Ebay gives sellers access to third-party apps
EBay has opened an app store for eBay sellers with about a dozen applications that have been pre-approved to be embedded on eBay.com and addressing issues such as shipping and inventory management.The app store is open to subscribers via My eBay on the Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro platforms, which help sellers manage their listings. The apps are being offered on a revenue-sharing basis through eBay, which will manage the billing on behalf of developers.
The move follows eBay's announcement in April that it would no longer charge sellers to subscribe to Selling Manager and turn it into an open platform where third-party developers could embed their applications and connect with sellers directly. More than 96,000 developers have already more than 13,000 live applications on eBay.
The first dozen applications being rolled out this week include Terapeak Marketplace Research, HostedSupport's customer support tool and ahTEXT, which sends sellers a text message when a buyer asks a question, makes an offer, buys an item, leaves feedback or files a dispute.
“The ability to embed our application inside My eBay gives us an opportunity to both reach sellers in an entirely new, more personalized way and also capture revenue streams,” said Andrew E.R. Sukow, co-founder and CTOat Terapeak, in a statement. “We'll also get a much better sense of the needs of sellers as we think about creating new applications.”
In July, eBay launched a top-rated seller status and enhanced its search function, editing tools and seller dashboard with the goal of making it easier for sellers to do business.
