online marketplace

Ecommerce giant eBay announced that it completed the acquisition of GSI Commerce reported back in March. eBay has purchased all outstanding shares of GSI at $29.25 pher share in cash, adding up to about $2.4 billion.

GSI Commerce will continue to operate as a separate business from eBay, and will be led by Chris Saridakis as its newly appointed president. He will report directly to John Donahoe, eBay’s President and CEO.

The first quarter turned profitable for eBay who makes every effort to make its marketplaces more attractive to online shoppers. More people were purchasing items on the ecommerce site and more merchants used its PayPal payment system.

The first quarter revenue increased by 15.9% to $2.55 billion supported by a 23% growth at PayPal and a 12% rise at its marketplaces, says eBay.

EBay is in the final stages of a three-year plan to revitalize its marketplaces unit, whose growth had slowed.

eBay is launching new initiative to allow sellers to offer as many as 50 items per month without charging them a listing fee. The program comes into effect starting next month.

The pricing is effecting as of April 19 and follows similar incentives promoted in 2010 for attracting new sellers and new listings to eBay's auction website.

The company estimated last month that the marketplaces unit is set to grow into a $7 billion to $8 billion business by 2013 from $5.7 billion in 2010. It is targeting total revenue to reach $13 billion to $15 billion by 2013.
 

eBay is launching a new secondhand buying service to eliminate the need to list unwanted gadgets for auction or through the classifieds. The ecommerce website has partnered with unnamed dealers to introduce a new marketplace called Instant Sale that accepts laptops, phones, tablets, PDAs, digital cameras, MP3 players, camcorders and GPS Systems.

Among other things eBay presents its new services as a green-friendly destination as it is offering a free recycling service for gadgets deemed worthless for resale.

eBay have partnered with Young Bae Ku, the founder of Gmarket, Korea’s leading e-commerce company acquired by eBay in 2009, to form a joint venture that will allow Gnarket to expand into existing markets in Japan and Singapore while strengthening eBay’s position in these regions.

eBay has introduced a new shopping destination for clothing, shoes and accessories eBay Fashion that can be found by following the link fashion.ebay.com. The new fashion section features a completely different user-friendly interface and a wide range of items.

Enhanced functionality featuring eBay Fashion includes the following:

Online marketplace company eBay has at last opened its local website for Russian users. The ecommerce giant has launched the system of international shopping eBay International Market (eIM). The company has translated not only the searching and lot interface into Russian, it also translated customer support and personal user area.

This week online marketplace leader eBay in association with the National Retail Federation, the trade group for the retail industry, announced they would be partnering to fight organized retail crime that results in significant losses for the merchants.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will support the partnership which is meant to help law enforcement in criminal probes and prevent crimes in which goods are stolen from brick-and-mortar stores and then resold online.

eBay was found liable for misleading customers by using misspelt versions of luxury brand Louis Vuitton as search engine key words to redirect users to Ebay website links. A Paris tribunal on Thursday ordered eBay to repay 200,000 euros ($275,800) in damages and 30,000 euros in legal costs incurred by Louis Vuitton.

Besides, eBay was also demanded to pay 1,000 euros in penalties every time it used search engine key words that "harmed the reputation of the Louis Vuitton brand."

Online marketplace eBay is launching a new service called "Garden by eBay," a dedicated section that allows members to test new features and provide feedback for improvements and changes.

Garden by eBay replicates the idea of Google Labs where users can test and experiment with different features before they are officially released.

The global online marketplace eBay in association with BRIDES magazine on engagement, weddings and marriage, are launching "Build Your Bling" contest for women across the country who are invited to create the design of the diamond ring they dream of. At stake is the opportunity to be awarded with the one-of-a-kind rock and ring they designed worth up to $25,000.

The ring is designed via the eBay Diamond Ring Designer. The eBay Diamond Ring Designer delivers access to certified, conflict-free loose diamonds and gorgeous ring settings available on eBay.

EBay Inc made a forecast for 2010 with the expected results beating analysts’ predictions. The company expressed its optimistic view after posting double-digit revenue growth in PayPal and its main online marketplaces unit which in turn sent its shares up 8%. Besides, eBay also beat Wall Street profit estimates in its holiday quarter.

EBay reported that the revenue at its main marketplace division increased 15% during the quarter. Gross merchandise volume was up 24%.

 David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com, the world's largest business to business online network, noted that the United States pays scanty attention to small businesses which on the contrary should be considered as big part of the economic recovery. He said that his company will help create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the US. 

“We come here (to the US) and want to create one million jobs, in particular to help accelerate exports outside the US," David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com. 

 After spending more than a year in Wall Street's doghouse, eBay Inc. has managed to win back favor from investors and analysts in recent weeks, as data has shown improvements in the company's core online auctions business. 

Such is apparent when looking at recent ratings changes on the company. During the last month, five analysts have upgraded their rating on eBay to buy. Several others have bumped up their price targets on the stock.