Skype me a Christmas card
December 24, 2008
There’s gotta be someone out there that you meant to send a card to, that special person who’s card plopped onto your doormat this morning and you realise there’s no way you can get a card to them for tomorrow. (Well you might be better organised, but it’s happened to me on more than one occasion 
)
Well now there’s a solution, why not Skype someone a video card? Simply choose a card cover, record your message with a webcam and you’re ready to send to your friends. It’s even easier if you’re on Facebook as Skype have built a Facebook app for video cards as well.
I really like this idea for people who won’t be home this Christmas, and want to send a personal message to family or friends. Plus it’s a neat idea to get a few more people using Skype to communicate.
Skype moves Australia to Europe
December 22, 2008
We all know where Australia is right? The Antipodes, that’s the other side of the world. Down under. You know, where the wallabys and kangaroos hang out with Matilda.
Well not any more, Skype has moved it conveniently close to the UK, just South of Germany and the Czech Republic. Skype illustrate how Skype To Go works saying “Sam’s based in the US, so he’s got a US Skype To Go number. His family is back in Australia“, with an image of the call hopping across the Atlantic into Europe.
Not quite Australia, Sydney is about 10,000 miles away from Vienna in Austria, Skype need to get their geography books out.
Via IT Wire
The Christmas Decorations are up in my eBay shop
December 17, 2008
I’ve been far too busy to put up the Christmas decorations at home and they’ll probably not go up until this weekend, but I’ve decorated my eBay shop .
The good news is that it didn’t take me any time at all - the guys at Frooition offer a service where they’ll decorate your eBay shop for you, and what’s even better when you’re ready to take them down they pack the decorations away and restore you shop back to it’s normal appearance in the New Year.
The Frootion Xmas graphics pack is just one of the options available for Frooition eBay shops, they’ve added in a whole suite of Frooition Extras to allow your buyers to shop by Size, Price or Brand. You can select extras you want to transform your eBay shop tailoring it to exactly suit the type of products you sell and the type of buyer you want to appeal to.
I quite like the seasonal changes that are possible with my eBay shop and yes “Sandwich Lady” is still there, but now she’s got a tree on her desk 
Guess What? eBay wrapping paper up for grabs
December 12, 2008
Guess What? We managed to get our hands on 50 sheets of eBay “Guess What” wrapping paper. This is the stuff the eBay elves have been giving out to commuters at busy mainline train stations.
We’re not going to be buying that many presents so we’ll send 5 sheets for free to the first 10 readers that post in comments below, saying why they’d like some! We’ll contact you (using the email address you enter when leaving your comment) to request your mailing address.
While we’re willing to post world wide (we know eBay love those cross border transactions) we’ve already passed the final posting date for Christmas for readers outside Europe, so you might not get the paper in time for Christmas but it’ll be perfect for birthday gifts.
If you’ve bought someone a Christmas present on eBay why not finish it off by presenting it in Guess What wrapping paper?
Will the Skype dance come to a club near you?
July 29, 2008
Most people know how to type an emoticon without even thinking about it. They’ve become so ingrained in our lives from IM to email and even on mobile SMS text messages that :-) is pretty much universally understood.
In recent times :-) automatically displays as (can any one still remember the early days when they didn’t?) and some emoticons are even animated such as 
That’s about as much thought as I’d normally give emoticons until I saw on the Skype Journal that some guy has actually gone so far as learning the Skype Dance. Skype Dance is just one of the emoticons for available for use in Skype chat but this guy would like to see people doing the “Skype Dance” in clubs. If you’re out clubbing at the weekend keep an eye out for people doing the Skype Dance 
Open thread: what do you want from JD?
June 16, 2008
On Friday morning John Donahoe will be giving his first Live keynote speech as President of eBay. There’s been some speculation about what he might say, though frankly, many sellers are hoping there’s nothing else left to come.
So for a bit of fun while Chris and I are on the plane, two questions for you:
- What do you think JD will have to say on Friday?
- What would you like him to say on Friday?
Rank PayPal on their DSRs
May 28, 2008
Over the last few weeks I’ve heard a lot of people discussing how they would rank eBay if they could give eBay Detailed Seller Ratings. Well I’ve not found a way to rank eBay but you can certainly rank PayPal’s website design.
Feel free to go give PayPal a DSR rating (go on, do it, you know you want to - but be fair, you’re ranking them on their website, not their service).
The link to rank PayPal is “Site Feedback” found at the bottom of any PayPal page
As an aside I do prefer their happy/sad smilie faces rather than eBay’s stars
JD signs eBay feedback certificates
May 19, 2008
One of my buying IDs got it’s 50th feedback this week along with the congratulations email from eBay and a link to download a Blue Star Certificate.
It’s the first feedback certificate I’ve had since JD took over and sure enough his signature has replaced Meg Whitman.
If you missed getting your feedback certificate and want to download them they’re available as .pdf documents: 10 Yellow Star, 50 Blue Star, 100 Turquoise Star, 500 Purple Star, 1000 Red Star and 5000 Green Star.
Mind you JD’s pen must have run out of ink as Meg’s signature is still on the 500, 1000 and 5000 feedback certificates
eBay have never (as far as I’m aware) produced Feedback Certificates for Shooting Stars, maybe by that time they figure you’ll have enough certificates hanging on your wall?
First eBay Live! party announced
March 13, 2008
Bookings open tomorrow for eBay Live! 2008 in Chicago and whilst the schedule is yet to be published there’s at least one peripheral event I’ll be making certain to attend - vzaar, the guys that put the video into eBay, will be organising a vzaar get together in Chicago.
If you’re going to eBay Live! let us know so that we can arrange to meet up. More importantly let vzaar know that your going to ensure you get details of when and where you can let them buy you a drink!
If you want to be kept informed of all vzaar events and news then sign up for their newsletter, The vzaar Online Herald.
Catalyst now has a confirmed attendee
March 12, 2008
Tank Stikman, the face of ChannelAdvisor has been quiet since making his first appearance back in December, but he’s now the first confirmed attendee at the Catalyst US conference.
It’s a great advert for Pinehurst, the resort hotel where the conference will take place on the 1st - 3rd April. Between bouncing on the bed, a game of golf, a massage and beauty treatments I don’t know how the attendees will get time to attend the conference sessions.
If you’re going to Catalyst in the US (or in the UK) look out for Tank, if you spot him let us know
Feedback gets emoticons
March 11, 2008
Thanks go to TameBay reader Allotment for discovering the newest feedback gizmo that eBay are playing with. It’s a feedback tag cloud of the comments you receive most frequently in feedback with some emoticons (better known as smilies) thrown in for good measure.
Your recent feedback is scanned and the comments left most often are converted into tags, the larger the font the more times you’ve received the comment. Some tags are associated with emoticons and clicking any tag brings up the full feedback comments containing the phrase. I especially like the emoticon for “Would deal again” which is 
Go to eBay Labs and enter your own eBay User ID and let us know your thoughts in comments below.
eBay Labs are the playground for developers and not all ideas will ever be implemented on the site. This is one I’m hoping might make it through in one form or another - it’s far too good to be left languishing as a developers plaything.
Mother’s day Smilers stamps charity auction
March 2, 2008
If you’ve forgotten that it’s Mother’s day today, shame on you! But it’s not too late to bring a smile to your mums face today - why not buy her a truly unique present in the form of some Royal Mail Smilers created and signed by Helena Christensen, the supermodel turned professional photographer? What makes them even more unique is the fact she created them from photographs of her son, Mingus.
Smilers are a unique way to personalise your post by combining one of your own photos with a Royal Mail stamp. They’re available from Royal Mail in sheets of 20 stamps and Helena has five special personally signed sheets of Smilers included in the auction, to celebrate Mother’s Day.
Valentine’s day - sold on eBay
February 14, 2008
Today is Valentine’s day, the day Heidi McCafferty, a radio producer from Northants96 has a very unusual date. She auctioned herself on eBay and tonight will be dining with a mystery bidder “Neil” who won the auction.
Heidi decided to raise money for the Lakelands Hospice in Corby, Northampton. Lakelands provide care and support for terminally ill adults, along with their families. The auction attracted 24 bidders and ended up raising £492 for the charity.
Many buyers will have been shopping for Valentine gifts on eBay, but I doubt many people purchased their date on the site!
Even a monkey can sell on eBay
February 8, 2008
They say if you sat a monkey down at a typewriter eventually it would produce the entire works of Shakespeare. That might be wishful thinking but an orangutan has just made over $1300 for two paintings on eBay.
Woodland Park Zoo’s 39 year old male orangutan named Towan produced two pieces of artwork one in red, one orange and the funds raised will go towards an international zookeepers conference next year at the zoo in Seattle.
The Seattle Times reports Carolyn Austin, an orangutan zookeeper, saying “Towan will work for two hours on one piece; she offers him colored chalk and paint-filled pens and he’ll choose the colors he wants. Towan likes primary colors.”
13 million votes for fun
January 26, 2008
You’ve gotta be kidding me, I mean have people nothing better to do with their time? I was checking out eBay Match Ups and was gobsmacked to see that the top five users have each voted on over 300,000 Match Ups.
The top 15 users between them have racked up over 3½ million votes! In total over 13 million votes have been placed on eBay Match Ups, that’s 3 million more votes than were cast in the last UK General Election!
Now I know some Match Ups are amusing, it can be highly addictive for the first five minutes but after that they all merge into a blur. To vote on a few is fun, a couple of hundred you must have been bored, a thousand or so and you get RSI, but to place several hundred thousand votes is extraordinary?
Just where do people find the time?
How to use video
January 17, 2008
I’m not sure how Dan and Emma have the cheek to call that work…
Sister wrapped
December 27, 2007
I guess the papers are short of stories in the week between Christmas and New Year, because the “unwanted Christmas presents sold on eBay” story has been everywhere. “Auction off your dud presents” advises the Telegraph, before rehashing Dan Wilson’s how to eBay series from this summer. The Mirror includes eBay in a list of ways to get rid of unwanted gifts. Even the BBC gets in on the act.
But the prize for best version of the regifting story goes to a surprising winner: Tazbar. “Were your Christmas presents pants?” asks their email. And comes with this delightful image. Would could resist? 
Happy Christmas from TameBay
December 25, 2007
TameBay competition news
December 10, 2007
Competitions are the name of the game this month, not only are Bling! It and TameBay offering you the chance to win 1 of 20 copies of Bling! It! but 3mobilebuzz is offering the chance to win one, two or even three Skypephones!
Entries are already coming in for the Bling! It competition and you can see some of them in the TameBay forum. I’m particularly impressed with the superb product shot of a trainer which took hopecouture just 45 seconds to create.
However someone has gone one better, Jade has won the “Bling! of the Month” with their entry into the Bling! It competition and has already won a free copy of the Bling! It software. Steve Nelson of Bling! It told us “We feel Jade has truly captured the way in which Bling! It can transform product shots. The finished result looks great!”
Hopecouture are spreading their wings and have also entered the 3mobilebuzz competition with a novel entry. They’re using eBay Matchups comparing the 3 Skypephone to the iPhone, Skype on a PC, expensive Mobile Phone Bills and even using the 3 Skypephone vs emailing an eBay seller.
Meanwhile Dave has been reading TameBay, heard about the 3mobilebuzz competition and submitted a video entry hosted on vzaar. He’s so keen to win he’s even scrapped his old Nokia in the hope of receiving a shiny new Skypephone!
3mobilebuzzcomp1
There’s still time for you to enter both competitions, the 3 Skypephone competition ends on Monday 17th December and the Bling! It competition closes for entries on Wednesday 19th December.
Bid for the eBay homepage
December 10, 2007
Yes that’s right, eBay are offering one person the chance of filming their own Christmas message, which will be broadcast on the eBay homepage and seen by millions of people over the festive session in order to raise money for the NSPCC.
If you want to rival the Queen and give your own Christmas message to millions of people or have something important to say to someone special that you want the world to hear where better than on eBay? Your message will be seen by approximately 15 million people on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That’s three times as many people that watched the Queen’s speech in 2006 which was watched by 5.7 million Brits.
Richard Kanareck, eBay spokesperson said “Plenty of things have been sold on eBay, but this is the first time that people have been able to bid for the site itself.”
The auction for the eBay homepage is live on eBay and ends at 7pm on 13th December. 100% of the money raised will go to benefit the NSPCC and Childline.
Every retailer needs a little TANK!
December 6, 2007
Meet Tank Stikman, the new face of ChannelAdvisor. Tank’s aim is to help retailers become successful and claims he is the glue that holds ChannelAdvisor together.
You can follow the adventures of Tank on the ChannelAdvisor website but if you want to know what he’s been up to lately just watch the footage below. Mind you, I’m not sure if daydreaming during a speech by the charismatic CEO of ChannelAdvisor, Scot Wingo, is recommended for ChannelAdvisor employees! 
He feels our pain
December 6, 2007
Hey. I’m J and this is my stupid blog about stupid ebayers and their stupid auctions and their stupid emails to me.
Long before TameBay, I used to wonder if there was mileage in a blog about the crazy stuff you hear as an eBayer: bizarre demands from buyers, even more bizarre terms and conditions from sellers, the downright weird products when you multiply anonymity by money. I once created a page to demonstrate to my brother why I stopped selling over the Atlantic, but, not wanting to be mean to my lovely buyers, I never took the idea any further.
J. has. There’s plenty in his blog that long-term sellers will recognise, and he’s raised frustration to an art form. The newest post, about stupid comments left in PayPal notes, rang a great big bell with me: it does make me laugh when people write like I’m going to hand-deliver their package.
Bid for a White Christmas on eBay
November 23, 2007
For the second year in a row Sno!zone are auctioning a real white Christmas for one lucky bidder. On Christmas Eve they’ll receive a delivery of ten tonnes of snow to be professionally spread around their house and garden. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without carol singers and a visit from Father Christmas who will bring a sack of presents for the winner.
The auction is to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and runs until 2nd December. Get your bids in early and it could be you and your family having a snowball fight the night before Christmas!
Child benefit records appear on eBay
November 21, 2007
One database, 2 CDs, 25 million children’s names and addresses, 10 million adult’s bank account details and national insurance numbers. That’s what the latest spoof auctions on eBay have to offer, following the government fiasco where they mislaid CDs containing the entire countries Child Benefit Records.
The occasional parcel lost in transit is nothing new for eBay buyers and sellers, which is why many insist on trackable signed for delivery services. If the government were subject to PayPal chargebacks they too might be prompted take a bit more care of confidential information.
Back to the eBay spoof auctions, they’re promising the two CDs containing the database. It appears some of the auctions have been ended early but I wouldn’t recommend bidding on those remaining, especially for the one that cheekily states “We can’t guarantee it will reach you in the post, they have a habit of going missing you see.”
Vote for the best of eBay
November 19, 2007
eBay have just launched a new site, Best of eBay, for all the weird, wonderful and downright outrageous auctions that the site has to offer. Anything that’s unusual, interesting or eccentric should be found on this site, and if it’s not it’s down to you to nominate any strange listings you find for the amusement of others.
As well as adding listings you can vote for those that others have found and hopefully something better than the current top auction of a knitted quiche, grilled mushrooms, french fries and tomato will rise to the top!
I’ve added the vzaar auction for an eBay mug, just because the joke in the video is so bad (and so predictable :-p ), so go vote for that, just to show our US friends that the UK also has some oddities to offer. It’s only the 120th auction to be added to the site so if you find something funnier be sure to let us know what you’ve added
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