E-commerce

eBay tests new program to sell your items to Goodwill

Have a used item you don't think will sell on eBay? A new program could still fill your pockets with half the proceeds.

Recently launched on a test basis, "Sell it Forward" lets you send your used items to eBay in a free, postage-paid bag. From there, eBay hands them over to the San Francisco Bay Area branch of Goodwill Industries. If Goodwill can unload the items within 14 days, you score a 50 percent cut of the sales price, which is sent to your PayPal account. If not, you get a receipt for a donation that … Read more

Amazon expands X-Ray actor bio feature to TV shows

Curious about what other shows feature the actress playing Lady Grantham on "Downtown Abbey"? Kindle Fire users can now find out instantly using Amazon's X-Ray feature.

The e-commerce giant today said it has expanded its X-Ray for movies feature to TV shows, providing real-time access to actor bios when watching a show. Just tap on the Kindle Fire screen while watching "Downtown Abbey," for example, and a drop-down menu of the actors appearing in the current scene appears. Viewers then can select whichever actors they're interested in to see their bios. X-Ray draws its … Read more

At Y Combinator Demo Day, many echoes of Kickstarter

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--If you cringe when you hear a company described as "Kickstarter for" this industry or that genre, yesterday's Y Combinator Demo Day was probably not for you.

As happens twice a year, a Who's Who of A-list (and B- and C-list) venture capitalists and angel investors descended on the Computer History Museum here for the semi-annual Demo Day. There, the newest graduating alumni of the world's leading tech incubator had the chance to show off their talents -- and wares and/or services -- to the money men and women and reporters … Read more

Stocksy aims to bring the soul back into stock photography

Bruce Livingstone, founder of the iStockphoto site that grew from a small stock-art community to a multimedia juggernaut, is launching a competitor called Stocksy United today that he hopes will bring the business back to its roots.

Stocksy is a startup, but it won't attract venture capital, won't be acquired by a larger rival, and doesn't have an exit strategy. Instead, it's a cooperative run by its own photographers who get paid a relatively high percentage of the royalties generated by each image sale: 50 percent. On top of that, photographers split the profits left over … Read more

eBay lowers seller fees, in bid to swipe business from Amazon

eBay is eliminating listing fees and simplifying rates in hopes of bringing Amazon sellers to its doors.

In addition to a new fee rate system, eBay will let sellers list many items for free, the company announced today. eBay said the changes, which begin rolling out in April, are the online marketplace's first major update in pricing in several years.

"The update is part of eBay's ongoing commitment to be the most competitively priced commerce platform in the U.S. today, offering sellers of all sizes a great deal and being a partner of choice for merchants, … Read more

Google to split mapping, commerce ops, WSJ reports

It appears that Google's "spring cleaning" is even broader than thought.

The online search giant is splitting its mapping and commerce unit into two separate businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing its sources.

Jeff Huber, who led the mapping and commerce business, is stepping aside from his role and will be moving to the Google X unit, the Journal said. That business is run by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and works on projects such as self-driving cars and Google Glass.

Google confirmed to CNET that Huber is shifting roles.

"Jeff is an extraordinary executive,&… Read more

SXSW shocker: For LevelUp, business strategy trumps buzz

AUSTIN, Texas--If the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, perhaps the optimal way to engineer real affection for your startup is to cook up a similar approach.

That seems to be the logic behind mobile pay service LevelUp's presence at South by Southwest, a show where brands are drowning out startups in search of their breakout moment.

LevelUp, a 2-year-old mobile pay service operated by Boston startup SCVNGR, skipped dog-and-pony-show antics for a far more practical strategy that is drumming up dollars instead of buzz. The company is powering mobile pay at every food … Read more

Google's rival to Amazon Prime eyes Target as partner -- report

Google's rumored Amazon Prime competitor, Google Shopping Express, has at least a couple of major retail partners, according to a report published yesterday.

In an e-mail reportedly sent to employees, Google said that its Shopping Express platform works at several retailers, including Target and Babies R Us, according to TechCrunch, which obtained a copy of the message. Google employees who are currently testing out the service and have opted to become members are allowed free shipping. Those who are simply testing it out but won't become members pay $4.99 per delivery, according to the e-mail.

TechCrunch last … Read more

Book publishers blast Amazon's plan to control domain names

Amazon's effort to control dozens of new generic top-level Internet domain names is drawing fire from a pair of publishing industry groups.

The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers oppose the Internet retail giant's plan to control so-called generic top-level domains (gTLD) that end in suffixes .book, .author, and .read, arguing that such influence would be anti-competitive.

"Placing such generic domains in private hands is plainly anticompetitive, allowing already dominant, well-capitalized companies to expand and entrench their market power," Authors Guild President Scott Turow wrote to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, … Read more