Boxing match

For anyone who's ever complained about the amount of packing they have to do, here's a sobering look at one of Amazon's warehouses two weeks before Christmas.

Yule log on

What are you doing reading this - haven't you got anything better to do, on this of all days?, asks the BBC. Actually, I'm being terribly Christmassy even though I'm online. I've used SkypeOut to call my sister. I was going to call my parents, then realised they'd be in church, so I checked their church's website to find out when their service would be over so I could call back when they were home. Later (when I've figured out the time difference!) I'll be Skyping my brother in Canada.

And I've emailed some people too: I think an email on Christmas day says "I'm thinking of you, but I don't want to interrupt your family day by calling you", the perfect thing for friends I'm not going to see, wherever in the world they might be.

Because I'm now a grown up and don't "need" gifts wrapped under the tree, the entire world has given me Amazon vouchers, so I spent a jolly hour this afternoon choosing my presents.

I listed a bunch of new stuff last night, and I've had eBay orders today :-D I've also had one guy mail me to whinge that something he ordered last Wednesday hasn't arrived: and I managed to avoid sarcasm in my reply to him: good for me, that deserves an extra mince pie.

I think it's crazy to ask us to avoid the internet on Christmas day. I've no doubt that eighty years ago, the concept of telephoning at Christmas seemed odd and alien, but now, the internet is as much a part of our lives as the telephone is, and just as unavoidable.

But now, I'm going to turn the computer off and go and watch some television. As the man said, happy Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.

DVD pirates must repay £25,000

A couple who made more than £25,000 selling pirate Disney DVDs on eBay and Amazon have been ordered to repay the money. Good news so far.

However, the couple's lawyer said they had now set up a business selling clothes on eBay. Why on earth have these people been allowed to continue trading? Sometimes eBay really do themselves no favours whatsoever.

Another end of year list

eBay is the fifth most popular site on the internet. According to Seeking Alpha, eBay's unique visitor numbers are exceeded only by hits on Yahoo, Google, AOL and MSN. eBay is one of only two ecommerce sites in the top ten, way ahead of Amazon at number ten.

Paypal, who were in the top twenty last year, have fallen out, though their site traffic has actually increased.

The fight for Christmas shoppers

More people than ever are expected to shop online this holiday season, ... eBay, the online auctioneer, and Amazon, which sells everything from textbooks to pet supplies, remained the nation's two most-visited retail Web sites during last year's holiday season, but Walmart.com and Target.com came in third and fifth, respectively, ... [New, less tech-savvy online shoppers] care more about low prices and are likelier to recognize and trust the names of stores they know well, such as Gap or Wal-Mart, over online merchants like Amazon or eBay.

"What we've seen is that the demographics of shopping online have begun to more closely mirror America in general," says Raul Vazquez, chief marketing officer at Walmart.com.

Getting an online-only brand in front of these cautious shoppers, and getting them to trust that brand, must represent one of eBay's biggest challenges for the next few years. The purchase of Shopping.com, a price comparison site which shows eBay merchants alongside other internet retailers, has to be a step towards this. To move forward in this new climate, they must turn themselves from "internet market place" to simply "the world's shopping mall".