eBay Developers Program @ Web 2.0 Expo New York

The gang is freshly back from Web 2.0 Expo New York last week, showing off the eBay and PayPal platforms to web developers and designers. Check out InformationWeek and VentureBeat for what our fearless leader, Max Mancini, had to say from the show floor.

Visitors to our booth got to learn about eBay Developers Program, PayPal certifications, VUVOX, eBay Desktop, Firefox Companion for eBay and more. Developers building applications with the eBay API platform, such as Glaxstar, EffectiveUI, JDT Technologies, Aduci and Payloadz added their perspective and testimonials about their experience with the eBay development and PayPal certification process.

If you missed us in New York, catch us in San Francisco, November 16-19 at Adobe MAX. Read more »

Stephanie Tilenius Holds Town Hall Sep 19th at 11:30am PT

Have questions about eBay? Stephanie has answers.

Stephanie Tilenius, SVP & GM of North America Marketplaces, hosted a Town Hall September 19th, 2008 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time. Go to http://www.ebay.com/townhall for more information. An archive of the Town Hall will be there soon. Read more »

New Fixed Price Durations Live

As mentioned in this post, the new 30 day and GTC listing durations are now live on the US site for the Fixed Price listing format. Add to that the new pricing structure for Fixed Price listings, and you've got more great reasons to list in Fixed Price.

The new durations are live in the Sandbox. Read more »

New View Item Page in Sandbox

Want to see how your listing will look in the new View Item page? Head on over to http://sandbox.ebay.com!

The new View Item page is now live in the Sandbox for all listings. This lets you test your listing templates to make sure they'll look good in the new page.

The domain split for the item description is also live. We suggest that all developers and template creators list in the Sandbox so you can test how your template works. You'll be able to catch any unexpected interactions with the iFrame.

For more information see:

• How to Get Your View Item Template into the Sandbox
• View Item page: Developer Impact: New View Item Page.
• Domain split: Developer Impact: Domain Split on the View Item Page.

How the Right Rail Looks on the New View Item Page

I'm hearing from people that they are unable to see what the right rail looks like on their listings. The right rail is enabled in the Sandbox only for listings by eBay Store sellers. To have a right rail show up on your listing, you need to open a store in the Sandbox.

We're having a temporary glitch in the Sandbox that is preventing the right rail from showing up right now, so I've posted screenshots to the blog of what a wide listing looks like with the right rail. You'll see that the 1200px wide image shows up just fine, and the right rail gets added on top of that:

You can also see the view of that page in my browser window (expanded fully on a 1280 px x 1024 px monitor). You'll see that the right rail is completely hidden on the right side, but the 1000 px bar is fully visible. Only the 1200 px bar is cut off by the window edge. See the page »

Clarification on New View Item Page Rollout

There were some questions about the rollout plan I mentioned for the new View Item page, and I wanted to answer them.

We're very excited about the new View Item page, and think it's really going to improve the shopping experience.

We're starting by showing the new page to only a limited number of buyers. If the results are positive, we'll gradually increase the number of buyers who see it.

It would be great to roll it out completely in time for the holidays, but we're committed to not releasing it until it's ready.

Meanwhile, to make sure that  your listings look their best, follow these best practices:
Developer Impact: View Item
Developer Impact: Domain Split

How to Get Your View Item Template into the Sandbox

The eBay Sandbox is a test environment that reproduces most of the features of the eBay site. Developers use it to test their API code, and you can use it to test how your listings will look in the new View Item page. The nice part is that you can list, edit, and end your items without any fees or change to your real eBay feedback.

Here's how to get started in the Sandbox:

1. Create an eBay Developers Program account so you can access the sandbox user creation tool.
   Create an account here:
   https://developer.ebay.com/join/
2. Create a sandbox user for listing an item. If you want another user to buy the item, create two uesrs.
   Create a user here:
   https://developer.ebay.com/DevZone/sandboxuser/
   You can create multiple sandbox users with differing levels of feedback
3. Go to the eBay Sandbox and list an item using the normal SYI flow.
   The eBay sandbox is here:
   http://sandbox.ebay.com/

eBay SDK 581 for .NET point release

Developers can download the eBay SDK 581 for .NET point release. Point releases, unlike full releases, do not go through the typical, full rounds of quality assurance. Point releases include bug fixes and updates to the wrapper classes.

Before using the SDK, please read the main Readme file. Additionally, before using the SDK, please read the Release Notes (which contain tables showing schema changes that occur every two weeks) at the Developer Documentation Center. Please note that upgrades to an SDK should always be done in a test environment.

eBay SDK 581 for Java point releases

The eBay SDK 581 for Java point releases are now available. You can download the JAX-WS Beta version or the Axis 1.1 version. It is recommended that you use the JAX-WS version because support for the Axis 1.1 version will be discontinued.

This point release is updated with the features and fields available in version 581 of the Trading WSDL. For more information about WSDL version 581, see the Release Notes. »

Coming Late Sep 2008: Pre-Filled Item Information Available in More Categories

Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing Pre-Filled Item Information in multiple categories, including several under Business & Industrial, Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, Coins, Dolls & Bears, Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, Sporting Goods, and Toys and Hobbies.

Pre-Filled Item Information enables sellers to easily add standard product information such as brand, model, color, and in some cases, a stock photo, to their listings. Buyers find this additional product information very helpful as they shop on eBay. Below is the list of categories where Pre-Filled Item Information will be introduced:

Business & Industrial

• Welders

Clothing, Shoes & Accessories

• Men's Sunglasses
• Women's Sunglasses

Coins & Paper Money

• US Dollars

Dolls & Bears

• Barbie Dolls
• Dolls – By Brand, Company, Character

Health & Beauty

• Women's Fragrances
• Men's Fragrances
• Straightening Irons

Home & Garden

• Cordless Drills
• Riding Mowers
• Chainsaws
• Grinders
• Dog Flea & Tick Remedies
• Dog Collars & Tags

Sporting Goods

• Bicycles
• Western Saddles
• Snowboards

Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop

• Baseball Fan Apparel

Toys & Hobbies

• Cars, Trucks Diecast
• Radio Control Parts & Accessories
• Radio Control Vehicles
• Disney Toys

Cell Phones & PDAs

• Bluetooth Accessories

Please visit our Pre-filled Item Information page to learn more about this feature. »