IQ? Check out your TQ (Technology Quotient)

PayPal Surveyed 1000 adults and found them worryingly oblivious to the latest technology and gadgets. One in three UK adults are still grappling with the complexities of programming their video recorder whereas toddlers seem to be pre-programmed at birth to press a few buttons and play their teletubbies tape. When you move to DVD recorders close to four in five adults are baffled by the controls.

Mobile phones are another no go area with most adults settling for the ability to make phone calls, send text messages, use the camera and surprisingly the mobile is the modern alarm clock!

Neil Edwards, of online payments service PayPal, which commissioned the survey of 1,000 adults, said: "It's a worrying sign for Britain that so many of us are baffled and, therefore, turned off by technology.

Following the survey PayPal have set up a new website where you can test your "TQ". A baffling array of multiple choice answers will answer the question "What is your TQ?".

When you complete the test you'll automatically be entered into a draw for a Video iPod. The big question if you win, is will you be able to figure out how to use it?

Vote to scrap the hideous green wallpaper

Following on from eBay India's Dream House, eBay.com and Family Circle are running a Small Spaces contest. There are four finalists and it's time to cast your vote for which should be the winner.

Really in my view, there is no competition - it has to be contestant number four who have transformed their rather dated looking hall way into a classic but modern and welcoming space. Gone is the hideous green wallpaper and in comes a warm Beige Two-Tone Stripe complemented with Victorian accessorisation.

You can see all four finalist's designs on the competition website, but make sure you vote soon as the competition ends on 22nd January!

eBay seek Irish Seller of the Year

eBay have launched a competion to find the Irish seller of the year the top prize of €5000, a trip to eBay Live and a brand new Sony Viao laptop. Two runners up will receive €2500 and a laptop with a further €1000 for three semi finalists. Entrants will be judged on

* The number of successful sales made by each entrant
* The quality of each entrant's listings (taking into account descriptions, titles, customer-friendly policies etc…)
* Feedback received by each entrant from buyers
* The level of creativity demonstrated by each entrant
* The level of community focus demonstrated by each entrant

Entires are available in three categories - New eBay sellers and new eBay businesses that have previously sold less than ten items, and a third category for existing eBay businesses.

The competition is only open to residents in the Republic of Ireland and registration has to be in by 4th February. We look forward to seeing the winner in Boston!

PayPal want to pay your mortgage for a year

PayPal have launched a new promotion in which Shelter is the latest charity to benefit. You can win the ultimate prize of having your mortgage (or rent) paid for a year!



Shelter is the charity set up in 1966 to prevent bad housing and homelessness adversely affecting people's lives, so the prize of a year mortgage free, from PayPal is very apt.

All you need to do to enter is activate PayPal Mobile and text "shelter" and (if you're feeling generous a cash amount) to 64483 (i.e. Shelter 5 will send £5). Confirm with your pin and Shelter will receive your donation paid direct from your PayPal account and you're in the prize draw. If you don't wish to donate texts cost 25p plus your standard network rate and just text Shelter.

Last month Warren Wysocki won a won a brand new Porche Boxster for donating a penny to Children in Need, next month you could be living rent free for the next year!

A penny for your Porsche

Warren Wysocki of Horsham registered for PayPal Mobile and donated just one penny to Children in Need.... and won a brand new Porche Boxster!

We blogged the promotion back in November and the winners were revealed today.

I can't believe I've won my dream car. I am thrilled to have taken part in this competition and am now the envy of a lot of people in Horsham I can tell you!

Twelve other lucky winners won cash prizes ranging from £1,000 up to the top prize of £25,000 by using PayPal to send money in various different ways or even simply for getting their PayPal account verified.

Congratulations to all the winners.... any chance of a ride in the Porche?

eBay trading competition in the North East - enter online

The North East Regional Portal is launching a new competition "You Trade" to encourage online entrepreneurship in the North of England. Open to residents of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and Tees Valley £2000 will be awarded to get contestants started trading on eBay.

Budding eBay sellers need to submit a business plan which will be judged by a panel of industry experts with the ten successful applicants announced by 9th February. A condition of entry is that they start trading on eBay by 31st March. They will also have to demonstrate how they will support themselves during the year and of course confirm that their business will trade on eBay. Entry is not open to anyone who currently has a business registration with eBay.

It often seems easy to say "Lets start an eBay business" but the truth is most successful sellers either grow organically expanding from profits, or already had a business and migrate to eBay as a second income stream. Many sellers complain if they "just had the money for stock" they'd be able to compete. The truth is that someone else always has more to invest than you and it really is possible to build a substantial business from a tiny initial investment. eBay is a fiercely competitive environment where only the fittest survive long term.

This does remind me of the Guardian competion from 2005 where seed money was £1500. Do competitions like this really produce winners - or is it a publicity stunt? Do the winners go on to build successful ongoing businesses? The eventual winner of the Guardian competion has shut up shop on eBay. Although they continue as an avid eBay buyer they no longer sell on the site. Having said that the two closest runners up are still trading, so maybe the wrong winner was chosen.

We'll watch with interest as the ten new competitors enter the online fray and see how they fare. The true test is not during the competition, but also if the businesses they start are sound and can stand the test of time.

If you live in the North East you can apply at n-e-life.com, deadline for entries is 8th January 2007.

Skype version 3 full release with free phone calls

We blogged on the 2nd December about Skype 3 and the fantastic new features due to be released. Well the good news is that today it was released in full. One of the best additions is click to call for FireFox and Internet Explorer. Any phone number on a website turns into a clickable skype button - with free calls to UK landlines for six months if you spend £10.00, this is a must have.

If you're in the US don't worry - you can get unlimited calls to any US number for just $14.95 for the year (sign up before the end of January; normal price is $29.95). It's likely that calling plan offers similar to this will be introduced in the UK once the six months free calls are up. Skype are concentrating on building a customer base and will look to monetise it in the future.

Go and download the latest version of Skype today!

Parcelforce low cost Christmas deliveries

Send a parcel anywhere in the UK from just £10.99 for Parcelforce 48 and £11.99 for Parcelforce 24. The offer runs for all eBay sellers from the 13th to 21st of December 2007. Parcelforce will collect from your doorstep and deliver to your customer and you don't even need a ParcelForce account to take advantage of the offer.

There are some terms and conditions but this is a great opportunity to sell those heavier items and qualify for eBay Get it Fast. Let your buyers know their purchases will arrive in time for Christmas. This offer was previously only available to PowerSellers but is now open to all eBay sellers.

Of course if you need to send a lot of parcels it's worth opening an account so don't forget the free wine promotion.

Threshers unintentionally enter the viral marketing space

What better on a Sunday before Christmas than to stock up your wine cellar. Pop along to your local Threshers and save 40% on your wine and champagne purchases up to £500 in value.

An initial email to suppliers that could be sent to family and friends has found it's way onto the Internet and demand has exploded! From November 30th to December 10th, Christmas really has come early for those that enjoy a drink. The news spread like wild fire with coverage on the BBC and papers such as the Telegraph.

This is just the latest example of what's known as viral marketing - the passing on of information to friends, family and colleagues not because there's any immediate benefit to yourself, but because the material is so compelling. Other viral marketing campaigns of note include Vauxhall VXR and GMTV's Toonattik. The most famous viral marketing explosion is probably the Hoover free flights promotion which made it into posterity with its own entry in Wikiedia.

It's a lesson you'd think companies would have learnt - companies like eBay use viral marketing to attract new buyers and sellers, but for Threshers it could be a costly mistake. The company says it should still make a profit on the offer and it's a great way for them to collect data on new customers as you have to give your email address away.... although there are plenty of free email providers for those that don't want an inbox of unwanted offers in the future.

The promotion coupon was published on the Stormhoek website and you can download your own and use it in Threshers, Wine Rack, Bottoms Up, Haddows and The Local Chains by clicking on the image below.

Free SkypeOut credits starting next week

Starting next week Skype will be running a "Winter Days campaign" in some EU countries. To claim your SkypeOut credits you simply sign in to your Skype account and click a button. You'll then be able to use the credit for SkypeOut calls to anyone with a landline telephone.

We'll keep a watch on which countries are eligible for the free calls and post on Tamebay so don't forget to check back daily.

As an alternative Skype have an offer already where if you purchase a £10 credit you can get free calls to all UK landlines starting 01 or 02. Simply visit the skype website to get an account and start calling for free

Skype and landline in one handset

Dave from DSTele.com just gave me a heads up on a really exciting bit of kit! The first ever cordless Skype phone that does not require a PC and that can also accept landline calls.

The RTX SKYPE Dualphone 3088 allows you to connect the Dualphone base station to your broadband connection, and then you can talk free of charge with your Skype friends or call other landline numbers worldwide via Skypeout or as usual via your regular landline operator. Now you can have a truly cordless DECT telephone handset and make either landline orSkype calls without turning your computer on - I'm tempted to get a Dualphone for myself.

If you want to be first to own a Dualphone, DSTele.com have a special 7.5% discount for Tamebay, simply enter AYSCX982 into the coupon code when purchasing. This offer is valid until 10th December 2006.

Free wine offer from ParcelForce

Couriers! Which one to choose? which is most reliable? Which is cheapest? Lots of questions and just about everyone will have a different opinion on which courier is best to use.

Why not have a glass of wine while mulling it over with our offer in conjunction with ParcelForce? Simply open an account, spend £100.00 and they'll deliver a case of 12 bottles of wine to your doorstep*. Of course a few bottles of wine isn't a great reason for choosing your courier so read on to see what could make ParcelForce a good choice for you. If you send at least 5 UK items or 1 international item per week then you could become an account customer.

Price

The cost per parcel is always negotiable on a courier delivery contract and it's no different with ParcelForce. Don't accept the first price they offer - get a price and then negotiate using tactics like "If you could lower the price below £7.40 I could put all my Special Delivery parcels with you as well". The larger the quantity you can ship with them the better the price you'll get.

International

Don't forget if you can ship one parcel a week Internationally it's worth opening an International account as well as one for domestic deliveries.

Fuel Surcharge

Most couriers charge a fuel surcharge and ParcelForce is no exception, don't forget to factor this in when negotiating a price.

Redelivery Cost

This is a charge which may be hidden in your courier contract. Many couriers will attempt delivery twice before charging it. Sadly with home users if they leave a card the recipient may not get it until they're home from work. The next day they telephone to arrange redelivery but by that time the parcel is out on the van for the second delivery attempt. When the parcel is eventually delivered the sender (you!) will be charged a redelivery charge. The great thing about ParcelForce is that they do NOT have redelivery charges.

Return Charges

Many couriers will charge you to return an undelivered parcel, some charge more for returns than the initial delivery cost! ParcelForce do NOT charge for returns.

Over water and Highlands and Islands surcharges

Couriers may charge extra for crossing water to destinations such as the Isle of Wight, ParcelForce do not surcharge for this. Many couriers including ParcelForce charge extra for certain areas of the country, the good news is that with ParcelForce you can negotiate a flat rate regardless of the destination in the UK.

Insurance

This is something we hope we never have to use, but inevitably whichever courier you choose they'll lose a parcel or one will be damaged. Make sure that their insurance covers the goods that you wish to send, e.g. for glass many decline insurance coverage.

Redirects / Saturday Deliveries / Post Office collections

Selling is all about making it easy for the customer, and ParcelForce excels at this. If a recipient would like delivery to an alternate address (a neighbour or work), or on a Saturday they can arrange this and ParcelForce will bill them a small surcharge. You the sender don't have to pay the charge.

ParcelForce can delivery to a local post office and your customer can collect from there. ParcelForce are set up to make it as easy as possible to get your goods to your customers. If they're home users that are out at work all day collecting from a post office or redirects/Saturday deliveries are great options.

VAT

ParcelForce are currently the only courier in the country not to charge VAT. This is a great advantage to sellers who aren't VAT registered. Even for those that are VAT registered it still saves paying out VAT simply to reclaim it on your VAT return.

eBay and ParcelForce

Finally ParcelForce are the only courier which appear in the eBay shipping options. If you want to use a courier to qualify and appear in eBay Get it Fast searches ParcelForce is the choice to make.

Free Wine Offer!

So if you're looking for a courier or want to try an alternative why not give ParcelForce a try? Visit ParcelForce on their website or call them on 0800 413 501. When you speak to them or register on their website quote reference number 463931 to qualify for 12 bottles of wine* as soon as you've spent £100 on deliveries.
(*Terms apply. Closing date to open account 31st March 2007, account spend must reach £100 by 30th June 2007)

PayPal push to get more accounts verified

It's always been a bone of contention for sellers that PayPal is the defacto standard when paying for eBay purchases, and yet so many transactions fail to qualify for seller protection. One of the reasons for this is large numbers of of accounts are not verified.

PayPal are currently encouraging more users to get verified with messaging in email news letters and incentivising them with entires into the "Win £25,000 on PayPal for Christmas" promotion.

Getting PayPal verified removes limits on the amount you can send and receive and for sellers can qualify them for seller protection with coverage up to £3,250.

It's noticable that more buyers are getting verified, and any moves to increase this number is good news for sellers.

Christmas 'Free Post' messaging to buyers appears on eBay

Following the disasterous start to the Christmas Free Post promotion which led to eBay extending the cheap listing period to include Wednesday promotional material has started to appear.

Emails are being sent to buyers (which incidentally also promote another cheap listing day on Tuesday 28th November). In addition the following graphic has appeared on the eBay.co.uk home page which leads to a search facility of listings with free carriage.

eBay free postage CLD runs amok

If you've ever made a mistake and had a customer giving you grief, spare a thought for eBay 'Pinks' today who have had to face sellers on the community boards. Almost halfway through a two day cheap listing period, and sellers are still being charged full listing fees instead of the 5p listing fee including a gallery picture. "Free postage" will be the message to buyers this Christmas, but sellers who have opted to offer it have found their eBay invoice hasn't got the promised savings.

The new version of the Sell Your Item form has allowed some sellers to list automatically receiving the promotion pricing, but for those using the old version or listing tools such as TurboLister have been charged the normal price. Whilst eBay have been working hard all day to produce a fix they announced at lunch time that all affected sellers would be issued refunds.

The refund process will begin once the promotion period is over but could take up to two weeks to process. This could roll past the billing date for those who aren't billed on the 15th, which is bound to cause a little unrest with sellers overpaying in the run up to Christmas, but there might be a silver lining - those overpaying could land a windfall from the Seller Rewards program with their artificially inflated invoices.

This promotion is so key to eBay that they have even mooted the possibility of extending the promotion a day to allow listing for 5p on Wednesday of this week as well. An indication that eBay really are committed to making Christmas on eBay a good one!

Win £25,000 on PayPal for Christmas

PayPal Christmas Promotion
Loads of chances to win
Shop at eBay and pay with PayPal
Shop elsewhere (other than eBay) on a site that accepts PayPal
Send money by email
Buy, donate or send money by mobile phone
Get your PayPal account verified

1st Prize £25,000
2nd Prize £10,000
3rd Prize £5,000
Plus ten £1,000 prizes

Now that has got to be worth a punt!

eBay Seller Rewards bolster Share Price

The launch of the Seller Rewards program on eBay.co.uk has had far reaching impact throughout the corporate world. Analyst Robert Peck notes "This is significant because eBay is "finally" trying to create incentives for its sellers to dole out more goods which is something it's failed to adequately do so far."

It's great to see strategies that benefit sellers who are growing their businesses also underpinning eBay's share price! A real 'Win Win' situation.

eBay UK, US seller promotions

If you can't increase your eBay sales above normal level over the next six weeks, you're doing something seriously wrong. But just in case you'd been fancying a holiday, eBay have rolled out two prize programmes to reward sellers who take advantage of the spendy season just started.

eBay UK's Seller Rewards programme measures success by increases in eBay bills. I like this very much because I'm not necessarily forced to list *more*, I can just list *smarter* and increase the FVFs I pay them. Sellers earn Paypal vouchers equivalent to a quarter of the difference between their old highest bill and their new highest bill, up to a maximum of £250.

Meanwhile, US Powersellers can win one of ten $5000 dollar prizes as well as listing fee credits, for beating their own personal sales targets.

I like both programmes, but I have to say that, though UK sellers often complain that the US gets better things and gets them first, this time, I think we got the better deal.