Most of you will have already heard about Twitter, the micro-blogging service that allows users to post 140-character ‘updates’ to the world, and follow other people’s updates of whom they find interesting. This a great new social media medium, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, go to twitter now and check it out.

SaleHoo is currently running a twitter promotion to give a away memberships to our wholesale directory valued at $67! How many memberships you ask? Well that really depends on you!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is follow SaleHoo on Twitter , and retweet the message at the bottom of this post. The more people that become followers of us, the more memberships will be up for grabs and the higher chance you have of winning.

How to Enter

If you haven’t already joined Twitter, you can do so here . Sign up only take a few minutes. Then, go to the SaleHoo Twitter Page and click "follow". Once you’re following us, just retweet the message below (copy the message and paste it into ‘What are you doing’ box). Or, if you’re already on twitter, just click the button below to retweet our message.

Once we reach 500 followers, there will be one membership up for grabs.

Then:

1000 Followers = 5 memberships
2000 Followers = 12 memberships
5000 Followers = 35 memberships
10000 Followers = 80 memberships

So keep retweeting the message, because the more people that join, the better change you’ll have to win!

Good luck!

Click on the message to retweet the following (or copy and paste it to be safe!)

RT @SaleHoo Follow @salehoo and RT this message to win free SaleHoo membership. More followers = More chances to win. http://short.to/3dyr

In a dramatic about-face, eBay last week announced that their three-year plan involves returning to their original focus as a venue for selling used, off-season and end-of-life-cycle goods.  Implicit in this change of direction is the admission that their attempt to mimic Amazon has been a failure.

But the eBay team was upbeat, forecasting an overall revenue increase from $10 billion to $12 billion in 2011, $7 billion of which will be coming from its marketplace. With 25 million sellers currently serving 150 million unique visitors from around the world across 50,000 categories, eBay still believe they are a major player with a bright future.

According to Ina Steiner’s EBay Analyst Day Notes, eBay believe the secondary market has a number of advantages:

1. Secondary market goods have uncertain value, so they can be sold via a variety of different formats, which is good because it increases turnover on the site.

2. Buyers are focused on getting the best deal and don’t have such high expectations of professional service (as they do when they purchase new goods).

3. The secondary market is inefficient.

4. The secondary market grosses 500 billion dollars a year worldwide.

What will this mean for SaleHoo members?

Although we can’t be sure exactly how eBay will implement this change, it does seem that eBay sellers will need to concentrate more than ever on using liquidators, going directly to the manufacturers and using alternative sources like estate sales, Craig’s List and yard sales to find collectibles and quality second-hand merchandise.

Sellers wanting to sell new items sourced from small wholesale and drop shipping will still be able to do so, but should explore other options such as moving across to Amazon or another successful marketplace such as iOffer and Bonanzle. The other alternative is to establish their own ecommerce site via BuyItSellIt or Auctiva Commerce.

eBay have just announced that Moneybookers and Paymate are now able to be used for eBay transactions. These will join the existing options of PayPal, credit and debit card payment to a seller’s merchant account, Propay or Pay on Pick-up.

So how do these new methods compare?

Paymate is the most expensive of the three, charging a flat rate of 3% of the payment value + $0.50, whereas Paypal and Moneybookers offer volume discounts for high-grossing merchants. Moneybookers fees are slightly less than Paypal.

Unfortunately the Moneybookers eBay page wasn’t live when we checked an hour after the eBay announcement, so we were unable to uncover the full details of their service. The Paymate site was active, but the following limitations (for US sellers) stood out:  

• Sellers can only accept payments in US dollars at present.
• Sellers need bank approval of merchant facilities to accept credit card payments.
• There is approximately 1 day delay in receiving payment, however, the money does go directly into your bank account, rather than being held in a separate merchant account like on Paypal.

On the face of it, this announcement is great news – but do Moneybookers and Paymate really have what it takes to make a difference?

What do you think of these new payment options?

How would you like to work for SaleHoo?

We’re looking for a savvy wordsmith with wholesale sourcing experience to write several posts a week for our popular SaleHoo blog. If you or anyone you know fit the bill, then we’d love to receive your application!

Location: Remote / Worldwide
Position: TBC – approximately 8-10 hours per week
Package: TBC

What we’re looking for:

• Excellent writing skills and a passion for blogging.
• Proven experience with wholesale sourcing and online selling.
• Extensive knowledge of eBay (extra brownie points if you are currently selling on eBay either full or part time!).
• Familiarity with other popular ecommerce and auction sites.
• A business news junkie who is always up to date with current events in the online selling and business worlds.
• Lively opinions and the ability to justify and express them in an interesting way.
• Adept at giving professional advice in a down-to-earth tone, with frequent dashes of humor!

To apply, please send an email to support[at]salehoo.com, subject ‘SaleHoo blog position’, outlining your experience and explaining why you think you’d be good for the job.

Your application will be fast-tracked if you are also able to enclose a couple of writing samples, such as articles or blog posts.

Look forward to hearing from you!