e-Bay Ten Free Tools: World Wide Widget Web

By Vangie Beal. those eBay sellers looking to send off-eBay traffic to their eBay listings, customizable Web widgets are a free and popular solution. We scoured the Internet to find 10 widgets that can be used to help online merchants. These free mini-applications help you promote your listings in your personal publishing space, incorporate site search functions and manage your eBay activity. In a few clicks, you can "widgetize" your e-biz, so what are you waiting for?

eBay Search Widgets
If you are looking to add an eBay search function to your own space on the Internet, there are literally dozens of good eBay search widgets to be had. Some search widgets let shoppers simultaneously search eBay and other online marketplaces, such as Craigslist or Amazon, and then compare results. Others focus on searching for misspelled words to find items with fewer or no bids, and still others break down searches by individual eBay sites such as ebay.com or eBay.co.uk. Our favorite eBay search-related widgets include:


eBay Finder
Looqy's eBay Finder is a customizable widget that shows a dynamically updated list of what's available on eBay in any category. Once you have customized the design and layout of the widget, including the background color, font size, and search options, you can then get the widget code to embed on a variety of blogs or save the code to grab later.

Lookie See: This widget from Looqy dynamically updates eBay category searches.

(Click for larger image.)


Misspellr
Designed by Eric Marschner, Misspellr is a search widget that lets users find misspelled listings on eBay, Craigslist, ebid.net and Yahoo Auctions. When you search with Misspellr you can choose a combination of typos to query. Usually misspelled auctions help buyers find items with few or low bids, since the greatest percentage of buyers are searching for items using correctly spelled keywords. Misspellr is available for download for use with Yahoo! Widgets.

Search and Monitor eBay
Developed by Justin Houk, the Search and Monitor eBay widget offers a slick interface for searching eBay listings. The widget finds the auctions you're looking for, and shows the ones that are just about to finish so you can bid in the last few minutes for the items you want most. Search and Monitor eBay works with eBay.com, eBay Motors and several international eBay sites. Search and Monitor eBay is also available for download for use with Yahoo! Widgets.

eBay Store Display Widgets
A big thing for sellers is being able to display their eBay listings in places other than eBay itself. Web-ready widgets enable you to customize a display that can act as a visually pleasing storefront to your eBay listings. These Web-enabled widgets make adding your eBay items to Web pages, blogs and social networks such as Facebook a simple task.


It is as easy as changing a few pre-defined options, copying the code and pasting the snippet where you want to display the Web store widget online. Here are four eBay store widgets we like because the customization features are so easy to use, plus we highlight eBay's own eBay To Go widget.

eBay Listings (Tower Format)
The eBay Listings widget, by Widgetbox, enables sellers to list their own eBay items or favorite searches off-eBay. The tower format is similar to a vertical ad space often found on the right-hand side of Web pages and blogs.

Momma's Got A Widgetbox: This widget can sort results by relevance.

(Click for larger image.)


eBay Listings offers several customizable features including titles, background, hyperlink and text color choices, along with features that let you include your eBay ID and a commission Junction or Mediaplex affiliate program ID. The eBay Listings Widget also includes eBay's Best Match technology, used to sort eBay search results by relevance. Widgetbox also offers a Slideshow format.

eBay to Go
Of course we can't forget eBay's own eBay To Go. This widget lets sellers showcase and promote specific eBay listings on their own blogs or Web site, basically anywhere you want to advertise off eBay. EBay's mini-app offers lots of options that let you chose a display format (slideshow or search), add thumbnails and include pertinent auction details such as number of bids and how much time remains. Sellers simply enter the item numbers of the listings they want to include in the widget and provide keywords. Once you have entered in the details, the code required to place the widget onto your own page is automatically generated for you.

Seller Helpers
In addition to eBay search and storefront widgets, there are several other types available that can help online vendors run their eBay businesses. Several developers offer photo gallery displays for auction pages, and still others offer creative and useful widgets that help you find find keywords for listings, or track eBay Feedback changes. Below we outline our favorite seller helper widgets.

eBay Intelligent Tag Search
Designed by Michael Conrick of the Oktshun Engine, the eBay Intelligent Tag Search is a tool sellers can use that will suggest tags once you have entered keywords. To use the eBay Intelligent Tag Search, you simply enter in your keywords and see the suggested tags appear below. This widget is available for download as a plug-in to your Google desktop (or personalized Google search page), and it is also available for the Yahoo! Widget Engine.

eBay Feedback Watcher
With over 24,000 downloads from Knofabulator.com, William Warby's eBay Feedback Watcher is in demand. The eBay Feedback Watcher widget checks your eBay feedback rating and shows positive, negative and overall feedback ratings with percentages. When new feedback has been left for you, the widget displays a slide-out notification window with links to the eBay item. The widget also offers different display modes, and shows a summary of feedback changes since your last start-up. This widget is also available for the Yahoo! Widget Engine.

eBay Trend Widgets
Developed by Mpire, this collection of nifty widgets can be used to track eBay marketplace data and eBay Pop, produced by Mpire. While it won't sell your products, you can easily add these attractively designed price check, Movers & Shakers, Top Searches or Trend Watch boxes to your Web site or blog where you promote your own eBay Business. Also, once you start using them in off-eBay spaces, you can also use them to help you better list wanted products in top categories. You will need to register as an Mpire member, but doing so also allows you to see how many people view your widget, modify the widget and more.

Using Non-eBay Widgets
Just because you plan to use a widget to promote your eBay business doesn't mean the widget has to be designed specifically for eBay. When you use these snippets of code on personal publishing spaces, you can make your site more engaging and entertaining, which in turn, drives more traffic, wich hopefully means more sales. To that end, you can take just about any widget and give it your own personalized eBay twist. Here are a couple we liked for relating back to eBay.

ScrollFx
Dare Software LDT has an interesting and fun LED-style text scroll widget, called ScrollFx, that offers a fun way for eBay sellers to announce shipping deals or store inventory mark-downs. ScrollFx lets you change or create color schemes, change the display and text size and add a glassy look to the widget as well.

Graphic Timer
The Graphic Timer widget allows you to embed an image inside of a countdown clock. What a great way for eBay sellers to display an attractive countdown to an auction ending. You can enter a URL to an image or flash files, plus change the date and title of the widget. You can edit the month, day, hour, minute and seconds to match the exact ending time of your eBay listing.


Vangie Beal is a seasoned eBay seller, frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide and a huge fan of widgets. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.

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