eBay Equips Its U.S. Community With Powerful New Ways to Communicate, Share and Trade; New Tools for Connecting Online Unveiled by Executives at Fifth Annual eBay Live! Conference eBay Inc. last night unveiled new ways for its U.S. buyers and sellers to connect and trade online, in a keynote address by president and CEO Meg Whitman, and eBay North America President Bill Cobb. The address kicked off the fifth annual eBay Live! community conference in Las Vegas, which this year sold out for the first time.
Whitman unveiled the company's first integration of Skype online communications within eBay.com, and invited sellers to participate in a pilot program that lets them include a "Skype Me" button on listings in 14 categories across eBay.com. Beginning June 19, the Skype test will enhance the way people communicate and trade on eBay, especially in higher price categories and those requiring more detailed negotiation.
Cobb announced new ways for eBay.com's community members to generate their own content and share views, using eBay Blogs and the eBay Wiki. eBay Blogs provide a dedicated space for users to share their opinions, connect with others and promote their eBay listings. Using the eBay Wiki, members can collaboratively author articles that, together, will create an encyclopedic resource of information related to eBay. Any eBay member can contribute, and the content will become richer over time from the collective expertise of all the contributors. DIGY
"I don't think blogging and wiki technology could be put in better hands than the eBay Community," said Cobb. "There are lots of online communities, of course, but only eBay's can boast such a huge diversity of passions, interests and expertise. From antique fans to digital photography ... Spielberg movies to Ford Mustangs ... people have brought their passions and interests to eBay."
The company also unveiled eBay Alerts, which allow members to receive listing updates through phone calls, text messages and instant messages using AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or MSN Messenger. eBay members can receive "outbid" and "item ending soon" messages for any item they are bidding on, and can place a higher bid either through their phone or text messaging. As people's lives become more mobile, eBay Alerts is a simple way for buyers to stay connected to their eBay auctions, wherever they go.
The keynote also marked the official grand opening of eBay Express, a new eBay specialty site that offers a convenient way for shoppers to buy new products at fixed prices without waiting for an auction-style listing to end. eBay introduced eBay Express as a "preview site" April 24. During the past several weeks, the company has invited suggestions and comments from users of the new site, and fine-tuned its features and functions based on this community feedback.
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