It’s getting crazy out there! Yesterday I was nearly killed (OK, perhaps almost maimed) by a couple of guys fighting over the last Wii. Duh, you’d think they’d know where to find one … eBay of course. Come to think of it, perhaps they were a couple of eBay sellers trying to stock their eBay store!
I’ve yet to see such a year where everyone’s going mad trying to find just the right gift. We’re all so tired of the many gifts we get that, frankly, just aren’t right. So we are faced with the traditional holiday “Seinfeld” dilemma. Do we become re-gifters?
If you decide to re-gift (or better yet, resell on eBay), here are a few suggestions.
1. Thank the gift-giver. No matter how horrified you are when you open the box that houses the chartreuse-and-lime-green wool scarf, work up a smile. The gift-giver is looking at you with expectant eyes, just waiting for you to squeal with delight. On the chance that you can’t work up a squeal, give them a warm-hearted “thank you” and a big smile. A hug can also punctuate your sincerity.
2. When you get home, thoroughly open the gift. Rip through all the tissue, and be sure there’s nothing else in the box. This is a very basic but sometimes ignored rule of re-gifting. Gifts that are going to be re-gifted or resold must be checked thoroughly for anything that is personalized, including checks or gift cards that may have been placed inside the misfit present.
3. Don’t be in a rush to get rid of the gift. Getting the stuff out of the house may be your first instinct, but patience is key. Items that you may not need can be perfect presents for someone else in your life. If you’re planning to resell the gift on eBay, be sure to do a Completed Items search to see if a thousand other people got the same thing and put it up on eBay at the same time. (After all, how many people really want that bizarre scarf?)
4. Remember who the gift was from. Keep the original gift in its box, and mark the gift with a Post-it note so you remember who gave it to you. Store it in a clean, dust-free place, so when you are ready to re-gift or resell, the item is as good as it was on the day you received it.
These tips should be enough to get you going for now. I’ll have more in next week’s blog. Feel free to comment with any other ideas you have. Enjoy the season!
Wednesday, December 19
Wednesday, December 5
It's the Holiday Re-Gifting Season 2007
During this holiday season I’m eBay’s shopping and re-gifting expert. And though I pride myself on being a great gift-giver, honestly there are times that I’ve been stymied. If the recipient doesn’t look up at you with a big smile after tearing away the scads of carefully taped and beribboned paper, then you know there’s a chance your misfit gift will end up in that nether land of unwanted gifts stuffed in a closet, never to see the light of day.
There’s always a chance that the recipient will re-gift your present or — if she's a smart eBay seller — sell the item on the site quickly. As the old saying goes, there’s a hand for every glove (or something to that effect).
Since I’ll be blogging and answering your comments every week, I’d love to begin this season with gift suggestions from all you shopping gurus in the eBay community. What gifts do you think will be most appreciated this season?
For my first pick, I’ll go with the Nintendo Wii — I think everyone should have one in their home. It’s the first gaming console that appeals to all ages, you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy playing it, and it has a wide variety of games. The Wii is still in short supply at retailers (an opportunity for savvy sellers out there?). So if you want to give one, snatch it up as soon as you find it. eBay has a number of these listed too!
Please post your comments here, including some of your own picks for the hottest holiday gifts for 2007. I’ll be posting every week through the holidays, and I’ll offer some of my own dos and don’ts when it comes to gift-giving, re-gifting, and reselling gifts on eBay!
There’s always a chance that the recipient will re-gift your present or — if she's a smart eBay seller — sell the item on the site quickly. As the old saying goes, there’s a hand for every glove (or something to that effect).
Since I’ll be blogging and answering your comments every week, I’d love to begin this season with gift suggestions from all you shopping gurus in the eBay community. What gifts do you think will be most appreciated this season?
For my first pick, I’ll go with the Nintendo Wii — I think everyone should have one in their home. It’s the first gaming console that appeals to all ages, you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy playing it, and it has a wide variety of games. The Wii is still in short supply at retailers (an opportunity for savvy sellers out there?). So if you want to give one, snatch it up as soon as you find it. eBay has a number of these listed too!
Please post your comments here, including some of your own picks for the hottest holiday gifts for 2007. I’ll be posting every week through the holidays, and I’ll offer some of my own dos and don’ts when it comes to gift-giving, re-gifting, and reselling gifts on eBay!
Monday, October 15
I'll be Teaching eBay University Classes
For all those who have emailed me and would like to take my classes, I'll be teaching the advanced sellers course in Atlanta on October 27 and in Kansas City on November 3. I'd love to see you there. To register go to the eBay University home page.
Saturday, October 6
Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal Join Forces to Protect Consumers Against E-mail Fraud and Phishing Scams
Yahoo! Mail First to Protect Consumers by Blocking Fraudulent eBay and PayPal E-mail
Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal today announced a collaborative effort to better protect consumers against fraudulent e-mails and the dangerous scams known as phishing attacks. Starting today, eBay and PayPal customers worldwide using Yahoo! Mail will have a safer e-mail experience - they will begin receiving fewer fake e-mails claiming to be sent by eBay and PayPal. Yahoo! Mail is the first Web mail service to block these types of malicious messages for eBay and PayPal through the use of DomainKeys e-mail authentication technology.
The technology upgrade will be rolled out globally over the next several weeks to all users of Yahoo! Mail.
"eBay and PayPal's adoption of e-mail authentication technology and this aggressive move on the part of Yahoo! Mail are significant steps forward in the fight to protect consumers against e-mail-based crimes," said Michael Barrett, chief information security officer at PayPal. "While there is clearly no silver bullet for solving the problems of phishing and identity theft, today's announcement is great news for our customers who rely on Yahoo! Mail."
DomainKeys technology provides a unique way to verify the authenticity of e-mail messages, allowing Internet service providers to determine if messages are real and should be delivered to a customer's inbox. The collaborative effort between Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal will result in the blocking of unauthenticated e-mail, reducing the volume of fraudulent e-mail received by consumers and lowering their risk of falling for phishing attacks.
"By reducing the risk of phishing scams, Yahoo! Mail now offers a much safer Web mail service for eBay and PayPal users, and this protection will benefit the larger Yahoo! Mail community as well," said John Kremer, vice president of Yahoo! Mail. "We look forward to helping to facilitate continued industry adoption of DomainKeys and the proposed standard DomainKeys Identified Mail, as we continue to increase our efforts to safeguard the inbox."
"Today is a significant milestone for the added protection of millions of eBay and PayPal customers," said Dave Cullinane, chief information security officer at eBay. "Through industry cooperation, we can collectively try to stamp out phishing and other e-mail scams. We welcome Yahoo!'s commitment to this endeavor, applaud its leadership role within the Internet service provider community, and encourage others join in the fight to keep consumers safe from phishing attacks."
Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal are in the process of transitioning their systems from DomainKeys to the proposed standard DomainKeys Identified Mail. The implementation is expected to be complete in the coming months.
Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal today announced a collaborative effort to better protect consumers against fraudulent e-mails and the dangerous scams known as phishing attacks. Starting today, eBay and PayPal customers worldwide using Yahoo! Mail will have a safer e-mail experience - they will begin receiving fewer fake e-mails claiming to be sent by eBay and PayPal. Yahoo! Mail is the first Web mail service to block these types of malicious messages for eBay and PayPal through the use of DomainKeys e-mail authentication technology.
The technology upgrade will be rolled out globally over the next several weeks to all users of Yahoo! Mail.
"eBay and PayPal's adoption of e-mail authentication technology and this aggressive move on the part of Yahoo! Mail are significant steps forward in the fight to protect consumers against e-mail-based crimes," said Michael Barrett, chief information security officer at PayPal. "While there is clearly no silver bullet for solving the problems of phishing and identity theft, today's announcement is great news for our customers who rely on Yahoo! Mail."
DomainKeys technology provides a unique way to verify the authenticity of e-mail messages, allowing Internet service providers to determine if messages are real and should be delivered to a customer's inbox. The collaborative effort between Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal will result in the blocking of unauthenticated e-mail, reducing the volume of fraudulent e-mail received by consumers and lowering their risk of falling for phishing attacks.
"By reducing the risk of phishing scams, Yahoo! Mail now offers a much safer Web mail service for eBay and PayPal users, and this protection will benefit the larger Yahoo! Mail community as well," said John Kremer, vice president of Yahoo! Mail. "We look forward to helping to facilitate continued industry adoption of DomainKeys and the proposed standard DomainKeys Identified Mail, as we continue to increase our efforts to safeguard the inbox."
"Today is a significant milestone for the added protection of millions of eBay and PayPal customers," said Dave Cullinane, chief information security officer at eBay. "Through industry cooperation, we can collectively try to stamp out phishing and other e-mail scams. We welcome Yahoo!'s commitment to this endeavor, applaud its leadership role within the Internet service provider community, and encourage others join in the fight to keep consumers safe from phishing attacks."
Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal are in the process of transitioning their systems from DomainKeys to the proposed standard DomainKeys Identified Mail. The implementation is expected to be complete in the coming months.
Friday, September 28
A $5 Investment Against Phishing
This new device can help protect you against online scams and theft.
How safe do you feel with all your online accounts? I know when I really think about all the financial data I have on the web--technically accessible to anyone--I get a little queasy. I try to never click the links in e-mails to secure sites. But just when you think you're being careful--and lulled into complacency--an e-mail comes along containing a link that you click on. You realize you've just logged onto a financial site and the panic sets in.
I've done it myself--caught by a phishing e-mail. Should this happen to you, the best thing to do is immediately log out and close your browser window. As fast as you can, open a new window, type in the website URL--whether it be PayPal, your bank or your investment advisor--and log in again. Change your password and your heart will stop feeling like it's about to jump out of your chest.
Always make sure your wireless network at home is as secure as possible. I recommend using WPA over WEP, since WEP can be hacked by a junior high school student. Someone can pull up to the curb in front of your house and pick up your signal, log your keystrokes, get your passwords and drive away.
These are all pretty scary scenarios. But, VeriSign, previously known as the worldwide clearinghouse for credit cards and cash, has developed a new technology. VeriSign Unified Authentication provides two-factor authentication credentials through a one-time password token.
PayPal has embraced this technology through a new device, aptly named the PayPal Security Key, which looks like a small pager. PayPal generates a new--and different--security code every time you log in to your PayPal account. Just enter the security code displayed on the device's small screen after you enter your user name and password, and you're in.
Can anyone else pick this number up from your wireless network? Possibly. But the key code changes every 30 seconds, so even if someone does get the code, it will be invalid within 30 seconds.
If you're like me, the first question you have is: What if I lose it? You can still log in to your PayPal account if you can't find or break your Security Key. Before you can log in, though, PayPal will ask you questions to confirm your account ownership.
The device is available for $5 from PayPal. If you'd like your own Security Key, visit the security key area of PayPal. This technology will surely catch on with other financial sites, and technically, the device could handle codes from other companies. But only time will tell how this technology will progress.
How safe do you feel with all your online accounts? I know when I really think about all the financial data I have on the web--technically accessible to anyone--I get a little queasy. I try to never click the links in e-mails to secure sites. But just when you think you're being careful--and lulled into complacency--an e-mail comes along containing a link that you click on. You realize you've just logged onto a financial site and the panic sets in.
I've done it myself--caught by a phishing e-mail. Should this happen to you, the best thing to do is immediately log out and close your browser window. As fast as you can, open a new window, type in the website URL--whether it be PayPal, your bank or your investment advisor--and log in again. Change your password and your heart will stop feeling like it's about to jump out of your chest.
Always make sure your wireless network at home is as secure as possible. I recommend using WPA over WEP, since WEP can be hacked by a junior high school student. Someone can pull up to the curb in front of your house and pick up your signal, log your keystrokes, get your passwords and drive away.
These are all pretty scary scenarios. But, VeriSign, previously known as the worldwide clearinghouse for credit cards and cash, has developed a new technology. VeriSign Unified Authentication provides two-factor authentication credentials through a one-time password token.
PayPal has embraced this technology through a new device, aptly named the PayPal Security Key, which looks like a small pager. PayPal generates a new--and different--security code every time you log in to your PayPal account. Just enter the security code displayed on the device's small screen after you enter your user name and password, and you're in.
Can anyone else pick this number up from your wireless network? Possibly. But the key code changes every 30 seconds, so even if someone does get the code, it will be invalid within 30 seconds.
If you're like me, the first question you have is: What if I lose it? You can still log in to your PayPal account if you can't find or break your Security Key. Before you can log in, though, PayPal will ask you questions to confirm your account ownership.
The device is available for $5 from PayPal. If you'd like your own Security Key, visit the security key area of PayPal. This technology will surely catch on with other financial sites, and technically, the device could handle codes from other companies. But only time will tell how this technology will progress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)