of a better user experience. Offer up is a great alternative to Amazon and eBay so long as you are ok with not shipping the item. Most people now a days might find it easier to just take a short trip to the post office and not have to deal with the possibility of meeting up with someone sketchy. Offer Up Fees Offerup is free to use on its local level, however if you want to sell an item and ship it to someone you will end up paying 7.9% in fees. The big upside to Offerup is that if you are okay with meeting up with people locally everything is free. Offer up is a good alternative to Amazon and eBay because it has lower fees. This is what they had to say about their . online fees Newegg — The Tech Amazon and eBay Alternative A lot of people do not even know this but you can actually sell on Newegg. Depending on your niche this could be a really great thing to do for your business, or personal items depending on the type of items you are selling. If you are interested in selling on Newegg as an Amazon or eBay alternative click here. Selling on Newegg is a great alternative to Amazon and eBay. In order to sell on Newegg, you need to be accepted as a seller. This ensures the sellers will uphold a certain level of customer service. Newegg is a stiffler when it comes to accepting sellers. Unlike Amazon and eBay who will accept anyone. Newegg selling fees depend entirely on the category of product you sell. Newegg is a great low fee alternative to Amazon and eBay. These are the . fees for selling on Newegg Walmart — The Amazon Alternative Selling on Walmart.com is a great alternative to selling on Amazon or eBay. Most Americans have used a Walmart several times during their lives. Most people do not understand the power of walmart. Walmart is the largest brick and mortar retailer in the United States. Selling on walmart.com is not as easy as it is to sell on amazon and ebay, it is however a very lucrative thing to do if you are able to. Walmart.com is very tricky to actually get on. If you have your own unique product to sell Walmart.com could be a great way alternative way to raise revenues away from amazon and ebay. This is a good guide on If you are able to use walmart to your advantage this may allow you to move even further away from amazon and ebay. how to get on walmart.com Walmart is a great alternative to selling on Amazon or eBay. It has far less competition, but will most likely have more fees. Here is a breakdown of the . walmart.com fees Growing Retail Accounts Instead Of Selling On Amazon and eBay Growing your business through a network of retail stores is the traditional alternative to Amazon and eBay. If you have some type of a private label or your own product it is wise to start looking into retail accounts and partnerships, otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it. Getting a retail account is hard to do. Drawing the interest from large retailers is easy so long as you have a product with an existing demand. Most retailers are very open to what they put in their stores. At the end of the day they only care about sales. If you are looking to sell using retailers as an alternative to selling on amazon and ebay you need to figure out where to find the right people so that you can get your product in their store. Often times, large retailers are constantly looking for new products. You need to be where they are looking. Go to trade shows, meetups, talk to people about your product. The most important tip is this. Reach out to retailers on Linkedin. Search for job titles such as “purchaser” “buyer” “product research” message them and setup a call to talk about the possibility of them testing your product. Cryptocurrency Alternatives To Amazon And eBay Cryptocurrency ecommerce marketplaces are perfect alternatives to amazon and ebay. As an alternative to amazon and eBay you are able to sell your items on the following websites. These Amazon and eBay alternatives have the same features but tend to do them in a much lower fee way. Forra Forra is the future of ecommerce in our minds. It is the cheapest way to do online ecommerce. We have a zero fee platform for sellers and are the cheapest way to do business online. We think we are the best marketplace compared to amazon and ebay. Forra is the cheapest way to do business online from a sellers point of view. Originally published at forra.io .

Amazon and eBay Alternatives — A Comparison

Like eBay, Junktion shares in the mission to discover great “value and unique selection” for its customers. Junktion is building a cryptocurrency marketplace for your items that eBay sellers, in particular will love. to tell us what features to build first, or to get your questions answered. Hop in our discord This articles purpose is to give potential sellers a better idea as to what we are building. In plain terms, we are the cryptocurrency version of eBay. Think of something similar to eBay, but with more personalization. We also save sellers upwards of 13% on fees. Ebay sellers now have an outlet that doesn't take over their business Junktion is the bridge between physical items and digital assets. We are recruiting eBay sellers to sell on our platform. We are recruiting people who wish to sell and list their items on our that is currently being developed. If you are some type of an online seller and sign up you are eligible to earn some of our scraps tokens. The users who sign up now will be considered our beta users. We will heavily promote their accounts and do our best to make sure succeed on our platform. eBay like platform on this form Our vision Junktion is built by an ex eBay seller looking to build a better online marketplace. For sellers, by sellers. We envision an open online marketplace where people can sell their items for any currency they wish, Fiat or crypto. A place where your items are loved, and treated as a treasure because you want to see them make it out into another cycle of buying and selling. A circular economy where people can constantly trade in old items for new ones. A please where your things can call home. We ultimately foresee every item somehow associated with blockchain technology and Junktion is leading the way. You will be able to find the exact item you sold years ago using the technology we are creating. We foresee a more digital and open economy. To an outsider, our Ecommerce marketplace is a combination of ebay and cryptokitties. What we are building is the future of ecommerce. will have blockchain rich futuristic features that online selling platforms such like eBay and Amazon couldn’t have dreamed of. We are willing to build exactly what consumers want and not what is best for us. That is why we are a zero fee online marketplace focussed on the users experience. Our online marketplace How we are using blockchain technology Junktion is a company that is utilizing the technology in the Ethereum blockchain to enable a peer to peer ecommerce marketplace that will provide the best user experience for customers because we allow the items sold on our site to tell a story. Each and every item sold on site has a unique story associated to it. You and I might both own Iphones, but each is different. The same make and model is uniquely different because of the owners. We allow users to have the ability to track their items that they formally owned and have sold on our ebay like marketplace. We want to create features that ebay sellers want on our platform. We care about your items and want to make sellers the most important part of our business. Join the conversation in We plan on incorporating USD on our eBay like dapp, but also want to support the technology that we are using by accepting Ethereum. For a short time, Ethereum will be our main currency. We do have our own cryptocurrency that we will give to anyone who wants to be an early adopter. An early adopter is someone who is serious about selling online and will list a few or more items on our eBay like marketplace. our discord. If you already sell on a platform such as Ebay, Amazon, or Etsy and are looking for another sales channel do not hesitate to sell on our marketplace or even directly to us. selling your goods Junktion vs. Ebay The future of selling is hands down Junktion. Sites like ebay that incorporate a blockchain twist are the future of online selling. We are building a home for people who are looking to make more money with their online store that is perhaps on a site like ebay. We are developing incredible technology that will allow for users to have a better experience on both sides. There are two transactors in a marketplace. A buyer and a seller. Ebay heavily values the buyer in all transactions. Junktion will be focussing on sellers and building out our platform for sellers. We want to allow users to build their business on top of us as quickly as possible. According to the United States, the backbone of an economy is small business. Not the people who buy from them. Why should it be backwards on online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. With the launch of this article, we are trying to organize our community of sellers in a public to discuss different issues, features, and to build a community around our open online marketplace. Filling out our form, and joining our discord will be the number one ways for online sellers to make their voice heard in the development process of a far superior ebay dapp. Junktion discord What is a dapp Ebay is what you would call a web app. It is an application used on the web. A dapp is a decentralized application. All this means is that it communicates with the Ethereum blockchain. A different online marketplace We plan to use Ethereum to allow users to track where the goods they are sending go. For example, It would be really neat to know that an item you are emotionally attached to and sold has lived another good life with another owner, until they sold it to another 5 years later. If this feature seems like something you would be interested in please sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of our site. We will go more into detail about it as development progresses. Defining our marketplace dapp Our marketplace dapp has a bright future because we understand that the backbone of an online marketplace is the sellers. Our online marketplace will focus on making sure that online store owners are able to succeed. We want to give people a platform to create a store, a brand, and a living. We want users to build their business on top of us and allow for the average person to successfully declutter, move on, and ultimately sell their items. Sites Like eBay Sites like eBay pop up from time to time but the truth is none of them have half the amount of potential as Junktion. I say this because our site is built for you. The person who hustles online, a seller on these online marketplaces. The blockchain solves a lot of issues logistically, monetarily, and automation wise that other similar sites to eBay will never have. Only large organizations have access to the blockchain e-commerce solutions available right now. Blockchain solutions for online marketplaces are going to make a huge impact in the world and price of crypto. We are the blockchain website like eBay that is here to innovate e-commerce and change the way we think about items and the things we own. Fee structure EBay has a broken fee structure and very much so favors the buyer in all transactions. If you wanted to transfer the funds you have from eBay to buy crypto you would pay an insane amount of fees. It would look something like this. eBay forces unneeded fees on the seller. That is a fundamental issue that Junktion is going to fix. Ebay bullies its platform users into multiple fees that they do not need and should get for free. Junktion will be a zero fee platform. The only fees people are going to be paying are the Ethereum gas fees for transactions. Ebay charges sellers small fees for features that are free on Junktion Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptocurrency marketplaces A bitcoin marketplace is an eCommerce site that accepts bitcoin as a form of payment. We are not focussing on Bitcoin as our currency. Our main currencies, for now, are USD and Ethereum. A Bitcoin marketplace tends to have goals that align with decentralizing trade. That is not our goal. We want to create a fee free marketplace for entrepreneurs to build a business on top of. There are other blockchain and bitcoin related e-commerce marketplace startups being created that are far less advantageous than Junktion. A lot of these projects are aiming to decentralize trade. That is something that Junktion wants to try and avoid. We want to be as compliant and user-friendly as possible. Creating a free online marketplace doesn’t require overthrowing governments. Decentralized marketplaces are a haven for fraud, illegal activity, and scams. We want no part in them. We are not drug dealers and will not have drugs or other objects that decentralized exchanges like. We are going to be focussing on compliance, transparency, and user experience. Originally published at junktion.io .

The Cryptocurrency Version of eBay — Homebase For Online Sellers

Everyone’s been talking about The Metaverse and how it will herald the future of digital technologies. Brands and creators are scrambling left and right to get in on all the action generated by this immense industry. While it’s still largely a work in progress, it continues to develop with no signs of stopping any time soon. By 2030, The Metaverse market could grow to . more than $5 trillion Many global enterprises are already making an effort to establish their presence in the current iteration of The Metaverse. While it’s not expected to be fully fleshed out anytime soon, let’s take a look at what it can be, based on things we already know. The Metaverse is like Roblox, but for adults Roblox is a popular online platform with around the world. 47 million daily active users It’s not a game per se, but more like an online venue where people come to create their own virtual worlds and games as well as play a multitude of user-created games. Roblox is an immersive, interactive virtual world that allows users to bring their visions to life. Aside from delivering immersive virtual experiences, Roblox doesn’t lose its social aspect, allowing users to explore different virtual worlds with their friends or other players. Roblox appeals more to younger people as are under 16 years old, while only 14% are over 25. In the first quarter of 2022, users logged in . 67% of its users 11.8 billion hours of engagement More than just being a popular platform, it’s also an often-cited example of what The Metaverse is supposed to be like. Renowned venture capitalist Matthew Ball as a user-centric and user-generated platform that’s built and managed by independent individuals, groups, and enterprises. He further describes it as an inclusive world that everyone can participate. describes The Metaverse When we come to think of it, The Metaverse is just like Roblox, except it’s geared more toward adults. Just like Roblox, The Metaverse lets users socialize, create networks, do business, and even shop. In fact, it’s starting to shape up as the next big step for social media platforms. While it’s not going to replace these channels, The Metaverse is poised to become an extension of these platforms, bringing real-time immersive virtual experiences to users worldwide. Tim Sweeny, the founder of Epic Games which created Fortnite (also considered to be an early Metaverse by some) believes it as well: — Tim Sweeny, Founder of Epic Games (Fortnite) “There is something missing in conventional social media right now. We have social networks like Facebook, KakaoTalk, Twitter and Naver for communication. But they’re all based on text, pictures and movies. I think the next step is going to be having social experiences where you can get together with your friends in a virtual world, wherever you are,” Many artists, such as Lil Nas X and Travis Scott, are embracing the potential of The Metaverse, which allows them to perform in front of millions of viewers worldwide. Lil Nas X’s Roblox virtual concert was a huge hit, with the show garnering . 33 million views The Metaverse is like eBay eBay is one of the world’s most popular eCommerce platforms that was first launched in 1995 as AuctionWeb. It started out as a marketplace for various collectibles and then it branched out to include other categories such as clothing and cars. We’re seeing a revival of this model in the digital world. Nowadays, people are trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are also known as digital collectibles. Many of these NFTs take on the form of digital artworks, like the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, featuring pictures of apes decked in unique clothing and accessories. These NFTs are sold, traded, and even minted in NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. However, in the future, we’ll go beyond trading NFT artworks. We’ll be venturing into new territory by trading digital representations of physical products. For example, a bottle of wine will probably have an NFT counterpart. When we purchase a virtual bottle, the transaction will be stored securely and safely in a block in a blockchain ecosystem. As the holder of the NFT, we can redeem the NFT anytime for the physical bottle. Plus, we can resell or trade the NFT with other users on different marketplaces via the open blockchain. Furthermore, some wine producers are starting to give virtual tours of their facilities, which may sometimes include virtual wine tastings. Another example is NFT and clothing. Last year, virtual sneaker company RTFKT collaborated with FEWOCiOUS to sell sneakers that have NFT counterparts, which sold out in just seven minutes. The campaign generated a total of $3.1 million. As the owner, we’ll have both the physical sneaker and its NFT counterpart, which we can resell. In December, Nike acquired RTFKT in a bid to produce virtual sneakers and strengthen efforts to break into The Metaverse. The Metaverse is like its own country The Metaverse is shaping out to be like its own country with its own reserved currency, individual states, and an entirely separate economy. For example, the United States has the US dollar as its reserve currency. People use this reserve currency to pay their taxes.  The Metaverse also has its sovereign currencies in the form of cryptocurrencies. As it stands, the Metaverse’s reserve currency is ETH because it’s what’s used to pay for transactions in the Ethereum ecosystem, a major backbone of The Metaverse. Ethereum collects fees in the form of ETH for each transaction, much like what’s being done in the real world, to maintain the ecosystem. The revenue or tax collected by the Ethereum ecosystem far exceeds the other blockchains. Then, there are also decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, which are based on smart contracts and come with their own rules. In a DAO, which is basically a user-centric or community-led organization, members are in charge of governing and creating their own set of rules. Voting on these sets of rules usually requires voters to hold the DAO’s token, which is created using smart contracts in the Ethereum ecosystem. If someone wants to amend a rule, it’ll be subjected to voting. If it gets most of the votes, then the proposed amendment will be implemented. Lastly, one of the most promising aspects of The Metaverse is the way that it’s decentralized, making it a free market that gives creators and other users more freedom to create, market, trade their digital assets, and more. The coming of The Metaverse is heralded to reshape the creator economy, an already immense industry that generated . over $104 billion in 2021 In The Metaverse, creators are free to build their own virtual spaces and market experiences. They can collaborate with brands to create and market digital assets that may or may not have physical counterparts. Content creators have the potential to make a huge impact on The Metaverse, where they can collaborate on advertising, showcase their works, hold virtual events, and sell both NFTs and their physical counterparts. The Metaverse is like having a Netflix account The Metaverse is set to redefine how we approach media and entertainment. Think of it as logging in to a Netflix account and accessing hundreds of shows. Just like with Netflix, where we log in with an account, we’ll be using the metaverse equivalent. I believe that will most likely be an Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain. An ENS takes a complicated crypto address and transforms it into something simpler, just like domain names. With streaming platforms like Netflix, we’re only spectators who are watching shows on the screen. However, with The Metaverse, we’ll be able to dive into an immersive experience via avatars using devices like VR headsets, AR glasses, and even just our smartphones. We can expect that these Metaverse experiences will blend physical and digital elements that let us shop, meet friends, and attend events. We will also have the opportunity to contribute to a story, given that some virtual worlds will be designed as open-ended worlds with no particular end goals. Meanwhile, other experiences will come with goals that, when completed, will give us a chance to earn rewards. The Metaverse is like a world where everyone is an inventor In The Metaverse, practically anything and everything will be possible. It’s a world where everyone can become an inventor, produce their own NFTs, and generate perpetual royalties from their creations as a result of smart contracts. A good example is The Metaverse prototype Roblox, which offers incentives for creators. While currently, only a few people are making money off Roblox as creators, they’re able . Some even managed to earn $100,000 in Robux, the platform’s digital currency. 2020 was a good year for creators on Roblox, who were able to that year. to earn at least $10,000 generate a total of $329 million Another example of this would be NFTs and NFT marketplaces. Marketplaces like Nifty Gateway allow creators to receive a cut from primary sales. These platforms also let creators perpetually monetize their creations through secondary sales, where they can receive a cut of the proceeds every time their NFTs are sold in the secondary market. NFTs are already disrupting a number of industries, including art (think NFT profile photos and generative blockchain art like Art Blocks), music (artists like Snoop Dogg and Sir Mix-A-Lot are releasing their own music NFTs), finance (Uniswap liquidity pooling) and fashion (RTFKT). Other industries being disrupted by NFTs include collectibles, virtual real estate, game items, vehicles, and yes, even insurance policies. The Metaverse is like The Oasis in Ready Player One When we think of The Metaverse and what it could be like, one example comes to mind: . In Ernest Cline’s novel, we have the OASIS, a virtual world that can be accessed using VR gear. In the OASIS, users can interact with others and engage in experiential games. Ready Player One The OASIS is a good example of what The Metaverse could potentially look like. It’ll offer immersive experiences and will always be on, especially if these virtual worlds are built on the blockchain. Unlike centralized servers that can go down and are vulnerable to hacks and data leaks, decentralized platforms offer better security and give users full control. Additionally, like in the OASIS, The Metaverse has no limits, allowing users to do practically anything like teleporting or flying. These virtual worlds will likely combine VR and AR technologies and allow users to have separate online personas via their avatars. If we wanted to, we can create an avatar that looks like us, or we can create a new, separate identity. The wonderful thing about Metaverse avatars is they’re fully customizable. Plus, we can use the same avatar even in different virtual worlds. The Metaverse is like a better version of the internet The Metaverse is already being billed as the next version or the next generation of the internet. Facebook, which recently rebranded to , will be investing heavily in the Metaverse. In 2021, said, “We believe the metaverse will be the successor to the mobile internet, we’ll be able to feel present – like we’re right there with people no matter how far apart we actually are.” Meta Mark Zuckerberg According to a , The Metaverse is the next step in the evolution of the internet, except that it’s more immersive and compelling. And instead of just using screens to access the internet, we can use VR and AR gear to access the virtual worlds within. Credit Suisse report Like the internet, as we know it today, we can access various worlds and conduct many day-to-day activities in The Metaverse. Similar to our online personalities, we can have avatars that will allow us to engage in these virtual worlds, as well as with other players. However, unlike the current iteration of the internet, The Metaverse will offer multi-dimensional experiences. It also banks on interoperability, which will allow users to purchase or create something on one platform and then bring or use it on a different, separate Metaverse platform. As it stands now, the current Metaverse iteration is still powered by Web 2.0. With the coming of Web 3.0, we can expect to see a more fully fleshed-out version of The Metaverse. In Summary We don’t yet know what exactly The Metaverse will be but we can look at the past and get glimpses of it. It’s going to be like Roblox and eBay, where everyone is a creator. There’ll be hundreds of virtual worlds like there are hundreds of shows on Netflix. There’ll be laws, sovereign states, and a reserved currency just like a real country. It might look like the Oasis from Ready Player One. Ultimately, it’s going to be a better version of the internet. Also published here.

7 Concise Statements That Describe the Metaverse

The effects of climate change are no longer confined to the distant future. They are a present danger set to become more apparent as time progresses. As such, it’s come time for businesses to see the future of their operations as contingent on the future of the planet.  Firms that want to be profitable in the future should take steps today to ensure there will be a suitable environment in which to make profits for future generations. eBay is one such company that has embraced this view. Their plan for sustainable commerce is one that will allow the digital shopping platform to serve customers for decades to come.  As a company, eBay supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its platform, initiatives, and business operations. They specifically focus on 6 SDGs that reflect material issues and enable eBay to responsibly grow its business. For example, eBay wants its operations to be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2025. This goal is in accordance with SDG #7: clean and affordable energy. Recently, eBay has joined McDonalds in agreeing to purchase power from Louisiana's largest solar project, pushing the company closer to its ambitious goal. Another SDG that eBay embodies particularly well is #12, the goal related to responsible consumption and production. eBay’s entire platform is one where products can continuously find renewed life and value. Using innovative technologies, they endlessly pursue new ways to advance circular commerce.  In a specific case, Samsung products like the Galaxy S20 Ultra are now part of eBay’s Certified Refurbished program, encouraging people to buy their electronics used. These efforts have a notable ecological impact; in 2020 alone, sales of pre-owned electronics and apparel on . eBay conserved 720,000 metric tons of carbon emissions Recommerce isn’t just a sustainable way to shop. It’s eBay’s main business model. eBay understands that company growth and climate consciousness are not competing goals.  If companies want to be able to sell their products 50 years from now, there needs to be a world able to both create and buy said products. Sustainability initiatives are a matter of practicality.

Hacking a Sustainable Future [Infographic]

Have you ever needed to find a specific item from your childhood?  A limited-edition novelty that you just missed out on? A one of a kind collector’s item? If you have ever found yourself in this position then you have probably frantically rushed to eBay to search listing upon listing for your treasured keepsake. This phenomenon has swept across America and has allowed this ecommerce giant to rename the game to recommerce and create a whole new market for items that were once relegated to flea markets and garage sales. eBay estimates that the average American household has at least 36 items in their household that are worth more than $3,500. This estimation has allowed them to create a niche market of untraditional sellers in 2020 alone. eBay provided a during the pandemic to take control of their lives and earn extra income to help sustain themselves during months that they were uncertain of where their income was coming from. The ability to provide a space for ordinary people to become sellers offered a priceless experience and exponential growth for the platform. haven for furloughed workers eBay also aids in the quest for sustainability. By fostering the spirit of second hand, the recommerce revolutionary contributes to the global effort to lessen our carbon footprint. This commitment to a greener future not only allows for consumers to do something positive, but it also makes purchases meaningful again. The continual commitment to accessibility and sustainability has allowed eBay to maintain positive growth even in a period of economic uncertainty. 81% of people in generation Z have said that buying pre-owned goods have become more and more common in past years. This means that society is normalizing the sale of second hand goods. All in all, 2020 has been a pivotal year for everyone, but eBay has made phenomenal gains and moves that have shown their commitment to not only their buyers but their sellers and the world that we all live in.  These three things have founded their positive gain, and will continue to be a driving force in their future.

The Power of Recommerce: The Second Hand Online Economy

As a high-volume eCommerce software provider, you need to be able to seamlessly integrate your own system with all the major marketplaces out there. Whether you're a provider of ERP, shipping, WMS, order management, inventory management, or pricing software, you need to develop marketplace API integration to reach millions of potential customers selling their products online. In 2021, the surest way to gain an edge over the competition is to expand your software capabilities and offer exquisite services to your target niche. To do that, you need to perform flawless integrations with Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart, and all the other top eCommerce marketplaces. API Integration in the eCommerce Sphere In the eCommerce sphere, integrations are considered vital. Using API or Application Programming Interface, eCommerce software providers can work and manage their clients’ online store data. An API can be used for seamless integration with marketplaces by any software company. Basically, using an API allows you to connect your system with eCommerce solutions such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Walmart, and gain unrestricted access to data related to products, orders, clients, categories, baskets, and other information. Developing an API integration with marketplaces is definitely a beneficial operation for any eCommerce software. However, it’s also a very tedious and time-consuming task. The eCommerce data integration pitfalls you need to overcome include: - Huge integration time of over ten weeks. - High cost of over $10k for just a single integration with a specific marketplace (you need 4x more to integrate your business with Amazon, Etsy, eBay and Walmart). - Each integration requires further updates and maintenance - Each integration is unique and comes with its own security risks Let’s take a deeper look into the specific integration processes with four of the most important eCommerce platforms today. Amazon API Amazon is now by far the largest eCommerce marketplace with over 310 million monthly visitors. More than 16 million webshops are listed on it. For you, as a high-volume software company, Amazon could prove to be a goldmine. However, to reach all those users, it becomes mandatory for you to perform a marketplace API integration with Amazon. is a fully managed service that can enable developers to create, publish, and monitor its data easily. Once connected to Amazon API, you will be able to programmatically exchange data on orders, listings, reports, payments, inventory, etc. Amazon API The drawback of this API is that it’s pretty old and outdated. Amazon API documentation is quite complicated to use and requires specific skills. Working with product data is only possible using XML or CSV files, which is certainly not a pleasant experience for high-volume software companies that want to automate their tasks. To top it all, the customer support team from Amazon is not as responsive as it should be. In this case, a manual marketplace API integration with this platform should be out of the discussion. eBay API eBay is another major eCommerce marketplace, surpassed only by Amazon's expansion. With over 177 million users and over 1 billion product listings, eBay is the number one choice for selling and buying products in almost every country in the world. is quite complex, coming with many guides, tutorials, and documentation info. Using eBay API, developers can set up multiple streams of information to display data related to products, view items, retrieve lists of product prices, and perform other similar tasks. eBay RESTful API Unfortunately, eBay API is not uniform and uses different formats for various resources. For example, working with customers or orders may require an XML format, while working with products and inventory may require JSON. Because of this, finding the right information for a proper marketplace API integration with eBay is a truly tedious task. Etsy API With more than 43 million online shoppers and 2 million sellers from over 234 countries, Etsy stands in its niche as the best eCommerce marketplace for handmade goods and products. Etsy allows its users to personalize their sites and increase sales with best-in-class marketing tools. The uses the RESTful interface with lightweight JSON formatted responses. With the Etsy API, developers can easily send information to the platform and collect data from their customers' shops. Etsy API Nonetheless, integrating your business with Etsy presents some challenges. First, the Etsy documentation doesn't include all the necessary information, making it difficult for inexperienced developers to perform a quick marketplace API integration. Second, the Etsy API lacks the ability to provide a connection between images and product variants. Walmart API US-based businesses are well aware of Walmart, the largest physical retailer in the country. Ever since they hit the digital market, they’ve managed to become a serious competitor to Amazon or eBay. Even though the is one of the easiest to find, being very similar to the Etsy API and using the same RESTful infrastructure, the Walmart API has its pitfalls. Investing in a stable integration could take weeks and cost you over $10,000 in the long run. Walmart API Nonetheless, once you're integrated with Walmart, you can take advantage of all the perks offered by this platform: unrestricted connection with their 150k stores, access to product data, the ability to suggest new functionalities to your customers, and a larger market share in the US. How to Develop API Integration with Multiple Marketplaces? As a high-volume eCommerce software provider, you want to reach as many customers as possible, from different countries and on multiple platforms. You also want to benefit from exquisite automation capabilities to save both you and your customers time. To achieve that, you need to find a way to develop strong marketplace API integrations with Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, and eBay. The trick is that establishing a connection with each of these marketplaces takes a lot of effort, time, and money. Add to that the fact that each connection requires constant improvement, bug fixing, maintenance and updating. The easiest way to develop a trustworthy API integration with several marketplaces at all, with minimum time and financial investment, is to use API2Cart. For high-volume eCommerce software providers, an even better choice is using . This bespoke solution offers you the following benefits: API2Cart Enterprise on-Premise solution Premium customer support, with 24/7 help and streamlined communication with API2Cart dedicated account manager The capability to greatly expand your software possibilities using a single point of access You can choose your favorite platform for connecting with API2Cart, including Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Save up to 8 weeks of integration, cut costs on escrow, and minimize your TCO Connect with not just Amazon, Etsy, Walmart and eBay, but also with 40+ other shopping platforms Conclusion Winning high-volume eCommerce software vendors are smart when it comes to marketplace API integration, looking to make the most of their time and reduce the cost of each process. You should also automate their API integrations and connect seamlessly with Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, and eBay. Connect with these marketplaces and gain an edge over your competition by expanding your software capabilities and offering exquisite services to your target niche.

Marketplace API Integration For High-Volume Software Companies

This isn’t a review, and — as much as I wish it was — it’s not a promotion  either. It’s a firsthand account… a testament to the continual negative  impact of frauds in the crypto space. I wrote this article to make the  community aware that LocalBitcoins doesn’t consider to accept moral  responsibility when users get scammed on the platform. This is me presenting the facts of an unfortunate situation that left me almost 20 thousands of dollars short, and my reputation damaged & loss in business due to delays. I rode the cryptocurrency wave during what I like to call The Golden Age. In a period marked by substantial price upswings and lots of FOMO, cryptocurrency ( ) announced itself to the world as the future of money. read: Bitcoin I came across Bitcoin in the early part of 2013. During that period, I worked on several freelance projects, and I needed a seamless way to receive payment from clients anywhere in the world. Bitcoin ticked all the right boxes, and it wasn’t long before it became my favored currency. I ; the whole project was exciting with a unique view of the concept of digital currency. Of course, being a total newbie, I set out on an adventure — to learn what I can about cryptocurrency and how blockchain tech works. Thanks to the wealth of information on the internet, I was able to get my feet (or, in this case, brain) wet. read the Bitcoin whitepaper Keep in mind, this was a time of big-money exchange heists, regulatory concerns and whatnot. I remember hearing widespread rumours of an impending ban on cryptocurrencies by the Indian government. l It was only natural that I’d want to research potential safehouses, and I stumbled on peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency marketplaces. LocalBitcoins was like eBay for Bitcoin trading and had been around for a while, so I jumped on board. I registered on LocalBitcoins on January 5, 2018, because selling P2P currency on a P2P marketplace had a nice ring to it. No, the platform was “secure” and easy to use. Also, the P2P model means more flexible options with deposits/withdrawals compared to centralized exchanges. On March 17, 2018, I had my first scam experience on LocalBitcoins while it was identified when the bank has frozen my bank account one week later. I traded with a trader with ‘Indian username’ for about 2100 dollars value in Bitcoin. With the buyer the tradings were smooth & fast as I received the money within half an hour, it was closed immediately. Later on 23rd march, all of a sudden, my credit cards stopped working, after approaching the bank, they mentioned my bank account had been frozen due to fraudulent activity. Someone filed a fraud claim against me, which I had to resolve before I could access all funds [almost $14,200], and I didn’t even know who. Actually, still, I don’t know who did it as the  bank denied to share the details of complainer citing privacy terms. The bank shared a little information and mentioned the complaint was against the transactions on the 17th of March 2018 & by a lady who is 2364 kilometers away from my city. After brainstorming I learned, two Indians were scammed by a Cameroon based localbitcoins trader. The scammer traded with the other victim (a newbie, I think) and told them to send me the funds. I was implicated since the victim now thought I was the seller. Apparently, this trader had scammed me and someone else by simultaneously posing as a Bitcoin buyer and seller [of something]. I lost my Bitcoin, and the other victim suffered their cash. I couldn’t reach the other victim user as I didn’t have the personal contact information while the bank denied sharing the same. I still can’t wrap my head around how they managed to pull this off, but I have an idea. LocalBitcoins denied to own the moral or legal responsibility, and I left cornered along with loss of money and reputation while the localbitcoins buyer’s account was “potentially banned” — yep, that was the phrase — for violating the terms of service ( ). I checked the account info and was surprised to find out my Indian trader’s real IP address was in Cameroon (the account was probably bought: ). https://prnt.sc/qg6jcy https://prnt.sc/qg6hcy The scammer traded with the other victim, the lady (out of localbitcoins, I think) and told them to send me the funds in exchange of something. I was implicated since the lady victim now thought I was the seller. And I did, didn’t I? Iced money. Although the reported deposit of USD 14,200 remained inaccessible, I never got access my bank account back but had to move on. But that’s not the end of the story. Fast forward to December 12, 2019. I was looking to sell some Bitcoin. It was urgent, so I turned to LocalBitcoins because I’d gotten ‘wiser’ in choosing traders. Or, at least I thought. I got a deposit of $3,400 in my LocalBitcoins wallet, and next second, Yes NEXT second it was sent to another LocalBitcoins address without 2FA authorization codes. Is it possible to get 2FA code from app and submit on the website just within 1 second.? My account has a strong password with 2FA enabled, so even I can’t transfer to another wallet on LocalBitcoins unless I enter the correct code. I was wondering how it’s possible when I didn’t authorize the transaction. Of course, I reported the incident to LocalBitcoins support, and they got defensive. The team didn’t respond to my messages; they’re only blaming me and not owning up. I reached out to the CEO, Directors, Executives as well as fraud investigation specialists through LinkedIn; I got no response — just responses on tickets, which were blaming me for failing to secure my computer from malware. For context, I’m a computer engineer (a paranoid one at that), and I’m well aware of malware and computer security. Also, since my account security reads “strong” with 2-factor authentication enabled. To clarify, there’s absolutely no way I can transfer Bitcoin to another wallet without a 2FA code, I think so. I know for a fact that a code was never requested or sent. So, the only logical explanation is the transfer was an inside job, which isn’t far-fetched considering what happened before. In April 2018, someone posing to be “LocalBitcoins support” sent me a support ticket concerning a buy offer I viewed. I checked the sender domain; “localbitcoins.ws” and not “.com”. You might think “it’s nothing new, just like every other phishing email out there”. But think about this: How did the sender get my email? How did they know I was a LocalBitcoins user?  And, how on earth did the sender know the details of my account? It doesn’t add up. Sure, my email address could have been leaked in the past — but only LocalBitcoins could have known the remaining details. Users are at significant risk, KYC information could get public, just like the in August 2019. Binance KYC breach These guys are as shady as it gets. Bitcoin Transactions are Immutable — So What? One of the core concepts of decentralized ledger technology is immutability — by design, not error. You can’t modify (or tamper with) a block once it’s verified. Period. So, why is LocalBitcoins quick to cite “we told you to be careful because once it’s gone, it’s not coming back”? Matter of fact, what does that have to do with anything? It’s simple. P2P marketplaces seldom accept responsibility for any wrongdoing but rather deflect the blame to affected users. I imagine the burden of being held responsible for users’ actions is too high for them to bear. Still, I wouldn’t put it past them to tell you they provide a platform to trade (Bitcoin) but can’t be held accountable for what you or others do on it. Remember, eBay tried this until it became apparent that blame-shifting isn’t the answer. People were getting scammed by shady sellers who advertised products and delivered items. entirely different So, what did they do? Well, they upped their verification game and set up smart filters to suspicious flag activity. Red-flagged accounts would be temporarily locked, pending manual review. Also, their suspension policy is a strict “two strikes, and you’re gone”, and they use to keep suspended users from registering again. several methods They have a Fraud Assistance Team working with federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI, the FDA and even the Secret Service. Real, this approach is an inconvenience to eBay sellers, but when it comes to fighting fraud, there’s really nothing like “going overboard”. Besides, it’s the shady sellers complaining the most. eBay, a P2P marketplace through-and-through, has been able to keep out the majority of bad actors and maintain a positive reputation, unlike LocalBitcoins, who have taken a hush-hush, indecisive stance on crypto fraud. Millions of dollars have been lost to . P2P crypto marketplaces are entry points for these incidents, so the fault is theirs, and theirs alone. Users come onto LocalBitcoins expecting a secure, safe and seamless trading experience. Instead, they meet cunning criminals, elaborate scams, and a threat to their online and offline safety. cryptocurrency scams Security and ease-of-use isn’t such a difficult dilemma; I’d choose security again and again. LocalBitcoins should =adopt strict Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations to frustrate potential scammers and prevent repeat offenders. Also, account levels with increasingly tricky verification methods and deposit/withdrawal limits should be introduced. It’s time for LocalBitcoins to end this apathy and stop preying on  unsuspecting users. They have everything to lose — their reputation; users’ trust; and ultimately, revenue — if users keep getting scammed on this platform, it may impact many lives associated with the users.

LocalBitcoins Review: I'm Not the Only One Who's Been Scammed

Multichannel retail or eRetail is selling through more than one channel (such as your website or on eBay) and getting your products in many different places. Often the easiest way is to get onto various marketplaces, such as Amazon or Fruugo. Some eRetails go beyond this and launch country-specific websites or individual websites for their different brands. Integrating multiple websites can drive revenue as each website can target specific demographics or keywords. Why do Multichannel eCommerce? First, and most obviously, rather than limiting who gets to view your products, you get your products in front of a far wider audience and thus more potential customers. Different marketplaces attract different demographics. You will find that customers are attracted to the various marketplaces, due to their confidence in each platform and good loyalty programs that they offer. It is worth remembering, too, that multichannel eCommerce gives you the ability to get in front of the same customer several times if they are browsing. Research shows that people would need to see an offer 7–10 times before taking action. Getting on multiple channels and marketplaces means you are more likely to have your product in front of them when they reach the buying decision. 5 Tips for Multichannel selling 1. Multichannel means multi – channels While Amazon is a huge presence in eCommerce and is ranked as the # 1 online shopping website in most of the major economies, so it’s understandable that they are the first marketplace businesses will think of when considering multichannel eCommerce. But don’t limit yourself just to Amazon, other marketplaces offer significant sales and some like Etsy may be so relevant to your products that they may actually be better for your business and brand. The smaller sales channels may not have the volume of visitors but there may well be less competition. 2. Make sure your multichannel listings differ When you list your items across channels, make sure that the actual content is different. The content is the titles and descriptions of the listing. The reason for this is search engines like Google and Yahoo don’t like duplicate content. If you use the same content in multiple places, it won’t have the same visibility as different content. Also, you need to optimise the listing title for each channel, you will note that listings on eBay will have very different titles to Amazon. 3. Ensure that you run your multichannel efficiently Adding additional channels does add more work but you need to ensure that the additional revenue outweighs the increase in cost. Otherwise, it is simply not worth it. Automation is the key. Getting all the orders onto the same platform for data analysis is a good start, from there you can run your customer service (if a customer calls you don’t want to be checking several platforms). But getting your Multichannel Stock Synchronised is vital. If you sell across multiple channels, you run the risk of overselling. Overselling is where you sell more items than you have in stock. This is a real pain as you then need to contact customers to let them know and then issue refunds, or place new purchase orders and get the stock in quickly. Not a great customer experience. Despatch Cloud, for example, connects to all your channels and as soon as an item sells, it will automatically update the other channels with the new stock quantities. This means that you won’t oversell due to being multichannel. 4. Make sure you don’t discriminate between buyers on multichannel If you move from one channel to multichannel, then it is likely that most of your sales will, at the start, be on your first channel. It may be a natural reaction to focus on those. But many marketplaces have demands on how you treat their customers (and don’t misunderstand, on a marketplace they are their customers from the point of view of the marketplace). Failure to meet their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the marketplace may mean that your listings are less visible. Aspiring to give all your customers the best customer experience will be the best multichannel strategy. 5. Stand out on Multichannel If you already sell on your own website, you are selling from a single place with no competition. Selling multichannel, you are facing competition from far more products and sellers. You will need to put more effort into standing out. Many marketplaces allow you to pay them in order to promote your products. But this is not ideal from a profit point of view. Paying attention to the details of your listing is really important, as suggested already, you should ensure you have unique content for the listings but pick a style which matches your brand and keep it consistent. Mildly humorous and quirky styles can work well. Visuals, as you will know or have guessed, are vital on multichannel marketplaces. Pay attention to the photos you use, look at ways you can make them more exciting, use backdrops or accessories which can help engage your customers and give your product the “wow” factor. 5 Marketplaces to Consider 1. Amazon Marketplace Starting as an online bookseller, Amazon is now the world’s largest online retailer offering services from cloud hosting to feed deliveries. Amazon sells in its own right and also sells other people’s products through it’s marketplace, taking commission. One big advantage is that you can list products across their network of country-specific Amazon sites. 2. Fruugo A challenger marketplace based in the beautiful region of Cumbria, in the northwest of England, Fruugo offers fully localised marketplaces in over 46 countries and in places which Amazon does not reach. One listing gives you access to all of them. Bear in mind that if you are a UK seller, they charge VAT on their commission which if you are VAT registered you can reclaim. They are growing fast, so a great way to extend the reach of your products. 3. eBay One of the earliest eCommerce companies, eBay is well known and well used. For many startup eCommerce companies, Ebay is the starting point where they turn a hobby into a business, due to ease of use and simple pricing structure. 4. Etsy Known best for its arts and crafts, it is the destination of choice for those looking for unique and often quirky gifts. If you sell handmade, or unique, vintage products this is the marketplace for you. New-York-based Etsy are a very human business and try to keep eCommerce as a human-to-human transaction rather than a cold electronic interface. Their aim is to millions of buys to products which have a human touch. 5. OnBuy The fastest-growing marketplace in the world, UK-based OnBuy offers lower selling fees than other marketplaces (at just 5-9%) and gives you access to millions of customers. They promise never to compete against sellers, but instead focus all their efforts on helping you grow your business. With plans for expansion into over 140 countries, starting with more than 40 initial sites in 2020, OnBuy gives an incredibly significant breadth of markets to access. They also utilise PayPal as their payment gateway meaning that you get paid immediately on item dispatch, unlike many other marketplaces, and you can access the PayPal Seller Protection scheme. Want to expand your eCommerce business and expand onto more channels? Despatch Cloud has order management software and stock management software which can help you remain as efficient on multichannel as you are on a single channel. Come and talk to us today. Previously published at https://despatchcloud.com/white-papers/5-tips-on-selling-multichannel/

An Introduction to Selling Multichannel: 5 Essential Tips

This guide is brought to you by Forra.io Reselling has come to mainstream attention in the past few years due to the phenomenal tv shows American Pickers and Pawn Stars. These shows spark the curiosity of the flip in each of us. Reselling is the simple act of buying low and selling high. Buying anything you can make a buck off of is not only a ton of fun, but a way of life. People become passionate about the craftsmanship, or start to collect themselves. Reselling or flipping is a way of life. The opportunities that are around you are endless. Everyone has something they are willing to sell for cheap just to get rid of it. I was a reseller for many years, and this is all of my tricks of the trade. All of these tips will increase your ebay resale business in a matter of days if you take action. The things you will learn in this guide will dramatically improve your Amazon resale business as well. Ebay and Amazon are what I sold on for years, before making a much better platform myself. Growing Your Resale Business Growing a resale business can be very difficult. With only so many hours in the day, you need to know where to look in order to grow your business as a reseller efficiently. This complete guide on reselling should solve a lot of rookie problems as well as dig into some strategies for reselling that are taking off. Before we dig fully dig into strategies to grow your resale business we need to understand the approach to being a reseller. Being a reseller is a more of a lifestyle. We outlined some of the reasons why and why not you should start a reselling business. The Plus Side Of Reselling Reselling paid me throughout my college years and beyond. Reselling is an easy way to make side money because you can take it as far as you are willing to take it. I will share all of my tips as someone who sold for many years online. These are a few of the benefits that I have found over the years. Negotiating/Buying Experience On an average weekend garage saling in New Jersey, I would make about 10–15 purchases on a Saturday evening. Garage sales give you a ton of negotiating experience. You will eventually run into a point in your life where you need to negotiate. Flipping items online and reselling them will give you a tremendous amount of courage after doing it a few times. This is a great exercise for anyone looking to increase their business IQ in general. Reselling Means Being Your Own Boss Freedom is huge when you are working a traditional 9–5. When you flip full time he only thing you are tied down to was your business. Running a business using a marketplace is one of the easier way to run a business. That why I am making one. When you have the freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit that combination makes for great personal growth. Reselling online is a great thing to do in your college days. A lot of successful eBay sellers are in college. Reselling online is for anyone willing to hustle and grind. You can make easily over $2,000 a week. Life Becomes Cheaper As A Reseller When your job turns into finding things for cheap to resell on eBay life becomes a whole lot cheaper. You will run into little nick nacks and household item that you just need. I remember picking up a really nice retractable dog leash for free on an already good deal for some action figures. Collecting And Flipping Items You Resell Your favorite type of thing is typically something you should try and resell. If you are into the hobby you can use your resale business to fuel it. No matter the hobby this works with about anything. Networking To Buy And Sell More Items One of the things I really regret is not fully utilizing the network of people you meet when you are out in the wild. Talking to face to face with people is something you need to do when you are a reseller or ebay flipper. If you have to talk to them anyways, you might as well be as friendly as possible if they seem friendly enough you should put them on an email list, send and email out to everyone in the area. The Negative Of Being A Reseller Reselling is a lot of fun, but there are some down sides. Do not let these scare you away, there are negatives to any online business. Finding Your Flips/ Sourcing Items To Resell When you resell online finding your next flip is what keeps you in business. You never know what the next flip you can find really is, nut this becomes the difficult part in becoming a very large reselling online. If you do not learn to find new flips and source items for your online resale business you will not do well. Fees When Reselling The thing that really sucks about all of this are the fees. Ebay takes 13% right off the top from your profit. Amazon has 15% in fees and room to grow so long as Luckily we are building a marketplace that resellers will love. It currently has zero fees for sellers. Click here to sign up. Testing Your Items As A Resale Store Owner Once you have the items to flip online an important part of your business is making sure the items work properly. This can take up a large part of your time depending on what you sell online. Most electronics resellers know that this can be a pain and even eat into your profits. There might come a point in time when you buy something thinking it is a good deal and later find out the item is ready for the junkyard. Just keep in mind of your account health. Listing Your Items For Sale Listing the items themselves can be very time consuming. This is an unavoidable task. eBay has by fast the slowest time to list, and Amazon is the quickest. Our site will also be very fast and easy to list on. I would recommend trying it before eBay. We are better suited for resellers. How To Start A Profitable Resale Business Going out and finding what to flip and resell is the entire business. You let the marketplaces sell the items for you. In order to go out in the wild and be a successful reseller you need to have a sense of direction. Figuring Out Your Resale Business Obtaining a sense of direction is more than half of the battle when it comes to reselling. Direction is what will transform you form a garbage man to a sophisticated online entrepreneur. Some of the best flips are the items that you know the most about. If you are a gamer, flip video games, if you collect watches flip watches. Doing something that you really enjoy will only help you as a reseller. What To Look For As A Reseller Sourcing items is fancy way of finding things to resell online. Sourcing can be done in multiple ways, there is no right or wrong way to. When you source items for your online resale business theses are the places I would suggest to go after that will almost guarantee you items to flip. Garage Sales/ Estate Sales — A Resellers Dream Saturday Morning is a gold mine. Garage sales are the true bread and butter of reselling online. Typically they only happen in parts of the spring and fall, but happen every weekend during the summer. Rain or shine you are typically able to find a garage sale on a summer Saturday morning. I was able to make well over $1,000 in a single day by milking garage sales for things to resell online using these following tips. I would highly suggest you do the same if you are interested in making more money as a reseller. Understand the mindset — People who are having these garage sales are using it as a desperate attempt to clean out their house. You need to capitalize on that. When you are in their home or on their property try to use phrases like “ you have a lovely home” “what you did with your bushes looks fantastic” “I love your collection” Compliment them on what they are not selling, and then rip them apart on what they are. Building up a friendly enough repore so they do not feel disrespected when I get into the art of the lowball. Early bird everything — When you go garage saling and learn the ropes of selling online you will soon understand that early birding is necessary. Once the item is gone its gone. Saturday morning needs to be early, and quick. I would suggest to show up a half hour early to the first garage sale in the area, and then being early to every other one as well. Asking — At these sales you will be meeting people interested in selling their stuff left and right. What you need to do is very politely ask the people with the sale, “Do you have any ___” Ask them exactly what you are looking for. All of my best finds are from me just walking up and asking the owner of the house “Do you have any video games?” You will be surprised what some people pull out of their house. Everything is super cheaper. If it is not, do not buy it. You should know the rough price of the items you are asking for. Tools — You need a few things to be really effective on the fly during garage sale season. You need the , the , and most importantly . Get These if you are serious about reselling online, We do not have an app just yet. But we still feel like the best marketplace to sell on as an online seller. eBay app Amazon app Yard sale treasure map Using Flea Markets To Find Items To Sell Similar to garage sales, flea markets should be a staple. In New Jersey they have a few very large ones that happen every weekend. Other states have the same. A good flea market will have mom and pop sellers who host their version of a garage sale at a flea market. The bad flea markets are the ones with more businesses or traditional antique sellers. Your job is to beat those people by finding the good stuff fast and easy. Thrift Stores To Find Items To Sell Thrift stores are the best for reselling. If you like to flip clothing there is nothing better than thrift stores. The big block thrift stores, Goodwill, Salvation army, Savers, Etc. These places can be great. However, I would suggest checking all of the smaller and more local thrift stores in your area. Sparking up a relationship with an employee would be a great idea too. Placing Local Ads To Find Items To Sell Online You will hit a point as a reseller where you want people to start coming to you. This is where local ads on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, and other similar sites come in handy big time. As a reseller you have to educate yourself on what works. If you explore the idea of local ads, be ready to dive nose deep into a large experimental process for your resale operation. Educating Yourself As A Reseller You have to understand your niche. Reselling is a difficult thing if you have no sense of direction as a rookie. Being an incredible reseller takes time. I would highly suggest to define a niche, master it and then move to others. The most well known resellers and the American pickers. IF you watch the show they feel comfortable throwing a number on just about anything without doing prior research. You will get to that point as well so long as you take it serious. Work small, and then get big. Start off buying things you find interesting. It will make the whole process much more simple. Knowing Your Margin In A Resale Business When you buy something you need to have a rough estimate on your margin and understand the whole fee analysis before you make the purchase.   As a rough estimate on fees they are the following: Forra— Zero fees for sellers. eBay — 13% fees plus listing and listing option fes. Amazon — 15% in fees plus $.99 per listing. Let’s take a look at a quick example. If you were to sell something for $100 you would receive the following on each platform Forra = $100 eBay = $87 Amazon = $85 Let’s talk about margin and how this affects your resale business. With any business, you need to understand your margin. Reselling online is typically a very profitable thing because you will always pass up deals that are too slim of margin. This is how you can quickly calculate your margin. Net sales — Net costs = Margin The fees involving marketplaces will crush your margin in most examples. This is why we created a marketplace free of fees. Know What It Takes To Sell In order to sell online at high volumes you need a database of sold items. Luckily eBay has this feature in its sold listings section, Amazon has a similar feature in its app. Amazon allows you to see available listings and will show you where they think you should price your item to sell. Taking a look at the past data will give you a clear idea of the going rate where the item sells, and how quickly it will take to sell. These two metrics will help you identify a good flip and a bad one. It takes guts to be a reseller. Sometimes you will run into a situation where there is not prior data for the item you are trying to sell. In this scenario, you need to use your judgement and utilize past experiences to make that call. Flipping an item online is not always easy. The Solution Forra Provides When I spent my time as a reseller I wished that there was something made specifically for reselling. I wanted something that was easy to use, intuitive, but allowed me to feel empowered as a business owner. There are many times where an online marketplace kills your profit due to fees when you sell online. You will find yourself passing on items left and right because you are dollar short of what you feel you can pay. Low fees When we set out to create our own consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace we wanted to build it for the modern entrepreneur. Ecommerce and selling online is difficult when you think about the fees associated with starting up an eBay or Amazon marketplace business. Forra has zero fees. With zero fees, suddenly selling an item becomes more feasible when the only overhead present is shipping. New Audience Where can you buy items with cryptocurrency? Forra is the one of the first options for people to use cryptocurrency as, well, an actual currency. With Ethereum mostly being used as tradable investment (like a stock), Forra aims to bring a new functional use to the cryptocurrency. Instead of HODL-ing Ethereum, people can now purchase items with their digital assets. From a sellers perspective, users can now obtain cryptocurrency by directly selling a physical asset. For those not ready wanting cash, selling a personal belonging can offer a seller the opportunity to get into cryptocurrency without giving up liquid assets. Instead of using cash to buy Ethereum on an exchange, sell that golf bag you never use and get into cryptocurrency. Why we are building it After the 2016–17 bull market got the world talking about cryptocurrency, we believe that Forra will be the next step to bring even more of the general public into the cryptocurrency space. We want to establish a strong connection between digital currencies and physical assets. In order for cryptocurrency to be adopted on a widespread scale it must be used as an actual currency. By having the ability to purchase an item using Ethereum, Forra is able to extend the transactional efficiencies of Ethereum to the masses in a safe reliable fashion. Who is Forra for? Everyone! Scared to buy cryptocurrency on an exchange? Sell something on Forra. Want to use your digital assets to buy a vintage Casio G-Shock? Buy it on Forra. Forra is a low risk and easy way to introduce people to cryptocurrency. We are constantly looking for new sellers. If you would like to sell on Forra . Sign up here How blockchain is helping online sellers Blockchain technology is going to help online sellers of every kind. As a former online seller turned blockchain enthusiast I see how the two can work hand and hand in the future. Blockchain technology will revolutionize the way online business works for many reasons.I want to only focus on two. The Future of Online Selling Platforms The way trade works in the future will inevitably be done through some type of blockchain experience. Blockchain technology ultimately has the best user experience because it cuts out all middle men in the transaction. For more information about blockchain and ecommerce you can view this blog post. We think that reselling items online is the tip of the iceberg for our platform.We want to give back to the entire community of people who sell online. We are the cheapest marketplace for selling your item online. The future will be filled with other ways to utilize and avoid excess fees. People will always be looking and promoting the products with the best user experience. In a marketplace you want to focus on getting as much money for your item as possible. By being the cheapest place to sell online we want to attract those who treat that freedom seriously. We do not see ourselves trying to decentralize trade. We see ourselves providing a better user experience for people who use marketplaces. Originally published at forra.io on August 27, 2018.

Starting A Resale Business — The Complete Guide To Reselling

On 31 August 2017, eBay’s fixed-price marketplace site Half.com closed its doors for good. This makes me a little sad, and a lot nostalgic. This site did so much for me over the years, and I tried to do so much for it. It’s sad to see it go. So why am I so emotionally attached to a website? Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, when a cable TV subscription was still way out of my budget and before I had heard of Netflix (circa 2000), I used to watch all my TV shows and movies on DVD. I’d wait a year for my shows to come out on DVD, buy them used, and then sell them used. Half.com made the buying and selling insanely easy and I loved the crap out of the site as a user. A few years later, as the first dot-com bust left me unemployed and a bit desperate for a while, I was able to use Half.com to sell every DVD, book, and CD I owned in order to pay rent for a month or two. With the huge difference is listing speed, this would have been completely uneconomical to do on eBay. I probably would have had to move back to Sacramento with my tail between my legs and would never have found the wonderful career I enjoy today. This was just the first time Half.com saved my career. In 2003, some time in the next year. They apparently saw it as a duplicate of existing eBay functionality. I thought they were completely nuts. After a few weeks of going through the over the news, I finally arrived at Stage 6: Defiance. I could accept that it was going away. But that didn’t mean its heart had to die with it. eBay announced that it was going to close down Half.com Five Stages of Grief Ok, sure. eBay didn’t realize what a gold mine they were sitting on with Half.com. They didn’t recognize the power that a catalog-based marketplace could bring. But I did. And I was unemployed, scrappy, and passionate. So why shouldn’t I start working on a business plan to build a new solution that took the best lessons from Half.com and built upon them to create something that could bring to life the unrealized potential of a catalog based marketplace. That obsession of endless research and brainstorming lasted until spring of 2004, when my unemployment was interrupted by a wonderful new job. At eBay. Having been a eBay user since 1999, this was a dream come true (thanks Mike!). And that dream got even better later that year, when and I got assigned as one of the lead front end developers on the project to rebuild the entire Half.com site from scratch on eBay’s platform. eBay decided not to close Half.com after all Apparently, despite eBay’s best efforts to duplicate Half.com functionality on eBay and drive users over to the main marketplace, the revenue from textbook sales and intensely loyal Half.com users was enough to justify keeping the site alive. That conversion project was the biggest project I had taken on as a web developer, and was some of the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done. It was my own personal “ .” Mary Ellen Carter This was also the project that first got me interested in becoming a product manager, and where I got to write my very first PRD (Product Requirements Document) for the content management system that runs Half’s merchandising pages. Without my manager Rashid supporting my interest in switching sides, and Valerie’s endless patience in mentoring me in the ways of Product, I’m not sure I would have known how to make the transition from dev to product. As a self-taught developer who hadn’t even had an email address until I was 23, I was never going to be the best coder in the room, next to kids who had been immersed in the internet since high school or college. But understanding the frustrations that normal non-technical people have with and finding ways to make that less painful while building a sustainable ? That I could build a career on. Which makes this the second time Half.com saved my career. technology business Unfortunately, the cost/benefit analysis that made Half worth keeping alive to eBay’s management didn’t translate to an appreciation of the potential of a catalog-based marketplace. I pitched the idea again and again while I was there and got only lukewarm reception from the Powers That Be. But I never really stopped thinking about that dusty old business plan I had started when they first threatened to close down Half.com. Thirteen years later, eBay still hasn’t done anything significant in the catalog-based marketplace space. They’ve created catalogs that they use on the back end to make the listing process easier. But the user experience is still all about finding items, not products, which eliminates most of the potential benefits of catalogs. And so, third party marketplaces like BrickLink (Lego bricks and sets), TCGPlayer (Magic and other collectible card games), and others are dominating their niche categories, while eBay continues to concentrate only on the horizontal “you can sell anything pretty well” model, rather than diving into the vertical “you can sell this one kind of thing extremely well” model. And the collectibles market really doesn’t look that much different than it did in 2000. eBay’s investment in Half.com, in the past decade, has been effectively close to zero. CSS positioning wasn’t quite reliable enough for production when we did that initial rebuild project, so we temporarily used an insane mess of nested tables for the layout, with plans to replace it with CSS later. The “temporary” code I wrote in 2004 will still be 99% the same when the doors close for good next week. Including my  lucky charm HTML comment at the bottom of the source code. Now here we are. eBay has announced that it is closing Half.com. Again. This time I’m sad, but not upset. If they haven’t taken Half.com seriously in the past decade, maybe it’s time to let it go. And hopefully there’s someone else out there, just as passionate about catalog-based marketplaces as I am, who will take the opportunity to finally do something about it. And if no one has done so by the time my kids are a bit older and my adventures in Fintech have reached their peak, perhaps I’ll dust off that old business plan and give it a go myself.

Half.com Shutting Down (Again) — Farewell Old Friend

I'm Not the Only One Who's Been Scammed on LocalBitcoins 

USA v. eBay Court Filing, retrieved on January 11, 2024, is part of . You can jump to any part in this filing . This is part 10 of 12. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here COUNTS THREE AND FOUR - Stalking Through Facilities of Interstate Commerce (18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2)(B)) The United States Attorney further charges: 56. Tue United States Attorney re-alleges and incorporates by reference paragraphs I through 53 of this Information. 57. From on or about August 5, 2019 through August 23, 2019, in the District of Massachusetts and elsewhere, the defendant, eBay Inc., did, with the intent to harass, intimidate, and place under surveillance with the intent to harass and intimidate another person, use the mail, an interactive computer se1vice, electronic communication se1vice, electronic communications system of interstate commerce, and other facilities of interstate commerce to engage in a course of conduct that caused, attempted to cause, and would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to the persons described below: All in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2)(B). Continue Reading . Here About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on January 11, 2024, from is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. ecommercebytes.com

eBay Inc.'s Use of Interstate Commerce for Harassment

USA v. eBay Court Filing, retrieved on January 11, 2024, is part of . You can jump to any part in this filing . This is part 12 of 12. HackerNoon’s Legal PDF Series here COUNT SIX - Destruction, Alteration, and Falsification of Records in a Federal Investigation (18 U.S.C. § 1519) The United States Attorney further charges: 60. The United States Attorney re-alleges and incorporates by reference paragraphs 1 through 53 of this Information. 61. On or about the dates set forth below, in the District of Massachusetts, the defendant, eBay Inc., did knowingly alter, destroy, conceal and falsify the records, documents, and tangible objects below with the intent to impede, obstruct, and influence the investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of any department and agency of the United States, that is, the harassment and intimidation campaign charged in this Information. All in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519. About HackerNoon Legal PDF Series: We bring you the most important technical and insightful public domain court case filings. This court case retrieved on January 11, 2024, from is part of the public domain. The court-created documents are works of the federal government, and under copyright law, are automatically placed in the public domain and may be shared without legal restriction. ecommercebytes.com

Stories, News & Mentions about EBAY

Ebay’s Stories on HackerNoon

Ebay's News & Mentions