Steve Woda’s Blog – Page 28 – … Ecommerce, Internet Security, Economics, and Entrepreneurship

Where Can You Meet the Largest Merchants on eBay?

On April 18, 2007

In buySAFE, eBay, eCommerce, Infopia, MIVA, Steve Woda, Web/Tech

Every couple of months, the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA) pulls together a collection of eBay’s largest, most successful merchants. These events are always terrific opportunities to meet experienced e-commerce professionals, and to get an insider’s view of how the e-commerce market is developing. Next week, PESA will convene its sixth PESA Summit in Chicago.

buySAFE has attended every one of these remarkable semi-annual events. In fact, we have sponsored every PESA event since the organization’s inception, so we are obviously a huge supporter of this organization.

Therefore, I wanted to give next week’s PESA Summit a mini-plug. If you are a professional merchant or simply interested in e-commerce because you are a member of the media, a financial analyst or a third-party service provider, you should attend this event. You won’t be sorry. You will meet amazing folks and get the inside scoop on where e-commerce and eBay are headed. Christie Hefner of Playboy Enterprises will be giving the Keynote Address.

As a side note, I will be speaking at the PESA Summit on an interesting panel of e-commerce experts including Jonathan Gariss (CEO for GothamCityOnline), Sloan Gaon (VP of Global Strategy for MIVA), and Jimmy Duvall (Director of e-Commerce Products for Yahoo! Small Business). The Website Design & Web 2.0 panel should be very interesting, and I will provide a summary of the discussion on this blog after the event.

I am looking forward to it, and I hope you can find your way to Chicago for this terrific event.

Does eBay Have a Credibility Gap With Merchants in 2007?

By golf

On April 17, 2007

In eBay, eCommerce, Web/Tech

As 2007 begins to come into focus, I thought it might be interesting to revisit an experienced PowerSeller’s perspective on eBay. Frank Ross writes the Common Sense eCommerce blog, and in November 2006, Frank provided his commentary on eBay’s evolving relationship with e-commerce merchants. Please give his blog post a quick review – "eBay Credibility Gap 2007".

Obviously, 2006 was a tough year for eBay and its merchants. We regularly get emails on this subject from readers of this blog as well e-commerce merchants that work with buySAFE, and I don’t believe 2007 is turning out to be much better. However, I would love to hear from our readers.

If you are an e-commerce merchant, we would love to hear from you on this subject. Please leave a comment on this post if you have thoughts on eBay and its evolving relationship with e-commerce merchants.

Technorati Tags: eBay, eCommerce, Economics

Antitrust Lawsuit Filed against eBay over PayPal, Payments Policies

By golf

On April 12, 2007

In eBay, PayPal, Web/Tech

AuctionBytes’ Ina Steiner reported this week that an anti-trust lawsuit was recently filed against eBay.

‘Michael Malone filed an antitrust class-action lawsuit against eBay this week under the Sherman Act, alleging eBay "utilizes its nationwide monopoly of the on-line auction market to monopolize the available forms of payment that sellers can use on eBay." eBay controls which payment methods sellers may advertise in their listings, and this year, it eliminated buyer-protection for non-PayPal transactions. eBay owns the PayPal payment service.’

The article also references the old conflict between PayPal and eBay. Before eBay purchased PayPal, PayPal’s management team prepared an anti-trust lawsuit against eBay and threatened to pursue the action. Ultimately, PayPal did not file the anti-trust lawsuit, but it is ironic given the current lawsuit’s claims.

Very interesting stuff. We will have to keep an eye on how this develops.

eMarket for Lemons at Baruch College

By golf

On April 11, 2007

In buySAFE, eCommerce, Economics, Portable Trust & Reputation Signals, Steve Woda, Trust and Safety

I was recently invited by Dr. Karl Lang to be a guest lecturer at Baruch College on the subject of buySAFE and my experience starting an e-commerce business. I always love speaking to folks about buySAFE and its important value proposition (Making sure that buyers get what they pay for, and that merchants get paid what they deserve.), but I especially enjoy speaking with college students (in this case they were MBAs) about what I believe is happening with e-commerce today.

As many of you know, I believe there is a fundamental problem emerging with e-commerce. Specifically, the problem is that buyers have a very difficult time reliably telling the difference between good sellers/product and bad sellers/product. In economic terms, this is called "information asymmetry". Sure, if you are large, recognizable brand, buyers know they can trust you. However, if a merchant is unknown to a buyer, how in the world can that buyer reliably figure out if everything is going to be 100% okay? The answer is that it is very difficult for them to do so confidently.

When a marketplace suffers from information asymmetry, it inevitably develops into a "Market for Lemons". You can read my previous blog post on the subject at "What is a Market for Lemons?"

Obviously, buySAFE solves this major e-commerce problem, and as of Q2 2007, there are thousands of online merchants that have signed-up for the buySAFE service in order to help mitigate this issue for shoppers.

I thought you might like to see the presentation I gave the MBA students at Baruch. You can download the "eMarket for Lemons" presentation here, or you can view the presentation below.

I want to thank give a special thanks to Dr. Lang for inviting me to speak at Baruch College, and I especially want to thank the MBA students for their fascinating questions and additional insights.

buySAFE Founder Guarantees Delivery by The Washington Times

By golf

On April 8, 2007

In buySAFE, eCommerce, Entrepreneurship, Steve Woda

The Washington Times recently did a nice article on buySAFE, and of course, I appreciated the generous coverage as well.

"buySAFE Founder Guarantees Delivery" by The Washington Times

I hope you enjoy the read.

Related articles & blog posts:
AuctionWire
TMCnet

John Edwards Feeling Pretty

By golf

On April 5, 2007

In Funny

A bit of a digression today…

Regardless of your political party affiliation, this John Edwards video is pretty funny. I don’t envy the folks running for President. Quite literally, they can’t let their hair down even for a minute. 🙂

buySAFE on The Today Show!

By golf

On April 4, 2007

In buySAFE, Counterfeits, eBay, eCommerce, Google, Online Fraud, Portable Trust & Reputation Signals, Surety Bonds, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

The past few days have been quite exciting here at buySAFE. Last week, buySAFE was featured on The Today Show. The "Designer Duds: Fake or Real?" segment, reported by Today’s consumer affairs reporter Janice Lieberman, discussed the growing e-commerce problem of counterfeit luxury goods. As expected, buySAFE was showcased as a terrific solution to the counterfeit goods problem.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3lCsN3YzJs]

Counterfeit/fake/stolen goods are obviously becoming a major issue for e-commerce, but in my opinion, this problem is actually a symptom of a much larger, more important, fundamental problem… Online, buyers have a very difficult time discriminating good sellers/product from bad sellers/product. The REAL problem is that the Web suffers from major information asymmetry issues. That is why bad guys are successful at defrauding consumers.

Please think about my diagnosis for a moment… If consumers could tell the difference from the good guys and the bad guys, would shoppers ever unknowingly buy a counterfeit item? Of course not! Fraud happens because of information asymmetry.

I think you will find the "Designer Duds: Fake or Real?" news segment very interesting. However, as you watch this clip, please understand that the counterfeit/fake/stolen goods fraud problem is due to a more fundamental e-commerce problem… Buyers can’t reliably tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys! In economic terms, this is called information asymmetry, and it is causing legitimate, professional merchants millions of dollars each and every day.

Kudos to Jeff Grass, buySAFE’s CEO, for a job well done!

Related blog posts and e-commerce articles:
"Designer Duds: Fake or Real?" by Janice Lieberman on The Today Show and iVillage.com
"buySAFE Invited By the French Government to Help Stop Online Sales of Counterfeit Luxury Goods" by Travis Brown on the buySAFE blog
"eBay Bonding Service buySAFE Featured on Today Show" by Ina Steiner on AuctionBytes.com
"buySAFE Appearance on 3/20/2007 Today Show" on AuctionBytes.tv

Stop Worrying! How to Solve the eCommerce Trust Problem.

By golf

On March 24, 2007

In buySAFE, eCommerce, Economics, Online Fraud, Portable Trust & Reputation Signals, Surety Bonds, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

Jeff Grass, buySAFE’s CEO, recently posted a comprehensive article on the eCommerce Trust problem, and how buySAFE is specifically designed to tackle this big issue. Jeff does a great job of laying out the requirements for effective online trust and safety solutions, and I thought you might enjoy the read.

"Stop Worrying! How to Solve the eCommerce Trust Problem. (A must read if you sell or buy online!)" by Jeff Grass on buySAFE’s blog

If you have any thoughts, insights, or comments on Jeff’s article, I would be very interested in hearing from you.

France, Luxury Goods, and the Counterfeit Problem

By golf

On March 23, 2007

In buySAFE, eBay, eCommerce, Economics, Surety Bonds, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

Travis Brown, buySAFE’s General Counsel & VP of International, recently spent a week in France as a guest of the French government. The purpose of the trip was to learn more about the exploding counterfeit goods industry, and to explain how bonding merchants and buySAFE could significantly mitigate this huge problem.

I found Travis’ post to be one of the best I have ever read on the issue of counterfeit goods, and I am sure you will agree. I encourage you to give it a quick read.

"buySAFE Invited By French Government to Help Stop Online Sales of Counterfeit Luxury Goods" by Travis Brown on buySAFE’s blog

I am very interested in your thoughts and insights regarding the counterfeiting issue, so please share.

Related articles and blog posts:
"buySAFE Takes on the Issue of Counterfeit (Knock Off) Merchandise" by Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds

Wake Up With buySAFE on The Today Show

By golf

On March 19, 2007

In buySAFE, eBay, eCommerce, Online Fraud, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

It’s been a lot of fun (not to mention a lot of hard work 😉 to see buySAFE grow from an idea in my head into a company that is changing the face of e-commerce. Knowing how far we’ve come makes it exceptionally rewarding when major, national news outlets cover buySAFE and the impact we are having.

One such news outlet – The Today Show on NBC – will be including buySAFE in a story that will run tomorrow, March 20 shortly after 8:00 a.m. Consumer reporter Janice Lieberman spent the day at buySAFE headquarters last week as part of a piece about the prevalence of counterfeit luxury goods being sold online. With consumers often unknowingly buying knockoff merchandise, it’s tough to know how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

Fortunately, buySAFE solves this problem. By certifying that a merchant is trustworthy and reputable, identifying the merchant with the buySAFE Seal, and taking the extra step to guarantee the transaction, buySAFE ensures a safe, smooth transaction for consumers every time. Rather than worrying about having bought a fake, shoppers that buy from a buySAFE Merchant can rest easy knowing that they’re dealing with one of the safest merchants anywhere.

I encourage you all to tune in the Today Show tomorrow, March 20th at 8:00 a.m. to see how buySAFE is making e-commerce safer and more efficient for everyone involved.