gumshoo Blog

Quarter Million eBay Auctions Analyzed

2007-01-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Today marks an amazing milestone for gumshoo. We have now analyzed over a quarter million eBay auctions. We'd just like to take a moment to thank all of you, our loyal customers, for helping us reach this point. We hope that you will continue to find that we offer the best eBay shopping experience on the Web. Thanks again!

Does '07 Mark the End of an eBay Era?

2006-12-30T20:34:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of brain drain at eBay over the last couple years, with 2006 being no exception. The company's best and brightest, whether from the trenches or the top, have been leaving in droves. My sources tell me that turmoil reigns within the walls of eBay. Numerous restructurings combined with a mass exodus have left the employees battle worn.

Meg herself is one of the few eBay veterans to remain at the company, but one has to wonder for how long? The company seems to be making its transition from a large growth company to a slow growth company. This may be the year Meg decides to call it quits and move on to greener pastures. She's already had many of her top brass do the same.

While eBay still represents a huge marketplace, it seems clear that new market forces are at work. Google's AdWords program allows "Power Sellers" to take their business off eBay, eliminating eBay's fees in exchange for paid search placements that are often cheaper and more effective. Google Checkout poses a serious threat to PayPal's formerly uncontested domain. The verdict on Skype is still out. It's a great service, but can eBay make any real money there?

Another nagging problem for eBay is that its marketplace is just too inconvenient for most shoppers. gumshoo was created on this very basis. It's been a little over a year since the launch of gumshoo and there's still a large need being filled by the service. And let's not forget the effort (and fees) required to sell items on eBay.

2007 looks to be a challenging year for eBay. Let's hope that it brings some exciting innovations that keep the eBay Marketplace vibrant and exciting well into the future.

Artist eboy includes gumshoo logo in latest piece

2006-12-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

A good friend wrote to let us know that the gumshoo logo has been featured in a recent work by the artist known as eboy. We're very flattered to be featured alongside such Web 2.0 giants as Google, Amazon and YouTube. Take a look at the image and look for our logo in the upper left corner. Workers are busily covering the JotSpot logo with the gumshoo logo.

PS3 and Wii Scams are in full bloom on eBay

2006-11-27T22:26:00.000-08:00

Make sure you read carefully before bidding on a Nintendo Wii or Sony Playstation 3 gaming console on eBay. Several sellers are attempting to mislead buyers into believing they are purchasing a game system, when in fact they are simply purchasing an email address from one of the free email providers. Below are two screenshots of this scam as seen through gumshoo's auction analyzer. Note that in both cases, gumshoo's auction analyzer has flagged the listings as suspicious for one or more reasons.

Above: A seller lists an email address for sale with a Buy It Now price of $500!

Above: Another seller is looking to take advantage of Nintendo Wii fans who are not paying close attention.

Happy Cyber Monday

2006-11-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is all about hype and Cyber Monday is yet another example of that. According to news reports I overheard while doing some online shopping, online shopping sites should see the highest traffic of the year. However, the biggest sales numbers will come about 2 weeks into December (when people will be biting their nails in hopes that their package will arrive before Christmas).

Speaking of hype, two new gaming systems have beeen released just in time for the holidays. The problem? They've only released about 1/4 as many as can keep up with demand. As a result, eBay is all abuzz with sales of Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3 systems. If you're desperately seeking one of these systems for the holidays, be prepared to pay roughly double the retail price. Also be prepared for scam artists. Pricey electronics that are in high demand always attract unsavory characters. Shopping eBay with gumshoo.com is a great way to give yourself some additional information when you need to decide whether or not to place that bid.

Service Interruptions

2006-11-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that gumshoo is not its usual, reliable self these days. We've noticed too and we are in the process of fixing the problem. We apologize for the downtime and we thank you for your patience.

Over 200,000 Auctions and Counting!

2006-10-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Today gumshoo crossed the 200,000 mark. That means that over 200,000 unique eBay auctions have been scanned for potential risks. It's a great feeling to know that users find our service valuable to the tune of 200,000 auctions. Thank you gumshoo users! We couldn't have done it without you.

Meg Whitman is trying to breathe new life into eBay. - October 16, 2006

2006-10-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

Meg Whitman is trying to breathe new life into eBay. - October 16, 2006

This is an interesting article from Fortune about the current executive staff at eBay. Things certainly have changed a lot over the last year or so, with most of the eBay elite leaving the ranks. It looks like Fortune was given access to the executive staff for this piece. One has to assume that Meg and co. are setting the stage for her departure. The majority of the piece is about the "inflection point" that the company finds itself at. I think they'll wait until after the busy holiday season before Meg announces she's moving on, but consider this the beginnings of a soft-landing campaign with the media.

Google seen making move to sharpen attack on eBay - MarketWatch

2006-09-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Google seen making move to sharpen attack on eBay - MarketWatch

A Bear Stearns analyst indicates that Google may be planning to quietly "de-emphasize" (read: kill) Froogle in favor of some new version of Google Base. This move is purported to be an eBay killer. Perhaps, but that seems like wishful thinking, at least on the part of Google investors.

I don't know about you, but I never use Froogle or Google Base. When these features were first released, I took a look, was disappointed and never went back. In fact, I don't know anyone who regularly uses either service. Frankly, Google Base just seems like a mess. This stems from its attempt to be a generic online database of items, from jobs to reviews to recipes to collectible tea pots. I suppose it is trying to be craigslist, but somehow it falls flat.

eBay has its own problems, but at least it's clear to consumers precisely what they do. That is a huge advantage. Imagine trying to explain Google Base to your parents.

Local Woman Falls for eBay Scam

2006-09-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

WKRC 12 Cincinnati - Local Woman Falls for eBay Scam

We've said it before and we'll say it again. It's never a good idea to complete an eBay transaction off eBay, no matter how good the deal promised may be. In fact, the better the deal promised, the more it should be greeted with suspicion.

In this case, a woman was presented with a second chance offer, but was instructed to complete the transaction off eBay using a Money Order. Adding to the potential risk was the fact that the seller was located outside the US. Needless to say, she sent the money but never received the goods and because the transaction was completed off eBay, she has no recourse through eBay.

Don't let this happen to you. It's easy to get excited by an apparent deal, but don't forget some of these basic rules of thumb when buying something off eBay:

1. Never complete an eBay transaction off eBay
2. Never pay by personal check or money order, always pay with a credit card through PayPal
3. Avoid transactions outside your native country unless you know exactly who you are dealing with.

and most importantly...

4. Use gumshoo! :)

When you search for and view eBay auctions with gumshoo, you get a second pair of eyes that are scanning auctions for a variety of warning signs. Risks like foreign sellers, suspicious descriptions, excessive shipping charges, seller reputation and much more are brought to your attention faster than you can say "Buy it now!"

gumshoo is also a great way to learn eBay shopping best practices that can keep you out of trouble. Our alerts offer specific warnings and specific advice to help make you a smarter eBay shopper.

We hear about stories like these nearly every day. They're unfortunate, but they reinforce our belief that there is a real need for our service. If you use and enjoy gumshoo, we encourage you to let your friends, co-workers and family know about us. If you've never used gumshoo, we encourage you to give it a try today.

Why is gumshoo just for eBay buyers, not sellers?

2006-09-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

We recently received an email from an eBay seller who feels that the site is unfair to sellers since it does not offer a mutual forum for both the eBay buyer and seller. Here is an excerpt from our response. We think it does a good job of summarizing our position and the guiding philosophy behind gumshoo.com:

There are several Web sites available to sellers that, for a fee, will help weed out potentially bad buyers. gumshoo.com was created to offer buyers a similar resource (for free). By design, gumshoo.com is a site for eBay buyers. We've made this choice because it allows us to offer our users unbiased information. While it is true that sellers sometimes receive negative feedback through no fault of their own and that sellers can also be the victim of scams perpetrated by buyers, it is also true that transactions in which sellers have a low feedback score, a negative feedback trend, high shipping costs, or other risk factors, are more likely to result in an unsatisfied buyer and, occasionally, outright fraud.

We feel that the mutual forum you describe is already available on eBay. In fact, all of our alerts encourage buyers to use eBay's 'Ask the seller a question' feature before bidding. This gives sellers the opportunity to explain their position, while it protects buyers from entering into transactions before they are fully aware of the risks (or lack thereof).

Don't let it happen to you...

2006-08-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Check from a scammer bounces victim into jail

This story comes from SFGate, the San Francisco Chronicle website. It's a great example of why you should avoid checks when completing online transactions. In this case, an unwitting seller accepted a check for an item he was selling through craigslist. Though suspicious, he decided to try and cash the check. As it turns out, the check was bad and he found himself in jail for nearly 12 hours.

There's plenty of blame to go around in this case. Obviously, the person who wrote the bad check deserves the bulk of it, but the seller also ignored a key warning sign; the check was written far in excess of the agreed amount. The buyer said this was "for your trouble" and that always spells trouble for the seller. Of course, the bank probably overreacted as well, calling the police before being sure that this wasn't simply an innocent victim.

The moral of this story is that, for online transactions, especially those between individuals, you should never use nor accept a check. Protect yourself by only accepting or paying with PayPal or Google Checkout. It's fast, simple and safe.

New and improved misspelled search results!

2006-08-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

We're happy to announce that we recently rolled out a new and improved misspelled search results feature. This release features both misspelled and correctly spelled eBay auctions in the same search results list. Now you don't have to change tabs to see misspellings. In addition to this change, we have also added two new tabs: 'No Typos' and 'All Typos'. These two tabs let you narrow the results if you're only interested in seeing one result set or another.

As always, we'd really like to hear from you about this most recent update to the site. Please let us know if you like it. Oh, and if you find any bugs, we'd like to hear about those too.

Meg to Street: "What, me worry?"

2006-07-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

eBay just announced their 2nd quarter earnings and CEO Meg Whitman stated she's confident in eBay's future growth prospects. Meg also announced yet another increase in seller fees, this time focused more narrowly on eBay Stores sellers. She says they've "dilluted the magic" of eBay and by "magic" I must assume she means profitability. Apparently, the feeling is that higher fees will cause sellers to move their listings from the stores back to the auction format. Of course, it could just represent the last straw for unhappy volume sellers.

Meg also commented on Google Checkout, stating that she's not concerned about the competition. "We are going to innovate as we always have," she said. Of course, if you ask most folks, eBay's innovation starts and ends with its creation. Since then innovation has come through acquisition or through its public API (and we at gumshoo are thankful for that API).

These are some tough times for eBay. Growth is slowing and they are facing ever-increasing competitive threats, especially from Google. Fortunately, the eBay Developers Program seems to be getting a lot of internal resources and attention since innovation is most likely to come from the developer community.

Google Checkout's Impact Already Apparent

2006-07-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

Analysts: EBay Faces Competitive Threat: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

In my last post I said it would be interesting to see what happens with Google Checkout in the next 6 months. But who needs to wait 6 months? The fallout from Google's Checkout announcement is already being felt over in eBay's world. eBay recently announced that Google Checkout was on its banned payment list due to a lack of "substantial historical track record". Yeah, right.

Today the president of PayPal announced that he would be stepping down and made the cliche statement that he wants to spend more time with the wife and kids. Again, yeah right. The question is, did he leave by choice or was he pushed out? Those rooting for eBay's future growth hope that he was pushed, because if he left on his own, that probably means he sees the writing on the wall with regard to Google Checkout and PayPal's ability to continue gaining market share. As I said in my last post, Google Checkout poses an immediate threat to one of PayPal's biggest growth areas: off-eBay tranactions. It's only a matter of time before it threatens the entire breadth and depth of the PayPal offering. At this rate, it will take far less than 6 months.

Google Checkout Is Here

2006-06-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

You'll soon start seeing these little buggers all over the Web if Google Checkout (a.k.a. GPay) is anywhere near as popular as it promises to be. While not as sophisticated or robust as eBay's PayPal service, Google's got one big advantage for the average small-time seller: price. That's because Google charges a mere 2% of the total, plus $0.20 per transaction. That's significantly less than PayPal, who charge 2.9% and $0.30 for totals less than $3,000 per month. And that doesn't take into account that, according to Google Checkout's FAQ, "for every $1 you spend on AdWords, you can process $10 in sales for free."

Is this going to be a PayPal killer? I seriously doubt it. PayPal has some very robust trust and safety mechanisms in place, they are ahead of the game internationally and they have terrific brand recognition. However, despite Google's assertions to the contrary, you can bet Google Checkout is looking to muscle in on PayPal's market share. In fact, they already are in PayPal's merchant account space and, unless eBay explicity prohibits it, I don't see why they wouldn't start becoming an accepted payment method on eBay. It will be interesting to see where things stand 6 months from now.

Gates' retirement was a message to eBay - Valleywag

2006-06-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

Gates' retirement was a message to eBay - Valleywag

Is it possible? Could a Microsoft and eBay marriage be in the works? There's been speculation for weeks now that eBay and Microsoft are courting. Most people, like me, think that this is a lot of hot air and that the merger of two companies plagued by anti-trust threats are not likely to tie the knot.

This week Valleywag claims a little birdie told them that "Gates stepped down in an attempt to convince [eBay founder] Pierre Omidyar that Gates shares all the same values as Pierre in terms of charity." Sounds like a stretch to me.

eBay Jackpot?

2006-06-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Web auctions, the new jackpot for middle Americans - Yahoo! News
Regular folk attend this years' eBay Live! event hoping to learn the secret to making big money on eBay. The truth is, it's just like most anything else. A lot of work.

Add gumshoo search to your site - it's easy!

2006-06-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

See that search box over there on the right? Yeah, that one with the gumshoo logo. Looks pretty doesn't it? If you're a blogger or you own your own website, you're probably thinking, "gee, how do I get one of those on my site?" Well, I'm glad you asked. It's actually incredibly easy. Just one line of JavaScript in the right spot and you're done!
Visit gumshoo.com to grab the code.

eBay's Live Announcements

2006-06-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

eBay Live Announcements - Skype integration, blogs and a Crackdown on Excessive Shipping Fees

This week eBay made some important announcements regarding new additions to the site, Skype integration and Trust & Safety. For the most part, these announcements are not earthshattering. Adding a wiki and a blog is not exactly revolutionary, but it should help make eBay a little stickier and improve their presence in the search engines.

The Skype integration was certainly predictable. Of course, you have to wonder how many sellers are going to want dozens or hundreds of people calling them and expecting immediate answers. Sellers have already complained that tending to their buyer questions via email takes too much of their time. I can't imagine adding a Skype Me button will make this better. eBay will have to quickly demonstrate that average selling prices go up significantly when the Skype Me button is present on a listing. It's the only way this service will take off.

The most interesting announcement, from gumshoo's perspective, was the verbal commitment to crack down on eBay sellers charging excessive shipping fees. This is an issue that has been well documented for years. It's why gumshoo includes an excessive shipping and handling fee alert in all auction scans.

So will the promised crackdown on excessive shipping fees prove effective? We'll have to wait and see. In order for eBay to implement this crackdown without significantly impacting their bottom line, they will need to have a pretty liberal definition of "excessive". One that you can bet will favor the seller. Gumshoo will continue to scan for excessive shipping and handling fees unless and until it becomes abundantly clear that eBay has elimintated the problem.

Safari Working Again

2006-06-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

We received a few reports that some of our beloved Mac users were having trouble with the Safari browser on gumshoo. We're happy to report that we've found the offending code and Safari is once again working. We'd like to give a shout-out to all our Mac users! You rock!

gumshoo.com Reaches 100,000 Auction Milestone

2006-06-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

gumshoo.com Reaches 100,000 Auction Milestone

Back around May 22, we reached a milestone in gumshoo's history. An incredible 100,000 eBay auctions had been scanned, revealing a variety of risks that users may have otherwise remained unaware of. Over 20% of all the listings we've scanned have been flagged for questionable seller reputation, over 20% had excessive or unspecified shipping costs, about 10% were listed from a foreign country and nearly 20% had suspicious item descriptions.

As of today we've scanned over 120,000 auctions and are still going strong. If you ever want to see the total, we track it on the home page. You can also view the statistics (e.g. 20% of listings trigger seller alerts) by visiting this gumshoo help page. Better yet, head over to gumshoo and search for yourself!

BBC NEWS | Business | EBay users 'need to be streetwise'

2006-06-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS | Business | EBay users 'need to be streetwise'

The BBC talks with eBay Trust and Safety head, Garreth Griffiths about the risks of buying on eBay. Griffiths says that only about 0.01% of all eBay transactions are fraudulent, but many would argue that is a dramatic understimate of the acutal amount of fraud on the site because eBay only tracks the transactions buyers take the time to report as fraudulent.

While gumshoo doesn't track statistics on fraudulent transactions, we do keep statistics on the number of auctions that are flagged by our risk detection engine. Our records indicate that about 20% of auctions are risky enough to warrant additional research on the part of the buyer to ensure that they don't get ripped off. Click here to see the latest eBay auction statistics.

Yahoo, eBay form far-reaching alliance - Yahoo! News

2006-05-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Yahoo, eBay form far-reaching alliance - Yahoo! News

It's official. Yahoo! and eBay have entered a formal partnership to promote each others' services in an attempt to compete with Google. It looks like the Internet is well along the path of mergers & acquisitions and that we may indeed see a merger between some of the largest and most successful Internet companies.

What do you think? Is a high profile merger between the major Internet players just a matter of time? Will this trend make the Internet better or worse? Does anyone stand a chance against Google over the long haul?

Welcome to the gumshoo Blog

2006-05-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

We thought it was high time gumshoo had its own blog. After all, over 100,000 eBay auctions have been scanned for a variety of risk factors since we started this whole thing about 8 months ago. This blog will feature news and comment from the gumshoo staff. Topics may include new features, gumshoo best practices, future plans, eBay buyer and seller tips and anything else that pops into our heads. We'll also post system status messages here as needed (hopefully, not very often).

We know that good communication is a two-way street and we hope you'll participate as well by sending us your comments and suggestions. After all, you are a big part of what makes gumshoo a success!

- the gumshoo crew