Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction.

eBay is one of the famous e-auction websites in e-commerce world. However, even the eBay provides some program to protect consumer against the e-auction fraud there are still quite number of consumer being cheated by seller.

The following are the possible fraud that may be conducted by sellers:

1. Shilling
2. Fake photos and misleading descriptions
3. Improper grading techniques
4. Selling reproductions
5. High shipping costs and handling fees
6. Failure to ship merchandise

For more detail click here.

One of the protections is using Escrow Services :
An escrow service is a licensed and regulated company that collects, holds, and sends a buyer's money to a seller according to instructions agreed on by both the buyer and seller. Typically, once the buyer receives and approves the item from the seller within an agreed time frame, the escrow service then sends the payment to the seller.
Escrow is available for any purchase, but typically is used for purchases of $500 or more.

The escrow process :

1. Both parties (buyer and seller) agree to use/transact payment through www.escrow.com.
2. The buyer sends payment to www.escrow.com rather than directly to the seller.
3. www.escrow.com tracks the shipment of the item.
4. Once the buyer confirms receipt of the item, www.escrow.com will send payment to the seller to complete the transaction.

International escrow services approved by eBay :
www.eBay.au users: EscrowAustralia
www.eBay.it and www.eBay.es users: Escrow Europa
www.eBay.de users: iloxx Safe Trade
www,ebay.fr, www.ebay.nl and www.ebay.be users: Triple Deal

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Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies.

Enterprise blogs are blogs published by or with the support of an organization to reach that organization's goals. In external communications the potential benefits include strengthened relationships with important target groups and the positioning of the publishing organization (or individuals within it) as industry experts. Internally blogs are generally referred to as tools for collaboration and knowledge management.

There are six different kinds of internal and external enterprise blogs:

• Internal blogs – knowledge blogs, collaboration blogs, and culture blogs.
• External blogs – sales blogs, relationship blogs, and branding blogs.

For more detail, click here.

Advantages of Corporate Blogging:

• Leaders can communicate directly with customers, suppliers and investors, as well as employees, helping disseminate and explain strategy.
• Blogs give the writer an opportunity to answer critics in a controlled forum.
• Compared with conference or printed memos to all staff, enterprise blogs are highly cost effective.
• More advantages click here.
  

Disadvantages of Corporate Blogging:

• There have been dozens of cases of workers warned or fired because of something they wrote on a blog.
• It can be tricky to drag public comment out of a company without first routing through the sanitizing filter of a press office.
• Even if senior managers trust staff not to give away the company's commercial secrets - and many don't - there are still enough worries about libel and (for publicly listed companies) stock market disclosure rules to have the legal department waking in sweats for months to come.
• More disadvantages click here.
  
  
  

The top 10 corporate blogging trends : http://www.compendiumblogware.com/resources/eMarketing_Top_Trends.pdf
The Marketing Nirvana’s Top 10 Corporate Blog Rankings (Technorati Powered) : http://mariosundar.wordpress.com/2006/07/16/top-10-corporate-blogs-technorati-powered/

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