Each year since 1995, eBay has hosted an annual convention/trade show/Woodstock called "eBay Live!" for people who buy and sell on the world's largest Internet auction platform. The 2008 event was in Chicago last week, and I was pleased to be invited yet again to teach several classes for eBay sellers on legal and tax strategies, negotiating tactics and complying with some of eBay's more arcane selling policies.

Here are some interesting facts, new developments and eBay selling solutions I learned about at this year's show:

— more than 7,000 eBay community members attended the show, with a combined "feedback score" of over 20 million transactions;

— eBay CEO John Donohoe announced, among other things, that eBay's popular "seller protection program" (basically an insurance policy that refunds sellers if buyers don't pay or return damaged merchandise) would be extended to all eBay sellers effective immediately — previously this program was available only to eBay's elite "PowerSellers";

— are you looking to sell beyond eBay on platforms such as Amazon, Yahoo! Stores and Google Base, but don't want to maintain separate e-commerce platforms for each of those venues? PhiConnect (www.phiconnect.com) has a solution that ties all of your e-commerce activities together, with prices starting at $799;

— eBay sellers, through several eBay charitable giving initiatives, donated more than $100 million to charities around the world during the last 12 months;

— not sure if you are owed refunds from UPS, Federal Express or DHL when you ship your eBay items? Refund Retriever LLC (www.refund-retriever.com) will look at all your shipping transactions and help you obtain refunds in exchange for a percentage of whatever they're able to collect;

— effective immediately, eBay sellers will not be allowed to put an e-mail address or website URL anywhere on their eBay listings or eBay Store pages — previously these were allowed in a seller's "About Me" or "About My Store" page;

— want to take killer photos of your eBay items but can't find a suitable backdrop in your home or condo? Bling!-It (www.blingit.us) offers a software tool that will erase the backdrops on your photos and replace them with hundreds of different "background" templates;

— want to get rid of stuff that's lying around the house but don't have the time to research a local consignment shop or deliver your stuff to them? Place a toll-free phone call to Zippi Networks Inc. (www.zippi.com) — they will find a qualified consignment shop in your area, and have them come to your house and pick everything up;

— have an unusual item to sell on eBay but are afraid you will ship it in a box that's not the right size? Send the item measurements to Boxaroo (www.boxaroo.com), and they will find the perfect box size and ship it to you (they will even prepare the mailing labels);

— SageFire Inc., an accounting solution for e-commerce merchants and franchises (www.sagefire.com), has taken over responsibility for updating, maintaining and enhancing the eBay Accounting Assistant software program (basically a QuickBooks template for eBay sellers);

— speaking of QuickBooks templates, Allegro Accounting Inc. (www.web-bookkeeper.com) offers hundreds of customized templates for eBay sellers both on its website and on its eBay Store (eBay ID: allegro-accounting);

— want to check on your eBay listings without having to log on to the eBay site each time? By downloading MyShoppingGenie (www.mymarketinggenie.com), you can access all of the eBay auction items you are bidding on in real time just by clicking the "Genie" icon on your personal computer's "desktop" page (of course, you will still have to log onto the eBay site to place a bid);

— a bill recently introduced in Congress would require PayPal to send IRS Form 1099 to account holders if their balances are more than a certain average amount each year — to find out what eBay's Government Relations team is doing to shape that legislation and what you can do about it, go to www.ebaymainstreet.com;

— a best-selling e-book for eBay sellers looking to broaden their horizons is Steve Lindhorst's "Selling on 'The River': The eBay Seller's Guide to Amazon.com", available for $29.97 at www.genuineseller.com;

— you can't buy stocks and bonds on eBay (at least not yet), but the next best thing is buying government, municipal and corporate bonds directly from the issuers at ZionsDirect, based in Salt Lake City, Utah (www.zionsdirect.com) — discounts on ZionsDirect accounts are offered on the company's eBay store;

— sadly, there will be no eBay Live! in 2009 — the next show is scheduled for August 2010 in Orlando, Fla., but there are rumors eBay may host smaller regional shows next year in an effort to attract more smaller and medium-sized sellers to the event. Stay tuned.

Cliff Ennico (cennico@legalcareer.com) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series "Money Hunt." This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO.

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