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The best apps for buying sneakers
I can't even remember how many times I've had to get in line at a FootLocker to buy the latest pair of Air Jordans. But that was years ago, long before websites and apps became the main way I shop for sneakers. Nowadays, if I do end up at a FootLocker, it's because I won a raffle through its app and just have to go pick up a pair of shoes -- no waiting on long lines necessary. With the rise of smartphones and the internet as a whole, retailers along with brands like Nike and Adidas have turned to technology to sell sneakers, especially limited-edition ones that have the potential to cause physical fights. If I want a pair of Jordans in 2019, I just use Nike's SNKRS app, and I don't have to worry about someone jumping me for them as I leave a store.
eBay uses AI to help you shop for similar-looking items
When you're shopping, you probably have a general look in mind. But how do you describe that to a shopping site? eBay might have an answer: have AI figure it out. It's implementing a feature that uses computer vision to find items that resemble what you're looking at. Tap the three-dot menu next to a product and it'll give you both simple category buttons (such as "athletic shoes") as well as a "looks like this" option to find visually similar items. Eye a green set of sneakers, for instance, and you should see comparable footwear without having to construct an elaborate search.
Phone-hacking device used by police sells on eBay for $100
A phone-hacking device that law enforcement officials use to extract data from phones is popping up on eBay for as little as $100. Federal agencies in the US and elsewhere, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, typically spend up to $15,000 on current models of Cellebrite's Universal Forensic Extraction Device, though older versions are available on the secondary market.
DOJ busts gang for allegedly selling fake cars on eBay
The Department of Justice has unsealed information about an organized crime ring that used online sites like eBay and Craigslist to defraud people. 20 people, including 16 people from Romania and Bulgaria, stand accused of RICO, wire fraud and money laundering offenses, as well as identity theft.
eBay will now authenticate luxury jewelry
eBay announced today that it will start certifying the legitimacy of luxury jewelry sold on its platform through its eBay Authenticate program. To coincide with the expansion of its authentication service, eBay is also listing more than 45,000 professionally verified diamonds and gemstones for the holiday season.
eBay's toy catalog includes a $100,000 'Magic: The Gathering' card
eBay is following in the footsteps of Amazon (despite an ongoing beef between the two) and attempting to revive the old holiday shopping tradition of the toy catalog. The online retailer is putting together a Toy Book containing the hottest items of this year and all the retro playthings that will make your nostalgia kick in. eBay is sending physical copies of the catalog to millions of homes, but the whole thing can be viewed online. If you're in New York City, eBay is also opening up an interactive storefront called Toytopia where kids can come in and play with the toys.
eBay's Instant Selling is a hassle-free way to sell your old phone
eBay has launched a new service that gives you a quick way to sell select phone models if you don't want to deal with Craigslist buyers. It's called Instant Selling, and the e-commerce platform says the whole process will only take you a few minutes from start to finish. The downside is you're not getting cold hard cash for your phone -- you're getting an eBay voucher that you can use to purchase items from the website. If that's not a dealbreaker (and you buy stuff from eBay regularly anyway), you might be able to get more for your device than what some trade-in programs offer.
eBay accuses Amazon of illegally poaching its sellers
eBay has officially filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of hatching a scheme to poach its biggest sellers. The platform first threw down the gauntlet in early October, sending its rival a cease-and-desist letter. According to eBay, at least 50 Amazon reps from all over the world, including the US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Australia and Singapore, used the company's direct messaging system to contact hundreds of its high-profile sellers in an effort to convince them to switch platforms.
eBay claims Amazon illegally poaches sellers for its marketplace
The competition between online marketplaces is getting to be particularly ugly. eBay has sent a cease-and-desist letter alleging that Amazon has illegally tried to poach sellers for its marketplace. According to the accusation, about 50 Amazon sales agents sent 1,000-plus messages through eBay's system in a bid to sway sellers to its platform. The poaching allegedly violates California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.
eBay offers low-cost wireless plans to go with your phone purchase
eBay is a popular marketplace for cell phones, and now the company wants to give purchasers the option of pairing those devices with a cellular plan when they check out. It is partnering with Red Pocket Mobile to offer low-priced wireless plans to all eBay customers who purchase a cell phone.
eBay uses iPhone head tracking to help you shop hands-free
Online shopping can be difficult if you don't have full use of your hands, since it frequently assumes that you can tap or click your way through a sale. eBay could make internet purchasing more accessible to just about anyone who can use a phone, though. It developed an open source project, HeadGaze, that uses head tracking on the iPhone X (and, we presume, future iPhones) to enable hands-free shopping. It uses Apple's ARKit framework to create a "virtual stylus" that follows your head movements. When you combine it with an interface designed for shopping, you just have to look at the right part of the screen to scroll, add items to your cart and check out.
eBay now verifies the authenticity of luxury watch sales
eBay's Authenticate program now covers more than high-style handbags. The online shopping giant now verifies the authenticity of luxury watch sales from more than 30 luxury brands, including Audemars Piguet, Breitling, Patek Philippe and Rolex. Sellers who pass muster will receive an "authenticity verified" badge that makes clear the watches they sell are the real deal. That's rather important when watches like Audemars' Royal Oak or Patek's Nautilus can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars.
eBay will sell sports apparel and memorabilia on ESPN.com
ESPN and eBay are teaming up to make the latter's sports equipment, apparel and memorabilia accessible through ESPN.com. Details about how this partnership will be implemented are slim at the moment, but ESPN says this new shopping experience will be delivered through "contextually integrated shopping modules" on web and mobile versions of ESPN.com. Whatever those vague "modules" end up being, the aim is to make eBay's trove of officially licensed products easier to find and shop when fans are browsing ESPN's website.
eBay makes it easy for amateur mechanics to shop for auto parts
It can be tough buying the right auto parts online unless you're a pro or a very experienced DIYer. According to eBay, 49 percent of consumers mistakenly pick up components that are either not compatible with their vehicles or are just plain wrong. To make it simpler for everyone, eBay Motors has launched the ability to shop by diagram, which allows you to find parts using your vehicle's schematics.
Sneaker Con bets NFC will keep fakes off its new shoe-selling app
Buying limited-edition sneakers, like Kanye West's Yeezys, isn't easy. Whether they drop on a site, in an app or a brick-and-mortar store, they often sell out in minutes, sometimes seconds. This sense of scarcity is what's behind the growth of secondhand online sellers such as StockX and GOAT, where you can find basically any hyped shoe that's ever been released by Adidas or Nike... for a premium, of course. What makes these sites popular is that they guarantee authenticity. With StockX, for instance, any pair you get from it comes with a QR code verification tag, but that's only for internal use. GOAT, meanwhile, sends you a letter saying the shoes have been authenticated. But these are decidedly low-tech and not particularly transparent solutions. Sneaker Con, a company that hosts conventions for sneakerheads all over the world, is hoping to add a 21st-century twist to the authentication game.
eBay adds drag-and-drop ability to its image search tool
Last year, eBay launched a visual search capability for its mobile app that makes it possible to find items with pictures instead of words. Now, the online marketplace is making it even easier to use -- you don't even have to take screenshots of whatever it is you want to find anymore, because eBay will soon allow you to drag and drop images into its search bar. For instance, if you search for a "Hello Kitty purse" in the app and find one that catches your eye, you can drag that photo into the search bar to find listings featuring identical or similar items. It won't only give you a way to search for purchases quickly, but also to find the best deals on the website.
eBay adds Apple Pay as a payment option
eBay is spreading its wings now that it has officially started transitioning to a non-PayPal payment system. This fall, it's adding Apple Pay as one of its first options on the new payment platform, giving people a way to purchase goods through eBay's mobile app or through its website on Safari using Cupertino's digital wallet. The option will initially be available to a small group of Marketplace customers given the chance to participate in the first phase of Apple Pay's rollout, so buyers won't be encountering it at every turn yet. eBay plans to move more people to the new payment platform next year, though, and aims to finish transitioning everyone to it by 2021.
eBay starts selling discounted digital comic bundles
eBay is one of the go-to places for collectibles and old comic book titles, but now you can also make it a habit to check the website if you're looking for some sweet digital comic deals. The e-commerce platform has teamed up with Madefire to give shoppers access to deeply discounted digital comics and Motion Books. If you haven't heard of the latter yet, they're the media company's immersive titles with sounds and moving components -- sort of like a limited animation cartoon. eBay will list bundles for sale under its Deals section, and they'll only be available for a limited time. You can only buy the current offerings, which include DC's Injustice Years 1 and 2 (Motion Books) and the newest Archie Comics, today, June 29th.
Some questions for the guy selling more than 20,000 films for $1 million
Who does this, who has the time? How did eBay seller Adam "kilamad" Malik manage the stunning feat of collecting some 21,000 rare, out of print, 4K, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, DVD, Laserdisc, VHS and Beta films? Is this really all from desperate sods hawking titles to the pawn shop he worked at for 25 years? Did Han shoot first?
Amazon needs to get a handle on its counterfeit problem
Chances are you wouldn't suspect that whatever you're buying from Amazon, whether it be clothing, sunglasses or a handbag, is fake. And, for the most part, that tends to true. But that doesn't mean you should trust that every product is legit. In fact, right now if you search for "Yeezys," a highly coveted pair of Adidas shoes, you'll get more than a thousand results that are clearly fake. Two dead giveaways are design flaws and an unlikely low price -- trust me, Adidas doesn't sell them for $20. The worst part is that some of them bear the seemingly trustworthy Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) label. But all that really means is that the company is acting as the middleman between you and the actual seller.
