The original version is still available for download at http://pages.ebay.com/quickbooks/

In the event that they change that URL in the future, the actual eBay download link is below:

It is a very basic program but it worked and it worked well. I don’t ask for more than that. It saved me a lot of time and work and was free.

Old download eBay Accounting Assistant + me = love.

Then eBay announced with much fuss that they were getting rid of the download version of this program and replacing it with an online only version. This new program would work with not only QuickBooks but also Sagefire (cool for people with Sagefire but not of interest to me). It would also have the capacity to import PayPal shipping transactions and eBay purchases.

I was excited about the ability to import PayPal shipping but I was otherwise skeptical. Why can’t we just add the shipping import ability to the already perfectly good program we have now? Why do we have to muck with stuff that works?

Then this new online version was delayed again and again.

Then when it finally launched, it was a buggy mess, crashing browsers left and right.

Then, miraculously, it worked for a while. A little while. Well, it kinda worked.

The PayPal shipping, eBay fees and purchased imported just fine but the program couldn’t import any sales transaction that was international or combined shipping because it would have a fit about shipping costs being different than what the item was listed at. This was stupid but they had added a little “Beta” icon so I figured they were working on it. So, I still used the download program to import my sales and only used the online program to do shipping and purchases since they worked fine.

Then, on June 10th, 2009, all data stopped updating. Literally, the online program had all sales, shipping and purchasing data from before that date but nothing from beyond it. No matter how many times you re-set it up, reconnected or otherwise mucked with it, you couldn’t force it to update the data again so it became rendered useless.

Then shortly there after, eBay botched up the link to it so that the “Launch Accounting Assistant” link took you to the eBay homepage. So you couldn’t even look at the thing to say, “Yup, still busted.”

On a side note, thankfully, the download version had remained active through all of this so you can still use it. I am only interested in this online version because I’m afraid they will try to take my download program away and I will be forced into using this mess.

So I go to look at this today and witnessed two miracles. After weeks, eBay has finally fixed the link so you can actually access EAA again (miracle 1) and, despite the fact that sales, purchase and invoices are all still stuck in that magical wormhole that is June 10th, 2009, PayPal shipping has updated (miracle 2). Now, granted, it has only updated in so much as they gave me only shipping data from the last month (Oct 5th to Nov 5th) but considering this was a lifeless dead page a few days ago, it was still astonishing.

Of course, trying to look at these new transactions yeilded a few java errors but still.

But indulge me for a moment, if you will. I was comforted by this because, for the first time in quite literally months, it looked like someone from eBay actually looked at this page and loaded this program. It’s still a disasterous buggy mess of a failure but it is somewhat comforting to know that an actually human being is at least marginally aware that this thing is busted and is working on it. Before it felt like they had just given up on it.

As for me, I will be clinging onto my old download version with my life. Sure, I’d love a shiny new online version. If it worked. But if this busted mess is all you can give me, I will take a pass.

For now, new hotness IS old busted.

But I have to make fun of them. I just have to. They make it too easy.

They sent out an email today that was very boring aside from this sentence which made me “LOL” as the hip kids today say.

Click Filtering (on-going enhancements)

We have had a few reports that some of our affiliates have been experiencing issues with bots inflating their click numbers. We have been working on a few additional click filtering rules to continue to improve our capabilities in this area and ensure click counts in ePN are an accurate representation of valid clicks. We will continue to roll these out in the coming weeks.

Do they get dizzy over at eBay HQ from all the spin?

I love how they phrased that, like they want us to think a website owner emailed them and was like, “Golly gee, I do think you paid me too much, there! Do you think that maybe a mean old bot did some of these clicks and that is why you paid me too much? I just can’t accept this extra money, no sir, I can’t. You take this money right back, young man, and use it to catch those mean old bots.”

Not, you know, that they realized people were scamming the system with bots.

In a way, I admire their view of the world. They are like Kenneth from 30 Rock.

• Restock. How are we doing on bubble wrap? Tape? Priority Mail boxes? Shipping labels? Package inserts? Once the holiday season gets started in earnest, supplies tend to disappear at a much faster rate so restock now before you find yourself in a desperate situation. Also, keep in mind that your suppliers are going to be just as busy during the holidays so ordering early can ensure that you get your orders faster than if you delay.
• Reorganize. Take some time out of your already busy schedule and make sure everything is organized efficiently. With the crazy barrage of work, you aren’t going to want to spare the time looking for things that were put back in the wrong place or dealing with that mess you “never got around” to organizing. Take a moment to get everything together now before things are too busy so that the really busy time will be less stressful. This also helps you ensure you aren’t forgetting to list that big ticket item you were saving to sell around the holidays.
• Reminders. While things are a little calmer now, take the opportunity to schedule some reminders for both yourself or your buyers. I like to take the early days of November to schedule all of the marketing blog posts that will appear on our company blog throughout the month reminding people of shipping deadlines and last minute deals so they will post automatically without my having to remember to do that. It’s also a good idea to set reminders for yourself such as “Today’s the last day to ship Priority Mail” or “Mail holiday cards to customers no later than today!” Whether you use Google Calendar, Outlook or your cell phone reminder feature, taking a hour or two to remind yourself in advance of the important details for the rest of the season, can save you a lot of time and aggravation later. Time can really get away from us when we are busy so get a hold of it now while things are a bit calmer. 

What are you doing to prepare for the holidays? Please share your advice below.

New! Lists. A great way to organize the people you follow and discover new and interesting accounts. (BETA)

Lists are timelines you build yourself, consisting of friends, family, co-workers, sports teams, you name it. You’re part of a small group receiving this feature, so don’t tweet about it yet!

What’s a bit funny about their asking people not to tweet about it is that, instantly, everyone started tweeting about it so much that it became a trending topic.

We are not good at following directions, clearly.

You can see what people are saying about Twitter Lists here. But what do you think?

Dear Publisher:

I’m writing to share some exciting news with you: BookSurge and CreateSpace, both a part of one company, On-Demand Publishing LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, are collaborating to offer publishers access to enhanced features, services, and functionality. In the coming weeks, your publisher account will be transitioned from BookSurge to the CreateSpace platform.

What will change for you?
We are doing everything that we can to make this transition as seamless for you as possible, and anticipate very few changes for you.

• You will have access to enhanced features, functionality and services through CreateSpace.
• Throughout the transition, you will receive uninterrupted service and your books will continue to be available through Amazon.com and other distribution channels.
• Your book files and account history have been transferred to CreateSpace. Your account history with BookSurge will also be made available to you in a downloadable Excel or CSV format.
• You will receive a new login and will be able to reset your own password.

What will not change?
Your Account Manager will not change, and you will continue to receive great customer support.

CreateSpace Benefits:

• View and edit your royalty profile.
• Schedule daily, weekly or monthly royalty reports that go directly to your email.
• Order copies of your titles and track the progress of your orders via your account.
• Access our Preview Gallery where you can share content and gather feedback directly from other CreateSpace members.
• Access your Message Center and receive real-time alerts and updates on your account, orders, and updates.
• Use Cover Creator, our free online tool, to create customized covers.

How the transition to CreateSpace will work?

• We expect to activate your new CreateSpace account on October 28th, 2009.
• On October 28th, 2009, we will send you an email with your new log in and instructions on how to access your CreateSpace account. Until then, you will still have full access to your current Global Publishing System (GPS) account with BookSurge.
• After October 28th, 2009, your CreateSpace account will be your primary account and your BookSurge GPS account will be deactivated.
• Upon logging into your CreateSpace account for the first time, you will be prompted to accept CreateSpace terms and conditions. This agreement reflects your current operating terms and license fee (royalty) structure, which have not changed.

Where do you go for more information?
We expect you may have some questions about this transition and have developed a dedicated resource center with a host of support materials, including video tutorials and FAQs for your reference: www.createspace.com/Help/Index.jsp.

For additional questions, please send your inquiries to: publishersupport@createspace.com. As always, feel free to contact your Account Manager directly with any questions or concerns you may have about this transition to the CreateSpace platform.

You, our Members, are our highest priority, and rest assured, we are happy to assist you with this transition.

Best regards,
Kim Stone
Manager, Enterprise Services

My take? The Booksurge website was always a real mess but it was cheaper to use Booksurge than CreateSpace and they had much more flexibility with trim sizes and other details. So while I appreciate that the CreateSpace website will be easier to use, I hope this doesn’t equal a price increase or limit our print sizes.

My other worry: How will shipping costs compare?

For a long time, I have prefered Booksurge over CreateSpace despite the occational issues with their site so I am going to have to wait and see what this change means for my business. However, if you were trying to decide between the two programs, this makes your decision for you.

Lastly? “How the transition to CreateSpace will work?” <–hilarious proofreading fail right there

So what do you think?

With the recent eBay return policy requirement, many Half.com sellers who were previously eligible for their items to show on eBay have since been dropped out. Getting back into eBay search results is a simple process, just go into your Half.com account and specify your return policy under eBay options, but if you don’t go and manually do that, your listings will not show until you do.

Gee, eBay or Half.com, you couldn’t have given us a quick heads up on this?

Here is a screenshot to help you along with making this change. Just make sure all three green check marks are there or your Half.com items will not be showing on eBay.

• Both are no-bidding, set price listings formats.
• Both can have Best Offer.
• Both can be set to GTC meaning they automatically relist every 30 days until you manually cancel them.

But they aren’t exactly the same. Store Inventory listing fees and end of auction fees are lower than Fixed Price in most cases and Fixed Price listings show in normal search results while Store Inventory do not.

But from a bookkeeping standpoint, they work very similarly so why the heck can’t I. . .

• send an unsold auction to a Fixed Price listing with one click like I can send it to Store Inventory?
• send a Fixed Price listing to an auction with one click like I can do with Store Inventory?
• send one of a multiple item Fixed Price listing to auction like I can with Store Inventory?
• do any of the actions above in bulk from MyeBay like I can for Store Inventory?

I have to admit, this makes no sense to me. The listing and end of auctions fees are almost always *higher* for Fixed Price GTC. Wouldn’t eBay want me to list something as Fixed Price over Store Inventory so they make more money from me? If I just had 100 auctions end without buyers, I’m going to be lazy and relist those items as Store Inventory now because I can do that with one button in MyeBay. But at 3 cents each, eBay’s only getting $3 from me on that move when they could be getting 35 cents each for $35 total fees from me if they let me send those items to Fixed Price. I would rather be listings them as Fixed Price where they will sell faster but I’m not always willing to do extra work to make that happen. So eBay gets $3 instead of $35 out of me because they have stupidly refused to give me this simple little ability.

These two formats are so very similar, this one little difference makes no sense to me at all.

I’m not poo-pooing the people who didn’t get the badges (I fully expect any new eBay service to be buggy as all heck) and I am confident your concerns are valid. I just want to talk about this program at face value for a moment instead of the back and forth.

Technical glitches and conspiracy theories aside, I have to really hand this one to eBay. While previous service rewards were good, this one really raises the stakes. What I like about this program is that they made it a huge selling advantage so it’s really something that is worth your effort to qualify for. Even if the PowerSeller discounts of before weren’t enough to tempt, this really upped the ante and should really make sellers step up their game to try to reach this level which should make the marketplace as a whole better for everyone. It’s easy to see why people who were excluded are so upset, the advantages to being a Top-Rated seller blow the PowerSeller program out of the water.

The fundamental problem with the PowerSeller program was that it was a mixed blessing. While it did mean that you were a serious seller, in many cases, it also meant you did too great a volume to give buyers individual attention. There were many PowerSellers that had terrible customer service but they stayed in the program because of their sheer volume in both sales and feedback. I know quite a few people were turned off by the PowerSeller logo because they wanted a more individualized experience and PowerSeller basically meant big box. Walmart vs the local store, as silly as that is.

Top-Rated, to me, is a much better program. With this program, you can be a small time seller (as long as you still meet the sales minimums) or a big seller and you still get the same advantages. But instead of being indicative of the fact that you do a lot of business (as PowerSeller was) it is a mark that you provide consistently good customer service which is more important to a buyer. I would rather buy from someone who does only a few sales a year but gives me great service than a seller that sends out thousands of items a day but will give me crummy service. It’s an important difference from a buyer’s standpoint. PowerSeller was something that was more a game sellers played with eBay rather than a selling point. The Top-rated seller badge is a huge selling point for buyers and I have to applaud that change. It is a subtle one but it’s an important move towards selling more inventory rather than just a brag button.

Also, increased sales placement is a much bigger deal than a measly discount.

The biggest selling point is the prominent logo in search. Before a buyer even knows a thing about the listing or the seller, they know the seller is designated good and that is a huge advantage which has to translate to more clicks on your listings.

The prominence that this new badge gets over the old PowerSeller logo is amazing and the ribbon design is very slick. Even as a buyer I find myself willing to  pay a little extra to go with a “badged” seller and I am aware of this situation so I know it has to be working it’s sales magic on newbies and beyond.

The other advantage is the new search option where buyers can opt to only buy from Top-Rated sellers. As a buyer, I would never use this but as a seller, this is amazing. From instance, a lot of the collectibles sellers didn’t make the cut on this so in many categories that we typically sell in, we are either the only Top-rated seller or one of a handful. On many items we went from being one of dozens of sellers selling an item to (if the buyer has that option checked off) the only Top-rated seller offering it. For many sellers this is going to give them a big edge over the competition.

I have to tell you, I think the brilliance of this new program is this seemingly ridiculous advantage Top-Rated Sellers have over other sellers. Having acquired these benefits, I can tell you right now, I am going to do everything in my power to hold onto it. Will it make me more likely to offer free shipping, free insurance, give refunds or make deals with buyers than ever before? You bet! It’s worth the extra costs of giving benefits like that just to keep the advanced placement.

What I am trying to say is, the sellers who aren’t in the program are furious that sellers who are in the program got such a huge list of advantages over them. But, to me, that is actually what makes this program such a good thing for the marketplace. The advantages needed to be ridiculously sweet to make then worth sweating over. That is what is going to improve customer service marketplace-wide.

It’s hard to get in. It’s hard to stay in. That’s a good thing because it’s going to make all of us bust our butts that much more to try to get into and stay in this program for the very reason that the advantages of being in this program are so above and beyond a help with sales. I am saying this with the understanding that I may lose my place in this program at any time, I think they did a great job of creating a program that is going to make sellers really want to improve their service to get in.

Positivity on The Whine Seller? Crazy right?

OK, I’m done. You can go ahead and complain about this program again now.

Is Working Online At Home The Next Gold Rush?

Well, if you are asking if it is a lawless wilderness that can make some people wealthy and will prove to be a total waste of time to others, then yes, it totally is. It is also has the same stiff competition where your rivals will stop at nothing to steal what you have while failure to keep up with the pace of business will leave you trampled under foot by the crushing tide. But if you are patient and willing to work hard, you should be able to unearth a few nuggets.

How can we extend this metaphor a little more?