eBay News: Sotheby’s, Intuit, and Estimated Delivery Dates

eBay is not shy about entering into partnerships, as evidenced this month with its first Sotheby’s live auction and announcement-board post promoting tax products from Intuit. eBay also fixed an error with its delivery estimates on the UK website.

eBay Holds First Sotheby’s Auction
eBay kicked off its first live auction event with Sotheby’s on April 1st, though it was no April Fool’s joke. Several lots went for $60,000, while some lots went unsold. The April 1st auction page displays selling prices, and more information is available on the eBay blog.

eBay Promotes Intuit Products on Announcement Board
While ads are now to be expected on marketplace websites, eBay has taken to occasionally promoting certain products on its announcement board, such as the March 26th offer urging storeowners to try Intuit products TurboTax and QuickBooks Online.

eBay Fixes Estimated Delivery Date Blunder
eBay UK forgot to take into account the Easter mail-holidays when displaying estimated delivery dates on its sellers’ listings. It fixed the “technical issue,” and in recognition of the impact such blunders have on sellers’ reputations, it promised to remove defects for listings impacted by its error.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.