eBay sees three times more items related to NCAA basketball listed in March than in the remaining 11 months of the year. This March, we crunched those numbers to uncover what inspires – and opens the wallets – of college basketball fans.

The results, presented in today’s “Top Shopped” sports edition report, show that the road to the NCAA championship is paved not only with victories and upsets, but also Air Jordans, foam fingers, Mike Krzyzewski gear and big spending in the Big East.

The sixteen teams that remain on that road to the Big Dance bring with them nearly one million dollars worth of related items sold on eBay in just the first three months of 2011.

In addition to our earlier prediction that Ohio State University, with nearly $200,000 worth of team-related merchandise sold on eBay, will take the championship (check out our bracket based on merchandise sales), today’s Top Shopped report uncovered the fact that there have been 67,277 pairs of Air Jordans sold on eBay so far in 2011 and that each of the two points by which Butler lost last year’s title turned out to be worth $63,025.5 in Butler-related items sold on eBay.

Team rankings follow. Click here for more stats or read up on how the experts approach March Madness as told to The Inside Source.

The Remaining 16, by the eBay Numbers:

1. Ohio State – $170,272
2. Florida – $162,584
3. Duke – $127,492
4. Kentucky – $111,722
5. Kansas – $106,497
6. Wisconsin – $42,657
7. UNC – $35,524
8. Florida State – $34,066
9. BYU – $19,011
10. Arizona – $14,740
11. San Diego State – $8,656
12. Connecticut – $3,804
13. Marquette – $1,478
14. VCU – $1,478
15. Butler – $1,441
16. Richmond – $496

Keep up with me on Twitter to see if my team wins big or goes home, and also feel free to leave me any questions or comments below!

Cheers!
RBH

January
eBay Wins 2009 Mobile Retailer of the Year
eBay was crowned the 2009 Mobile Retailer of the year award as a result of increasing mobile transactions during the 2009 Holidays and generating more than half a billion dollars via mobile in 2009.

eBay Seller Release Changes Announced
eBay Seller Release changes include new standard rates, new store subscription packages and changes in the buyer protection program.

February
Launch of eBay Motors
eBay Motors now offers shoppers an online experience when purchasing new vehicles. The online site allows user to search for new or old cars by color, make or model – all in less than a minute.

Narciso Rodriguez eBay Collection
eBay introduced a first-of-its-kind agreement with Narciso Rodriguez for a eight piece limited edition collection only for eBay.

March
eBay Classifieds Branded
Kijiji has been re-launched as eBay Classifieds, the new site includes enhancements to create a better experience for users.

eBay: On Location Atlanta
The first eBay: On Location event of the year was held in Atlanta. The eBayOL events (in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago and San Jose) allowed eBay buyers and sellers to network with attendees and meet with eBay representatives and executives.

April
eBay Ink Celebrates 2 Years
Ink blog celebrates 2 years of blog posts, interviews and connections with readers and sellers.

eBay Q1 Earnings
eBay started the year off strong with Q1 earnings up 9% and a revenue of $2.2 billion.

Launch of eBay Fashion
eBay Fashion allows shoppers to browse more than 19 million daily listings of clothing, shoes and accessories.

eBay for iPad
The eBay for iPad app allows shoppers to browse through hundreds of listings through a simplified search system on the high resolution screen of their iPad.

May
eBay On Location Dallas
The second eBayOL event of the year was held in Dallas.

June
eBay Acquires RedLaser
eBay’s acquisition of RedLaser, a barcode scanning application allows all eBay iPhone and iPad applications to conduct comparison shopping for competitive prices.

July
eBay and Microsoft Announce Cloud Computing Agreement
eBay will be among one of the first customers of Microsoft’s new Window Azure platform. Incorporating the Windows Azure platform will allow eBay to optimize its platform and achieve datacenter efficiency.

Launch of eBay Ink Social Media Sellers Program
The Social Media Sellers program highlights eBay sellers who take social media tools to the next level and incorporate them into their business of buying and selling on eBay.

eBay Fashion App for iPhone
The eBay Fashion app for the iPhone delivers a personalized shopping experience, allowing users to browse, buy and virtually try on items.

August
eBay Announces eBay Bucks
The first ever eBay rewards program, eBay Bucks, offers consumers 2% back on most items purchased through eBay Marketplace with Paypal.

September
eBay Celebrates 15 Year Anniversary
eBay celebrated 15 years of buying, selling, networking and building relationships this year.

eBay Debuts Green Box
The eBay Box is a green friendly shipping box that is designed to be used over and over again. According to the eBay Green Team, if every box is used five times, it will save 4,000 trees, 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.

October
eBay Launches Instant Sale
eBay Instant Sale is a tool for consumers to sell or recycle old electronics and keep harmful e-waste out of landfills. Consumers can either receive a check for their old electronic or will be directed to a recycle program if their electronic is not worth anything.

PayPal Hosts Innovate X Conference
At the PayPal Innovate X Conference the company presented the future of money with announcements around PayPal Embedded Payments, PayPal Apps, PayPal Business Payments and more.

November
eBay Introduces Group Gifts
eBay Group Gifts is a new way of shopping, allowing users to pitch in together to purchase a gift for one person.

December
eBay Deal Finder Announced for the Holidays
eBay Deal Finder compares eBay listings with similar products on sites like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart.com and allows shoppers to save money and find the best deal available.

eBay Web App Show Mobile Shopping Trends
eBay published an interactive infographic displaying eBay mobile shopping trends through Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Leading purchases included cars and trucks, followed by cell phones and women’s clothing.

eBay Acquires Critical Path Software
eBay announced it has acquired Critical Path Software, a leading mobile app developer that has worked with eBay for over 2 years on a wide array of mobile apps coming out of the company including the eBay for iPhone app, StubHub, eBay Classifieds and Shopping.com iPhone apps.

eBay to Acquire brands4friends
eBay has reached an agreement with leading German online shopping club, brands4friends, to acquire all shares of the company for a transaction value of approximately 200 million dollars. The move will strengthen eBay’s position as a leading online fashion destination in Europe.

eBay Acquires Milo
This acquisition will enable eBay to provide consumers with access to millions of products from approximately 50,000 stores across the USA. Milo lets consumers search the inventories of local stores online, providing a new channel for retailers, including eBay sellers, to reach more shoppers.

eBay Introduces Giftsnearby
Further integrating Milo.com inventory information, Giftsnearby is a new way for last-minute shoppers to simplify their final shopping sprees by showing them gift options available for pick-up at local retailers. GiftsNearby shows local retail prices for each item, directions to the closest store with inventory availability, and an option to browse eBay for the gift.

Every year, eBay hosts an Innovation Expo that invites eBay employees, from every department and level of the organization, to develop prototypes for new products and breakthrough innovations that benefit our buyers and sellers. This year, more than 250 employees on nearly 80 teams competed for the top prize. eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and CEO, John Donahoe kicked off the event.

This year’s grand prize winner was an idea called “simple green shipping.” (I was lucky enough to video the team behind the concept so I’ll try and dig up the footage for you guys as soon as eBay: On Location comes to a close). In a nutshell, it’s a durable box that’s been designed to be used over and over and over again.

Now, six months later, We’ve printed up 100,000 boxes in three sizes and giving eBay: On Location participants and eBay Green Team members a limited chance to sign up to participate in the pilot.

According to the eBay Green Team, if every box gets reused at least five times, we could protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.

What is the eBay Box pilot program?
At eBay, we want to help our buyers and sellers save money and make it as convenient as possible for them to ship items they sell on eBay. We also strive to make it easy for users to reduce their impact on the planet. The eBay Box program encourages eBay buyers and sellers to keep their shipping boxes traveling. The eBay Box is a durable, reusable box made from environmentally-friendly materials. Starting in October 2010, participants in the eBay Box pilot can track their box’s journey at thebox.ebay.com, simply by entering the unique code printed on the box. As a token of our appreciation, we’re also giving every unique eBay user who receives and registers a box up to $1 in eBay Bucks.

Why is eBay doing this?
The eBay Box was the winner of this year’s eBay Innovation Expo, a celebration of new products and breakthrough innovations coming from employees at every level of the organization. Initially called “simple green shipping,” we believe it has the potential to both improve the eBay customer experience and help reduce the environmental impact of the eBay marketplace.

Does this program cost anything?
During the pilot, the eBay Box program does not cost anything. In fact, eBay buyers who receive an eBay Box are eligible for an eBay Bucks reward.

You say this is a “pilot.” What does that mean?
At eBay, so much of what succeeds or fails does so because of its impact on our community. We think the eBay Box is a great idea, but we have to make sure our buyers and sellers agree. So, to start off, we are printing just 100,000 boxes and releasing them out into the world. We’ll track their progress, and talk to the people who touch them, through our website and social media channels. Once the boxes have had a few months to travel, we’ll check back in and see where we can take it from there.

I’m a seller, and I want to participate in the program. How do I get involved?
There are a few ways to get involved in the eBay Box pilot. If you are participating in the eBay: On Location event in San Jose on September 1 and 2, you can stop by the eBay Green Team booth, fill out a short form, and register to participate. For a limited time, sellers who are eBay Green Team members can also sign up on the eBay Green Team website. Participation will be determined on a first come, first serve basis. Once all 100,000 boxes have been distributed in October, eBay buyers who receive their purchase in an eBay Box can participate in the program by going to thebox.ebay.com and entering the box number and basic item information. We encourage everyone who gets an eBay Box to help us keep it traveling.

If you aren’t able to participate in the pilot but are interested in greener packaging options, check out our green selling hub, where you can access lots of great tips and resources on green packaging and shipping. You can also order free Priority Mail, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified boxes from eBay and the USPS through the eBay Shipping Hub.

What’s so environmentally-friendly about this box?
All of the eBay Boxes are made from FSC-certified, 100% recycled material and have been printed with water-based inks. They’re designed for durability and minimal taping, so they can withstand multiple uses. They’re also 100% recyclable.

For more information, check out the eBay Green Blog.

Cheers,
RBH

What does that actually mean? Checkout is obviously a key part of shopping online – we all want an effective, secure, simple method for making our purchases. A consistent checkout experience helps buyers complete their purchases in confidence. And for sellers, one consistent checkout experience – with business functionality like payment processing and tax collection – can help streamline business operations.

While most eBay sellers already use eBay Checkout in its current form, historically we haven’t offered certain checkout functionality that other sellers need. So Certified third-party providers like ChannelAdvisor, Auctiva, Vendio, Infopia and Kyozou have offered checkout with their solutions packages to fill this gap.

Between now and next June, eBay Checkout will be updated with more credit card/debit card processing services, better shipping support and an advanced sales tax calculator, among other things, and we will continue to work closely with third-party providers to transition their members to eBay Checkout. Plus we’ll remain close with them on the other valuable services they offer eBay sellers.

A single, familiar checkout experience is key to reducing confusion and improving how people shop on eBay. We’ve been working with sellers and providers for some time and will continue to do so for a seamless transition next year.

We’d be happy to answer your questions. Feel free to leave comments here on Ink blog or via Twitter at @ebayinkblog and @ebay_andy.

Cheers!
Andy

As anticipated an AB post just went up over on the eBay General Announcement board.

Parts compatibility is a more efficient way for you to list parts that fit many vehicles. You no longer have to create and manage many listings, or include the names of all compatible vehicles in the listing title to help buyers find a part that fits. Instead, just create one listing describing a single part and add an extensive list of compatible vehicles under the new Compatibility tab in the listing description. The information you add to the Compatibility tab is searchable.

You can read about it over on the eBay Developer Blog too.

You can check out the site here: http://apps.motors.ebay.com/compatibility/

The Certified Provider link is here: http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/compatibility.html

Parts compatibility can help you:

* Save on listing time and Insertion Fees. With parts compatibility, you don’t have to list one part multiple times to ensure all compatible vehicles appear in search—a huge savings in Insertion Fees and time spent managing and creating listings.
* Get a boost in search results. Listings with parts compatibility information will get an extra boost in search results. Since eBay uses information from both the Compatibility tab and your title to match the buyer’s search, you can now dedicate all 55 characters in your title for popular keywords like brand name and part number. Your listing will show up in more—and more relevant—buyer searches.
* Gain more satisfied buyers. Parts compatibility helps increase buyers’ confidence that they’re purchasing parts that will fit their vehicles, and also helps reduce questions and returned items.

Cheers,
RBH

In it, Stephanie promised even bolder and faster changes at eBay, stating that eBay’s goal is to deliver a more retail-like experience. She indicated that ensuring buyer confidence in every eBay transaction and taking care of its customers was the company’s first priority. She also made it clear that the concept of an annual price change no longer existed at eBay and that further pricing adjustments could come at any time.

At the same time, Stephanie –a long time eBay Top Buyer herself – also committed to keeping the things people love about eBay intact, namely its value and selection, noting that the fun comes in finding exactly what you want – pretty much no matter what it is – when you want it.

There’s that word again – “change”. In the three months I’ve been on board at eBay, it seems that every week brings another significant change to how our customers (buyers and sellers alike) do business on eBay – and partnered with those are some significant executive changes. I even got a new boss today.

No one feels comfortable with change, no matter how beneficial it can be, so I’m hoping this blog will provide an opportunity to explain and rationalize the decisions made as we move forward.

Bear with me though, it’s only the first day after all.