Live Blogger

Is there such a thing as a job for a professional live blogger? I could go around to meetings and type the proceedings online, and make snide comments as I go. I would love to do this--and I seem to be good at it. Case in point: I live blogged eBay's annual meeting of stockholders today. It turned out to be quite a yawn. We were at least hoping the PETA protesters would show up to protest the sale of dogs and cats on eBay's overseas sites. But alas, there was precious little controversy. Still, i had lots of fun. You can read the proceedings here.

Taxing Problems for E-Merchants

I wrote a story for AuctionBytes that described a bill called the Main Street Fairness Act, which will be introduced in Congress in the next few weeks. One thing I didn't get a chance to mention in the story: the businesspeople I talked to say that they would be happy to collect sales tax on online purchases, as long as it is a simple flat tax. That way they won't have to conform to different schedules and requirements imposed by multiple taxing bodies such as cities, counties, and states.

According to Carla Yrjanson, vice president of tax research with Sabrix:

"Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, and local jurisdictions in Alaska impose sales and use tax. It has been estimated that the number of tax jurisdictions that impose tax is in excess of 7,600. Sabrix Tax Research continuously monitors over 13,000 tax authorities (state, county, city, and district) for changes to sales and use tax rates and changes to how goods and services are taxed. So far in 2009, we have documented over 340 sales and use tax rate changes and added over 131 new tax authorities. In addition to the challenges in keeping current on the rates and whether an item is exempt or not, it is also critical to stay current on how states determine which local jurisdictions can impose taxes on transactions that cross borders. We have a team of tax professionals tracking these changes on a daily basis. I can’t imagine how a small or mid-size business could cost effectively track these changes themselves without using a service such as the Sabrix Managed Tax Service."

Kudos to AuctionBytes

Sellers at eBay have been complaining about that company's lack of responsiveness for many years. It seems AuctionBytes, which has covered eBay for years and provided it with tons of free publicity, has been getting the same treatment of late. A blog post by David Steiner that complained about eBay's attitude toward them got lots of attention--and from eBay. The company called them later in the day, offering to provide a PR person to work with Ina. I hope things get better.

Ztail's Price Guarantee

Ina Steiner at AuctionBytes wrote recently about Ztail and its innovative price guarantee program. Some eBay sellers are able to list their items on Ztail. Ztail does research on resale value, and choose items it will guarantee. If you buy an item for $100, for instance, Ztail will guarantee that if you resell it in a year, it will list the item on eBay for you and sell it for at least, say, $60. If the item sells for more than $60, you keep the total amount. If the item sells for less than $60, Ztail makes up the difference. I talked to cofounder Bill Hudak. Look for an article on AuctionBytes soon. "We want to change the way people buy products," says Hudak.

Another Creative Use for Twitter

One of the businesses I profiled in AuctionBytes, the Minnesota-based SeeAuctions.com, sent me an e-mail inviting me to "follow" them on Twitter. I did: they don't have many Twitter posts, but the point is that they have another way to reach customers when they want to announce a special sale.

You can follow me at gregoryholden, by the way.

Skittles Scuttles Web Site

Eric Best, CEO of Mercent, told me recently that Skittles has scrapped its Web site and is focusing solely on social networking sites such as Facebook for reaching potential customers. It seemed hard to believe, but when I attempted to enter Skittles.com and entered my birth date, I was sent to Wikipedia instead. Is it just that I'm too old for Skittles? (My mouth says no.) This seems like an amazing development--are Web sites actually becoming passe if you're trying to reach young customers? Tell me what you think.

Where's the Beef?

I mentioned Foodzie.com. I've been looking around the site, and it's not very deep. There is no explanation of how much it actually costs to sell on the site. How does Foodzie make its money? I read elsewhere that Foodzie charges 60 cents per transaction and takes a transaction fee of 20 percent per sale. But you don't find that on the site. This seems odd to me. E-Commerce is all about being open with such important details. Having to e-mail the company and discuss fees in person seems unfair. Or am I missing something?

Online Business Tip #3: Focus on the merchandise

Usually, the advice about doing business is The Customer is King. And that's true. But if you don't provide good things to buy, the King will go elsewhere. Before providing stellar customer service, focus on what you're selling. If you're creating a marketplace rather than selling your own products, focus on the sellers.

That's the advice I received from Emily Olson, one of the three twenty-something founders of Foodzie, a marketplace for gourmet and specialty foods. I'm writing about them for an upcoming column on AuctionBytes.

"We want to create a place where sellers can be really successful," says Olson. Like other businesses I've profiled recently, she isn't throwing money at advertising, either through banners or Google. Rather, the three co-founders are building word of mouth by attending cook classes and other events and getting to know their sellers well. By focusing on telling the stories of the specialty cooks they promote, they believe they'll attract customers. Look for the article on AuctionBytes in the next week or two.

Kindle Dummy

I am fascinated with the Amazon Kindle. I downloaded the complete works of Shakespeare in less than a minute. I am currently listening to an audiobook and rediscovering the joy of being "read to" even if it is by a machine. I am keeping a blog called Kindle Dummy; click the link elsewhere on this page to check it out.