TekGems Blog

The smallest rebate purchase I made on this was $32.50. Everything else is ranging in the $100 to $200 rebate range. I see little point in purchasing something via Live.com cashback unless you can get maximize your rebate. But then again, the purchases are for business so perhaps we are not the ideal target market. :)

E-Commerce News: E-Marketing: Cashback Program Grows MS Product Search From Puny to Small: "Under Microsoft's Cashback program, launched in May, the company rewards shoppers with rebates from a few cents to US$20 or more on items they find using its search engine, Live Search."

Labels: eBay, live.com cashback, microsoft, rebate

One of our customers purchased an Echo Star power supply and did not like it. I would say Echo Star is slightly better than A-Power.

Made my own 12V Supply and it sucks - RC Groups: "I bought a brand new 450W computer power supply thinking I would save some money. Its not the best brand (echostar) but its rated for 450W Max /14A at 12V.

http://tekgems.com/Products/et-11182-pwr-estar-450-n.htm

I wired it up and hooked up my Electrify Polycharge 4. Basically I crossed a green and black to get it to stay on all the time then took a yellow and black lead for my positive and negative.

If I put a load on the thing any more than 2A, the low voltage alarm goes off and the PS voltage drops in the 10V range. Is this just a crap supply or do you think I did something wrong?"

We already pay eBay a listing fee to advertise our products on eBay. I do not really understand the logic of why you have text ads on top of that. I can only reason that if keyword "spamming" is an issue, you can get around by supplementing your advertising via text ads.



eBay Launches Pay-Per-Click Advertising Program for Sellers: "The pay-per-click ad program, similar to Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing, allows eBay sellers to advertise their listings and eBay Stores on eBay search results pages via a customized text ad."

We skipped PubCon this year and will save our attendance for IRC. If you plan on attending an eCommerce trade show, this is the one to go to.



Internet Retailer Conference Named Fastest-Growing Conference: "'This recognition is really a reflection of how vibrant the e-commerce market is compared to other industries. When you consider that there are more than 13,000 trade shows in the U.S. each year, it's an absolutely stunning achievement for IRCE to be named the country's fastest growing conference and exhibition,' said Jack Love, publisher of Internet Retailer, which operates the Internet Retailer Conference."

This is an interesting concept in fraud detection. I've always wondered if there was a way to contribute our suspicious orders to a central database that other merchants can leverage. For a time, we used to have fraudsters use our shopping cart to test the validity of credit cards. We had to implement an IP velocity filter (order more than # of times in an hour and you get declined) to stop this type of fraud.

Below is an image I got off the Ethoca site that explains the process of how a community based fraud risk manager may work:



2Checkout.com - Merchant Account / Credit Card Processing Alternative » 2CO Uniting with Leading Online Retailers to Stamp Out Fraud: "2Checkout joined a global fraud-fighting community, powered by Ethoca – a leader in collaborative fraud management - to extend our fraud management services beyond our current system. Now, we have access to shared fraud data from a pool of online retailers designed to help augment our efforts in spotting and stopping fraudulent online behavior more efficiently, and guaranteeing less chargebacks related to fraud."

We are anxious to start using the Small Flat Rate Box that is priced at $4.95. We have been using Flat Rate Envelope for years, but having an inexpensive Flat Rate Box will really help us give USPS our business instead of UPS.

USPS - Shipping Services January 18 Pricing Change: "On January 18 prices for Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, Parcel Return Service, Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International, and M-Bags change. As always, we do not impose fuel surcharges, hidden surcharges, or surcharges for residential or Saturday delivery."

With established competitors such as UPS and FedEx, DHL had a long way to go before they could have competed on the same level in the United States. I think it was a smart move for them to give up the territory and focus on their international business. Their international rates are far better than UPS or FedEx. Below is a map taken from DHL's 2008 Q3 Investor's PDF. The darkest green tells you what areas most of DHL's international inbound arrive at:



U.S. Pullout Will Cost DHL Some International Business: "“The international footprint is very different from a domestic footprint,” he explained. “To compete domestically, you really need to go to every township, of any size, in the entire United States. But for international, the footprint is much smaller – the concentration of where those international shipments go, is much more dense. Those 15 to 20 major metro areas will cover about 80% to 90% of the volume.”"