One day a week we forget our troubles and cares to enjoy a little Saturday Silliness - this week, a fascinating work of conceptual art? Engineering art? You tell me!
I watched this over and over. The amount of work and calculation to achieve the effects is mind blowing. Thanks to State Farm for sponsoring the video.
If there is no video please refresh the page.
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eBay CEO John Donahoe was in Moscow (Russia not Idaho) last month. He announced eBay’s plans to launch a marketplace with a Russian language interface towards the end of March. Naturally PayPal is included in the deal.
The press release says
“eBay continues to look at ways to provide online consumers with access to the wide range of products on sale on eBay even if there is no eBay platform in their market. eBay will soon offer consumers a way to buy online in their native language in Russia, Greece, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. These sites allow customers to buy from eBay international marketplaces using PayPal, giving them complete buyer protection on eligible purchases against items not recieved (sic) or items received that are significantly not as described. The new service will provide local consumers with access to an unprecedented array of goods from international marketplaces on eBay that would not otherwise be available or at a price which would not otherwise be possible locally.”
In an interesting aside Tatyana Menkova, an analyst at Finam, a financial company is less enthusiastic saying
“Even active users have a relatively low level of trust in using bank cards for internet transactions. And a majority of the population uses cards that are unsuitable for internet payments.”
While predicting
” . . . the quantity of listing on Ebay from Russia could increase by 20-30% but will mostly be sellers, buyers will increase by only 10-15%.”
This should provide exciting new opportunities for Russian hackers and fraudsters. They will love it. US sellers may not be so thrilled.
Back in the USA
The Wall Street Journal says “Russian Internet users won’t be able to sell their own products on the local language version, but Donahoe said the company is working on “local partnerships” to make this possible eventually. He said these partnerships will focus on ways to collect online payments.” (emphasis is mine)
Now that is a real surprise, and interesting. Ms Menkova thinks there will be a lot more Russian sellers than buyers but the Wall Street Journal says Russians “won’t be able to sell”. Examining Donahoe’s statement he did not say they would be able to sell either, he said “The Russian e-commerce market grew by more than 50% last year to USD 5 billion and can continue to do so for many years to come. . . The market is at an exciting, but growing stage, and there is a lot of opportunity there”
Aaaah! BaySpeak!
There’s bears and more bears out thar
The Bear is a symbol of Russia (although not the polar bear shown here) but on Wall Street it has an entirely different meaning.
A week after Donahoe’s smiley Russia announcement Technology Research Group neatly skewered through the BaySpeak in the 2009 Annual Report.
“Revenue growth is slowing (2% vs. 11% in 2008). Margins are getting pinched. Cost-containment measures are readily apparent. Financial reporting remains far from conservative. Profits for 2009 were inflated by a series of income-accelerating items. Without these non-operational gains, net income would come in nearly 70% below reported levels. Cash flow is up only 1% for the year and highly uncorrelated with net income.”
If you still own eBay shares you might want to go read the whole article, my bean counter friend says it is a legitimate fact based analysis.
Option News Network said “At least one option investor is calling for a significant slide in the stock and boosted put volume in the Internet auction house. The break-even on this trade is $18.85, meaning investors who bought these puts will turn profits on this purchase if EBAY shares close lower than that level at March options expiration. The put-buyers we saw today are expecting the stock to drop at least 18% throughout the next couple months.”
eBay stockholders should remember the Chinese curse (both historically and figuratively) “May you live in interesting times”. eBay sellers might want to keep checking which countries they are required to ship to.
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An article in the Wall Street Journal on Monday expresses surprise at a statement in the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. annual report.
“Press coverage and other public statements that assert some form of wrongdoing, regardless of the factual basis for the assertions being made, often results (sic) in some type of investigation by regulators, legislators and law enforcement officials or in lawsuits,” . . . “adverse publicity” could have “a negative impact on our reputation and on the morale and performance of our employees, which could adversely affect our businesses and results of operations.”
“The unusual disclosure in a 12-page section of “risk factors” ranging from rocky financial markets to natural disasters . . . . Charles M. Elson, director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said that he couldn’t recall a previous instance where a company cited bad publicity as a risk to its business. “It’s reflective of the rather bizarre political climate in which we operate.” Wall Street Journal
I am not sure I can see a connection between corporate bad behavior resulting in bad press and a bizarre political climate. Surely it would be much more bizarre if bad deeds went unnoticed? Am I missing something?
Mr Charles Elson needs to get out in the world more.
eBay’s last annual report (10k) has 21 pages of risk factors (compared to Goldman Sachs relatively puny 12 pages) in which the words negative publicity appear eight times.
For example on page 39
“In addition, negative publicity about, or negative experiences with, customer support for any of our businesses could cause our reputation to suffer or affect consumer confidence in our brands as a whole.”
You don’t say!
Do the words PayPal and India come to mind?
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This article assumes you are looking to sell something new, not unique and in multiple quantities online while making a profit.
The most common questions on the old eBay Answer Center (AC) were
These questions are equally valid off eBay and deserve kinder answers than they generally received in the Answer Center. The problem of finding a reliable source for the right product to sell online is a perennial one that couldn’t be answered in the ten question AC format and can’t be answered in one article today. Key words: the right product.
Who is your supplier?
No, I am not going to share my wholesale sources but I will give you some tips to help you avoid some common and expensive mistakes as you develop your own.
The Best Thing to Sell
The obvious answer to this question is something people will buy at a price that will allow you to make a profit.
Some things to consider carefully when looking at merchandise:
Oxymoron Alert!
Drop-shipping wholesaler is almost always an oxymoron. They are as scarce as hen’s teeth (in case you didn’t know, hens do not have teeth). Manufacturers of large, expensive, very heavy items, will sometimes drop ship, be sure to ask, don’t assume.
Places like SMC and other catalog ‘wholesalers’ are not wholesalers in the normal commercial sense of the word. They may be importers, in volume, but many make the majority of their money from memberships and monthly subscriptions. They are middlemen. Think discount club, similar to Sams Club or Costco who buy in bulk and sell smaller quantities in great volume.
Buying merchandise from a drop-shipper ensures that you will be offering the same product as thousands of other hopeful sellers. Most use the stock pictures, many do not re-write the description or title. All start off believing the resale price or ‘value’ in the catalog, which is a work of fiction. When you add the inflated drop-ship charge to the cost of the item, venue fees and payment processing fees, there is not much profit margin left. You may be sure the drop-shipper made a profit, you however, may not.
Wholesale Lists and Directories
If you search for “wholesale” online you will find literally hundreds of listings for wholesale lists and directories. Do not waste your time or your money. Real wholesalers do not advertise as wholesalers on search engines. The best you will find are middlemen, the worst are outright scams.
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